Nothing shouts “NEWBIE…UNPROFESSIONAL” like pitching an editor or agent a suspense story when in their bio it says they don’t represent suspense. So before you pull out your romance one sheet make sure the editor is looking for romance.

You need to take it one step further and find out what type of romance or suspense the house you’re targeting is looking for. Have you written a story too edgy for the editor you’re meeting with, then don’t waste your appointment. Do your homework and it will not only save you time, but embarrassment as well!

Here’s a short but sweet assignment. Print out the entire ACFW (or other conference) editor and agent list. Then study them! Visit their websites. Read their guidelines. Highlight the people who are accepting your genre and forget those publishing houses that are not looking for what you write.

Know what your editor wants before you sit down in front of them. Pitching a historical to an editor only requesting contemporaries is a waste of everyone’s time.

Here’s a great interview to get you inspired!

Tyndale editor, Jan Stob

And check out this article!

There’s nothing worse than waiting in line for your editor or agent appoint wondering about the unknown…nothing worse EXCEPT walking into that meeting unprepared when the editor or agent asks to see your one sheet OR your first chapter and you fumble through your papers to find it OR don’t have anything to offer.

That’s why putting together a conference notebook is essential to showing your series about your writing and you are a professional.

Supplies you’ll need for your Conference notebook:

(1) 1 1/2 in binder
(10-20) plastic pages to put your papers in (I’ll totally at a loss to what you call these things!)
(1) pack of dividers
(2-3) Baseball card pages or business card holders. You can get these at Walmart
Business Cards
Thank You cards with stamps
List of cell numbers for those you want to connect with at the conference
Goal sheet
Now we’re ready to put together your notebook. Just so you know, I don’t have the market on a conference notebook, so feel free to share what works for you.

I put everything in the plastic sheet holders. On the first page or in the little pocket on the inside cover I put the phone numbers and my conference goals. For example: Meet with so and so. Pitch to this editor. Ask this agent these questions. Start planning now because I guarantee once conference rolls around you’ll be too excited, overwhelmed or nervous to remember everything.

Leave the first plastic page empty so you can put all your registration stuff. Honestly, I can’t even remember which editor I signed up for. So I’ll be needing to check this section often.

In the next page put your agent/editor list you printed out and highlighted from online. Then refer to it often, especially before you sit down at one of the editor tables for lunch.

Then add your business card holders. These are great for collecting agent/editor and author cards as well as holding your own business cards. Last year I printed out my pitches on labels and stuck them to the back of my business cards. It made a great little cheat sheet!

Business Card tips: Don’t go out and buy the expensive kinds. www.visaprint.com makes a great free card. They have a small line on the back that says Business Cards are FREE at www.vistaprint.com. One thing I’ve learned is that editors and agents don’t want to take your card. They’ll give you theirs. But it’s nice to have a card just to pass out to friends.

What to put on a card? I don’t want everyone knowing my address, so I put my name, my email, blogs and website.

Next add your dividers and use them to separate your WIPs. In the first section fill your page up with several one sheets. Not only do I take a one sheet to each meeting, but I take a pitch sheet which has a lot of info about my WIP that I may forget under pressure. Come back and I’ll tell you what I put on my pitch sheet!

After the One Sheet I put a couple copies of my first chapter and in the next sheet my synopsis. I’ve had editors request to read my first chapter and synopsis which can be a good and bad thing. I remember one year letting an editor take my not so perfect synopsis with her. I intended to rework it and submit later. A month later I received a rejection letter and I didn’t even know I submitted. So caution, if they ask for your synopsis and you give it to them, make sure it’s your best work. Otherwise just tell them you’d like to edit it once more and you’ll send it later.

In the next section do the same for your other WIPS.

You can also keep a couple copies of your resume, or put together an author One Sheet. On one side I have information about me as a person and writing, on the back I had short pitches about each of my WIPs. If you have a series you’ve completed, consider making a One Sheet for them.

Last conference I actually went a step further and made individual editor and agent folders, putting everything I wanted to take with me into that folder. You can always change it out as need arrives, especially if you’re carrying around your conference notebook.

What about you? Do you have any tips and tricks to help you stay organized?

