The Importance of Family

Judith

In late July I traveled to Long Beach, California to celebrate my aunt Helen's 103rd birthday. I was able to also spend time with my cousin and her daughter. Because we live about 1500 miles apart, we don't see each other very often. I do try (and usually succeed) in writing a newsy family letter once a month because they don't do emails and we seem to miss each other with phone calls.



Christy and her Employee of the Month Notice

When I arrived Sunday, the party was in full swing. About 50 people filled the area sitting on folding chairs, steps, and around the table on the patio. People had brought cards, food, flowers, and gifts to help Helen celebrate.

This was my first time to see the completed landscaping of the courtyard area of the apartment complex. What I noticed immediately was the walkway had been moved to run closer to the building and that allowed for the space to create gathering and bar-b-que area.

My cousin's daughter, Christy, is a whiz with party planning, food prep, etc. and she outdid herself for her granny. The BBQ pulled pork she made was Amazing! She made sure her granny had carrot cake with cream cheese icing, Helen's favorite and she created a masterpiece by adding fresh blueberries and something magical to a store bought lemon bundt cake.

I don't have pictures of the party and feast, but I do of the new courtyard!

If I Live To Be 103

Judith Ashley

If I live to be 103 years of age I'll have reached the same age as my maternal aunt, Helen. She is a remarkable woman, living in her own apartment with Callie, her dog. Her daughter and granddaughter live nearby and check on her every day.

When I visited with her the end of July, she told me that she has chores she's assigned herself. She makes her own bed every day and washes up her dishes. She also fixes something simple for breakfast and fancies up her daily delivery from Meals On Wheels.
No longer driving due, in part, to failing eyesight, she still knits T-shirts for a Church project, listens to the news, and keeps up with reading Reader's Digest Condensed Books along with correspondence from family and friends. Her apartment is up a flight of stairs and she managed to go up and down them as well, if not better than I did.



Aunt Helen

 

I've always thought I wanted to live to be 103 and if that happens, I want to be like my aunt!

If you were to live to be 100 (or 103) would that be a good thing or not?

What would be the best part of living that long?



Intention Sisters and Friends

Judith Ashley

If you've followed this blog at all, you know two other women are my "Intention Sisters" and we talk each week on the phone and each day focus on each other's Intentions. When I first registered for the Desert Dreams Conference, my plan was to spend time with my friend, Lois who has started a business located at Melrose Market (more about that in another post).

But then, in December, one of my Intention Sisters moved from Washington to the Phoenix area of Arizona and later this spring, my other Intention Sister announced she and her husband were celebrating their wedding anniversary in Flagstaff and she'd be in Phoenix around the dates of the Conference!

Lois

I flew in on Thursday. Lois picked me up. We all met up at the Chaparral Suites before going off to dinner at Malee's on Main, a local Thai restaurant. After dinner we returned to the room and visited!

Sunday, Gimi returned to spend the afternoon with Lois and me. We decided to check out what was going on at Vision Quest, a metaphysical store, on Scottsdale Road. When I walked in the door, I immediately noticed a display about Sacred Geometry. While Sacred Geometry seems the most natural spirituality for one of the characters to rely on in my series The Sacred Women's Circle, it isn't something I know much about.

The Intention Sisters: Judith, Gimi, Connie

The Universe was watching out for me because I met Mikhaela St. John who has a vast knowledge of Sacred Geometry. Mikhaela was generous with her time and I learned a lot from her. I purchased the divination cards she's created using Sacred Geometry and I'll certainly rely on her expertise when I am writing Gabriella's story!

Another practitioner at the shop was Safeer Mahdi, who treated Lois and Gimi to a sample of how he uses musical auras as healing tool. Both women reported they felt better after a few minutes with Safeer.

One of my traditions when in Scottsdale is to eat at Los Olivos Mexican Restaurant and our dinner there Sunday night was excellent!

