7:20 Sunday morning (Sep 25) and the beautiful day played havoc with my feelings. In a few short hours, the 10th ACFW conference would be over for another year. Instead of dwelling on melancholy thoughts, I rushed down to where the Zones were meeting for breakfast.
Because I live in Canada, I belong to the Beyond the Border zone of the ACFW. On this 25th day of Sept, our zone table consisted of members from:
- Canada (Cherie Gagnon, Susan Mason, Sandra Orchard, Gail Sattler, Eileen Watson)
- Bermuda (Cathy West)
- Australia (Karen Schravemade)
- and LeeAnne Hardy of the USA who is a contributor on http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com because of her book settings
Our zone table was in the back right corner of the room with an empty table in the corner beside us. I used the opportunity to move to the empty spot. I set up my Sansa Fuze on a fluffed up napkin and aimed the internal microphone at the dias. I had done the same with all the other worship session except I'd been in a crowd and the sound wasn't great. At all. I was hoping the empty back corner would alleviate this problem. I now know it did and am trying to figure out how to make a podcast of our worship session led by Rachel Hauck.
This back corner was also good for taping the ACFW choir on my little Lumix camera although I didn't know it at the time. Now that I look at the shaky video and fuzzy faces, I realize I should have used a tripod and moved in closer, but that would have distracted the people from the choir and I didn't want to do that.
So as the video plays, close your eyes and be blessed by the gift of these talented writers and industry people led by Rachael Philips, Choir Director. Rachael wrote one of the songs called, Writer's Prayer, based on scripture and will be posting the lyrics on her website soon.
Because I live in Canada, I belong to the Beyond the Border zone of the ACFW. On this 25th day of Sept, our zone table consisted of members from:
- Canada (Cherie Gagnon, Susan Mason, Sandra Orchard, Gail Sattler, Eileen Watson)
- Bermuda (Cathy West)
- Australia (Karen Schravemade)
- and LeeAnne Hardy of the USA who is a contributor on http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com because of her book settings
Our zone table was in the back right corner of the room with an empty table in the corner beside us. I used the opportunity to move to the empty spot. I set up my Sansa Fuze on a fluffed up napkin and aimed the internal microphone at the dias. I had done the same with all the other worship session except I'd been in a crowd and the sound wasn't great. At all. I was hoping the empty back corner would alleviate this problem. I now know it did and am trying to figure out how to make a podcast of our worship session led by Rachel Hauck.
This back corner was also good for taping the ACFW choir on my little Lumix camera although I didn't know it at the time. Now that I look at the shaky video and fuzzy faces, I realize I should have used a tripod and moved in closer, but that would have distracted the people from the choir and I didn't want to do that.
So as the video plays, close your eyes and be blessed by the gift of these talented writers and industry people led by Rachael Philips, Choir Director. Rachael wrote one of the songs called, Writer's Prayer, based on scripture and will be posting the lyrics on her website soon.
Partway through the final service, I saw my roomie, Gina Welborn, heading for the door with her suitcase. I followed her out and stayed with her until it was time for her to catch the shuttle. The past few days with Gina and Dina Sleiman had been such a blessing. I totally loved being their roomie, hanging out with them, and listening to them talk 'industry' late into the night... actually, they'd talk until one of them fell asleep. :)
After Gina left, Dina and I went up to the room and made this video:
After Gina left, Dina and I went up to the room and made this video:
Dina Sleiman, Eileen Watson, Sandra Orchard
After Gina left, Dina and I went for a walk outside. We headed east toward the Gateway Arch which sits beside the Mississippi river.
Along the way, we found ourselves behind 2 other ACFWers, Sandra Orchard and Eileen Watson.
The four of us walked towards the base of the arch looking for the way into the Visitor's Center. Once we saw the long lines of people waiting to get inside however, we bypassed the arch and headed for the river to see the view with paddlewheelers.
Along the way, we found ourselves behind 2 other ACFWers, Sandra Orchard and Eileen Watson.
The four of us walked towards the base of the arch looking for the way into the Visitor's Center. Once we saw the long lines of people waiting to get inside however, we bypassed the arch and headed for the river to see the view with paddlewheelers.
Gateway Arch Visitor's Center
A short while later, Dina left as well. I went down to the lobby sitting area to see who was still around and spent time getting caught up with Love Inspired and Revell author Ginny Aiken. I love talking with Ginny as she's full of life and unique ideas which translates into wonderfully entertaining books. She's also a great encouragement to me.
Later on that night after wandering outside and taking pics of St Louis at night (I'll post in my next blog), I sat with Seeker Camy Tang, eHarlequin host Danica Favorite and literary agent Chip MacGregor who were celebrating Camy's birthday. It was fitting that they would be the last ACFW members I saw before leaving, because Danica was one of the first writers I'd met when I began taking my writing career seriously in 2005 and joined up with the Harlequin forum.
Later on that night after wandering outside and taking pics of St Louis at night (I'll post in my next blog), I sat with Seeker Camy Tang, eHarlequin host Danica Favorite and literary agent Chip MacGregor who were celebrating Camy's birthday. It was fitting that they would be the last ACFW members I saw before leaving, because Danica was one of the first writers I'd met when I began taking my writing career seriously in 2005 and joined up with the Harlequin forum.
