A Weekend of Firsts

I had the coolest weekend! I just have to share the many writer-joys that I experienced the past few days. All firsts for me.

- My daughter had her yearly ballet pictures taken a few days ago. This seemingly mundane (but adorable) stop on my to-do list turned into a moment of reflection for me when I struck up a conversation with the photographer as his assistant posed my little dancer into a pretzel-like stance.

It's been on my mind lately that I need to add a photo of myself to my blog. (I have been dragging my feet on this task because truth be told I hate taking pictures and then publicly displaying them for all to see.) In my conversation with the photographer, I asked if he did head shots. His hilarious answer was "I do. Are you an actress?" I chuckled because that profession couldn't be further from who I am. Then out of nowhere, I heard myself say, "I'm a writer." After those words involuntarily flew out of my mouth I stood there thinking to myself...wow, I've never said that before. That sounds kinda nice!

- I had the extreme honor of meeting one of my blogging friends...in person. I gotta say, I felt a bit star-struck as I sat across the table from the delightful Keli Gwyn. I've never sat and talked writing before with another writer. It was very educational and too much fun! Not only did she ask me questions about what I'm working on, she kindly critiqued my story (and gave me a run for my money) right on the spot. I'm new to critiques but so far, I'm loving them! AND...we hit it off so well, we decided to be roomies and traveling buddies for conference in September. I can't wait!

- Which brings me to my next first. I registered for ACFW's conference..knees shaking and everything. WOW!!

- I found my hero. Well, I found his face. I've had this picture of him in my head for the longest time but I haven't been able to find an actual picture that I can hang up and daydream about. But I just so happened to have a fun girls night out on Saturday and we saw the movie Something Borrowed. Well, not long into the movie I was completely distracted because the actor playing Dex didn't look like a Dex to me. He looked like my hero. So I'm very pleased to introduce Benjamin Black (although in real life his name is Colin Egglesfield). In the movie he is clean shaven and sophisticated so I had to search for this picture of him. I think the stubble makes him look rough and tough like a cowboy, don't you? :)



- Another first that I experienced this weekend was in the same movie theater while I was watching the same movie. After I had gotten over my surprise of seeing Benjamin I found myself dissecting the movie as it played. I've never just automatically done that before. My mind was constantly looking for goals and motivations. I was even predicting when the conflict would appear based on pacing and the overall story line. And I was watching the simple details the writers added to advance the story. It was very neat...if somewhat distracting.

Do you remember when you first referred to yourself as a writer? What were the circumstances? Do you search for pictures of your heros/heroines when brainstorming/writing? When watching movies or TV, do you notice or look for the different story elements?