Monday it was time to pack up and head home. Here are some pictures I took of blooming cactus. If you look closely at the last two pictures you'll see a hole in the cactus. A cactus wren had just flown into the hole. Wouldn't that have been wonderful if I'd actually captured that moment?

Throughout my stay, I heard a bird singing. The bird turned out to be a Grackle. While I was at Desert Dreams, a long time client became critically ill and wasn't expected to survive the weekend.  I was also assessing where I was in my writing and wondering if I was supposed to write these stories for myself rather than for others.

Grackle energy is about emotions and how they can color our thinking process so that we see situations incorrectly. I had to laugh when I got home and looked up Grackle energy...if I was on the wrong path would I have won Bella Media Management's basket?

www.JudithAshleyRomance.com
www.RomancingTheGenres.com
www.FreeReadsFromTheGenre-istas.com

Resources, Resources, Resources and a Win!

Judith Ashley

One of the best parts of attending a writer's conference is connecting with various resources. My Intention was to be out of my room (thanks, Bob Mayer) and checking out what was going on around me. Because that was my Intention, my focus was sharp. Here's what I noticed.

In my first post, I mention Diane Graham Photography. Another resource for those folks living in the Phoenix area is Pretty Faces Makeup Company. No, I didn't meet Vicki while waiting for my picture to be taken, I met her while I was waiting to talk to Vijaya Schartz who was being interviewed by local media.

Mary Keith, Keith Publications, was busy taking pitches from writers. Keith Publications has a plethora (love that word) of resources for writers.

Another great resource for Indie and Self-Published authors is The Indie Book Collective. I met founder, Carolyn McCray at one of their receptions. You'll remember Taylor Lee from my post on Registration.


And then there are books. I purchased Kris Tualla's Becoming An Authorpreneur : Navigating a 21st Century Career in Publishing which I've found extremely useful. If you have an Intention of self-publishing, check this book out.

Desert Dreams also has a raffle basket event. Writers, authors, publishers, chapters put together baskets of goodies (free critique, chocolate, wine, spa days, dinner at fantastic restaurants, Kindles, Nooks, stuffed animals, notebooks, note cards - you name it). Attendees purchase tickets and put them in the container for the prize they most want to win.

This year I won a Fantastic Basket donated by Carol Webb at Bella Media Management. What might that consist of? A FREE Ebook Conversion and Ebook Cover. I got my cart a bit before my horse in this case. However, it is good to know I'm set when the time comes!!!

I'd love to know what you think is the best part of attending a Writer's Conference.

www.JudithAshleyRomance.com
www.RomancingTheGenres.com
www.FreeReadsFromTheGenre-istas.com

One Of These Days!

One event every writer's conference I'm aware of has is a book signing. Published authors attending the Conference have the opportunity to meet their readers, sign books/book marks, sell more books (through the on site book seller which is a local book store), and have their pictures taken while signing a book, posing, or with a fan. The Conference promotes the authors and the general public is invited - nope, encouraged to attend.

Desert Dreams was no different.

Someone noticing me may have thought I wandered through the tables. The truth was very different. My Intention? Soak up the feeling of being at a book signing, imagine me sitting at a table, meeting my readers, signing my books/book marks, etc. One element of Intention is to see and feel yourself 'as if'. This book signing event manifested that opportunity for me.

Who did I decide to photograph?

Kris Tualla

Terri Molina

Genre-istas - Kris Tualla, Terri Molina

Genre-ista Alumni - Erin Kellison

Shelley Coriell

Laurie Schnebly Campbell

Genre-ista Guests

Shelley Coriell and

Laurie Schnebly Campbell

Genre-ista Guest-to-be Barbara White Daille

Vijaya Schartz

Vijaya Schartz - I moderated her workshop

Ann Charles

Ann Charles - She and Jacquie Rogers are the reason I even have a blog in the first place.






Amy Jarecki - I met her through this blog and then in person at Desert Dreams.

Amy Jarecki

Here's what it looks like to be surrounded with your books. One of these days!

