Breathe Writer's Conference Re-Cap

Last year, Sue called me up one day and said "Hey, lets got to a Writer's Conference."

And so we did.

It was there we met Ann who said "You really should go to Breathe with the guild and I this fall."

And so we did.

And we returned again this year.

Ahhhhhhh, there is nothing like walking into a room full of people and hugging the friends you have made over the past year.

Because, these ladies...Ann, Lorilee and Alison...have indeed become dear friends.

My husband always asks me what a Writer's Conference is like.

Um, how do you answer that?

Because, I don't know if you know this or not....but I'm not a published writer. I am a blogger. And if no one ever read this blog, I would have to write anyhow. I love to write. I have to get the words in my head typed on the screen or scribbled in a notebook. And there are a few story ideas jumbling around up there among the 'to do' list and all the laundry I have to fold and dinners I have to make.

The bestest part of a writer's conference (yes, I know I wrote 'bestest'. It's so the Guild knows I have to hang out with them more so they can correct all these mistakes I make. ;) ) is being around a bunch of writers.

But the friends you make there you "get" because they understand what its like to desire to make your writing better. Stronger.

The highlight teacher this year for me was Jo Kadlecek. If I could drop all I am and drive to Massachusetts and become a student in her classes, I would. Honest. This woman was phenominal and I cannot wait to read what she has written. If you do not look her up, you will be sorely missing out. She also introduced me to Flannery O'Conner whom I had never heard of, but will be becoming a student of. She made me excited to write, and her ideas on character writing have me dreaming up great story scenes......

Lorilee Craker did a terrific job teaching us about Book Proposals. This has been a huge unknown to me and she broke it down and made it do-able for all of us. I can't wait for her newest book to come out...it deals with money secrets of the Amish.

Alison Hodgson gave a speech Friday night that had us all in tears. The trials she has gone through as their house was deliberately set on fire....well, you just can't put that into words (even at a Writer's Conference).

Hugh Cook was our special speaker, the guest of honor. Because he spoke Dutch, I asked him what a "hon-yock" is (because that is what my husband was called as a child). He didn't know. The woman serving us snacks, water and coffee all day long said it meant "Trouble Maker". Which makes total sense. I have not ever read Hugh's work...Sadie the dog ate the book. Literally.

Emily Downs did a super quick moving class on how to be published in a magazine. She is an adorable girl who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her and her husband's first son. I hope we get to meet up with this coffee loving gal sometime soon!

Probably the funniest class Sue and I took was on screenplay writing.

Let me explain.

For Praise and Coffee Night in December, Sue and I are writing a comedy skit for the women. She thought we should take the class to see what we could learn. So we did. And it was how to get your screen play PUBLISHED. I was certain, that at any second, Ted would KNOW I had no idea what he was talking about, that I was totally feigning any knowledge what so ever and would call on me....he did a great job, never called on us, and he gave us lots of info. I just didn't have any interest in screen play writing. I was so thankful when the class was over.......Ted Kluck, I am sorry. I hope you have an awesome screen play career.

The end of the day Saturday was the Writer's Panel, where you can ask them all what ever it is you would like to ask all the speakers from the conference. It's always informative and light hearted. Afterwards, we ended with a devotional.

The most unforgettable person of the whole conference was a woman named Kim. I do believe she and I and Sue will all be having coffee sometime soon and will no doubt become good friends. She was trapped in the Ukraine for eleven months and 13 days with her newly adopted four year old son before she had to flee for their lives. When did this happen? Years ago? Oh no, she just got home this spring.

Wow.

Her family was sitting here in the states, her husband, her daughter....not able to do a thing.........

I can not grasp my mind around it.

The highlight of the weekend was the girl time. It just is. It's getting together with a bunch of friends, it's Sue and I watching chick flicks and talking into the wee hours of the morning, it's complimenting some friend on her outfit, or heels, or boots, or hair....it's bonding. It's fun.

I strongly suggest you come on out next year to Breathe Writer's Conference.

And I returned home to, well, to be totally honest, there is a dead mouse somewhere in my house and I can't find it, my boys were all sick with the flu, my husband was sick, everyone was starving and I was late as the lone person in my family to run to church the next morning to teach Sunday school....but I returned home renewed and refreshed and excited to write. And write well. And write lots.

Stay tuned.........