Welcome to the Conference Confidence Series:

ONE SHEETS

So you’ve worked on your pitch, gotten it down to a 30 second sound bite that will knock the socks of an editor. Now what if he/she wants to know more?

That’s when I pull out my One Sheet. I rarely have to do a lot of talking in my 15 minute interviews. I just let the One Sheet speak for itself. Then I shut up. (This is something I have not yet mastered!) Let the editor READ! Resist the Urge to Explain. You’ll have your turn when they start to firs off questions.

So what’s a One Sheet, you ask?

A One Sheet is a brief synopsis of your book which includes pertinent information like:

Title and tag line
Authors name: Big enough to stand out
Brief synopsis/Back Cover Copy and/or 25 word short pitch

Genre
Length, word count
Contact information: Address, Phone, email
Athor bio and photo

Can include one sentence summary of second/third book in series

What your One Sheet looks like is up to you. It should fit your personality and the mood of the book you’re pitching. But regardless of the style a One Sheet should:

Be professional and well written
Easy to read, not overcrowded
Have one to two complimenting graphics or photos

Here are some other articles on One Sheets.

http://linesfromlinda.com/?p=90

You can visit my WIP section of my writing blog to get an idea of what I include on my One Sheet. The only thing that’s missing is the author bio and contact info.

You can take the One Sheet one step further and make it an author bio sheet on one side and a very breif summary of your completed WIPs on the other side. You can even make one up for your series. It’s all up to you!

Need some other examples of a One Sheet? Visit these sites:
http://www.pammeyerswrites.com/writings.html

Conference Confidence Series

So you’ve finished your novel and your ready to set your baby loose. But if you were asked to describe your novel in a few sentences, would you be able to do it?

Some people call it an elevator pitch. The little sound bite that will catch an editor’s attention, if you were in…well an elevator. Though you many never use it in the elevator, it’s good to start off with a one sentence summary.

If you use Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake method, you’re already ahead of the game.

So what is a pitch?

Here are some great quotes and thoughts about pitches:

“A pitch is a HOOK. It should have one goal and one only: to make the editor want to know more about your story. Just as a chapter hook makes the reader turn the page, your pitch hook makes the editor ask a follow-up question. (Sometimes editors will ask a follow-up question simply to be polite. The trick is making them ask a question because they really are curious about the answer.)” Brandilyn Collins. Read the rest of the post here.

A pitch is a “one minute back of the book type blurb memorized to to an editor. We call this an elevator(pitch). Because, like me, you may literally be pitching it in an elevator. Though it could be anywhere, more than likely, over a meal. I practiced mine last year for weeks before the conference. My friends and I would cold-call each other and say, “Tell me about your book.” This practice was nerve wracking but paid off big time at the conference.” Gina Holmes. Read the rest of the post here.

“Don’t tell me your entire story. Just stick to the P’s: Pitch, Package, Platform. PITCH: Give me the essence in as few words as possible. (caveat: “Aliens meets Blue Like Jazz” is not helpful. “Philip K. Dick meets Don Miller” is better, but explain that genre with a more specific comparison like, “Kathy Tyers meets Siri Mitchell.” Mick Silva, acquisitions editor for Waterbrook. Read the rest of the post here.

Okay, you get the idea of how to pitch, now why should you do it.

“One of the most important reasons to go to a conference is to pitch to an editor and/or agent. Many CBA publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. This is a good way to get yourself before an editor you have targeted. With ACFW conference in two weeks there will be a lot of reasons to practice your. ” Margaret Daley, Steeple Hill author. To read the rest of the article go here.

Ready to pitch or need some help refining your pitch?

Go ahead. It’ll be great practice!

Just because I’m not going to ACFW this year, doesn’t mean I can’t help you get prepared to have the best conference you can. I’ll be reposting my Conference Confidence series to help you get organized and prepare for your upcoming writers conference.

I won’t claim I know it all, or know much for that matter But what I do know is that everything I’ve pitched at conferences have been requested by multiple editors (little did I know that I would have to follow up with a finished product…but that’s another story for another post.)

So the first order of business is to figure out why you’re going to a writer’s conference?

