New York and Philadelphia book

This is a virtual copy of the photobook I made for my trip to New York City and Philadelphia. Have a peek!

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London vs. New York City

This spring I've had the opportunity to visit two huge cities in two very different parts of the world. During spring break I went with my college's art department to London, and then after the semester ended, the Symphonic Band went on tour to New York City.

I had not been on a plane since I was five years old, and suddenly I had the opportunity to fly TWICE in one season!

My trip to London was by far one of the coolest things I've ever done. I've always dreamed of visiting the city. Not only is it the home of some of my favorite fictional characters, it's also where several of my own stories take place. I also took over a thousand pictures while I was there. Once I have the chance to go through them all, I'll post a few of the best on my photography blog.

I got to see so many things in London and the surrounding areas, but it felt like I never got to spend enough time doing any one thing, because we had so much more to do! Among the many wondrous things I saw: Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, the British Museum, a fantastic geek store called Forbidden Planet, Tower Bridge, and Kensington Gardens. We did a LOT of walking. In fact, one of my favorite things we did was a "Dickens walking tour of London," even though it rained part of the time. Since I'm working on a novel that is set in Victorian London, I loved learning about what life was like during that time period, and seeing nooks and crannies that still carry wisps of history.

I took a day trip out to Oxford by train with a couple other girls, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing C.S. Lewis's house "The Kilns", eating lunch at the magical "Eagle and Child" pub where Tolkien and Lewis's Inklings met, stepping into teeny shops, and wandering streets, getting lost and found again in the maze of cobble-stone alleyways... It's an enchanting place.

The only bad thing about my trip to London is that now I'm desperate to go back and LIVE there. Seriously.

New York is an entirely different experience, but it's no less impressive. To a girl from a suburban Minnesota farm, the dazzling array of lights, glass, steel, and people evoked an overwhelming feeling of other-worldliness. London was vibrant, but New York put me into sensory overload.

Since I went with my college's band, we got to do home-stays with some very interesting people. The tour to New York was combined with a few days in Pennsylvania, so we rented a bus and drove around a lot. Between New York and Pennsylvania, here are some of the things I did during the course of the trip:
-ate Philly cheese steak (my verdict-- meh)
-rode in a Mini Cooper (yay!)
-watched "Sherlock Holmes" in a host family's fancy home theater
-experienced a Long Island sunset on the beach
-learned what "Wawa" is
-stood beneath a dead whale shark
-went to McDonald's in Times Square
-stuttered awkwardly when someone begged for money (twice, I'm sad to say)
-saw a Jackson Pollock painting
-tasted "Water Ice"
-bought a calzone baked in a brick oven
-stood in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed
-got in trouble for crawling over the railing at a Broadway show


In conclusion: New York was cool, but... I left my heart in London.

Family Fotos (Planting Chums)

I'm finally ready to put up my Planting Chums post for this week! (Better late than never, right?)

The topic this week is "Family Fotos." I knew at once what I wanted to post, but... These pictures were taken with my mom's film camera, so I had to go get them printed from the negatives. :) Ah, the joys of film...

Welcome to Assateague Island!  Five years ago, my family took a road trip to Washington, D.C., and while we were out East, we decided to visit Chincoteague and Assateague islands in Maryland. (Has anyone read Misty of Chincoteague? This is the place.) We were hoping to see some wild ponies, but they kept their distance, so we walked down to the ocean instead. A lady walked by and asked if we needed someone to take a family portrait, and we thanked her and formed a group by the water's edge. We smiled, and she snapped a picture of us. Nice family picture, huh?

Ah, but the ocean had other plans for us. With our backs turned to the waves, we never saw it coming. A giant wave zoomed forward and attacked us! All of us got very wet feet as we jumped and screeched and tried to get away. And the lady on the beach wound the film and took another picture of us, bless her heart.

After we escaped the angry wave, we all looked at each other and laughed like crazy. And the lady took yet another picture, bless her heart.

