Hi friends and Happy Wednesday!
Writing is a solitary profession. Writing your books can only be done by you. And, it means long hours in the chair, hands on the keyboard. Or, in my case, pen on paper. But it doesn’t have to be completely solitary. There’s the beauty and gift of writing friends. Friends who brainstorm with you, who help you out, who celebrate with you during the highs, and who commiserate with you during the lows.
I’ve been blessed to have Zoom writing sessions with friends daily since Covid hit. That’s how it started, but it’s grown and become something we do daily. We do writing sprints and provide company. I also have the gift of Voxer where sweet writer friends leave me messages and weekly prayer check-ins. But we also, occasionally, get to break out and go on adventures ☺
I got away on a fun writing adventure a little over a week ago. I attended the AWSA conference (Advanced Writers and Speakers) and CPE (Christian Product Expo). And, I had the joy of attending with my sweet friend Jill Kemerer.
AWSA was a time of prayer, encouragement, instruction, and a deepening of my hope in Christ. It was more ministry than conference and it was beautiful seeing so many ladies coming together in worship. It culminated with an awards banquet for the Golden Scroll awards and I’m honored to say I was blessed with third place in the Mystery category.
CPE was wonderful. I got to attend a murder mystery dinner. My very first and I loved it, but I guessed wrong. As a suspense author, I feel bad about that. Mystery solving should be up my alley. But it was such a fun experience and the actors were amazing. I wish I’d taken pictures of it, but it was held at the Kentucky Castle which made a beautiful backdrop and was a great place for brunch the following day.
And no castle is complete without tiaras. We didn’t buy them, but we didn’t rush to take them off. LOL!
The best part of CPE was the time with Jill and our off-site adventures including this amazing ice cream shop.
Meeting booksellers. We can’t sell books without them and I loved chatting with them all and learning about their stores. If you have an independent bookstore near you, support them.
It was all around a fabulous adventure!
Reader Question:
How about you? What was the last adventure you were on?
Thanks for joining me this week!
Best,
Dani
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LOVE the tiaras, Dani! I think I would have had to scrape together enough to buy those. Maybe it would help me write better? 🙂 Loved all your adventures and photos! Wish I could have been at the AWSA retreat!
Hi Deb,
I know. Should have bought it. Would definitely help write better, I think. LOL! It was a great retreat. Hope you can make it next year 🙂
Your writing adventure looks like it was a grand time, especially spent with a friend! I just went on an adventure with my two sister-in-laws, this was our fifth year to travel to a random midwestern town. We find local things to do ,eat good food, and hang out and read in the evenings. Always time well spent!
Hi Linda,
Ooh. How fun! Sounds like a great time. Love that you do it every year. What a great tradition.
What a great trip, Dani. A castle, a mystery dinner, and an awesome ice cream shop? Sign me up! 🙂 I played a mystery game with colleagues from my day job as part of a team-building activity a couple weeks ago, and I found that tended to overcomplicate the clues in searching for the culprit. I guess reading books like yours leave me searching for deeper, hidden motives. Ha!
How fun you got to do that with colleagues. I love that you look for deeper, hidden motives 😀
My last adventure was a vacation to the Outer Banks of NC with my daughters, one’s boyfriend, and some nieces and nephews and a very special great niece (13 months) she was the highlight of the trip for all of us. I’d never been to NC so it was fun but the big adventure was two vehicles having the check engine lights come on and one of those was my daughter who was an hour BEHIND me on the trip. We got her car to a dealership though and found the problem and thankfully she could drive it back home and get it fixed here. My nephew on the other hand had to leave his truck because the transmission went out for the 3rd time. I don’t know if they’ve sent it back to him yet or not.
Hi Naomi,
What a lovely place for vacation. We love it there. Phew. Close call on her vehicle. Glad she wasn’t stranded and you got it fixed. But too bad on your nephew’s truck. My. What an adventure you had.
I love keeping up with you via Voxer and prayer, my friend!
Me too, sweet friend <3