The first three times I went to a conference I went to pitch and SELL. I was focused, driven and hardly recognized my introverted self. I had to will myself to be an extrovert, in fact flying to my first conference (Glorietta) in Santa Fe, New Mexico I distinctly remember the moment I put on my game face. I gazed out the window, worrying about having to push out of my shell and said “Game on.” (Yes, I’m a big Survivor fan) but it was the focus I needed to play the game. And it worked, I got multiple requests for multiple manuscripts (yet to be written, of course. I admit I was naive and believed what I’d been hearing, that you can sell without a completed WIP…sure if you’re Francine Rivers, Brandilyn Collins or Ted Dekker. Sadly, I was not…)

There have been conferences since that I went to (ACFW), knowing I wouldn’t pitch anything. I had given up writing and simply went to network and make friends. It was very awkward for me, a little no body, sitting with the big guys, late after classes. But I did it and prayed I didn’t look like the misfit I felt like.

So why are you going to conference this year? And are you willing to break out of your comfort zone? If so, what’s your game plan?

I’ve been super busy planning the WIN-ACFW local conference. It ended yesterday and today I’m beat!!

Last year we had one speaker, one room, and about 40 people. This year, I wanted to go bigger. Two speakers. Rene Gutteridge and Brandt Dodson…awesome, awesome, awesome. Plus we had an agent, Jeff Dunn, a publicist, Jeane Wynn, pastor/writer Ed Gungor and about 50 people. The official numbers aren’t back yet, but I do know that 8 people showed up at the door! Woo Hoo! How exciting that was…but we also panicked and ordered more food, which we actually didn’t end up needing because the wonderful WIN members kept us well supplied with snacks.

All the feedback about the conference was good. Everyone had a great time and offered some really great suggestions for next year. Even my own WIN members raved and wondered how I pulled it off. Not sure how I did. I just attacked the details one at a time and even added some things the very last week. I have to admit, planning this year was tough. I got some much needed help, but not as much as I wanted or needed, and yet, I’m thinking bigger next year. Next year? A part of me wants to jump right in with the planning (which I did this morning) and a part of me wants to run far, far away.

I can’t ignore the flashing red sign. The one with the four letter word everyone cringes at…WORK! Conference planning is a lot of work. Someone pointed out to me that I started planning this conference a year ago! That means I need to start planning now for next year!

So here I sit contemplating next year and my mind just wants to go for it. Bigger is better, right? But why do I want to go there? Partly because of the questionnaires and my desire to please everyone. Partly because there’s something inside me driving me to do more, go bigger, in lots of areas of my life. Maybe that’s what keeps me pressing on with my writing.

I’m realistic about next year’s conference and know it’s not going to meet everyone’s needs no matter what I plan. And I’m not going to go bigger without more help, that’s for sure. So I’m praying for some members to really step up. In the meantime, I’m getting more organized. Making a conference checklist and trying to amend some things that I overlooked this year.

I have speakers in mind. Several. But it all depends on budget and availability and help! I’m very good at delegating. Just need more people to delegate to! So we’ll see. I’m sure it will happen. I just don’t want to kill myself trying to make it so!

How do you get people to step up and join you in a process like this? It definitely takes a village to build a good conference!

As president of the local ACFW miniconference, I’ve been busy planning for NEXT WEEKEND! And let me tell you, it should be a full time job! But it’ll be so worth it. So if you’re anywhere near Oklahoma and have ANY desire to write fiction or just find out what it takes to write fiction, then I encourage you to attend this conference next weekend.

It’s the most affordable ($50,) meat-filled conference I know with dynamic authors who are great teachers! I’ve personally know them and have sat under their teachings! Did I mention they were awesome?

It’s not too late to register, but it’s getting late to take advantage of the reduced hotel rate.  All the info you need is here!

And if you can’t make it, can you do me a favor, pray for this conference and tell a friend or blog about it with a link! I want to reach as many people as possible because you never know who might be have a calling on their life to write. It might even be YOU!

I bought my first set of 1000 business cards at one of those expensive copy stores. I didn’t really know any better and I didn’t really know what to put on a business card as a writer, but I knew I needed to have business cards for the conference I was attending.

Well, the expensive cards are out dated, and I probably have about 950 left. Thank goodness I found VistaPrint for the next conference I attended.

They offered affordable business cards printed on the back and front for almost any amount of cards I wanted. Needless to say, I didn’t get 1000 that time around. We just got my mom business cards and the only thing she paid was shipping and it wasn’t an arm and a leg! Can’t beat that, now can you?

