The pin I received for finaling in the Carol.
Me and Ms. Kentucky (Regina!)
Books&Such Chinese Dinner ~ fun!
Brenda ~ one of my fav reading friends!
The 4 musketeers of historical fiction!Ann Shorey, Moi, Lorna Seilstad, Ann Gabhart
Me and Lael ~ signing bliss!
The irrepressible Julie Lessman, Lorna, Jill Eileen Smith and moi!
My amazing editor, Andrea
The Hyatt and Skywalk to the mall...
Me and Lael ~ signing bliss!
The irrepressible Julie Lessman, Lorna, Jill Eileen Smith and moi!
My amazing editor, Andrea
The Hyatt and Skywalk to the mall...Due to popular demand, thought I'd better post these pics:) If you have an Indy memory you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it here. I learned so much and hated for the fun to end!
Thanks so much for sharing pictures!!!!! I live vicariously through them. :)
ReplyDeleteNiiice hardcover copies of that amazing book. :D
Congrats on finaling! It looked like a blast, I would have been in heaven there with all of my favorite authors! LOL!
ReplyDeleteXOXO~ Renee
Awwwww.....Bless you, Laura! I think seeing you was definitely one of the highlights of the conference. You were just like I expected - terrific! Many hugs!
ReplyDeleteFun? Fun??? And here you've been telling all of us that writing is work, work, work! (Glad you enjoyed yourself. You deserved it.)
ReplyDeleteSuch fun, Laura! Congrats on finaling for the Carol Award. You deserved it. I didn't realize that TFD was in hard cover. Are the others going to be in hard back too? You have such a pretty smile ~ you're glowing in all your pics.
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Regina. Beside meeting my sister inksters, meeting you was the highllight of my trip. It was an amazing time and I was so stoked for you as a finalist! I thought it was neat they have pins now. I'll get to have not only ribbon envy, but pin envy next year!! LOL. (You deserved it!)
Congratulations on finaling! I so enjoyed getting to see you at conference!
ReplyDeleteOh, Laura, you look beautiful!! Carla is right, you just glow in every picture!! Thank you so very much for sharing these with us and making those who couldn't be there feel a part of it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Amanda Stanley
My highlight? Spending time with you and all my writing buddies. :) Eating week old book launch cake, asparagus at every meal, and our Revell dinner rank up there, too.
ReplyDeletetoo fun! it must be so wonderful to have an event like this where you can be with others who share your passion. I'm glad you're home though safe and sound and writing, hehehe (ok, for my own selfish reading benefit!)
ReplyDeleteI confess, I have hardback book envy ;-)
ReplyDeleteSO thrilled you had a great time, Laura but it is good to have you back!
Hugs
You have lovely hair. Very Lael-ish.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, you look like you were busy! Busy fun!
I'm with Regina. Meeting you was a highlight, as was meeting Regina & all my fellow bloggers, and so many new writers. Needless to say, it was the people who made this conference great.
ReplyDeleteLove the photos! It looks like a good time was had by all!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You look so sweet & content there! I know if I ever go, you will most definitely be one of the highlights for me :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had fun! Great pictures, and as always, a great smile : )
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures, Laura! My highlights? Awesome roommate & late night talks! It was so great to see you, hope you're having a blessed week.
ReplyDeleteLaura, so happy you had a great conference experience, and congrats on finaling for the Carol! (And here's hoping we get to meet someday!) :)
ReplyDeleteLoved sharing a meal with you and Lorna. It was the most normal conversation I had in the entire conference. Hope I brought a little levity to your day, too!
ReplyDeleteCasey,
ReplyDeleteYou and I will pray the conference to Portland or Seattle! I am bound and determined to meet you, my dear writing friend!!! I kept feeling like you were there in the crowd of 600 or so. In spirit, I guess:)
Renee,
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you've ever met Julie (I know she is one of your favorite authors) but she is just so funny and wonderful and POPULAR!! Whenever I would go anywhere with her I would literally lose her as she would be somewhat mobbed by folks:) I love to laugh and she is very, very entertaining on all counts. So very real and emotional - just like her books! Anyway, thanks so much for coming over here. XOX0 back at ya:)
Regina,
ReplyDeleteI felt so comfortable, like I'd come home, with you Inkspys, etc. Wish we'd had more time together. But it's a miracle we met and kept connecting like we did amongst that huge crowd! And I treasure signing your book! Praying for you today.
