I just saw another post about how demonic and awful Wonder Woman was and I got fired up.

The commercials say she is a 'god' created by Zeus. So why wouldn't you expect mythological gods and demons?

It's a movie about a warrior so why wouldn't you expect war and fighting?

I am so sick and tired of people promoting movies that say Godda** and other horrible words that defame and curse OUR GOD and bash movies that have a message about loving one another, fighting evil, and never giving up. 

"Oh I loved La La Land," said many Christian friends of mine. 

La La Land graced the screen with uses of Godda** and used the Son of God's name as an exclamation of frustration.

But it was so great, right?

"Wonder Woman was so mythological and anti-God and so full of violence," said many of the same Christians. 

Yes, Wonder Woman was about a god created by Zeus. But it was also about a WARRIOR ordained to save and change the world by showing love and compassion to all and defeating the god of war. The demons.

A woman who didn't want to fight the normal "bad guys", the Germans. She wanted to get to the root. To the one who causes the war. Can you say, Satan?

She LOVED people unconditionally even when they wronged her.

She fought for what she believed in.

How awful of her. I cannot believe she would ever fight for something so rich in truth. Can't believe what our world is coming to.

I am not saying I'm void of guilt in the hypocrisy area of life, but I surround myself with people who I hope check me when I drift off the path of righteousness.

So here's your check. Do with it what you will.

I missed day one... shocking.

But I just saw something so incredibly beautiful that I HAD to share...

A woman, maybe in her mid to late fifties just came running into the auditorium during individual appointments. She ran to her friend/editor/publisher (don't really know) and started bawling, weeping saying "Thank you for [what I overheard] taking my book." The two embraced and now are chatting away, the woman still wiping tears from her eyes.

Whoa.

That's what writer's conferences are all about. They're about making and creating friendships and about cultivating your passions and stories. They can be magical in so many different ways.

Two years ago I came to Write-to-Publish as a writer who thought she had it all figured out and was ready to run into the arms of a traditional publisher. Now I own my own publishing house, make films, write screenplays, and help other authors succeed. I'm not the same person I was two years ago and it's a brilliant thing.

Is Write-to-Publish responsible for that change? Maybe and maybe not. But the people I met here (what seems like a lifetime ago) have changed my life and I would not be who I am today without them. Positive Note Network would not EXIST in its capacity without them. These people, this conference, is a Godsend. 

If you take away one thing from this blog post let it be this... the best people you ever meet at WTP or other conferences may not come in the form of a publisher who wants to publish your book. They may be the people who believe in your work but even more than that... they believe in YOU.

xoxo Jenni

It's 11:49pm. Tomorrow we leave for IA and we can't just turn around and come back this time. At least not for two weeks.

How do I feel?

Sad. Really sad. Like it's 12 years ago all over again.

I keep telling myself it's only two weeks. I'll be back. But my brain keeps repeating that moment when I was eight years old, saying goodbye to my Momo and Granddad and boarding the flight that changed my life forever.

For the better. But sometimes for the worse.

Do you know what it feels like to miss home? To long for it and mourn for it? To be away for more than half your life, but still step foot on your hometown turf just to have your heart beg your head never to leave.

Yeah. It kind of sucks.

Here's to hometowns and memories and all of that sappy stuff.

I swore I would never come back to this place, but in two weeks I don't know if I'll ever leave.

Well, it's almost midnight and Joanie B. and I have an incredibly long trip ahead of us for the next two days.

Thanks for reading (if you made it this far) and I'll write to you soon.

​xoxo Jenni

Since graduating college my life has been quite unbalanced. My grandmother died, I missed my actual graduation, I had to say goodbye to my second family at KMEG, I have to say goodbye to my church family, and lots of STUFF is happening. You'd think I would be crushed and defeated and bleh.

I'm not.

I'm typing this post while sitting at my grandparents' dining room table. The table they've had for as long as I can remember. The one that only fits four, but you could squeeze in three or four more with some mix-matched chairs.

For the first time in twelve years...

I am home.

It's hard to put into words how it feels. But let me give it a try...

It's that feeling when you finally sink into your own bed after weeks away, sleeping in hotels. That feeling of pure comfort and peace knowing this bed waited for you and you longed for it.

Maybe it's more like that feeling you get when you've been away at college and you finally get to sink your teeth into your favorite home cooked meal. That moment when nothing else could satisfy your hunger except that one thing and you actually have it.

That moment when you only have one puzzle piece left and it fits perfectly in the one hole left in your beautiful puzzle.

Fort Walton Beach is my missing puzzle piece.

It's the beach and the bay.

Sand in between my toes.

It's courage I don't have anywhere else.

Creativity and the desire to try new things.

Dreams and passions and memories.

It's everything I've missed for twelve years.

​And now it's mine.