Here's what it looks like to be surrounded by people wanting to buy or have you sign your books. Another One Of These Days! photo

My Intention is to be a published author and attending Desert Dreams brought me closer to its manifestation.

www.JudithAshleyRomance.com
www.RomancingTheGenres.blogspot.com
www.FreeReadsFromTheGenre-istas.blogspot.com

© 2012 Judith Ashley

Conference Connections the Bob Mayer Way

Prior to attending the Desert Dreams Conference, I read Bob Mayer's work on how to get the most out of attending a conference. I highly recommend it prior to going to a conference because it is packed with great ideas on how to use your conference time to enhance your writing, your contacts, and your brand.

What I practiced is 1) staying out of my room; 2) having my business card with me; 3) engaging in conversations and exchanging cards with the people around me.

Here are some of the writers I met at the meals!

Nikki Kimbel, writes now but is also The Original Mudpie Queen

Margaret Boone Rappaport, is on FB, and writes science fiction for women.

Janice Brooks, writes contemporary women's fiction and has published two books.

Elizabeth Blake, editor/author of "How I Met My Spouse" a compilation of true short stories from 42 couples.

Because I was out of my room and chatting with people, I also met

Bernadette La Mazza, playwrite and author

Prior to the conference I met two women. One on the conference Yahoo loop and one through an earlier post on this blog.

Patricia L. Brooks, president/founder, of the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers, I met on the loop. We met in person at the conference. Hopefully our schedules will allow us to connect again when she visits Oregon.

Amy Jarecki, author of 'Adventure Kissed by Romance' I met on this loop. She has an interesting blog. I really liked her series on Donald Maass' Breakout Novel Workshop.

As you can see, I collected the business cards of seven women while at Desert Dreams. I actually talked to many more and passed my card out.

In 2010 I met Christie Walker Bos and Courtney Lewis who have joined me on Romancing The Genres. You just never know when a chance conversation and the exchange of contact information can lead to a longer relationship.

Bob Mayer is right. Have a plan when you attend a conference or in keeping with the focus of this blog - know your Intention when you attend a conference and look for those Synchronicities. I'm very glad I did!

© 2012 Judith Ashley

www.JudithAshleyRomance.com

Registraion: A Time To Connect and Reconnect

Most of the time, when I embark on an adventure, I look for Synchronicity and have a clear Intention before hand. That was true for my 2012 Desert Dreams experience.

I volunteered for Registration and was assigned to the first shift. One of the best things about volunteering is you get to Register first, meet other volunteers, and meet and greet a group of attendees. Since I subscribed to the Desert Dreams Yahoo Loop, I knew names and could put faces to them. I'd also 'met' other writers on the loop, but that's another story.

Because of the organization of Shelley Coriell, Registration was ssmmoootthh and almost 50% of attendees had their registration packets by the end of our shift. Shelley has mastered being organized without being controlling.

I met and worked along side of Taylor Lee and Nina Benneton and renewed my connections with Robin Kramme, who I'd met and talked to at Desert Dreams in 2010. One of the added gifts I've found from regularly attending smaller regional conferences is I make friends and stay in touch in between.

Why did I volunteer for Registration duty? My Intention was to support my Desert Rose Chapter at the Desert Dreams Conference. Shelley had been a guest at Romancing The Genres and I may have met her in 2010 but I was able to really put her name and face and writing together when she guested with us in April. (She writes Young Adult. Check out her website by clicking on her name). One of the first people I spotted as I walked in the Registration area was Robin Kramme, who I met in 2010. At that time we'd shared our writing goals and dreams; this time we took the time to catch up on what had happened in the intervening two years. My Intention is to remain in contact with Robin until I see her again. You can click on her link to read a bio as she is one of the LitSisters. Click here to read about her play!

Nina Benneton and Taylor Lee are new acquaintances. Taylor is active with the Indie Book Collective, a great organization that supports independently published authors. Nina is an author with Sourcebooks. Check them out. I think you'll find them interesting and accomplished women you'd like to get to know.