I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!

Yes, you heard me. After deliberations and exhortations and affirmations and quite a few confrontations....I am going to the conference.

I never in a million years expected everyone to be so supportive. Nevah-evah. And then things started happening...like my dad never even questioned that I should go, when I expected to have to explain things favorably to him. And it turned out that I wasn't going alone after all. And God kind of intervened.

I debated about posting this here, but I finally decided to. It's an excerpt from a notepad file I spill all my guts into when I feel like I can't hold them in any longer or I'll yell at someone. So I go yell in text. It works.

    So here I am again, because I need to think.
    Play the heroic music. Type whatever comes to mind. I would do this more often, if it didn't depress me so much.
    So. The conference.
    There's so much tied up in it. So many emotions, so much promise.
    There's not really anything to be afraid of. There isn't.
    Oh, that feels good. There's nothing to be afraid of, Elizabeth. E. My beloved.
    Is this my answer?
    Oh, God. Before I even ask. I'm going to cry. Before I can even bring out all my fears, untangle them and leave them in neat piles, You comfort me. I guess You don't need things neat and tidy, do You? Look at me. I'm a mess. And You love me.

That was when I really did start to cry. This is copied directly from that file, where I typed it as it came to me. It's not been touched by my red pen.

        My hands are shaking. I can't see the screen now but I touch-type, instinct guiding me. Instinct. My first instinct was to go. Isn't that what You gave them to me for? Trust your gut. Trust Me.
    My face is slick, tears and sweat. I wipe the dust off my keys in one shaky motion and reach for a kleenex, then almost laugh. I'm out of kleenexes.

    Let not your heart be troubled.
    That sounds like a choice.
    I choose. I choose.
    I choose not to worry about this. I choose to trust.
    What if the peace leaves me? I can remember. I can still remember.
    Even this could be a message. This gift I have for putting things into words, neat black characters across a neat white page, with all my emotions spilled across them like a shimmer you can see if you tilt it the right way. I have a talent. And I'm pretty sure I'm using it right. But this could be - this could be big.
    So.
    A decision here seems so final. I can't write it out. I can't.
    Can't I?
    I'll go.
    I'll go to Realm Makers.
    Don't think about it any more. Don't stew or fret or worry. Dinna fash yourself.
    I'll go.

As for not going alone...not only do I get to go with THIS lovely person (Kaitlyn/Airianna from The Rainbow in the Storm:

But THIS amazing person is coming as well (Meaghan from over at Within the Writer's Wardrobe, formerly from The Patriot's Call)!

So I'm still alternating between terror and feverish excitement, but since it's all set and final now, I'm going to celebrate with my first giveaway. Yes! A real one! With a real book you can hold in your hands! None of that e-book garbage. ;)

Turns out Jeff Gerke is going to be the keynote speaker at said dreaded and highly anticipated conference. In honor, I decided to give away a copy of his writing book, Plot versus Character, sure to appeal to any fellow writer. But this isn't any lazybones giveaway - you'll have to work for it.

I have here a link to a Pinterest board. Not just any Pinterest board - my Pinterest board, with all my writing prompts on it.

To enter, go to the board and choose a picture. It can be anything on the board. You don't even have to follow me (though you might get extra points if you do. Then again, maybe not.) Then write about it. It can be as short as 100 words or as long as 1,000. Even longer if you like. It should be prose, fiction, and can be any genre, as long as it's about that picture. You may enter up to five times, using five different pictures.

Now before you protest that you're not a very good writer, let me say that won't be the only criteria. For the final pick, I will choose three stories I like best - I'll be looking for good writing, good characters, originality, uniqueness, and all that jazz - but I will also randomly pick three stories to go in with them. I will then choose the final winner out of that pool.

But wait! There's more! Each entree will also get a critique from me on an entry of his or her choice, and the three best will have their stories published right here on this blog.

Just send your story/ies and attached picture/s to elizabeth liberty (at) hotmail (dot) com - no spaces - by Friday, August 2nd. Please include "Contest Entry" in your subject line and your name (or pen name) in the email.

I cannot wait to see what you all come up with!

Design!

Just a little middle-of-the-week post to tell y'all to check out my new blog design. Like the header? My mother, beloved Kimberly *chuckle* and I made it this morning. Quite wintry, no? I was inspired by Squeaks' beautiful design over at Hidden Doorways. Check her out too. *waves madly to Squeaks*

I have also been successful in designing some outfits for my Elf/Elvarian dancers to wear at the party in the end of my book. Not the most important thing on my agenda, but *shrug* I'm getting there. I finally settled on a design with a rather blousy cut. Three parts; a jacket, pants, and an undertunic. The pants are cut just above the ankle and the leg slants upward. I was thinking something that wouldn't obstruct movement and something that they wouldn't trip over or step on. The jacket is in the same sort of design, open at the front with embroidery down the right sleeve, while the pants have embroidery down the left leg. I'll upload a pic if you guys want one. ;) Also settled on the colors green/gold for one outfit and crimson/white for the other. (Those represent Iri and Aaron respectively, for those of you who know them.)

While I'm here, let me share a couple of verses that touched my heart this week:

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

No matter how hard we slave over our works, whether they be novels or graphics or a malfunctioning blender, we can always be humbled by the fact that God did it first and best. Since we are created in His image, how much can we achieve by glorifying Him in our works? The best is yet to come.

Elizabeth