LIVE! From ACFW Indiana!

Greetings from Indianapolis! Your Alley Cats are late posting this morning since the festivities of the opening of the ACFW conference had us up wayyyyyy past our bedtimes last night. (Though Pepper was up promptly at 7 AM Eastern Time-- 6 my time!)

The lovely Mary Vee, Pepper Basham, and your's truly are sitting here having our morning cuppa and a bit of Panera before the conference jumps into full swing, but we wanted to fill you in--through pictures--on what we've been up to so far!

Ames meeting with her fabulous agent, Chip MacGregor.

                                                                                                 The first Alley Cat arrivals

Ran into the fantastic duo, Lindsay Harrell and Gab Meyer





  Cara Putman was brave enough to hang out with us for the whole evening.

Which involved a chopsticks war AND a pretty appropriate FORTUNE :-)










Jim Rubart ended our evening with his usual charm and wit!








And now...we're signing off to collect more pics. Sending lots of love to our AlleyPals both here and across the world

Amy and Pep brought you this post for today :-)

What's up the Street For Next Week- Post Conference Peek

Well, we heard from Edie Melson last weekend and her many conference experiences, so today we're going to listen to FIRST-time ACFW conferencee, Lindsay Harrel. Let me just say, Lindsay is a DOLL! It was such a treat to meet her and her buddy Gabrielle Meyer. They were FANTASTIC!

Here ya go:





What's happening this week?

Monday - Pepper hosts author Dina Sleiman who will talk about To Romance or Not To Romance. Stop by and see what that's all about because I think it's a pretty clear answer ;-)

Tuesday- Sherrinda is posting on Tuesday, if she survives her daughters birthday weekend

Wednesday - Oooh, this one sound quirky! Stop by and join Mary today for POV of the Unusual Character

Thursday - Krista's hosting author, Jen Stephens today.

Friday - Casey brings her many questions to The Writers Alley. The "Who, What, When, Where, and Why" of writing.

ACFW update

GOOOOODDDDDDDD MOOOOOORRRRRRNING Writers Alley!!!

Well, I got in from my flight around midnight, and even though my eyelids are puffy and my thoughts come like their being pulled through a strainer, it has been a fabulous weekend.

We got to celebrate as our wonderful Cindy Wilson was listed as a Finalist.

And spend so much time just chatting together on Friday night (as you could see in the video)

The BEST part of ACFW for me is the relationship-building. Oh my goodness! God has been so good to give me (and many other people here) to create new relationships and renew older ones.

I want to really encourage all of you to keep this point in perspective. Building relationships, especially our spiritual relationship, trumps all the editor/agent appointments, requests, and great pitches.

Rachel Hauck brought attention to the scene in the Bible with Mary and Martha. Martha was working away, taking care of Jesus and his disciples, while Mary sat at Jesus' feet. Martha started complaining, saying "Jesus, I'm over here working away and Mary's just sitting around listening to you." (paraphrase ;-)

What did Jesus say? Something like - "Martha, you are worrried about many things, but only ONE thing is important right now. Mary's found the ONE thing." (again, Paraphrase :-)

What is that One thing?
Jesus - and the relationship we build with him.

Conference can be hectic, crazy, and scary. It can pull your mind and spirit in good directions and bad. But only ONE thing is the most important at the heart of all the chaos.
Jesus.
His Call in your life - His direction of your path - His guidance related to the story written on the pages of your life.

I LOVED meeting my Alley Cats.

I LOVED spending time with fabulous people like Lindsey Harrell and Gabrielle Meyer. Laughing with the marvelous Jeanne T and dosey-do-ing with the MBT gals.
I LOVED having prayers with Beth Vogt and laughing with Tina Radcliffe and Mary Connealy.
But at the end of the day, when you check out of the hotel and are faced with a blank computer screen on the flight home......there is only ONE THING that holds all this together.

Jesus.
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btw, thee pic at the top was taken by the fabulous Renee Ann Smith.