1. They have invited me back 4 or 5 years in a row (it's all a blur), allowing me to establish a really nice rapport with the regular participants. I have made friends there and I'm glad to be able to see them again. Nice to be back in New England, too, even if it was really cold and raw this time, making me, a former Mainer, embarrass myself in front of a certain Montanan by shivering in my winter coat and mittens. California has baked the antifreeze out of my blood.

2. It's small. With a few hundred participants all in one smallish university building, you can't help but have the time and space to talk to people in a relaxed setting.

3. The programming is great. Smith students are a very bright bunch, and the programming reflects that. They also know how to have fun, and the programming also reflects that. I was on a panel seriously discussing the mechanics of writing one day, and adding to the general chaos of another that's best described as "Boobies, Butts, and Dangely Bits in Movies" on another.

4. Many people there know my work; that's always gratifying.

5. Staying at the Overlook B&B, a truly unique place that I have come to love. A story there. The guest rooms are upstairs, and the bathroom there is, shall we say, on the lower end of "basic", with no shower. The first year I stayed there the inn keeper let me know that I could use the downstairs bathroom, where there is a shower. I'm a shower person, so I always use that one when I'm there.

The second year my now good friend Patricia Briggs (the Montanan) showed up, together with an anime voice actress. The actress was--- well, a bit of a spoiled diva. She needed considerable time in the bathroom each morning on hair and makeup (which apparently involved her having to contort herself under the tub tap to wash her hair, every day), complained about everything, and generally was a pain in the ass. She was also so self-involved that she never noticed that Patty and I somehow managed to stay well groomed without ever going in there. Somehow, we just never got around to telling her about the shower downstairs. Not that we did it on purpose or anything. We're far too nice, really!

6. Hanging out with Patty Briggs. It's our yearly reunion. We enjoy each other's company very much, get little sleep talking half the night, and love each other's writing. For those of you who don't know, Patty's Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series has hit the NY Times best seller's list at #1! And deservedly so. In a wide field of urban fantasy, her books really stand out. (So does Laura Anne Gilman's Retriever series, and I just blurbed a first novel by Devon (pronounced "De VON") Monk, Magic to the Bone, that is just wonderful and you should buy it when it comes out. She writes great short stories, too.)

7. The The Smithee Folks. (No relation to Smith College) They find the worst movies of all time and ridicule them, by category, with style and grace. Ok, so they're totally irreverent and funny as hell. Shout out to Smith-ka-teers Matt, Jeanette, Amy, and Kevin.

8. Fellow yearly guest, web comic artist Jenny Breeden, creator of the Devil's Panties. See: http://www.thedevilspanties.com/d/20080223.html She's a feminist who draws strong, curvaceous women with short skirts and tall boots, and the handsome guys they can be friends with. Hard to explain. Go see.

9. Finally meeting some of the members of Broad Universe in person. I didn't have enough time with them, but at least I can put a few faces to online names.

It's always good to get home, though, and doubly so, stepping coatless out of the airport last night to balmy breezes and waving palm trees, after freezing my ass off in Massachusetts.