Okay, folks, I'm ready to do my second giveaway! And the lucky person to receive a book this time is:
Texaswriter! Congrats!
I'm going to have more giveaways soon, so stay tuned!
9/29/09
9/26/09
Conference Highlights
I survived the devotional:
Yes, I cried. Not deep racking sobs or anything, but I got choked up enough to not be able to talk for a few moments. Long enough that a friend considered running up to finish it for me. I made it through with God’s help…but there was a back-up devotional in place just in case. :-)
I learned a lot:
I took the Donald Maass early bird session. Incredible. I could have gone home after that and felt like I’d had an entire conference, minus the dressing up. Got some great ideas for my work-in-progress.
I figured out that group pitching is the way to go. When I panic and go blank, someone else who believes in my work can pick up the pieces and give me time to breathe and figure out what to say next. Thanks Betsy and Lori.
I sat through another of Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck’s classes. They are so fun and down-to-earth. Love those ladies. I also went to a marketing class and a few others.
I got to know quite a few people better:
Sandra, my roommate for Wednesday night, who managed to score a complimentary plate of cheese and something that looked suspiciously like caviar.
John, who looks like Spock on his blog profile picture, and who nearly laughed out loud when he heard I was going to give a devotional. He had a right to laugh. If I hadn’t been crying, I would have been laughing.
Andrew, a newbie who bravely told the whole table about his story while we laughed. Dude, your story idea has stuck with me. You made an impression!
Lori, another of my roommates who is a total blast, and her writing is amazing. If you don’t believe me, ask the editor who dragged her over to another editor’s table during her appointment and told the lady, “You have got to read this.”
Betsy, a.k.a. The Writing Machine. My other roommate and a great writing bud. I’m still trying to figure out how all three of us got up, showered, dressed, presentable, and down to breakfast in one hour.
Liz, a fellow LIS author. And so many others…
The hotel staff was great:
During the break before my devotional Saturday morning, I headed out to the lobby to find a quiet spot to try to calm myself down. Hugging myself, I started to walk past the hotel restaurant. The hostess saw me and asked if I was cold. I said no—nervous. She gave the kindest smile and said, “You’ll do fine.” That afternoon I passed her again, and she asked me how I did.
The first face I really saw after I finished my devotional was a server’s. Beaming, she smiled sweetly and wiped away tears, and I figured I must have done okay.
Some funny stuff:
Jenny B. Jones won an award for one of her books. She wasn’t there to accept it, so her agent, the great Chip McGregor, took the stage, decked out in his kilt. And proceeded to direct us all in the wave, as per her instructions.
Keynote speaker and best-selling author Debbie Macomber read some of the reader mail she’d gotten over the years. Like, “Your books are the macaroni and cheese of my life…” and a few others not quite so flattering.
Jamba Juice…Harry Kraus informed us that in Africa, this isn’t something you’d want to drink. Ever.
Some Denver stuff:
My uncle gave me a tour of Denver. I saw the cool buildings downtown. The mountains…oh, and some more mountains. Some elk on a golf course. The blue horse statue with the creepy glowing red eyes. The crazy Mexican restaurant that was like Rain Forest Café on steroids. The zoo that was really awesome except for the meerkat. Yes. One lone meerkat. With no sand to dig in. AND I saw it snow…while I was wearing flip flops.
Some writing stuff:
I didn’t get any invites to send anything, but that was okay. The project I was pitching was very different. Instead, I did make some good contacts, and I got some great advice how to make my different story more saleable. I’m definitely going to be working on that.
ACFW is such an amazing conference. The atmosphere is full of love and a desire to please God. The worship is great—Rachel leads with such a sweet spirit. The big-shots don’t act like big-shots. We’re all there to learn and to serve and to help each other and pray for one another. If you want to write fiction, join the organization. It’ll be one of the best things you ever did.
