2003 Dargon Writers' Summit

What can you do to top a week in Scotland? That was the challenge that Rhonda Gomez and P. Atchley faced in hosting the 2003 Dargon Writers' Summit. With the memory of the 2002 Summit's incomparable tour of Scotland fresh in everyone's mind, our hostesses did a wonderful job making this year's gathering one of our most successful, as well as memorable.

Since only a few of our writers had been able to afford the trip to Scotland, we wanted to ensure that this year's Summit was widely attended. In fact, 2003 became the single largest gathering of Dargon writers in our 18-year history, featuring an even dozen people! Of those twelve, three had never been to a Dargon Summit before. Of our established and regular contributors, only two writers were unable to make the trip. It was really a great feeling to have virtually the entire group together in one place.

The other noteworthy aspect of this year's Summit was that we expanded it from the usual two working days to four, devoting two entire days to a "writing retreat" where we set out upon the largest and most integrated story arc that the project has ever attempted. Everyone had a hand in planning, and will have a hand in writing, stories for the arc. The enthusiasm was tremendous, and the results surprised everyone. Read more about the forthcoming story arc in the writeups that go with the photos at right, and watch for the stories to begin appearing a few months from now!

The Summit was held April 23–28 at a lovely hotel on Lake Travis, just outside Austin, Texas. The Texas Hill Country is famous for its natural beauty, and formed a rich and interesting backdrop for our four-day stay.

Few people appreciate the amount of work and stress involved in hosting a Summit, and thanks and congratulations go to Rhonda and Ms. Atchley for putting together the biggest, most productive gathering the project has ever had!

At right are thumbnail versions of some of the pictures we took at the Summit. Clicking on an image on this page will bring up the full-sized picture with a more detailed caption. The photos generally are a reasonably-sized 30-65k each.

If you find these images interesting, check out our other Summits, which are documented on our Dargon Writers' Summit page.