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| On my last section hike. Trading in trail runners for high heels |
I’m getting ready for another trip – and this time it has nothing to do with a backpack(!) Though I live out of a backpack several months of the year, right now it is my suitcase I am carrying for my next great adventure.
This time I trade in the backpack and trail runners, the convertible pants and rain hat for a suitcase, nice clothes, and the heart of a writer as I prepare to attend the 15th annual ACFW conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
After all, before I really began my backpacking adventures, I was (and still am) a penman of the word. In fact, 2017 will celebrate 20 years of being a published author that has seen some twenty plus novels and novellas find the printed page to the eyes of eager readers. I did do some day hikes in the old days and nursed a long sought-after goal to one day complete the whole Appalachian Trail (which I did in 2007 and again in 2010-11, both hikes chronicled in my first nonfiction book, Mountains, Madness and Miracles – 4000 Miles Along the Appalachian Trail). But in the beginning came my fiction work – of which there have been many titles of adventure and romance, but really, seeking God in everyday life to life issues. I draw from experiences and personal issues I have been through to create these stories. I like to weave a tale too that will make readers keep turning the pages rather than close the book on chapter two (which I dislike doing myself when I read a book!)
So this day finds me packing a suitcase as I venture to a writer’s conference to network with fellow authors and talk to editors about future book ideas (of which I always have many!). Just like hiking,
the thrill of writing a good story is a part of me. I don’t want to waste any moment of what I have been given or learned in life’s journey. It’s in that mode of transporting through life’s ups and downs that I can craft a story that speaks to a reader and makes a difference in one’s life as it did in mine.