So when I found out VistaPrint did more than business cards, I was pleasantly surprised. From stationary, to gifts and calendars, they have it all. Even magnets.

Now how cool would it be for a writer to have his or her business card, or new release printed on a magnet? I know I have magnets from different places, and they’re always stuck somewhere to my frig. They’re just so useful, I never want to throw them out!

There’s about 40 pages worth of magnet designs to choose from and I found a great one that would work for my mom’s hair cutting business and even my website Writer…Interrupted.  But there are enough generic templates to satisfy any writer. Or you could just upload a complete design for a set fee.

Prices start at $12.99 for 10 magnets and of course the more you buy, the cheaper they are. Guess I’ll have to keep this in mind for when I do get published, but thinking about magnets has given me the idea that a photo magnet of the family might make a great alternative to a Christmas card.

Hmmm, something else to think about… A calendar magnet with my name a website…Guess the possibilities are endless!

I’m off to the Christian Book Expo where I’ll be hanging with writing friends like Cara Putman, Lynette Sowell, interviewing people like Colleen Coble and Brandt Dodson and meeting with my Agent Chip MacGergor.

I bought this cool little Flip Camera so videocasts will be coming your way! Hopefully, they won’t be as challenging to upload as my digital interviews…which by the way will be coming to you soon!

So stay tuned! Not sure if I’ll have internet access at the Expo, but if I do, I’ll try to fill you in on the event!

ACFW has been over for almost a week, and it seems but a dream. Something I kind of remember experiencing, and every bit of it was good, but it went by so fast it was hard to absorb and savor each moment. So I’ll try and hit the high lights!

ACFW Minnesota was a complete 180 from my first time in Nashville. This time around the people and relationships were more important than the classes and sessions! In fact, I only attended one full day of sessions, and missed all of Saturday due to meetings, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

On Wednesday, September 17th, the flight to Minnesota went well. I was fortunate enough to find a dierct flight, though the trek to baggage claim in Minnesota took me up and down escalators and when I got to the shuttle area to catch the hotel shuttle, I couldn’t find my print out of the hotel name. I vagule remembered the name of the hotel, but wanted to make sure so I went back inside and got caught off guard by an airport doorman when he told me where the hotel shuttle list was and commented to me that I was “going to the hotel for a movie.” I gave him a puzzling look, and then he repeated himself (my paraphrase) “you must be going to star in a movie because you’re so pretty.” Despite the fact he was old (I later described him as 50, though looking back on it, he was more like 70, guess I forgot I was almost 40 and 50’s not that far away. Geeze, I still feel like I’m 20!) But heck, any kind of compliment from even a really old guy makes me walk a little taller, so I savored the compliment, even from a 70 year old airport doorman worker!

 

I met up with Tiff and Stewart Stockton (who are expecting) and met Jennifer, another ACFWer. We chatted and caught up on the year during our drive to the hotel. I was blessed to get an early check in at about 11am and then went up to unpack and rest. Laster I met up with my roomie, Therese Stenzel, my WI buddy, Christa Allen and a new friend Jenny B. Jones (we share the same agent.) We wanted to head over to the mall for lunch but we missed the last afternoon shuttle to the Mall of America. Luckily we asked around before we settled for a $13 burger in the hotel. TGI Fridays was right out the back door. So we went and ate and later my roomie and me rested until later when more of the ACFW conferees would be arriving. It was a very relaxing day and later that night we went to the Mall of America with a group of 12 and ate at the Rain Forest Café. I split a $18.99 Pastalaya dish with my new friend Rhonda Gibson (who later seemed to be stalking me, every where I turned she was there.) Good thing we split a meal ‘cause that gave me room for the Chocolate brownie volcano with vanilla ice cream! YUM!

 

I can’t really remember what I did after the MOA, which had a rollercoaster ride I was really wanting to ride INSIDE, but I’m sure I said hello to more of the friends that were coming in that evening. The conference wasn’t supposed to start until Thursday, and I don’t think I went to bed too late that night since I was getting up to workout in the morning!

