Glimpses

laughter...it really IS the best medicine

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects. ---Arnold Glasow

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The North American Ladies Conference was everything I'd expected...and much more.

I was there to help promote Saving Grace, and that, in itself, was an amazing and phenomenal time.

I was able to meet many women who had read my other books and was privileged to talk to them about lots of things.

What they like in fiction. God. Their friends. Scrapbooking. The topics were wide in range and topic, but they all thrilled me.

So I arrived in Louisville expecting to meet new people and form new relationships. And I arrived excited about seeing some of my "old-er" friends.

But what I wasn't necessarily expecting was the massive amount of laughter that would be involved and how that laughter - combined with the marvelous teaching and preaching - would change me.

Forever, I believe.

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You can't deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants.  ---Stephen King

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My roomies - Mom, Dawn, and Rochelle - made my time at NALC a time that I will never, ever forget.

During the Thursday morning service I was SO tired. I would yawn, then Rochelle (sitting next to me) would yawn. Then me. Then Rochelle.

I promise, for at least twenty minutes this went on and, I have to admit, my mind was adrift, desperately trying to grasp anything that would help me make it to the end of the sermon without completely falling out into the floor.

And then - somehow, some way - the speaker's voice drifted into my consciousness.

"And He said, 'Let them sleep!'" She, of course, was referring to the drowsy disciples in the Garden. "Sleep on! Sleep on!"

I blame it on my extreme state of exhaustion, but whatever the case, this struck me as hilarious and I began to laugh uncontrollably.

Which prompted uncontrolled laughter from Rochelle. I promise, for at least twenty minutes...well, you get the picture. But it DID wake me up and, at a conference, isn't that what's most important?

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Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. ---Victor Hugo

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This picture best exemplifies our spiritual experience during this conference, don't ya think?

Uh...NOT.

This is us, collapsed on the floor of the Marriott, in yet another fit of laughter. These women made me laugh like I haven't in years.

I was reminded that laughter truly does, "doeth the heart good like medicine..."

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have attended NALC. The Word of God was new and fresh and opened the eyes of my heart to truths that sometimes become hidden behind the things of Life that tend to bog us down.

Things like not believing the lie, realizing that I have power in God, and the reminder that I - even me, one woman - can make a difference in my world.

And I came home, energized and rejuvenated, ready to do just that.

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The NALC photo album and montage are in the left-hand side-bar.

saving grace in Louisville

Tomorrow morning I'll catch an early flight to Louisville, Kentucky, and will attend the North American Ladies Conference.

I'll be in town to promote Saving Grace, which is making its debut to reading audiences there. So tonight I'm feeling lots of things - excitement, dread, joy, hesitation...

See, this part of the job - the promoting part - is kind of tough for me. I love to write for people and I do like to know what they think. But not necessarily face-to-face, you know what I mean?

However, with each book I'm learning a little more how to navigate these waters and I'm sure that the next few days will be full of good times and new friends.

And, best of all...old friends!

A great part of this trip is that I'll be in excellent company. Not only is my mom and friend, Rochelle, traveling with me, but Dawn is meeting us in Louisville as well. Woohoo!

Since her big move to Indiana last year, we now only get to see one another a couple times a year. This week will be a joyous reunion for a happy group of friends.

While I don't know exactly what to expect during the next few days, I'm pretty sure it will somehow involve early morning coffee, Diet Coke, and Mexican food.

Hey, what can I say?

I know what qualities to look for in my friends!

Gruene-er Pastures

Green, green, it's green they say, on the far side of the hill. Green, green, I'm going away, to where the grass is greener still.

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Some people have Cabo. Some have Maui. Some may choose NYC.

For me it's here. Well, actually it's a little further south, but I don't write at our retreat so here is my writing home-away-from-home. This is where I come and remember how to e-x-h-a-l-e...

I love that I can be as integral a part of this small community as I choose, and yet retreat with my laptop to my upstairs room-with-a-view, or a shady park bench, or my favorite local eatery, and write to my heart's content.

We arrived yesterday afternoon and, since Mike had to teach an evening class, I spent the time leisurely walking "my" town. I cruised in and out of shops that are alive with flavor and small-town charm. I chatted with local shop employees and sampled my favorite peach and mango salsa at the General Store.

You've got to love a town with an honest-to-goodness General Store, right?

When I felt I'd fully reacquainted with all my favorite spots and had allowed myself time to relish in all that I treasure about this place, I found a quiet table in a secluded courtyard and began to let my mind drift naturally to the next few days.

I'm working on The Revival this week, and I'm excited to see what will evolve with this story as the week progresses. I've worked on this book in snatches of divine inspiration and in times of  great burden.

I've learned for the most part to attach myself to a chair and just WRITE, inspiration or no inspiration. Unfortunately, as a writer you don't always feel the tickle of adrenaline and the spark of excitement about your characters and their lives.

But you trust your story, you trust your call to tell the story, and you press on. Just when you least expect it, the inspiration is back and your heart races a bit faster as the story spills out of you.

With The Revival it's different, and has been from the beginning. This story I simply cannot tell on my own. It's taking a lot of prayer, a lot of reflection, and a lot of patience. I go through stages where the story seems to flow straight from my heart, through my fingertips, and onto the computer screen, only to come up against a mental, emotional, and spiritual brick wall.

I've learned the hard way to step away from it at those times. Breathe deeply. Give the story time to sit and simmer. I move on to other projects and sometimes it's months before I go back to the people of Calvary, Louisiana.

People like Cecily, and Reece, and Pastor Wills Jacobsen, folks who deeply care about their town and who are in a fight to save the small community from the darkness that has invaded their peaceful surroundings.

It's a fight to preserve sanctity, standards, and a code of ethics and justice that seem to be floundering all around them. But Calvary is in good hands - in HIS hands - and revival will put this small town on the map.

So, for now, I'm packing up my notebook and my inspiration and I'm going to leave the quietness of my room and find a spot in this adopted town of mine and I'm going to...write.