These pictures were not staged. What you see is exactly what happened! And we have a record of this hilarious memory, all because of that nice lady on the beach. Thank you, lady, whoever you are!

Going to Florida... AGAIN!

I can't believe it. My family is taking a road trip to Florida this week! It's weird. I feel like I just got back from the Florida Christian Writers Conference, and now I'm heading right back down that way. Ha.

The reason we're going is that my brother, who blogs as DTHRocket, wants to visit a college down there. We'll be camping in Daytona, and then we're hoping to go see a space shuttle launch, one of the last ones they're going to do.

Well, I've got to get back to packing. I'm so excited!

My Adventures in Florida

Now that I've had a chance to finally unpack and get some sleep, here's my post about my experiences at the Florida Christian Writers Conference!

I took the Greyhound bus with my mom from Minneapolis to Ocala, Florida. 36 hours. Not fun. (If there's a next time, I'll probably take a plane, even though it's more expensive.) Anyway, when I finally got to the Lake Yale conference center, I just wanted to collapse on a bed and sleep. I'm glad we got there a day early, because then I could relax a little before the conference started. The location was beautiful, right by the lake.

The conference was amazing. Bryan Davis (who wrote Dragons in Our Midst) taught the Teen Track, and it was so much fun to interact with him and the other teens.

If I had to pick my favorite part about the conference, it would be the late-night critique sessions with the Teen Track. Each person had a chance to have their work-in-progress put up on the projector, and then the other teens would have a chance to give suggestions and ask questions. Then Bryan Davis would go through line-by-line and work with it, and helped the writer see how to improve it. These sessions were so much fun, and I learned a lot. 

Here's a picture of the entire teen track, including Sam the Hippo :)

I met so many cool people at the conference. Aside from the teen track, I met Jesse Florea (the editor of Clubhouse Magazine), talked with Torry Martin (the awesome creator of the character Wooton Bassett from Adventures in Odyssey!), and took several workshops taught by Jeff Gerke (who started the Christian Speculative Fiction publishing company Marcher Lord Press). By the end of the week, my head was swimming just trying to remember all the names of the people I'd met!

For me, the most unbelievable part of the conference was when I won the award for "Best work for a first-time conferee." At first I thought that someone had made a mistake. I was so overwhelmed. I felt like God was telling me that I'm on the right track.

After the long bus trip home, I had to sleep for a week. But the conference was such a great experience that I'd love to go again next year, even though I don't know if it would be possible. Anyway, I'm glad to be home, and I'm excited to be working on my writing projects again!

Florida Christian Writers Conference!

Yup, I'm going!

My mom and I will board a Greyhound bus at one in the morning (Tuesday), and we'll travel more than 1,500 miles to get to Ocala, Florida, where we'll rent a car and drive the rest of the way to the conference at the Lake Yale conference center. I'll be doing the Teen Track with Bryan Davis, author of the Dragons in Our Midst series and other cool books. I've never gone to a writers conference before, so I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm excited all the same. Here are my goals for the conference:

-First of all, to learn. I want to learn as much as I can about the craft of writing and editing, so I can improve my craft and better prepare my manuscripts for publication.

-To step out of my comfort zone and meet other writers. I'm not a networker, and talking to people in person has always been hard for me, but I want to overcome that. I'm looking forward to the teen critique sessions, where we can interact and help each another while working on our manuscripts.

-To explore the publishing world, which I know almost nothing about so far. I'm not ready to submit query letters, or anything like that yet, but I want to keep my eyes and ears open and see how the industry works, and which publishers might be a good choice for me in the future.

While I'm at the conference, my mom will spend a relaxing time resting and scrapbooking.  :)

It would be great if you could pray for me this week. I'd really appreciate it. Please pray for safe travel both ways, health for me and my mom, that this conference would be a positive experience, and that I would not be afraid to approach people and make friends.

I've got to go pack now! I'll be back on Monday the 8th.