I’m finally home again!
Actually, I’ve been home for a couple of weeks with every intention of posting an update about my summer adventures, but…
There’s always a but! But, I’ve had a gazillion interruptions. Well, maybe not a gazillion. Probably, a million. Possibly, just a thousand. Most likely a dozen. Stop judging me! The important thing is, here’s the quick and dirty on the past couple of months.
I celebrated my birthday in August by attending a writing conference, Author You Extravaganza 2018, in Breckenridge, Colorado. My wonderful family had champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and assorted goodies waiting in my room upon my arrival!
On the first day of the conference, I participated in a pitch session with 16 other writers and was awarded $1,000 toward publication of Unlocked Diaries: Dirty Little Secrets. Woohoo! Many thanks to the event sponsor, Thomson-Shore and their representative, Tamra Tuller, as well as the other judges.
One of those judges was the delightful and brilliant Barb Wilson, Word Slayer and Editor. If you ever get the chance to work with Barb, do it! Between sessions, I got to hang out with Barb, her other half, “Big Guy” and my bestie, Stacey G.
Did I mention that I exposed myself? It’s true!
This would be a much more interesting story if it was about riding naked on horseback in the Rocky Mountains. Alas, I’m speaking of something far tamer. My exposure was limited to relevant and timely publishing information (and maybe a few minutes of ill-conceived, champagne-induced nudity on a hotel balcony, but the details are a bit fuzzy. Though, I can now sing all of the lyrics to Trap Beckham’s Birthday Bitch)
At the conference, I learned from industry experts at the many workshops and networking events where I rubbed shoulders with the likes of Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd; Kathy Meis, CEO of Bublish; John Kremer, Book Marketing Expert; and Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound – just to name a few.
The next leg of my “Birthday Tour” took me from Colorado back to New Orleans where I stayed long enough to do laundry and repack my suitcase. Then I was off to Sunny South Florida – where it rained every.single.day. Still, it was a marvelous, albeit wet, visit with those nearest and dearest to my heart. In summary, lots of love, laughter and too much food.
I returned to New Orleans long enough to unpack then found myself repacking an overnight bag for an unplanned road trip to Mississippi where Stacey G’s mom was in the hospital. Thankfully, she’s on the road to recovery.
In between and during my stays, I was drafting and editing a short story that will be included in an upcoming anthology. Now I’m back home doing re-writes and more edits. Some of that might have been done while naked. I like to think of it as exposing myself to the arts.