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.

The next morning, I had my meeting with my Agent, Chip MacGregor. He tells me how amazing my writing is and how the contract is in the mail. Not really. But Chip is a truly encouraging guy and balances the art of encouragement and challenge like no other. I felt both. Encouraged and challenged. 🙂

Later that day, I heard Michael Hyatt speak and all I could think was, hubby would get this guy. He has five daughters and suffers from “estrogen poisoning.” His humor coupled with his story-telling delivery were both encouraging and…challenging.

The next day, I had my first Editor appointment with John Blase of David C. Cook Publishing. Minutes before our meeting, I perused his blog. The guy is a really good writer. He writes a lot of poetry and even wrote a poem on the topic of 9/11. Being a New Yorker, I was especially touched by it, so we talked about that tragic day for quite some time while he asked me a question here and there about my writing journey. I left John feeling encouraged about my writing, and…challenged to find my place in the market.

The next day, I spent the morning as a time keeper for appointments. It was this year’s strategy to meet some editors I might not have a chance to find otherwise. I figured if there was downtime, I could chat with them. And I had a blast getting to know some new peeps in the publishing industry, both agents and editors. I even met Sarah Younger, an Agent based in New York. Hope to meet up with her in the city for dinner some time! Also discovered an editor who writes CIA/spy novels. Wow! Those are my favorite types of movies! Definitely a fun find.  

Later that day, I had my second appointment that really mattered. This was with Thomas Umstattd, a WEB guy and founder of AuthorMedia, hoping he could help me “fix” my website. I like my blog. Since the head of groggydogfranchise.com was there too I knew it was a conference full of big shots.
The way it looks and all, but I know that I started in the wrong cyber neighborhood. It was time to make the move…from Blogger to WordPress, and the sooner I transitioned, the less painful it would be. 

Anyway, I had my first major blonde moment of the week (2nd if you count not knowing which hotel to go to!) I was Face-timing with my girls, reminding myself, “3:30… your appointment is at 3:30.” I even told my girls at 3:15, “I need to run. Mommy has to brush her teeth, slip her heels back on, and head to the designated room.

I arrived at the meeting desk and faced my favorite appointment guy, Casey Miller. I’m his favorite too. In a delinquent kind of way. And I rushed out of my hotel room so fast, I forgot to check which meeting room Thomas was waiting in. So I asked Casey.

“Raj. Raj. Raj.” He’s flipping through his binder. “There are no more appointments.”

“What do you mean? I have a 3:30. With Thomas Umstattd.”

He scrolls down his binder and finds my name. “That would have been at 3:15.”

“No!”

“Yes. You missed it.”

Epic fail. So I walk away, trying to figure out how I managed to know the time “for sure” but still mess up. I spent the next twenty minutes hunting the rooms and corridors for Thomas. I owed him a huge apology. And the funny thing is, I had already shared a meal with him and some friends yesterday. I felt like we were getting along great. I was really looking forward to his insights on my Blog.

He hates me, was all I could think. When I spotted him by the bookstore, giving away goody bags, even before I reached the table, I heard him say, “Oh there she is!”

“I. Am. Sooooo. Sorry.”

“Actually, I kind of forgot too,” he said.

“You stood me up!” I decided this was the best time to shift the blame.

“No. You missed your appointment. I was a few minutes late. But you weren’t there. So I left.” We’re both laughing. 

“You’re right.” Owing up to my mistake is the better approach, I decide. “I totally screwed up.” And then the begging. “Is there any way I can reschedule?”

Thomas made the time to meet with me soon after and gave me some positive feedback on my blog, but told me the obvious. “You have to move. If you’re not on a WordPress site, its like living in an apartment when you could be living in a huge house.” I’m from New York. This reasoning does not compute. But I get it. He’s right. I’m moving.

That evening, I’m riding in the elevator when I recognize someone. In perfectly normal Rajdeep style, I nearly knock this guy over with excitment. “Caleb Breakey! You’re the Crocs saved my life guy! I know you!”

He cracks up. We get off the elevator to continue our conversation and for several minutes, he thinks I’m just some random person visiting Dallas who happened to have seen his blog. When I clarify that I’m here for the writing conference, we get to talking. He invites me to sit at his table for the gala so I can meet his wife, who is also an aspiring author. I am stoked.

