Chatting About the ACFW Conference

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I’m pleased to be part of the ACFW conference blog tour today. Welcome, Friends!

For the longest time I put off writing this blog, because I felt I had nothing of any value to say. No brilliant advice to give, no “what-not-to-do” experiences to share, no experiences—period.

This won’t be my first writer’s conference, but it may as well be. The only other one I’ve been to was a one-day Christian writer’s conference in London. It was small, and although the company was awesome, I came away with very little.

So here I am, little ole me, blogging about nothing in particular and everything at the same time. I feel like a giant empty vessel waiting to be filled. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my writing journey it’s this:

1. I know nothing.

2 Admitting it is extremely liberating.

Via the First Timers Orientation loop, Cara Putman is doing a superb job of putting my newbie fears to rest. (Thanks, Cara!! You’re so patient with us.) Aren’t all you old-timers glad our endless, pesky newbie questions aren’t on the main loop?

More than having my empty vessel filled, I hope to give back, if even in some tiny way. I’ve signed up to volunteer in the book store on Sunday from 11-1:30, so stop on by and say howdy! AND I just found out there’s a choir. How totally cool is THAT?! It took me all of three jigawatts to volunteer to participate, and after listening to a youtube clip of the piece we’ll sing, I’m giddy with anticipation.

There’s tons to consider in preparation for the conference. One-sheets, appropriate clothing, elevator pitches (Yeah, right. I’ll SO chicken out). Remembering everyone’s name and where I know them from! (Please, someone tell me there will be name tags.) My head is already spinning.

Getting to the conference will be an achievement by itself.

With my husband deployed, I find myself needing childcare. So the kiddos and I will drive to Alabama where we plan to hitch a ride with my awesome friend, Melanie Dickerson, and my awesome roomie, Sue Williams. From there we’ll hop on I65 northbound, drop the kids off at my (super) awesome in-laws, then keep trucking up the interstate to Indy. Almost as much as the conference, I’m looking forward to all those hours in the car to talk BOOKS and everything book related!

Isn’t God the best? He has every detail worked out to perfection. What? You didn’t know the conference was scheduled in Indianapolis just to make it easy on me to drop the kids off? Well, God knew, and that’s all that matters. 🙂

I have no specific goals in mind for the outcome of the conference except to spend quality time with godly writers, sharing and gleaning. Mind you, I do have a couple of novels that wouldn’t mind finding homes…

My only real fear (besides the “elevator” pitch!) is to be found useless. Despite being a published author (albeit newly), my self-confidence rots. The Lord continues to build me up in Him, but it’s a slow process. I’d hate to allow fear to rule my heart to the point of becoming useless.

If you’re interested in attending the conference, it’s not too late to sign up. So hurry on over to ACFW and join the fun! If you plan to find me at the conference, just look for the bug-eyed woman with the gaping mouth. That’ll be me.

Can’t wait to see you there!!

You can learn more about April thanks and her books here.

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