A Country Girl Learns How To Curl Her Hair

...we think. We hope.

As I mentioned in the last post, I just have been informed that I need to grow up and learn to use a curling iron by my stylist. I trust my stylist. I mean, you should really trust your stylist completely.

I have straight hair. Straight. V E R Y S T R A I G H T H A I R. Straw has nothing on me.

I tried to curl my hair the day after Darcy the stylist did. It looked Daisy Duke-ish on one side and flat on the other side and crimped all over. So I wore it in a pony tail. And I had to admit, just having taken the time to attempt to curl my hair made my pony tail look ultra stylish. I decided to keep trying....

But the next morning, Sue and I were headed to a Writer's Conference (more on that later) so I went for my safe straight hair because, as Sue explained about herself, "I was born with a curling iron in my hand", and she assured me she would teach me and I would be a pro in no time.

I wasn't too sure.

About me, not about her.

It was ever so much fun hugging all our long lost buddies (Ann, Lorilee and Alison) when we arrived at the conference and, being girls, our hair styles came up and there was some discussion if my hair would even hold a curl.

But the next morning Sue was determined to have me conquer the curling iron.

She decided to see how I was curling my hair, so she had me basically pretend she wasn't there and just go to curling. I took the curling iron up in my hand, tried to get it to connect with my hair (hey, it's a trick if you aren't used to looking in the mirror and getting it to connect where you need to!) and began to curl.

Sue nearly screamed. She couldn't get me to drop that curling iron fast enough. Horror was written all over her face.

I thought I had burned my hair right off. Except I hadn't had my curling iron on my hair for any time at all. I had only begun to twist my hair up.

"You really DON'T know how to curl your hair!" she gasped.

I didn't.

I learned.

You need to curl your hair fluidly. Never against the holder thingy. And you have to use hairspray that literally works like glue. And you never want "fish tails" like I was giving my hair.

Sue expertly curled my hair, checking off helpful curling and styling tips as she did.

I love girly time. In a house full of boys, I just drink it up. And apparently I was in desperate need of it.

The next day, home alone with all my boys, I decided to attempt it again. I had to consciously think what I was doing....I had to concentrate fully. S4 came into the bathroom (we only have the one bathroom) and his jaw dropped open.

"What.

Are.

You.

Doing?"

he asked incredulously.

"Why are you pulling your hair like that?"

I tried to explain.

It didn't work.

But I did curl it. I had Jake take a photo of me and send it to Sue. She told me it was "darling". Honestly, I need more girl time because her calling it "darling" just made me feel "darling". I don't use the word "darling" nearly enough.

And Hubs is a huge fan of the new look. It took me a full 2o minutes I figured.

And then we had this picture taken (yes, same shirt as before. Hubby REALLY likes this shirt on me.)

My Writer's Desk

Today I arrived home from a writer’s retreat. It was called Breathe and it was truly wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am sure I will be writing more on it later….explaining to you all the things I learned and how to read good directions (I promise you, this is a truly hilarious story).

At the very end of the retreat all the teachers get together to answer questions, any question at all, for us. One of the questions asked was “where do you write?” and the panel began to answer with descriptions of white carpeted sanctuary’s that are built for seclusion and retreat.
This is what my desk looks like. Even I recognize it as awful enough to have a photo taken of it. As long as I can see what I am looking at on the screen and can reach all the keys on the keyboard, I am able to type away cheerily. I type amid Sesame Street, hockey games (although I usually try to see those), while my boys are racing Tonka trucks thru the house, while customers for our farm our knocking on the front door (which this desk can’t get any closer to the door). I was sure I was some weirdo in the group as they began.

Until one writer, who has written numerous articles and books, mentioned she worked for years in her basement, complete with spiders. Another mentioned that her office was a spot carved out for her in her noisy house and that she does have pretty things in her office, but they are completely covered in dust and everything she works on is in there….somewhere. It was fun to hear all the descriptions of how people write. Some write in complete isolation, some write in a noisy coffee shop, some write going down the road!

No one mentioned writing while baby sitting S3’s baby chickie, but I guess that is what makes me unique.

I write this blog for you because I love to write. If no one read it, I would still write it. However, having you all read it sure makes it fun. My top priority right now is my family….and hey, without them I am just another girl typing away. God surrounded me with inspiration in ways that make me want to scream sometimes…but man, God really knew what he was doing.