Yes, I cried. Not deep racking sobs or anything, but I got choked up enough to not be able to talk for a few moments. Long enough that a friend considered running up to finish it for me. I made it through with God’s help…but there was a back-up devotional in place just in case. :-)
I learned a lot:
I took the Donald Maass early bird session. Incredible. I could have gone home after that and felt like I’d had an entire conference, minus the dressing up. Got some great ideas for my work-in-progress.
I figured out that group pitching is the way to go. When I panic and go blank, someone else who believes in my work can pick up the pieces and give me time to breathe and figure out what to say next. Thanks Betsy and Lori.
I sat through another of Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck’s classes. They are so fun and down-to-earth. Love those ladies. I also went to a marketing class and a few others.
I got to know quite a few people better:
Sandra, my roommate for Wednesday night, who managed to score a complimentary plate of cheese and something that looked suspiciously like caviar.
John, who looks like Spock on his blog profile picture, and who nearly laughed out loud when he heard I was going to give a devotional. He had a right to laugh. If I hadn’t been crying, I would have been laughing.
Andrew, a newbie who bravely told the whole table about his story while we laughed. Dude, your story idea has stuck with me. You made an impression!
Lori, another of my roommates who is a total blast, and her writing is amazing. If you don’t believe me, ask the editor who dragged her over to another editor’s table during her appointment and told the lady, “You have got to read this.”
Betsy, a.k.a. The Writing Machine. My other roommate and a great writing bud. I’m still trying to figure out how all three of us got up, showered, dressed, presentable, and down to breakfast in one hour.
Liz, a fellow LIS author. And so many others…
The hotel staff was great:
During the break before my devotional Saturday morning, I headed out to the lobby to find a quiet spot to try to calm myself down. Hugging myself, I started to walk past the hotel restaurant. The hostess saw me and asked if I was cold. I said no—nervous. She gave the kindest smile and said, “You’ll do fine.” That afternoon I passed her again, and she asked me how I did.
The first face I really saw after I finished my devotional was a server’s. Beaming, she smiled sweetly and wiped away tears, and I figured I must have done okay.
Some funny stuff:
Jenny B. Jones won an award for one of her books. She wasn’t there to accept it, so her agent, the great Chip McGregor, took the stage, decked out in his kilt. And proceeded to direct us all in the wave, as per her instructions.
Keynote speaker and best-selling author Debbie Macomber read some of the reader mail she’d gotten over the years. Like, “Your books are the macaroni and cheese of my life…” and a few others not quite so flattering.
Jamba Juice…Harry Kraus informed us that in Africa, this isn’t something you’d want to drink. Ever.
Some Denver stuff:
My uncle gave me a tour of Denver. I saw the cool buildings downtown. The mountains…oh, and some more mountains. Some elk on a golf course. The blue horse statue with the creepy glowing red eyes. The crazy Mexican restaurant that was like Rain Forest Café on steroids. The zoo that was really awesome except for the meerkat. Yes. One lone meerkat. With no sand to dig in. AND I saw it snow…while I was wearing flip flops.
Some writing stuff:
I didn’t get any invites to send anything, but that was okay. The project I was pitching was very different. Instead, I did make some good contacts, and I got some great advice how to make my different story more saleable. I’m definitely going to be working on that.
ACFW is such an amazing conference. The atmosphere is full of love and a desire to please God. The worship is great—Rachel leads with such a sweet spirit. The big-shots don’t act like big-shots. We’re all there to learn and to serve and to help each other and pray for one another. If you want to write fiction, join the organization. It’ll be one of the best things you ever did.
9/22/09
Free Book!
I want to know--why would YOU tell someone to buy my book? Send me an email with your reason--off the wall or serious, doesn't matter. If I choose it to use for a project I'm working on, you just might earn yourself a free copy of Double Take. :-) Yes, it's called bribery. I'm not above that.
I promise...
...to blog about the conference soon.
