Intention Sisters and Friends

Judith Ashley

If you've followed this blog at all, you know two other women are my "Intention Sisters" and we talk each week on the phone and each day focus on each other's Intentions. When I first registered for the Desert Dreams Conference, my plan was to spend time with my friend, Lois who has started a business located at Melrose Market (more about that in another post).

But then, in December, one of my Intention Sisters moved from Washington to the Phoenix area of Arizona and later this spring, my other Intention Sister announced she and her husband were celebrating their wedding anniversary in Flagstaff and she'd be in Phoenix around the dates of the Conference!

Lois

I flew in on Thursday. Lois picked me up. We all met up at the Chaparral Suites before going off to dinner at Malee's on Main, a local Thai restaurant. After dinner we returned to the room and visited!

Sunday, Gimi returned to spend the afternoon with Lois and me. We decided to check out what was going on at Vision Quest, a metaphysical store, on Scottsdale Road. When I walked in the door, I immediately noticed a display about Sacred Geometry. While Sacred Geometry seems the most natural spirituality for one of the characters to rely on in my series The Sacred Women's Circle, it isn't something I know much about.

The Intention Sisters: Judith, Gimi, Connie

The Universe was watching out for me because I met Mikhaela St. John who has a vast knowledge of Sacred Geometry. Mikhaela was generous with her time and I learned a lot from her. I purchased the divination cards she's created using Sacred Geometry and I'll certainly rely on her expertise when I am writing Gabriella's story!

Another practitioner at the shop was Safeer Mahdi, who treated Lois and Gimi to a sample of how he uses musical auras as healing tool. Both women reported they felt better after a few minutes with Safeer.

One of my traditions when in Scottsdale is to eat at Los Olivos Mexican Restaurant and our dinner there Sunday night was excellent!

Monday it was time to pack up and head home. Here are some pictures I took of blooming cactus. If you look closely at the last two pictures you'll see a hole in the cactus. A cactus wren had just flown into the hole. Wouldn't that have been wonderful if I'd actually captured that moment?

Throughout my stay, I heard a bird singing. The bird turned out to be a Grackle. While I was at Desert Dreams, a long time client became critically ill and wasn't expected to survive the weekend.  I was also assessing where I was in my writing and wondering if I was supposed to write these stories for myself rather than for others.

Grackle energy is about emotions and how they can color our thinking process so that we see situations incorrectly. I had to laugh when I got home and looked up Grackle energy...if I was on the wrong path would I have won Bella Media Management's basket?

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Resources, Resources, Resources and a Win!

Judith Ashley

One of the best parts of attending a writer's conference is connecting with various resources. My Intention was to be out of my room (thanks, Bob Mayer) and checking out what was going on around me. Because that was my Intention, my focus was sharp. Here's what I noticed.

In my first post, I mention Diane Graham Photography. Another resource for those folks living in the Phoenix area is Pretty Faces Makeup Company. No, I didn't meet Vicki while waiting for my picture to be taken, I met her while I was waiting to talk to Vijaya Schartz who was being interviewed by local media.

Mary Keith, Keith Publications, was busy taking pitches from writers. Keith Publications has a plethora (love that word) of resources for writers.

Another great resource for Indie and Self-Published authors is The Indie Book Collective. I met founder, Carolyn McCray at one of their receptions. You'll remember Taylor Lee from my post on Registration.


And then there are books. I purchased Kris Tualla's Becoming An Authorpreneur : Navigating a 21st Century Career in Publishing which I've found extremely useful. If you have an Intention of self-publishing, check this book out.

Desert Dreams also has a raffle basket event. Writers, authors, publishers, chapters put together baskets of goodies (free critique, chocolate, wine, spa days, dinner at fantastic restaurants, Kindles, Nooks, stuffed animals, notebooks, note cards - you name it). Attendees purchase tickets and put them in the container for the prize they most want to win.

This year I won a Fantastic Basket donated by Carol Webb at Bella Media Management. What might that consist of? A FREE Ebook Conversion and Ebook Cover. I got my cart a bit before my horse in this case. However, it is good to know I'm set when the time comes!!!

I'd love to know what you think is the best part of attending a Writer's Conference.

www.JudithAshleyRomance.com
www.RomancingTheGenres.com
www.FreeReadsFromTheGenre-istas.com