Finally a moment to praise She Speaks!

Three musketeers? Me, Marybeth, and Ariel. (Ariel, what's your necklace doing?)

Giving away the very last Daisy Chain book for the She Reads Book Club to Micca Campbell

Life's been one of those crazy merry-go-rounds lately, so I haven't been the bloggiest girl. I hope you can forgive me!

In the past month, I spent over two weeks in Seattle, then several days in North Carolina for the She Speaks conference. And now, nutty woman that I am, I'm writing a book in a month. Please pray for me!

But I did want to pause and say a few words about She Speaks.

What a well-run, inspirational, sweet Jesusy conference. What I loved:

• How deeply the women leaders loved each other. What refreshment not to see icky catty stuff. Quite the contrary: these women prayed for each other, supported each other, encouraged. More than anything else, this wooed me. Helped me see that women friendships can be redemptive. Kudos to the Lord for beautifully knitting these leaders together!
• Really refreshing, God-honoring, God-whispered teaching. I've been so dry and thirsty and needy lately. Hearing refreshing, living-water-filled teaching blessed my socks off. (This is true today, even. I'm typing this barefooted.)
• The conference was very organized and it ran smoothly. If there were hiccups, I didn't see any.
• The chance to meet with so many writers. What totally encouraged me: folks I didn't know thanked me for doing Wannabepublished. I had no idea so many people were reading that blog. How cool to be a part of so many writers' journeys toward publication.
• I had a terrific roommate, Kristin Early, who is moving toward publication. It was a privilege to rejoice with her during the conference.
• I had a chance to interact with several of the leaders at She Speaks. And although I was on the outside a bit, they welcomed me as family. I know God is initiating new friendships.
  
• I had a life-altering conversation with a brand spanking new friend. The kind of conversation that stops you in your tracks, helps you completely re-evaluate your entire present life, and endeavor to change. Since then, I've been on a mission to edit my life, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I'm getting much better at saying no, at taking things off my plate. All as a result of a divinely-appointed conversation.
• What a blessing it was to teach a very practical session on book proposals! The class went swimmingly (pardon the adverb, but it did!), and I received great feedback in the aftermath.
  
• Zondervan blessed me and the gals at She Speaks by donating 300 copies of Daisy Chain. The book is part of their brand new initiative called She Reads! The fiction book club chooses three books per quarter, and Daisy became one of the first, along with The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner and Eye of the god by Ariel Allison. What a privilege to be in such company! We had a chance to launch the club at the conference. It's the brainchild of the amazing Marybeth Whalen. She, along with Ariel Allison, spearheads this. Think of it as a place where book clubs can go to find great Christ-honoring fiction.
• With that said, the coolest times I had at the conference came in hanging out with Ariel and Marybeth, kindred spirits, both. Fun, funny, deep, intelligent, sweet...I feel like I've made some new, lifelong, cool friends.

If you're a SHE, consider attending She Speaks next year, but don't falter. This year, in a recession, they turned away 200 folks. Only 600 allowed. So once it's announced for registration, sign up. Lickety split. Where else will you find godly women? Great speaking? Deep, fun friendships? Yummy food? Laughter? Help with writing? Speaking coaching? Leadership training? Prayer?

My huge thanks to Lysa TerKeurst and her crew for welcoming me this year!