FCWA Conference

The past four exhausting, overwhelming, stimulating, hope-filled, glorious days are over and I'm home again eager to embrace all that I learned. God is gracious and the WordChicks (my online critique group that met at last year's conference) have a great deal to "cluck" about. One of us, Jeanie Wise, our only not-in-Florida member, won the Writer of the Year Award sponsored by Winepress Publishing. You can imagine how ecstatic we all were when her name was announced.

As for me: I was disappointed that an editor wasn't as thrilled with my novel as I am, but I had other positives:

• In the Writing Fiction continuing course, I received multiple compliments on my homework assignment to write the same scene from the first person, third person, and omniscient points of view;
• I met with editors from four magazines who invited me to send queries/submissions directly to them;
• an editor wants to see a specific piece I've written about three of Jesus' maternal ancestors (as long as it's no more than 550 words);
• I'm to send my story, "Shared Eyes," to a specific person at Chicken Soup with a recommendation from the gracious, and obviously discerning, woman who read it (and wrote "Bravo!" on it);
• this same wise woman read two other short pieces I've written and suggested a market idea for one,
• and for the other, that I write twenty-nine similar pieces for a book compilation -- she even gave me a great title for it; and now, drumroll, please . . .
• I'm to email a book proposal for my novel (yes, the same one as above) to an agent.

Of course, nothing is for certain. But friendships were strengthened, relationships were made, opportunities were presented. And God spoke to me every morning through His Word.
As the WordChicks' Mama Hen, the lovely and gracious Clella Camp, said in her Night Owl session: Today is my Someday!