Faith, Fiction and a Whole Lot More

This past weekend I participated in the Faith & Fiction Retreat in Orlando, Florida. It was a well-planned, well-executed event that I truly enjoyed, thanks to Tiffany & Brent Warren and the F&F staff.

I made plans to attend as soon as the conference info was released, but up until last week, my attendance was seriously in doubt. But God has a way of opening doors that I cannot see! Angela Benson needed to find a roommate to take her place since her mom was joining her at the conference. That meant I could afford the hotel costs! My uncle came up with the airplane ticket at the last minute and off I went!

After landing in Florida, the first person I met on the shuttle to the hotel was Rhonda McKnight. Though we’d never met in person, we’ve chatted online for months. Rhonda is so sweet and knowledgeable and we talked the whole trip to the hotel. She was so kind to introduce me to some of the other participants at the meet and greet. (Praying for you Rhonda!!!)

After checking into the Villas of Grand Cypress (which is an amazing and elegant resort), I headed for the Meet & Greet in our hospitality suite. There I reconnected with Daphine Glenn Robinson (my BWRC friend) and met my roommate, Linda Leigh Hargrove. Linda is a an author and such a down to earth, sweet person with a terrific sense of humor. (Okay, she thought I was funny, but that’s not saying much.) I also met Angela Benson (first time in person) and other authors and readers. Tiffany and her staff made us all feel so welcome, and we spent time getting to know each other and share in our love of reading and writing (among other things).

The next day, I overslept and nearly missed the first session. But the entire day was filled with wonderful discussions. Authors Angela Benson, Pat G-org Walker, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Tiffany Warren, Tia McCollors, along with Linda, Daphine and Rhonda were all excellent presenters with so much information to share. Our book discussions with Tiffany, ReShonda, Angela and Tia were so much fun.

Lunch and dinner allowed for us to just enjoy each other’s company in informal settings. All the authors were funny and kind and willing to share everything about the writing process and the industry itself. (The Author Mentoring Q & A  was my favorite session.) We had spoken word by Stella and Ashe, which was another highlight.

Sharing with the book club reps was also a treat, as we were able to introduce them to new works and they in turn shared how they choose new books and were able to tell us what they enjoyed about our writing.

The only hiccup was the book orders that did not come through. This was in no way the fault of Tiffany and Brent (who were so apologetic and upset themselves) but in the book chain they had worked with who failed to do their job properly. (It’s a national chain that I’m not going to call out, but if you want to know, email me.)

I left with a renewed sense of purpose and energy in my spirit to continue writing what and how I do. Now if I can just get my body to cooperate!

I’m going to post a more detailed account as soon as I can get my energy up!