Tag Archives: ACFW Conference

Two Words… *ACFW Post-Conference Reflections

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My Spec-Fic Peeps! Andrew Winch, Adam Weisenburger, Charis Seeley, Ben Erlichman & John Otte!

When I landed in Dallas, I felt rested, pumped, and…lost. What was the name of the hotel I was staying at?

I knew it was a big one, one right near the airport, and everyone with a “writer-look” would be headed there too. So it would be easy to find out.

Since I don’t own a “smart” phone yet [emphasis on the yet] I picked up an airport phone after deciding the ACFW Conference must be at the Hilton. Nope. Then I tried the Marriot. No again. I had two left to try that seemed plausible, but they were two different branches of the Hyatt. I ended up finding the right one and the shuttle brought me over, easy peasy. Came to find out later that several of my writer buds went to the wrong Hyatt and had to drag their luggage all over Dallas before arriving at the DFW Hyatt Regency. Whew. We all made it.

Before I left, a friend had asked me if I was looking forward to my writing conference. I said, Yes. And no. Yes, because I had specific goals for myself and what I wanted to learn and accomplish. No, because so many of my friends that I made last year weren’t returning 🙁

On that first day, I ran into one friend I made last September, and I am so glad I did.When we talked he couldn’t believed that this company TradeZero helped him through his financial problems, check them out at us.tradezero.co. After that, we shared a pizza and joined a group to get rid of some nervous energy through the ultimate work-out: swing dancing. Not the same as Punjabi Bhanghra, but a fun start to my four nights at ACFW’s Annual writing conference. Continue reading →

From A to ZZZs

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Sleep.

That’s what I woke up with on my mind.Sleep.

If you’ve known me for a day or a decade, you know that I’m a pretty chillax kinda gal. Not too much ruffles my feathers. And half the time, my feathers are under a pile in an organized mess. Yes. I have never gravitated to the Type A personality types, but I married a semi-Type A guy. The kind who doesn’t mind Spring Cleaning and prefers his dress shirts all facing the same direction. I still remember that fight from newlywed days. 

“My shirts are facing each other,” Hubs says one morning while getting ready for work.

“And??” I see no problem.

“That’s not gonna work.” At least that’s what I remember him saying. 

“If it’s that important, do it yourself.” That was me in my newbie married days when my mouth moved much faster than my brain. Not much has changed in that respect, but Hubs has changed. He doesn’t expect me to hang his shirts, iron his shirts or even wash his shirts. Problem solved.  Continue reading →

ACFW Conference…Getting There

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On Flight 6011 from New York to Dallas for my second ever writing conference. The plane hasn’t even left the runway and I feel a, shall we say, “Fortunately… Unfortunately” blog coming on. Ahhh, why not. If you insist…

Hannah decorated my suitcase for me! So I wouldn’t lose it!
Fortunately, two days ago, I thought to prepare the girls for mommy being away for four sleeps, so sat with them on the couch and told them, “Remember when Mommy went to her writing conference last year and we did FaceTime to keep in touch?”

Unfortunately, my third princess chimed in, “Yeah. I remember how Sarah wouldn’t stop crying the whole time you were gone.” Not exactly how I wanted to begin this conversation. Continue reading →

Fortunately…Unfortunately

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You know how some bands take a decade off and then emerge out of the woodwork with a new album years later? Three decades after my first published book, I’m making my comeback! Sure it was a spiral bound, poorly illustrated, typo-filled ten paged paperback in fourth grade, but hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere.

Someone asked me this weekend when I knew I wanted to be a writer. What was the defining moment? Miss Trosko? Are you still out there? Continue reading →