Christian Retail

I've just returned from a few days in Atlanta, where I visited an old friend, and also attended the International Christian Retailers Show, (ICRS). This annual trade show run by the christian Booksellers Association is getting to be an old friend, too: this was my seventh year attending the show. It's a gathering of publishers, authors, retailers and distributors of not only books but an excessive amount of figurines, framed art and knick-knacks you'd typically find in a Christian gift shop.

I was there to talk to a few editors about my work, to learn about what's new in the industry (and see what books are selling these days) and also just to connect with other writers and publishing industry friends.

I got to see face-to-face a number of writers and editors that I typically only keep in touch with via e-mail. This was wonderful. I got to see Suzie Eller, Allison Bottke and Eva Marie Everson, wonderful women that I blog with on www.boomerbabesrock.com/blog. I got to have coffee and dinner with some of the members of The Writers View, an on-line writers group founded and run by Suzie Eller. I'm glad to be home, though--I love people but I lean toward being an introvert--so I'm needing some solitude to sort of recover from the four days of being around people.

I shared a room with my friend and fellow MOPS author Lorilee Craker. I feel as though we have added another layer of depth to our friendship, since we usually only e-mail (or IM when we are both procrastinating on writing projects). It's nice to have a friend who, like me, doesn't get tired of talking about books or writing. She's a talented woman who loves Jesus and I'm blessed to know her.