Conference Banquet - The Stay-At-Home Version

On Sunday, September 19th, the ACFW conference was wrapping up. I wasn't able to attend this year for the first time in five years, so it felt a little weird to be staying at home. But it sounds like it was an amazing conference, my friends have been filling me in, I plan on buying the recordings, and the coolest thing is, I got to be "there" for the awards banquet. For the first time, ACFW set up a live blog so we stay-at-homers could keep up with the action.

The banquet is usually pretty incredible. Most people dress to the nines--the majority of the attendees are women. We like a chance to dress up occasionally, you know? And the food...we're talking exquisite-looking salads (even if the gourmet lettuce tastes like weeds), filet-mignon, gorgeous desserts. Amazing stuff. I usually end up taking pictures and texting 'em to my husband to make him jealous. :-)

So I thought to make it fun, maybe we could dress up here at home and eat something we don't usually eat for dinner. Have our own little mini-conference. We decided on an hors d'oeuvres supper. The food didn't exactly go together, but it was all good and it was something different. Homemade chicken fingers, Mexican layered dip and tortilla chips, fruit and dip.

I bought a few flowers for the occasion. As for the clothes...well, I wasn't sure. Dress up or not? I spent the afternoon debating, and then my husband walked out of the bedroom carrying his tux. "You're weird, but kind of fun, so let's go for it." So we dined on appetizers in our living room, keeping an eye on the computer, in our dress up clothes. :-)

It was a fantastic evening. Almost as good as being there, and since Jason has never been at the awards banquet with me, well, that was really special. When my category came up, Jason made a dash for the flip came, and we sat together, peering at the screen while the winner was listed.

Not me, as you already know. That prize went to the very deserving Jill Elizabeth Nelson. Though I haven't read the novel that won it, I read the Reluctant Burglar, and it was a lot of fun! Congrats, Jill!

Some other cool things that happened:

~ Janice LaQuiere, a former critique buddy, won her Genesis category.

~ Some other critique partners and friends were finalists, and though they didn't win, it was awesome they finaled! Some great stuff out there and some stiff competition.

~ Susan May Warren won the Mentor of the Year. VERY deserved. That lady is amazing. She overflows with writing wisdom and thrives on sharing it with others. Besides being an incredible writer (one of my favorites), she is an amazing teacher with a servant's heart. Check out My Book Therapy or her writing craft books or buy a recording of her workshops if you don't believe me. Or even if you do. :-)

~ There was a Lifetime Achievement Award given out for the first time at the conference. It was given to Carol Johnson. She is the lady that the Carol Awards (formerly known as the Book of the Year Awards) was named for. And here's why--many years ago, your options for Christian novels were almost nil. But Carol, an editor at Bethany House, took a chance on a certain author you may have heard of. She fought to have Janette Oke published. And a whole new world of opportunities were opened in the world of Christian fiction. So thanks, Carol. And congratulations on your much-deserved award.  

~ Many friends and admired acquaintances won their Carol Award categories. Jenny B. Jones--who is the first (and only, so far) person whose facebook status updates convinced me to buy one of her books--won two categories. Susan May Warren won the novella category, which is cool, because she has often said that The Great Christmas Bowl is the story closest to her heart. I got to know Christina Berry through Donna Fleisher, who mentored us both. Christina and I got our first contracts the same year, so it's been kind of fun to share the journey with her.

So there you go. It was a great conference, even though I didn't attend. Next year in St. Louis...