I just got home from DFWcon in Dallas. This is the third one under my
belt and I feel like it was the best one to date. There were so many great
moments with great people!
Friday- I actually arrived to Dallas on Thursday with two of my
friends so we could go out, but Friday was the start of the conference for me.
Since I know what it is like to be at a conference where you might not know
anyone, I decided to host a Pre-conference Mixer at the Hyatt. It ended up
being a great success. I cannot tell you how exciting it was to see some many
people show up and get to know each other. I was also able to see friends I had
made at previous conference. Around 10, I had to leave, though, since I had
other plans at LaBare – anyone who knows me, knows the humorous stories behind
this.
Saturday- Saturday started early, since the official start of the
conference was at 7:45. I was begging my friends to go to Starbucks, but had to
settle on Diet Coke instead. The opening ceremony was beautiful and started the
day on the right note. My first class was called “Is it Soup Yet”, and was
about how the Chicken Soup for the Soul books can help an author build their
publishing credibility. The next class was Jenny Martin’s “finding your writing
voice” class. For the second year in a row, this class was standing room only.
I had to leave the class early because I had a pitch session with the
fabulous Louise Fury. Let me tell you – if you’ve never pitched before, it can be
a nerve-wracking situation. But… Louise made me feel right at ease. Okay, I’m
going to sound a little fangirl-ish right now. I don’t remember everything that
happened because it felt very dream-like. I pitched my book and Louise seemed
interested and ended up requesting the full manuscript. Then, we got on the
topic of the RT Convention and I mentioned something about the Ellora’s Cave
‘Cavemen’ (The Cavemen are the book cover models… some of them are also
performers at LaBare). Then, while I was sitting there talking to Louise, she
live tweeted about me. It was everything I could do NOT to squeal! We even
talked about maybe going out to LaBare, which I thought would have been
awesome.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur after this. I attended Lindsay
Cummings & Louise’s panel, which was so interesting. I loved hearing their
story! I also got to see my friend, Birdy Jones, KILL it in her self-publishing
class (this is a good thing, by the way. There was some confusion after I
tweeted this, ha-ha). After that, I went to Roni Loren’s Romance Class. If you
write romance and ever have the chance to hear Roni speak, I would recommend
it. She is amazing!
After relaxing at the hotel it was then time for the Cocktail party and
second keynote speech. Let me tell you, the cocktail parties are always fun. I
think my blingy jewelry made an impact, as well as my signature drink, which is
a Coke and Baileys. It tastes just like a Coke float, if you were wondering. My
friend and I then called it a night.
Sunday- It was SO hard to drag myself out of bed, but I did it.
This is when I had my “am I being Punk’d” moment. I was walking down the street
from the hotel to the conference center when a truck slowed down. I glanced
over and saw Louise smiling at me from the passenger’s seat. She asked if I
needed a ride and I was thinking ‘OMG!’ It was surreal. I accepted, of course.
The day was a blur of classes, friends, and photos. I even won a
bracelet from one of the vendors, which was awesome. Roni Loren taught a class
on ‘author websites’, which I found helpful. The best part of the day was the
Gong Show, where writer’s query letters are ready aloud to 5 agents. The agents
are allowed to hit a gong when they would stop reading the letter in real life.
Louise always makes the Gong Show extremely funny with her comments, which is
why so many people stuck around for it.
It was soon time to head back to
Oklahoma and back to the real world. I felt so inspired after the conference, which
is why writers go to conferences. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the
year brings!