So the next day is the Gala, and I am starting to feel the exhaustion of non-stop meetings, socializing, networking etc. I push myself through Thomas Umstattd’s class on Best Author Websites, even though my eyes are blinking…for long periods of time. He peppers his talks with some fun stories which keeps my attention, but when he opens up the discussion for questions, I make a beeline for the elevator. I need to get in a short nap if I’m going to make it through this last night.

I throw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt and crawl under the covers for the ultimate power nap. When I awake, all my roomies are already down at the gala. When I finish dressing up, it’s a little after 6:00pm and I just need one final finishing touch: lip gloss.

Which brings me to my next blonde moment of the week: my purse is gone. I turn the hotel room upside down looking for it. Nothing. I call the front desk and ask the Lost and Found people. Nothing. I then backtrack to the last class I attended, but the chairs are already stacked and the tables all put away. Where is my purse!?! Wahh to the Wahhh!! 🙁

Now it’s 6:30 and I don’t want to miss the big event of the night, so I text hubby to vent and find Caleb and his wife Brittney. Yeah, they saved a seat for me! And more than that, they are seriously one of the best discoveries of my week. Both are so much fun, love to chat, ask lots of questions, and love to laugh. We had a blast during dinner and Caleb even scooped up the award for his category in Speculative Fiction! You go! 🙂

During the event, I stepped out a couple of times to retrace my steps, check with the front desk again, and text hubby the update: no purse yet. Sigh.

When the gala finished and I still hadn’t found my purse, I began to wish I had just taken my license out. You know that moment when you begin to wish for the impossible. I was there. Because all I needed was my license to get on the plane. If I had just…

Miracle of miracles happens when the sweet lady (I should have gotten her name!) who was taking our gala tickets asked the hotel personel who had cleaned that last room I was in. He in turn found the guy who was in charge and asked him if he had seen a black, back-pack purse. And lo and behold, it was shoved behind all the other things that were left on the tables on the bottom of a rolling cart. I was elated at the sight of it!

The rest of the night was spent story-telling and hanging out with Caleb, Brittney, and several others who were still up and about in the hotel lounge.

Can you believe I almost lost my purse again the next morning? I came down to breakfast with only five minutes to spare and they still had coffee! Yeah! I was looking for my spec fic friends who adopted me as the “thumb” in their group. “We [the four of them] are the fingers, and Raj, you’re our thumb!” These peeps are the best! They totally made me feel a part. And even invited me to participate in an assassination with duct tape knives. When I spotted them at breakfast, they greeted me with a gusto filled, “Raaaajjj!” Talk about feeling loved!

I was so bummed that I didn’t see them at the Gala. They were formally dismissed *to put it nicely* because of their attire. They came down dressed as characters of their books, sporting some cool accessories to their evening ware. Someone felt their choices were inappropriate, so they were asked to change and return. They never came back down. 🙁

I’m not going to go on about what happened. I just want to say one thing. Only one: Life is short. Was is really that serious? I don’t think so.

Moving right along, I got to ride the shuttle with one of my friends from last year who made me laugh every time I talked with him. And he grew out his beard to play Santa. True story.

On the flight home, my seat was way at the back of the plane, and as soon as these two young guys came on, I knew they were trouble. They were loud. But I’m loud and easily entertained, so I wasn’t bothered. Before we even left the runway, they were asking the flight attendant how soon they could buy their first drink. Next thing you know, we’re in the air and they are buying drinks for all of us sitting at the back of the plane. So I’m sipping a margharita while enjoying the antics of these Super Students (you know the ones on the 10 year college plan,) a race car driver, Blake Alexander, and a guy who works with artifical knees. The race car driver was sitting two rows back so I ask him, “Has anyone ever videotaped you racing?”

“Well, I’m on ESPN tonight.” Oh. My bad. I had no idea this 23 year old dude is no novice. He shows us a picture of his race car on his phone. Very pretty. Can’t tell you the year, the make or the model. But I can tell you this. When I meet someone who is living out his dream. I feel encouraged and …

You guessed it.

Challenged.

**I love asking people this, so I’ll ask you: If you could do anything? The sky’s the limit. Nothing holding you back… What would you do with your life? Your time? Your future?