Gin, I was rethinking the fun when I got off that 3rd plane Monday (we flew through a thunderstorm in a 6 seater) and it felt like I'd been stuck on the roller coaster at the fair for 40 minutes. UGH! Now off to California next month:) What on earth...
ReplyDeleteNow it's back to work big time. Wishing I was in sunny KY in that pool of yours about now:)
Carla,
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to glow at conference as I just love all that book bliss:) I know you feel the same when you go to the Maine retreats, etc. Something about being with like-minded people is such a blessing. After not having any writing friends for 40 years, it is somewhat of a miracle to find them at last!
I do love the hardcovers of my books. There's something so enduring about them ~ almost old-fashioned. Thanks to Crossings, they are out in hardback. I also just rec'd my copy of the large print for the visually impaired. What a blessing for me - and those who couldn't read before.
Thinking of you at this very busy time ~ and praying!
Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have spent more time with you. I'm in awe of all you Inkspys accomplished while there! I bet you are busy following up on those open doors!! Looking so forward to the day I see your books on the shelf and go after you to sign them:) Praying for you and your writing. Missing you, too!
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI was so thrilled to connect with you again in Indy like Denver. Congrats on your sucess!! You were glowing, too, I noticed, throughout. A happy, blessed time, for sure:) God is so good.
Amanda, Sorry I took so long in replying to these comments but life and work keep getting in the way! I know you aren't a writer (well, you are actually, in many, many ways, and also a poet:) but wish you could have taken the redeye from RI and joined us:) Then the JOY would have been complete! I love your comments here. It was such a wonderful conference so it was easy to be all aglow:) His spirit was really moving. The praise and worship was so awesome!
ReplyDeleteLorna,
ReplyDeleteEating week-old book launch cake sounds way more appealing than asparagus:) And I love asparagus! I can't believe a month or so from now we'll be hopping on another plane to CA. I think I'll be recovering from here till then, not to mention writing my heart out. But we won't mention that...
So so happy you were at ACFW. Love that we sat together at banquet!!
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI am certainly writing away! Just for you:) Makes those edits go down a bit easier knowing I have an appreciative audience waiting! I am wondering about your own Indy art trip and if you've been this month. Must get back over to your wonderful blog. I chimed in for Tasha Tuesday but that was a day or so ago. See you there!
Rel,
ReplyDeleteI nearly felt you were there as I thought you were listening online to the awards:) Knowing that made me very happy. Now to get you over here. Will have to pick Julie Lessman's and Jamie Carie's brains about that! Wonder how many miles it is from you to St. Loo? Julie is already planning a lunch there next year. After all, it's her backyard:) You could be the guest of honor!!
Britt,
ReplyDeleteOh, love that you think my hair looks Lael-ish:) That makes me so happy. I think that's what marketing said when they first met me last week. Only I cut quite a bit off before I flew in. Would love to have hair to my knees!
Yes, Indy was beyond busy. But I learned that I really can function on 4 hours sleep a night ~ and in heels to boot! Only I'm still in conference recovery...
Brenda,
ReplyDeleteWell said! The first thing that struck me last year was how many friendly people there were. Really, you meet so many folks and make so many friends. I have a hard time keeping names straight and am so thankful for those billboard-size nametags!
Meeting you was such a blessing. I felt we were old friends from the first. Kindred book spirits do that, I guess:)
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteYou ARE a writer so if the conf. ever comes to Louisville (wouldn't that be great?!) we will be front row! I met several Kentuckians while there which always thrills me (and makes me want to go home with them). Indy was a cool 80 degrees compared to KY. I think everyone had a great time and learned a lot. I know I did.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely comments. Meeting you would be a highlight for me, too:) I feel such a connection to you online it would be easy to pick right up in person. I was so happy/content, moreso there than anywhere because we're immersed in books and everyone speaks the same language:) I can't wait till next year, Lord willing!
Virginia,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. I think the two body parts that hurt most were my feet and my face ~ all that smiling:) And walking in heels! But I loved being a bit taller if only for a few days...
If the conference ever comes to VA I am certainly looking you up:) I'm afraid they'd be hard pressed to keep me confined to the hotel in your historic neck of the woods. Bless you today!
YAY! Colleen!
