Eat. Pray. Murder.

Hey, ya'll! I have arrived in Tennessee, and am officially done with Day One of classes. Things are going great, I have to say. The only thing bringing me down, (aside from having serious separation anxiety from my babies), is the fact that my body clock is all out of whack. Ohhh, how I long for the days of youth when jet lag did not affect me. Sigh.

However, while my body screams for blessed sleep, my brain will not comply, so I decided to give you all a quick update on my adventures out here.

EAT

My trip got off to a pleasant start. Big thanks to my Dad's work for flying him out to Virginia pretty much every week this summer! Because of those trips, he racked up quite a few miles on Continental that he didn't think he would get around to using - and he was kind of enough to give them to me! And, even better, he had enough to book me in a First Class seat! Yes. A. MAZ. ING. The only thing I could think about though, was how nice it would be to have First Class seats when traveling with my children - oh, the leg room! And the arm room! So much space! I hardly knew what to do with myself. So I celebrated with a complimentary margarita, obviously.

We landed in Houston for a short layover. It was approximately dinner time, so I headed to the food court to find something to eat. As I mentioned a few days ago, I have a fear of airplane bathrooms. I avoid them at all costs. Seriously. Whenever I travel I usually arrive at my destination positively dehydrated, because I won't drink an ounce of a beverage out of fear that I will need to use the lavatory. So I go to the food court, planning on finding something that will fill me up, but won't be too rich, in order to avoid any unwanted tummy/bathroom issues on my next flight, (you all know what I'm talking about here). These were my food options:

Donuts
Ice Cream
BBQ Sandwiches
Something huge and greasy that looked like a pulled pork sandwich
McDonald's

I must be in the south!

Thankfully, one of the restaurants had a plain green salad with a plain chicken breast. While not exciting, I did not have to contend with any unpleasant bodily issues on the following flight, which was good because...

PRAY

I did not have First Class on the second flight, because there was no First Class section. I was on one of the smallest planes I have ever ridden on. As soon as I stepped onto the plane, I felt my heart start racing. Small enclosed space...recirculated air...nighttime flying...thunderstorms in the forecast for this evening...It was all too much! As soon as I got strapped into my seat I just started praying. And praying. And praying some more. And when, just seconds after take-off, we made a sharp right turn, and the plane was shaking, and I just knew we were going to plummet to the ground, I prayed some more. Thankfully, I was so exhausted from the day at that point, that I pretty much passed out for the remainder of the flight.

MURDER

The Killer Nashville Murder Mystery Writer's Conference started today. I can't believe it's only been one day, I feel like I have learned so much already. I took classes on how to write engaging and purposeful dialogue, how to pace a novel, and how to become a best-selling author. Since it is a murder mystery conference though, I sprinkled in some 'for-fun' classes, such as how cop TV shows are terribly inaccurate, as well as a fascinating class about a cold-case murder that remains unsolved.

Throughout the day, I had the pleasure of making new friends, talking with people who, like me, hope to be published one day, as well as talking with a few who already have been published - and had some great advice to offer.

I know that I will come home from this conference feeling inspired, in fact, I have already begun working on a new novel idea, and even have another one floating around in my head. I am so glad that I ended up coming out here, it has all been worth it.