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!

Geek-speak

I was sitting on the train yesterday, playing Bejeweled 2 on my iPhone, and I overheard these two men chatting about their work. It was clear that they were both involved in IT. (I originally wanted to call them computer geeks, but I realized that anyone who works in IT has to be incredibly smart and patient and they have my undying gratitude.) They were going on and on about some problem they were having. It was mildly annoying but interesting at the same time.  Though I didn’t understand a word of what they were talking about, I understood their mindset. They were very serious, almost passionate, about their work.

I thought about that on the way home. At first, I was amused that anyone could get so wrapped up in computer geek-speak. But then I realized that I’m the same way – when I’m with other writers.

Part of the appeal of writing conferences is the need to be around others who think like you do, people who understand what a WIP is, who know the perils and pitfalls of self-publishing and writer’s block. Because writing is such a solitary pursuit, trying to explain writing (and editing and publishing) to someone who doesn’t understand tends to be like those IT guys trying to explain what they were doing to someone who only knows how to turn the computer off and on.The average computer user just wants the computer to work when they turn it on, and for it to be fixed if it’s broken. They don’t want to know what the IT folks do to get it running and keep it running.

The average reader has no idea how much goes into producing a book – and I’m not talking about money, either. The average reader doesn’t care. They just want a story. They don’t want to know how the author labored over the words and images. They don’t want to know about disagreements with editors or lousy advances (if any). They really don’t want to know that the average writer has a “real” job to pay the bills because they would starve and be homeless if they depended on writing to make a living.

That’s why conferences are so needed. It’s the only place where writers aren’t average – they’re extraordinary. And we can writer-geek speak to our hearts’ content without anyone wondering what we’re talking about.

BWRC 2008

On Thursday, I will be up at the crack of dawn – literally – to make my way to O’Hare to catch a flight to Tampa where I will be attending the Black Writers Reunion Conference 2008. The first conference I attended in 2006 changed my life – at least as pertains to my writing.

I met many new people – authors and aspiring writers alike. The best part was being with others who had the same mindset as me. It was my Nirvana and I’ve been jonesing for it ever since.

My goal is to post notes, pictures, etc. from the conference to share what I’ve seen and learned.

I’m so excited!