ReplyDeleteYou were such a blessing as a roommate ~ aside from reminding me of which room we were in, you are just a JOY to be around:) I have my pink crown sitting on my desk now. And your card! Hope you are planning on St. Loo:)
Ruth, I would have given anything to have surprised you at that Panera birthday lunch you had:) Somehow I think we'd have gotten take-out and gone home and watched North & South:) BTW, I told my editor about the movie/book. Here's hoping she watches. I said it was THE book I wished I'd written. Am now 5 chapters in and loving it but glad I saw the film first...
ReplyDeleteCarrie,
ReplyDeleteYou surprised me with your sense of humor:) Somehow I thought you were oh so serious! And you are so lovely in person but I've already told you that. Strange that we never talked writing while there though it was a nice break NOT. I jsut wish we could have had more time together. Lorna is wonderfully down to earth, huh? I think you'd love her book as it has that wonderful levity and freshness so like her. Hope you're conference recovery is going well!
Laura,
ReplyDeleteIt was so wonderful to spend time with you at the conference. I only wished it could have been much longer (and less noisy at meals!). And I'm still heartbroken we don't have photos of us together.
Your books are out in HC!!!!! I aim to get me some. :)
Hey Laura! Oh goody...I am so glad you're writing for me ;) not everyone can say that can they? lol! As for my art show, my paintings are in Indianapolis, but I will not be :( My friend Merle is curating the show though so Im anxious to see photos of it all. I think that it opens this weekend!~
ReplyDeleteLori,
ReplyDeleteHeartbroken is the word. I nearly cried when I lost them, especially the ones of us at Chiangs. They were the best of the bunch. We really do look like sisters! I'm praying for another photo session with you in future. And I'm so excited to see where God is taking you with Kindred and Willa. I just sense doors are opening, even if you don't know it yet:) Thanks for being such a wonderful friend.
Oh Heather, Thanks for letting me know when the show is:) I'll be thinking about you! Your art is really taking off! I bet you can't wait till Merle checks back in after the weekend. Will be sure to keep up with you via blog and FB to see what's up! You are so very talented.
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI loved meeting you. I thank God for our time together and thank you for your comments on my blog today. I'm grateful you saw the "God" part of me--my passion and my love for writing.
First impressions are crazy beasts.
Love,
Wendy
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteLove that you're here and reminding me of our time together. You just GLOWED last week ~ everytime I saw you, even across a room! I love the pic of us on FB. May we meet up again in St. Loo:) Till then we'll keep up via cyberspace! Bless you and huge hugs,
Laura
LOVE THE PICTURES!!!!! You must have had such an amazing time! And I have one burning question -- where on earth did you get the hardcover copies of your books?????? I didn't know they made them in anything but paperback.
ReplyDeleteHi Kav!
ReplyDeleteAren't hardcovers great?! These are from Crossings, the Christian book club, which prints all their selections in hardback. Brenda was kind enough to bring hers for me to sign as she'd given 3 paperbacks of CML away, bless her:)
I'm wondering if they have Canadian Christian Fiction Writers? If not, we need to get you down here to St. Loo or beyond:) Praying your writing goes well. I'm just itching to see your work in print. It's been whispered of loudly that it's oh so very good:)
It's only a mere 15264 kilometres or 9485 miles between Melbourne & St Louis! Sounds better in your lingo ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I looked it up - LOL! For the record nautical miles are even better, only 8242 but then swimming there is probably not the best option - hehehe!
I can just see the three of you conspiring together :) Hugs
Oh Rel! You ARE far away! And yet I can just see you HERE in St. Loo so very clearly:) You'd fit right in and see all those who you bless on a daily basis with your blog, FamilyFiction, etc. And I bet you have an Aussie accent to die for:)
ReplyDeleteOne of my conference highlights was meeting you in person. I only wish we could have spent more time together. You're a dear, just as I expected. =)
ReplyDeleteKeli,
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting that you would say that. I had a wonderful time but one of my BIGGEST regrets was that I didn't have a picture of the 2 of us. My camera wasn't working and I lost all my pics so guess it would have been among them. Hoping and praying we meet again someday. You are a dear friend.
Laura, we'll just have to look out for one another in St. Louis next summer. =)
ReplyDeleteGreat pics Laura! Sorry I haven't been on here in SO SO LONG! Looking forward to seeing you all soon! :)
ReplyDeleteRhonda,
ReplyDeleteI think of you so often and am so looking forward to TN!! Soon:) Can't wait! Randy and I went to his family reunion today and took the ferry north of Seattle and were talking about how he'd be at ours shortly! I think he's going to have trouble keeping all those Feagans straight:) Hugs to all!