And So It Ends Begins...

For those who have already gone through the blog circuit discussing the ACFW conference, you will notice a few similarities we have in common:

1) sleep deprivation
2) being overwhelmed
3) gratefulness to attend and learn
4) excitement re: pitching sessions with agents/editors
5) meeting the blogging community = WONDERFUL (it was like having built-in friendships amidst a throng of people we didn't know or only knew of b/c we had read their book!)

I'm still recovering from #1. I must have suffered some sort of altitude sickness of some sort...and I'm still not 100%. Thankfully, I had gotten all my pitches out of the way the day before I really felt bad!

SO....on to the big news:

I had TWO PARTIAL REQUESTS! This is the beginning. I'm nervous about it, of course, because I feel like this is some sort of invisible line I'm stepping over. Before I email off these partials, I'm really just a girl who likes to write. But as soon as I hit Send, I'll be a girl who is actively seeking representation and eventually publication. Scary, exciting. I'll be going over some last-minute edits, of course....and most of that will be cuts. So please be in prayer for me about that!

Now...I had a camera at the conference on my phone, but took very few pictures. So I'll have to steal a few off fellow blogger websites in order to round out the picture (no pun intended) of who all I got to meet (and of course, this isn't everyone)!

Here I am with my fab critique partner, Katie Ganshert, before the Saturday banquet. Not all of us had the benefit of lovely spray tans.

This is a big group of us fellow bloggers, all of whom met online in the months preceding the conference. People at our tables always knew we had some other connection besides ACFW. :)
Back: Jody Hedlund, Katie Ganshert, Jessica Nelson, myself
Front: Ralene Burke, Eileen Watson, Krista Phillips, Cathy Bryant

Erica Vetsch and me at the banquet. If I look like I'm about to hurl, it's because most of that night, I really was about to. Erica and my other dining companion (Jessica) were very nice about it. They just said to aim away from the table toward the wall. :)

Here I am with Eileen again at the My Book Therapy pizza party/presentation. I guess we both got accused of having accents at this shindig.

So that's the low down. I also met fellow blogger Jaime Wright Sundsmo, writers Mary Connealy, Julie Lessman, Mary DeMuth, Deborah Raney, Debbie MacComber, Christina Berry, Deborah Vogts, Janet Dean, Michelle Sutton, Camy Tang, Karen Young, Jenny B. Jones, Denise Hunter, Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, and so many others, I can't even begin to try to put all of those names down!

I also met agents Donald Maass, Tamela Hancock Murray, Greg Johnson, Rachelle Gardner, Chip MacGregor, and Natasha Kern...which was all very exciting!!

Well, I gotta get to work!