ACFW 2010: Day Two

Tried not to let myself think about the fact that I was waking up at 3 AM our time. Ugh. This part of the country needs to get a new time zone. I'm just saying ...

Off to breakfast, worship & announcements, continuing education class with the Daring Duo, Chip MacGregor and Jim Rubart. Ducked out for a very good appointment with an editor. Back in to finish off class. Snagged a picture with the namesake of the Carol Award, Carol Johnson. Shared how much Janette Oke's books, like Love Comes Softly, meant to me as a missionary kid in Nigeria. Lunch at another editor's table, headed for class, then detoured.

Christian Retailing is interviewing published authors here for a cool series of clips on their website. In the course of a mere five minute interview, I managed to mention my mother as my writing inspiration, the best parenting book of all time, my chore list, and even godfathers and cement shoes. :) Jumped over to an interview with Romantic Times. Straight to my book signing where I hung out with table mates Donn Taylor, Carla Stewart, and Jim Bell.

Into general session, more worship, more insight from Tim Downs, out to dinner with the Bookies, into a late night chat about being a more productive writer.

Then the adventure began. Let's call it Adventures in Writersitting. I'd been invited to join a group who was going to a dueling piano place near the hotel. I'd never gone to anything like that before, so figured I could miss the sleep to hang out with super cool writers. We walked the streets of Indy. And walked. And got lost. And rerouted. Finally found the spot, but the line was about 100 people deep just to get in. So we walked back to the hotel!

Great exercise, though.

ACFW 2010: Day One Plus

To save money, I packed only a carry-on and flew a red-eye in time to arrive for the beginning of conference. My first conference without Mom. :(

I flew by myself, and took the shuttle by myself, and checked in all by myself. That's right; I'm a big girl now. (Knuckle bump if you sang the Pull-ups song)

One thing I did not do by myself was go to the airport. My sweetheart dropped me off, and gave me a kiss on the curb that left me weak in the knees. *fanning myself* Let me formally introduce my beau of 4 months. Dave, this is my blog. Blog, this is Dave. If you want to see tons of pictures of us, then come to facebook.

Let me tell you just a bit about him.
~He's dreamy
~He's gorgeous
~He can make me weak in the knees
~Oh, yeah, and he loves God, has followed Jesus most of his life, was an AWANA leader the same years I was, was married the same, divorced for the same reasons, has children nearly exactly the same age, loves clean & uncluttered houses, runs, loves the beach, is stable, productive, trustworthy, honest, caring, thoughtful, sweet, expressive, complimentary--if you care about those kind of things
~And did I mention he's dreamy?

Wait, I'm supposed to be talking about ACFW! I arrived at the hotel around 10 AM, having left Portland at 2AM this local time. Slept for a bit--because my awesome roomie, Anita Mae Draper, had a room already, showered, and hit the opening session with around 4 hours of sleep under my belt.

Hearing Rose McCauley announced for getting a Barbour first-time author contract thrilled my heart. She was one of my first editing clients and I love that her hard work paid off! Congrats, Rose!

Tim Downs spoke with humor and depth. I'm tweeting worthy one-liners, but I'll repeat this one in case you didn't hear it. King David having more than one wife directly opposed Scripture because ... man cannot serve two masters. haha

And I got pictures with lots of friends. Click over to my Facebook album to see them. Plus, sat by Tracie and Jim Peterson at dinner. Once we started talking, sweet Jim came and held my hand and prayed for Josh. Very, very touching.

I Love Random Things

People who dance in public for no reason.

People who wear great costumes when it's not Halloween.

People who aren't afraid to act outside the norm in a fun way.

These kind of people make me smile, so I've always gotten a huge kick out of the Improv Everywhere skits. (I haven't watched them all, so I don't mean to imply all are appropriate.)

I stumbled across this mission a few days ago and find it hilarious each time I watch it. As a non-drinker, I am not promoting bar hopping, but I wish I had been there!

Ted's Birthday



My favorite line: "Yeah, I kinda broke my own heart too."

Reclaiming a Small Piece of My Integrity

Maybe you've done this once or twice over your life: said you were going to do something and then didn't. For the most part, I keep my word. Ask my children and they'll tell you I'm extremely adverse to lying, but this really isn't lying, right? I mean to do it. It's on my to-do list. Yes, it's been on there for 4 months, but I'll get around to it eventually.

After enough time or enough instances, my word feels like it doesn't mean as much, even if the "undone" action is small.

Tonight I'm taking back a little piece of my integrity and talking about some books I promised the authors I would promote. I hope you'll be a part of restoring my character as I focus on some real great character development in these books.

The Pastor's Wife by Jennifer AlLee

What if a pastor loved his work more than he loved his wife? What if they separated, but never divorced? What if they were forced back together by circumstances? Intriguing concept. Didn't play out the way I thought it would. Expected more of a Church Ladies by Lisa Samson story. Growing up as a pastor's daughter and seeing the worst side of church politics--at times, seeing the best--I expected the church body to behave differently. Once I let go of my expectations of a certain kind of conflict, I enjoyed the sweet story. Well written, The Pastor's Wife definitely will appeal to romance readers.

Jennifer is getting a great response on this book, so she started a Pastor's Wife blog, "as a way to minister to women who are married to pastors, are pastors themselves, or are involved in ministry. I want to give them a safe place to network, share their stories, and receive encouragement." Check out The Pastor's Wife Speaks!


Link to Trailer



Walking on Broken Glass by Christa Allan

On the other hand, I had no expectations that this book would be as edgy as it was! Funny how books can catch a seasoned reader by surprise.

Leah is a young, married, Southern woman whose life is falling apart. And not in the oops-I-broke-a-nail way. Her dependency on alcohol to deaden the pain from real traumas, both past and ongoing, has become the main problem. She checks into a rehab center against her husband's wishes and strips away the layers of her life until she is naked before the reader.

With this debut book, Allan shows she's not afraid to portray the private world of a troubled woman in an unflinching, but warm, way. Because this book is probably the least "Christian" feeling book I've read in the CBA market, I highly recommend it for book clubs. The heart of the novel clearly ascribes to the healing power of the Lord, but Allan's words are lyrical, gritty, sometimes funny, and true to life. I guarantee the club will have a lot to discuss on meeting night!

Two Very Different Giveaways

On this day last year, The Familiar Stranger released! In honor of this momentous--as in lasts only a moment--day in history, I'm giving away an autographed copy to one of the new subscribers to my infrequent, humorous newsletter! Sign up at my website before my birthday, 9/30. If you happen to
already be signed up, resubscribe and I'll still enter you. Pass it on!

I did a different giveaway yesterday. In the midst of a doctor appointment, blood draw, pharmacy run, and cat scan for Josh, I gave our little two-year-old foster son back. What a sweet pie he was to have. My nickname for him was Smoochy Pants. I'm so proud of the hard work his birth mother did to get him back and pray the best for them. But there's no ignoring the fact that school for the kids and subbing for me, plus the ACFW conference, editing jobs, and general life were going to be a whole lot harder with a foster child. Andrea helped me make a DVD of all the pictures we'd taken of him in the last 4 1/2 months set to music by Chris & Conrad. One lyric in particular hit me hard: "You came to my rescue so I can make it home." His mom already called and told me it was awesome.


Thank you, Lord, for our time with little "Tyler." We pray a protective hedge around him and his family. Continue to draw them close to You!