And why should that surprise me?

Stay tuned, I have much more to say about these boys. Just this weekend while I was gone much happened! Thanks for stopping by today…..

Writer's Conference Number One

Yes, this is a blog about life on a little farm with my super handsome hubby and my rambunctious four boys. Really, it is! But please deal with me one more time as I tell you about the writer’s conference I just attended this past weekend.

First of all, thank you to everyone who has been stopping in to check out the blog and enjoy these stories. Thank you to all who read Only U.P. From Here and helped me as I quickly wrote and asked for feedback from all of you in just one week – it was great fun to write and I never showed it to anyone but it was worth it still. I promise, you’ll be hearing more from Jo. I have a zillion ideas now! - . Thank you to all who prayed for us to have a great time….

Because we did! S.C., J.R. and I had a total blast. (as if the initials of my friends isn’t enough to make you giggle…) It was our very first Writer’s Conference, and I am pretty sure it was apparent to all there. Before we had left I had made jam from two flats of strawberries (no, we are out of strawberries here on the farm, they all went underwater), put together a portfolio of some stories from here on the blog (school mornings and family pictures) and other writings I have done in the past (did you all know I used to write on a news paper (and miss it!) as well as church news letters and I send in essays for contests…which I have never won!) and, of course, the story you have been reading here. I also watched my cute adorable little nephew (whom I’ll be calling Jr here on the blog, the one who I visited when I was nearly arrested, you will recall) which meant I was up at 4:15 in the morning to greet him. We also finished summer school this week, it was crazy week to be gone – but when you live on a farm with four boys, EVERY week is crazy!

On Thursday night, the boys were off to my parents. I was awake til one putting together the portfolios just in case anyone wanted to read what I had written and racing around doing laundry. My husband needed towels and clothes to wear and I needed ‘business casual’ clothes to wear to the conference. I have no idea what business casual means – it means different things to different groups, really – but figured it meant dresses. On Friday morning at seven sharp, S.C. was there to drive us to the conference where we met J.R.

Good gracious, the things we learned! I spent most of the time with Dennis Hensley, who taught on Fiction writing. I have oodles of notes. And my rough draft that you all have been reading would mean nothing to him or anyone else of importance…except to me who loves it and to you who like it too!

S.C. and J.R. listened to Chip MacGregor most of the time. They have oodles of notes. In a week the three of us will be getting together to share all our notes.

Then Ann Byle arrived to the conference. She ended up being probably the one I learned the most from. She was excellent, and informed all of us that if you write you don’t have a clean house. Which is good and freeing to know, as if I could ever have a clean house since I live on a farm, my husband farms our farm, we have four boys, we have a dog and three cats and S3’s chickie has been eating breakfast with us. My house is already never clean, but now that I am a regular writer too, the house is just doomed. That’s why we have a home….not a house.

My mind is bulging with information. It will take me forever to process it all. But I already have plans to attend another writer’s conference this fall and between now and then I am going to attempt to send out some magazine articles to different family magazines.

On a personal note, this is the first time since I was pregnant with S2 that I was gone to a hotel with just girls. We giggled and snickered and laughed til we cried. We stayed up late, we fixed our make up, we wore dressy clothes, we went for nacho run at 10:30, we drank tons of coffee. We had a blast.

I am so thankful for these two friends of mine.

Probably the thing I have learned the most from this conference was that I write because I have to, it is in my heart, words flow thru my veins. If not a single person ever read a word I wrote, I still would write. While it is my dream to be published, as in a fictional novel(s) as well as funny stories of life, that is not why I write. If these writings here have brought you joy, if they have encouraged you to laugh at yourself, if they have caused you to pause and realize the blessings of children and family and husband, if you realize God has a sense of humor and loves us dearly, more than we love our children and families and husband…then I am a success. And besides all that, all my boys will one day appreciate all these stories….because I am their moma and they have to!

So, that is how the conference went. I will now go back to just writing about the boys for all of you who need good laughs. Stay tuned for Father’s Day story (S4 spilled the beans), adventures with the new slip and slide, the further adventures of Chickie and S3 and much much more.

Thank you all for your prayers, they were answered abundantly.

One more thing, of the stories you have read here so far, which ones are your favorites? I thought I would start looking at those first for future magazine articles.

Everyone have a great Sunday!