 

Thursday I woke to a strange succession of noise. I didn’t actually figure out until the next day that it was the symphony of the morning flushes. Even if I wanted to sleep in, I couldn’t. So I ate some trail mix, grabbed Claudia Mair Burney’s latest, Wounded, and headed for the gym. There were only two other brave/crazy souls in there, but I managed 30 minutes on the elliptical and another 30 on the treadmill. I’m telling ya, wounded kept me going and I had to force myself to work on my pitch instead of find out what happened to Gina and Anthony! But I’ll be blogging about that book another time.

 

After working out and showering, I went to registration, got all my goodies and chatted with some old and new friends. I honestly can’t remember if I had lunch or not, but later met up with Georgiana, Erica and Kaye for the first session at ACFW. I found a comfy seat in the audience, when noticed that the facutly were getting lined up next to the stage. Honetly, the little red badge on my name tag that said “faculty” didn’t clue me in that I needed to be up there so I aske Cara Putman if I needed, her profound reply was “Are you faculty?” Well, since I was teaching a late night session with her, I guess I was.

 

So I squeezed my way up to the front feeling totally out of place next to the likes of Terri Blackstock, Karen Ball, and Terry Burns. But I smiled and pretended like I belonged and when I sauntered across the stage with my little Miss America wave, and heard my name and something about Writer…Interrupted, I actually felt important. Good thing I didn’t decide to really dress down for the occassion.

 

Dinner was yummy by the indoor poolside and we got to meet up with fellow WIN members. We had about ten from our local chapter attend the conference. Several of them first timers.

 

Then back to meet the editors where I’m glad I listened because the editor I was meeting with first the next afternoon said the thing she looks for in the writing is VOICE. A big red flag went off in my head. Um, my printer was giving me fits before I left and I didn’t manage to get my chapters printed off, and I KNOW I have voice, but all I had with me was my proposal, one sheet and chapters from another WIP. Good thing I brouht my laptop and the business center was open all night for lug heads like me! So after Georgiana and I attended Michelle Sutton’s chocolate party, she headed to bed and I headed to the buisness center. It was pretty straight forward. I plugged in my laptop (minus AC adapter so I was racing against the battery) sent it to the printer. The guy at the front desk told me to write down a code, so I did and I assumed it would print at the front desk, since he said he needed the code. So I went to the front desk, but the code didn’t work. By that time another guy had tried the same method of printing I did, and I was able to help him navigate it faster than I did. But neither of our stuff would print.

 

So after another trip down the hall to the front desk (mind you, it’a about midnight at this time and I so wanted to hang with friends instead of printing my pages) and a call to tech support, I finally got a clue I had to type a code into the little key pad next to the computer. Did that, still no pages. It was then I went back to the counter and waited while an interesting looking guy in a leather jacket (who reminded me of my brother in law) was checking in. I was wearing my Mock HarleyACFW shirt and was a little nervous when he stared at me longer than I thought necessary and even more nervous when he followed me down to the copy center and waited outside the door…

 

But I’ll save that story for later!

 

 

 

1. You wake well rested and miss the symphony of toilet flushes!

2. You still feel that post ACFW conference stooper, and wonder if it was all but a dream because the memories and euphoria are fading.

3. You realize YOU have to cook breakfast.

4.  The noise you hear from downstairs is NOT the excitement from seeing James Scott Bell, but from your kids fighting over the breakfast cereal.

5.   You realize that the most exciting thing on your to do list is NOT deciding which workshop to go to, but to finish unpacking your suitcase.

6.  You actually offer your kids desert when they come home from school because you’re body’s become accustomed to the sugar rush.

7.  You’re an introvert but find yourself wanting to go down to the lounge and stay up late with a group of friends.

8.  You actually miss that feeling in the pit of your stomach while waiting to talk to an editor.

9.  You’re ready for bed and realize it’s before midnight and you feel as if you should be doing something else bedsides going to bed…like preparing for an appointment in the morning.

10. Instead of falling asleep right away, you lay in bed, trying to recapture the ACFW experience like when you wake from a really good dream and try to go back to sleep but realize even if you do the moment has passed!

I remember my first ACFW conference in Nashville, Tennesse. Therese Stenzel, Margaret Daley and I drove nine hours, talking pitches and plotting all the way. Therese and I were anxious, Margaret was our encourager.

The conference filled me socially and spiritually. I met online friends and new friends. Lasting friendships with people like me, who got me and never questioned what I was doing writing.