I got home late last night after being away from my computer (oh, and my husband) for six whole days. No email. No facebook. And for the most part, no time to check it anyway. But it was like quitting cold turkey. I had a great conference, but I'm glad to be home. Hyacinth missed me. And Jason had brownies waiting. I have a good life. :-)
So let me get caught up a little, and then I'll fill my four readers in. :-)
I got home late last night after being away from my computer (oh, and my husband) for six whole days. No email. No facebook. And for the most part, no time to check it anyway. But it was like quitting cold turkey. I had a great conference, but I'm glad to be home. Hyacinth missed me. And Jason had brownies waiting. I have a good life. :-)
So let me get caught up a little, and then I'll fill my four readers in. :-)
9/15/09
Conference!!
So, it's that time again. Tomorrow I'm leaving on a jet plane waaaayyy too early to fly to Denver for the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers' conference. Yeah, the place where I'm giving a devotional. I'm back in the state of denial again. It's all written out, so if I can just forget about it until I actually have to give it...Nah, that ain't gonna happen. But it's going to be a great conference anyway.
And...that's it folks. Sorry. Too tired to write anything remotely witty. So I think I'll just go ahead and go to sle...
And...that's it folks. Sorry. Too tired to write anything remotely witty. So I think I'll just go ahead and go to sle...
9/7/09
Need Serious Help
Okay, so I've been quiet again. You've been taking bets on how many months I'd go without blogging this time, haven't you? Actually, you probably didn't notice, but anyway. Here I am again. And I'm trying not to freak out.
The conference is next week. NEXT WEEK!!! I'm so excited in a way. It's my conference. My beloved time with other weird people. We come together, inviting each other into our private little fictitious worlds. I get to meet little old ladies who write twisted mysteries. Men who are looking for advice how to spruce up the POV of the women in their stories. Women who pretend they understand women and try to give the men advice. Lots of authors, tons of books, and no one cares if you stand in the elevator and plot a murder. Okay, the hotel staff gets a little freaked out, but anyway...
In a way, though, I'm as freaked out as the staff. I agreed to do a devotional. 10 minutes. In front of a few hundred people. Many of them are speakers as well as writers. What was I thinking??!
So tonight was my local writers' group meeting. I took my little devotional, and even with only THREE of us there, the butterflies had a war going on in my stomach. I read it to them, with many disclaimers and breaks to guzzle a gallon or two of water. And still I cried. I cry when I'm nervous. Once again...What was I thinking????!!!??
Another problem of mine is the tendency to forget all but my name once I get in front of a microphone. So this devotional is written word for word. Maybe that in itself is the key. I have the speech. I just need someone to pretend to be me. Anybody out there five-foot-two-and-a-fourth, a bit on the plump side, with long brown hair and blue-grey eyes? Come to Denver next Saturday and we can work something out.
I make a mean white chocolate cheesecake. :-)
The conference is next week. NEXT WEEK!!! I'm so excited in a way. It's my conference. My beloved time with other weird people. We come together, inviting each other into our private little fictitious worlds. I get to meet little old ladies who write twisted mysteries. Men who are looking for advice how to spruce up the POV of the women in their stories. Women who pretend they understand women and try to give the men advice. Lots of authors, tons of books, and no one cares if you stand in the elevator and plot a murder. Okay, the hotel staff gets a little freaked out, but anyway...
In a way, though, I'm as freaked out as the staff. I agreed to do a devotional. 10 minutes. In front of a few hundred people. Many of them are speakers as well as writers. What was I thinking??!
So tonight was my local writers' group meeting. I took my little devotional, and even with only THREE of us there, the butterflies had a war going on in my stomach. I read it to them, with many disclaimers and breaks to guzzle a gallon or two of water. And still I cried. I cry when I'm nervous. Once again...What was I thinking????!!!??
Another problem of mine is the tendency to forget all but my name once I get in front of a microphone. So this devotional is written word for word. Maybe that in itself is the key. I have the speech. I just need someone to pretend to be me. Anybody out there five-foot-two-and-a-fourth, a bit on the plump side, with long brown hair and blue-grey eyes? Come to Denver next Saturday and we can work something out.
I make a mean white chocolate cheesecake. :-)
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