Oh, the Places You Will Go!

Okay, I know I promised pictures of ChiLibris and ICRS. And those are still coming. But I was no sooner home that it was up, up, and away again--this time to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to the home of talented suspense writer Brandilyn Collins.

The gorgeous view from Brandilyn's back yard.

I've gone there every year for the past five years for a writers' brainstorming retreat. Eight of the 11 in the group are currently published novelists; all are terrific writers and brainstormers. Sadly, this year only 9 of us could make it. (One of our members, Tricia Goyer, had to go to the Czech Republic, poor thing. You can read the account of her adventure here.) The most important part of this whole thing, though, is that we're all good friends. I've known most of these women for years, so that makes it such fun to get together this way. We always joke that anyone who is honored (as Tamera Alexander was last year and this year, the little over achiever!) only reaches that success because we've carried them for so long.

So here's the group this year:

Left to right, you've got Brandilyn Collins; Brandilyn's mother, whom we all call Mama Ruth; Sunni Jeffers; Gayle DeSalles; yours truly; Sharon Dunn; Janet Ulbright; Tamera Alexander; and Robin Lee Hatcher.

As you can tell, we all have a great time together. We spend the mornings and early afternoon plotting books for each other, and you should see the ideas fly! Robin Hatcher brought along a wonderful tool this year: her flip camera. So rather than having to keep notes, we just video taped the brainstorming sessions. Can't wait to listen to my session! Not just because there were so many great ideas, though there were, but because it will be a blast to hear all the laughter again.

Janet teaching us how to be princesses!

Sharon Dunn getting tickled at a brainstorming session.

Our wonderful hostess, Brandilyn, and Robin Lee Hatcher,
letting the creativity flow!

In addition to the plotting sessions, we play and pray together, and basically enjoy 3 1/2 days of wonderful sisterly fellowship. And then, of course, there's the food.

Oh, yes, my friends. Food aplenty. The most succulent of which is one dinner in particular: Mama Ruth's Southern Fried Chicken, complete with homemade biscuits and gravy. Mama Ruth is a true wonder, and watching her create this repast is magical. I helped her fix the feast last year. This year I tried to stay out of her way!

Tamera, Mama Ruth in her apron, getting ready to fix Southern Fried Chicken,
and moi--getting ready to eat it!

I've blogged before about the blessing of women friends, and this group is sure testament to the truth of that fact. This has become one of my favorite trips of the year, and, God willing, I won't ever miss it. I did try something new this year, though: video tapping one of our walks. Well...one of their walks. I'm not exactly a regular among the walkers in our group. But I did manage to go twice this year. On the last walk of the visit, I took my camera and tried video taping. I'll check the video and see if there's anything good enough to post. I hope so. Because we had a great time!

Until then, here are some final pix for you to enjoy.

Tamera Alexander and her favorite author making nice for the camera, just before we...

...show our true selves!

May today bring you the sweet fellowship of trusted friends!

Karen

The World of Christian Publishing

I just got home from a trip to Orlando, Florida, where I attended two publishing events:

1. The ChiLibris retreat, where published novelists gather to talk, learn, and enjoy being surrounded by a host of others who are equally crazy

and

2. ICRS, the Internation Christian Retailers' Show, which is the trade show for the Christian market.

The ChiLibris retreat was, as always, informative and as fun as a barrel of Siberian husky pups! There were around 70 of us there. I flew out a day early, as I usually do when flying coast to coast. Good thing, too, since I ended up with TEN HOURS of delays. Rather than arriving at 4 p.m. as my itinerary stated, I finally got to the hotel at 4:30 a.m. AAHHHH! Happily, I was able to sleep in, since the retreat didn't start until dinner on Thursday.

My roomie, marvelous mystery writer Gayle Roper, showed up around 3 pm, and that gave us a chance to get caught up before the gang streamed in. I gotta tell you, when the hour approached for folks to arrive, I was wide awake and so excited to see friends I was almost dancing. There are few things I enjoy as much as this retreat, especially when everyone first arrives. It's such fun to see the hotel lobby crammed with published novelists--and believe me, the chatter meter went off the charts as more and more of us arrived. When Gayle and I arrived in the lobby, some of my first hugs came from Terri Blackstock, Angela Hunt, Colleen Coble, Kristen Billerbeck, and Susan May Warren (whose personality is so like mine that I've decided she must be my long-lost twin! Okay, a cuter, younger, slimmer twin...but still!) Before long we got more hugs as we were joined by Francine Rivers, Jane Kirkpatrick, Wanda Dyson, James Scott Bell, Brandilyn Collins, DiAnn Mills, Mindy Starns Clark, Randy Alcorn, Dave & Neta Jackson, Deb Raney, Tammy Alexander...and on and on the list goes.

Our retreat was a wonderful blend of singing, worship, and talking through all the crazy aspects of this publishing world and living a life of faith. We tackled tough issues (e.g., Why is it so much harder these days to get published?, What will happen if we lose the Christian retailers?, How can we keep creativity alive when faced with looming deadines?), and spent time just talking and laughing together. One evening Randy Alcorn, Susie Warren, Angie Hunt and I discussed the source of evil. As in, where does it come from. The depth of wisdom from those friends was invaluable, and helped me find an answer that finally made sense to this argumentative brain of mine.

Then there was the fun night on Friday, when we broke into teams and ran around the hotel taking creative pictures to represent the book titles of those attending. Can you guess what 6 out of the 9 teams came up with for my book title, What Lies Within? Little boats or toys or plastic people floating in the toilet. Siiiiggghhhh... Our team was more creative, thanks to Marlo Schalesky, who is pregnant. We all pointed at her belly! Now isn't that better than a paper boat floating in a toilet?

Anyway, it was a truly enjoyable few days, and the perfect prelude to the nonstop pace of ICRS, which I'll tell you about next time! And I'll post some pix for you to enjoy, too. As soon as I find my camera, which is still buried in the suitcase I haven't had time to unpack.

Peace, all.

Karen

Christian Women Online

Have you discovered this delightful online magazine? If not, you've got to go check it out. Now would be a good time, because they have this really beautiful woman on the cover. Someone you'll all love to read about. Take a look...

Okay, Okay, I'm being funny. But that fits because this was a fun interview to do. And they put in fun pix, too. So go ahead and click on the cover. That will take you to the magazine. In addition to the interview with yours truly, there's a lovely interview with my buddy, Robin Jones Gunn. There are also columns on beauty, cooking, faith, and all kinds of things for women. So have at it, and have fun!

Speaking of Robin, the CWO interviewer opens with this comment: "Talking with Robin makes you feel like you are sitting in a coffee shop sharing a latte with a friend." She's right on target. From the first time I met Robin, I knew I'd found a kindred spirit and a lifelong friend.

Robin and I were together this year at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers' Conference (if you're interested in writing, get thee to this conference! It's fabulous!), and I was practicing taking promo shots with my handy-dandy Sony Cybershot camera. I told Robin, "Let's take a shot making funny faces." Yuh-huh. Here's what she did.

Oh great! There's dumb ol' Karen with a goofy face and dear Robin, as beautiful as ever. Brat! So I told her one more time, and this time behave! I took the shot and...

Vengeance! Ain't it sweet? Finally, I told her okay, once more, and this time just be pretty. It took a few minutes of laughing and teasing before we settled down, but here's the final shot of me and one of the nicest, most gracious, most impish women you'll ever meet, the wonderful Robin Jones Gunn:

Don't you love having fun with friends you've known a long time? Me, too. So here's to a day for each of you filled with friendship and laughter--and good friends who can tease you with impunity.

Karen