The only thing I really remember about the editor appointments is standing outside the doors being really nervous. But when I sat down in front of an editor and shared my story, I felt at ease and confident. The editors requested my proposals and I was flying high.

I remember my agent appoint critique with Steve Laube like it was yesterday. Standing in the hall waiting for him to come from another appointment. Worrying about him shredding my proposal/writing to pieces. Wondering if I had the right room when he didn’t show on time and feeling the nervous heat of the moment. But his smile eased my anxiety and his words soothed my anxiousness. He said I was a good writer, that I had the highest scores out of all his critiques, but he couldn’t quite buy into my story idea. I secretly hoped to be offered representation by my brilliant prose, but I walked away with so much more. Feeling uplifted and validated as a writer.

By January my priorities in life were messed up, and I didn’t know how to get them back on track. My desire to be published peaked to the neglect of my family. I knew things weren’t right, but couldn’t seem to reign myself in. A month or two later God told me to lay my Isaac on the altar. I did, and physically grieved for the loss of a possible dream, my Isaac. I plugged away, soul searching, interviewing writing moms all the while wondering “why me?”

The next year in Dallas brought me to a place of yearning. For my career and for God, to be a part of the comradery. Though officially not writing, I longed to be around my writing friends. People who understood me. I witnessed other writers having from a far. I witnessed my crit partner get a contract right at the conference and I had to deal with all sorts of emotions…jealousy and the “why not me” factor. Though I knew partly “why not me…” I wasn’t ready and didn’t have a manuscript. I pitched some ideas, got some interested and built stronger relationships. I also met my future agent.

I was thrilled to get the green light to write before ACFW Dallas 2007 and when I pitched to two agents, they were interested. That sent me on an emotional and writing rollercoaster, frantically trying to get my submission in before next conference. If you’re new here and want to read what happened visit my writing blog. 

All that brings me to today. Already the memories and emotions are starting to fade, but I don’t want to forget the feeling and friendships at ACFW Minnesota. Though it was a complete 180 from my first time in Nashville, it was just as awe inspiring and confirming that I’m where God wants me to be. But I’ll get to that later in the week!

So much to tell, but because I stayed up way late almost every night of the conference, it’ll have to wait! So while you wait, make plans to see the Fireproof movie next weekend and help support marriages and more films like this!

From the Newsletter:

It’s amazing the difference a year can make in a writing career. Last year at this time I was counting down the days to conference, fretting over one sheets and pitches and which agents I’d be talking to.

This year I haven’t had much time to think about the conference, though I’ve helped plan the workshops, assisted in organizing the authors that will be at the massive book signing at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, and planned a late night chat with Cara Putman on Writing Buddies.

We’ve been too busy with packing and fixing up our home to sell  for me to fret over my own stuff. Luckily I have an agent who has already sent my proposal to eight editors, so for the most part, I’m just going to be talking up my manuscript and enjoying the fellowship and educational opportunities!

What a difference a year makes! Last year I was stressed and slightly worried, this year I know God has everything in the palm of his hand, from my writing career to my house sale and every mundane thing in between.

What a difference the peace of God makes!

If you’re going to ACFW Minneapolis this week, please leave a comment and don’t hesitate to stop me and say hello!

Check out my interview with John Morgan here!

Wednesday, July 30 – Sunday, August 3rd

I know I should have gotten this up a lot sooner, but I’ve been on the road with shoddy internet connection that brought me back to the dial up days! UGH!But it’s not too late to sign up. It starts tomorrow, and what a deal!There are some awesome speakers, and I’ll be speaking on “How to Follow Your Dream and Homeschool” on Friday at 11:45!

I’ve figured out how to log in and talk, and I’m polishing up my speech.

I’m actually getting excited! This is my first teleseminar, and I hope it’s not my last!So sign up and tell them I sent ya! Hope to see you there!

To make this fun I thought I’d play a little game and see if you can name the people in these photos. The person who gets the most answers right wins…books. I’ll probably keep the contest going until I get home! Please email the answers to Portraitwriter (at) gmail (dot) com

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. Please ignore the REALLY bad picture of me and concentrate on the person in the middle!

7.

