Conferences And Stuff

*Takes break from fighting with Princess Faith*

HELLO MY NERDMIGAS!!! (If that Spanish is wrong, I apologize. I only went to the first day of Spanish Class.)  So, as I've mentioned here and here, I have been planning quite some time to go to the Jerry B. Jenkins Writing For The Soul, and now this past weekend I've attended it. Let me just say, this conference was an experience I'll never forget.

This conference was vastly different from the AWP Conference I attended the previous year for many reasons, all of which can be boiled down to a couple of categories. Atmosphere, Structure and Content.


Atmosphere

One of the things I'll always remember about this conference was the orientation. The minute C. McNair Wilson walked up to that podium and opened his mouth will be forever burned into my mind. Why? Because one of the first things he said was "Raise your hand if this is your first conference."

And you wouldn't even believe how many hands went up.

This set the mood for the rest of the conference.

All the sudden everyone was being honest about what place they were at in their writing. We started feeling safe about braving the conference because we knew we weren't alone. Personally, I felt it was so much easier to approach people, finding people to stick to and be confused with. Before we knew it we were all talking about our writing, our hopes for the future, stories from home, I swore at times I felt like I knew these people my whole life. (Is that weird? Let's forget I said that. Try not to think about it.) I just remember when going to the AWP Conference being so intimidated, scared to even be honest about my age. And, as another gauge to measure how awesome this conference was, let me present to you the following statistic.

Business Cards Given @ AWP: 1
Business Cards Given @ WFTS: 10

That, my friends, is staggering.


Structure

The way that the conference was structured gave a great benefit to extroverts and introverts, beginners and professionals, and writers editors and agents alike. The way the schedule went, it started with an optional devotional at 6:45, followed by breakfast at seven. After breakfast, along with each meal, we'd have a lecture given by a keynote speaker. After that, we'd go to a continuing class that lasted both days or we'd go to appointments we'd signed up for with agents editors or mentors. Then lunch with another keynote speaker, only at lunch there was each editor and agent was assigned to a specific table and you could sit with which ever one you wanted. It was a great way to connect agents and editors with authors on a more personal level, getting to know more about the industry without the pressure of having to present a pitch. Then back to classes or appointments. And the day would end with another meal with agents and editors and one last keynote speaker, followed by book signings from whoever spoke that day. And while this took a whole day and a whole lot of energy, I had to admire the organization that let attendees gain more familiarity with other attendees. Kudos, Jerry B. Jenkins.


Content

Writing For The Soul gave a unique opportunity that other conferences, in that they allowed for attendees to sign up for 15 minute appointments with editors and agents in order to pitch their book and possible get a partial or full request (or, in some cases, going straight to the book deals). This, I feel, is a way to make something everyone hopes to do at a conference fifty bazillion times easier. I mean, seriously, why hasn't anyone thought of this before? Not only were we allowed 15 minute appointments with agents, but we were also allowed a 15 minute appointment with a mentor and a 15 minute appointment with former Disney Imagineer C. McNair Wilson to work on our pitch. Along side those added perks we also were discounted half-off for a room rate at five-star/five-diamond resort hotel The Broadmoor.


All-In-All, The Christian Writer's Guild knows how to do a writer's conference.

Stats Of The Week

Song: And Run by He Is We

Book: Hatch! By C. McNair Wilson

 Word: Menagerie

Quote: "There are two things that are infinite, the universe and stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe."

Albert Einstein  

Nasty Routines (A Way to Minimize Stress)

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This is one for the masses Monkeys.

It's half way coming from my need to write this down to solidify my resolve, halfway just me pleading to you before it's too late. But I can see your minuscule mind is confused, so I'll back things up. Once again kiddies, it's story time.

I came home with a very weary heart on Sunday afternoon. I had spent the weekend at my friends and while it was fun it was spent mostly cleaning and with entirely too many people (introverted people problems). To add the cherry on top I had nursery duty that morning and was abandoned by the person who was supposed to be helping. It was a special service up in church, so not only did I desperately want to be up there but it was twice as long and there were a lot of visiting babies. Visiting baby=crying baby. And I had to brave that on my own. (At one point four different children were crying at once and I had to either hold them or rock them all at the same time. Don't ask me how I did it because I can't remember for the life of me.) Luckily the music pastor's wife and daughter took pity and helped me out, but it was still overly stressful. And too add another cherry, I found out afterwards that a friend of mine who I desperately wanted to see (for reasons I feel I should not disclose on the internet) was there and I totally missed her.

Like I said, weary heart. 

So I came home and was able to relax for all of two seconds before I jumped into business that I had to catch up on over the weekend, including writing enough blogs to last me for months to come should I ever be too busy. At some point I got a head-splitting migraine and crazed the soothing powers of mint tea. I went to the tea cabinet, all of the mugs were dirty. I grabbed a mug and went to the sink to wash it quickly, but all the rags were gone, presumably up in the laundry room. Not only that but at the bottom of my sink my drain was clogged and moldy water had pooling on the bottom. Much to my dismay I went upstairs to see if maybe a quick nap would help only to realize that my bedroom was a disastrous mess. I go to the bathroom, thinking a shower could clear my mind but it was clogged by my sister's impossibly thick hair. When I come back downstairs the smell of warm food wafted to my nose. What luck, I thought. Surely a meal could lift my spirits. But, again, I found myself disappointed again, because rather then a home cooked meal I was greeted with a greasy whopping baconator. (I swear, sometimes I feel myself getting fatter.)

I recognize that most of this is out of my control. As much as I help to keep the house clean, living with an 11 year old and a 15 year old, it's a pipe dream. But I did also dig my own grave to some extent. So, without further ado, I present some routines to help keep the little things little.

Never underestimate the power of a home cooked meal. 
Junk food is an illusion. Home cooked meals are where the true taste lies. Sometimes, and I'm not even kidding, you can taste the love.

Dedicate a day every other week or so just for cleaning. 
Clean your room, clean your kitchen, and above all, clean your bathroom. To me, nothing feels more relaxing then a clean bathroom. Bathrooms, in my opinion, are very nearly sacred. It's the one place were you are allowed private, quiet moments of meditation. And don't forget to do your laundry and dishes. Nasty little Monkeys like that have a tendency of piling up when we're not looking.

Even the details count. 
It sounds silly, I know, but make your bed in the morning. Keep your books in alphabetical order by author. Make sure everything has it's proper place. If it's useless, chuck it. Free space in your room equals free space in your mind.

If you live with others, try your best not to bring your anger home with you. 
Anger is an infectious emotion, it spreads like wild fire. When you come home with a chip on your shoulder, the next person will sense it and become angry by result. And so on and so forth until the entire house is yelling at each other for no reason at all. But come home with a smile on your face and it'll be returned, and even if it's fake, with the reactions you get from your fellow housemates it will become genuine before you know it.

It seems like a pain in the butt, but it goes a long way. So please, pretty please, take care of yourself.

(And for those of you with pets, I am currently developing ways to potty train them and will get back to you.)