DOWN TO THE WIRE

I can't believe the next Story Circle Network conference is only two days away, and I still haven't done a thing to prepare for it! About this time four years ago, I was preparing for my very first one, and I was a wreck, I tell you. A wreck! I was so, so nervous -- about attending my first conference, sharing a room with a stranger, not knowing a soul there, about getting up and reading something of mine during the open mike session, even about calling myself a writer, for pete's sake! Of course, it all turned out fabulous. My hubby had set me up with a blog for all my writing about the Hill Country, but I really didn't have a clue what I was doing. How lucky, then, that they happened to have a panel discussion all about blogging that year? I learned so, so much from it, and started connecting to other bloggers in a big way, creating a writing network! As an added bonus, that conference is where I met the friend I call Buffalo Woman, who happened to be from Wimberley (where I had just started living full-time, without my hubby, and didn't know a soul) and who introduced me to the friends I call my Muses, and who continue to inspire me creatively on a daily basis.

My new coffee group, The Muses

The next conference, which was two years ago, I was much more laid back about all that stuff. However, this time they had asked me to actually be on the blogging panel, so I was now a wreck about that. Again, it all turned out fabulous. It was such a thrill to be able to connect in person with some of the friends I had made in the blogosphere. It was at this conference that I first started thinking I just might be ready, and able, to write down some of those stories about our time in Indonesia and Bahrain, and that spawned a second blog!

New friends from the blogosphere

The 2010 Blogging Panel

This year I worry that I'm too laid back. Shouldn't I be getting worked up by now? What will I learn this time? What will I be inspired to attempt? What connections will I make? What about the two friends who have decided to attend because of me? Will they get as much out of it as I did? I sincerely hope so. I hope we will all be inspired and make important connections. I hope we will each learn something exciting -- something that will light a fire inside us, and push our writing in new directions. OK, now I'm getting worked up! Guess it's time to start packing!