Well, this will have to do for now. Internet connection is very slow! Please email the answers to Portraitwriter (at) gmail (dot) com

That’s write. I’m somewhere East of Birmingham, AL riding in the car accessing the internet. Isn’t technology awesome. Actually, so is my hubby. He bought this AT & T device that you plug into your USB drive and install, and whallah, internet on the go. Of course the device cost $100 and there’s a monthly service charge of $60, BUT there is a 30 day free trail PERFECT for our trip ’cause my hubby is frugal and why pay for internet on the go when almost everywhere you look there’s free WiFi.

So here’s a quick update. The first hour on the road is always the hardest as the kids settle in with their bad attitudes raging. The movies on our 13 inch tv we brought from the house (no built in dvd for us, we’re very behind the times and like it that way ’cause it saves us lots of money,) but this time I didn’t pack any videos. I opted for all dvds. They take up less room. But the only problem is once we hook the dvd to our tv the sound quality is so poor they kids can’t hear it above the road noise. Luckily there was one video still in the tv unit, they watched it once and the sound was really loud. Maybe next time we’ll bring videos, or have to go with modern times and get one of those built in dvds!

While on the road I wrote out several more interviews for ICRS, figured out my digital recorder, and read a little. The kids have seemed very content playing their Nintendo Dses the entire time. I’m okay with it as long as they’re not arguing and turn the sound down.

Well, it’s about time I sign off and check my email!

When I agreed to blog about ACFW, the finest Christian Fiction conference on the planet, I thought I’d share about the wonderful sessions, incredible worship, and unforgettable fellowship with fellow authors and agents. While all that is true, and I could probably share a blog post or two on the details of the conference and my personal experiences (actually did, just search my blog for them,) I decided instead to share a funny and what could have been really embarrassing moment for me and our key note speaker last year. Indulge me while I reminisce…

It was late when I finally arrived at ACFW. I had driven for over five hours and then visited with my sister in Fort Worth at the hospital. After making two treks from the car to the hotel room, I was tired. But not tired enough to change into my Writer…Interrupted T-shirt and head down to the lobby to see who was hanging out.

The lobby was buzzing with conference arrivals and those who had already settled into the lobby social hour. I immediately said hello to the edgy inspirational author aka Michelle Sutton, and Meredith Efken who were chatting away. Later I sat down with Meredith to chat for a while. The subject matter escapes me, but it’s the feeling of camaraderie and connection that I remember.

A crowd started to gather around our little area. We were on the couch, but I noticed several others gathered in a semi-circle around a gentleman in a chair. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I remember Camy Tang, Randy Ingermanson, and Sarah Anne Sumpolec being in the group laughing and talking.

I got up to greet some more friends and when I returned, Meredith had joined the little group. I was fading fast, so I plopped down on the couch next the to man in the chair who was engaged in conversation with the growing group.

Then unexpectedly, he turned to me and asked me my name. He held out his hand, and I shook it and said, “Gina Conroy, and you are?” (I was actually taking the advice of those on the conference loop that said when feeling introverted and shy, just ask someone their name!!! GREAT advice people! :0 Next time put a disclaimer to FIRST familiarize yourself with the key note speaker!)

The looks and giggles from “the group” surrounding him were memorable. I heard him say Jim something and then someone said, “He’s the key note speaker.” Call me slow… I’d just asked James Scott Bell who he was!!

When I got a good look at him, and titled my head slightly, he did look like his picture. I guess it was the location and pose that threw me off.

Jim was a good sport and said something like it being good for his ego! Then Camy bragged on me and my Writer…Interrupted site. Thanks Camy! Surprisingly enough I didn’t get embarrassed, and I milked it as a running joke for the rest of the conference. When I would see him in passing I would stick out my hand and say, “And your name is?” He’d shake it and give me a false name.

Like I said in previous posts on this blog. When I’m around other writers, even famous ones, I become a different person. I think I become the person God had designed me to be all along, before the crud and baggage of life crept in. I like the person who I am when I’m around other writers. I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not, I’m just me!

And it feels good!

More fun with James!

So for all those introverted writers (I’m one of them) you can rest at ease knowing you probably won’t do anything worse than I did last year at conference. And when you feel introverted and shy, like a guppy in a tank of big fish, just swim over and ask them their name! What’s the worse that could happen?