Jennifer Brown

So last week was probably the whirlwind-iest week I've had since Hate List came out (with the possible exception of Teen Read Week last October, but that would only be because I stupidly arranged a vacation to Disney World the week before). I not only had two school visits, talking to five different groups of students (both visits went awesome and I think I'm finally really starting to get a handle on this school visit thing), but also was presenting a humor-writing session and a writing for young adults session at the Missouri Writer's Guild annual conference in St. Louis, followed by a meet & greet at the MASL conference in Osage Beach. Lots of driving, lots of talking, little sleeping.

By Saturday morning, running on just a couple hours of sleep, I was puddling out. I'd discovered, suddenly and very surprisingly, that I'm kinda sick of coffee. I was feeling bloaty in my suitcase-wrinkled "nice clothes." And my throat felt strained.

I needed a nap, and was unable to absorb the dreamy motivation factor that makes these conferences so awesome (the last workshop I attended gave me the a-ha breakthrough moment that ended up with me writing Hate List).

When I should have been soaking up inspiration, I was worrying... are my handouts good enough?... will I sound like an idiot up there trying to tell people how to write YA when I'm new to it myself?... will I forget everything I was going to say? Go too long? Or worse, too short? And in the back of my mind I was fretting that I wouldn't get enough sleep again Saturday night, which would make my combined 6 1/2 hours of driving on Sunday grueling and dangerous.

Things went well. MWG put on another great conference. And I got to meet lots of fantastic writers, and reconnect with others I hadn't seen in months... or years. Lots of laughter, lots of ideas tossed around, lots of cool people, and a dinner keynote that was amazing.

Still, by the time I arrived at the Lake of the Ozarks on Sunday, I was sweaty and unprepared and feeling cranky and a little crispy around the edges and all I could think about was finding a place of solitude, where I could read for a couple hours. Alone. In silence.

Dude. I needed Burger King.

But the second I hit the top of the stairs that would lead me to my Whopper and quiet reading table, a woman shoved some papers in my hand and directed me to a room, where an author was giving a talk. I stood outside the doorway for a few seconds thinking... honestly, I'd heard enough talking for one week. I needed quiet. But I stood one second too long, and the woman came back. She nudged my shoulder and whispered, "Go in," so I did.

Okay, you ever have one of those moments where you feel like someone or something led you to a specific spot for some purpose or another? Call it fate, call it serendipity, call it cosmic intervention, call it God... call it whatever you like.

I'm telling you, this was one of those moments for me.

I sat down and listened, and within seconds was totally absorbed into what this guy was saying. He talked about dreams. About following your dreams. About living your dreams. About sharing your dreams. He sang a song about dreams that honestly had me weepy (part low blood-sugar, but part just... wow).

Turns out, the author is from KC. His name is Shane Evans, and he's one of those all-around artists (artist, singer, author...).

I got him to sign a copy of his book, Olu's Dream, for me, and while he signed I nervously and bumblingly sputtered about how amazing he was and that I felt he was speaking to me directly and that I felt that someone or something had led me up to his lecture because it was exactly what I needed to hear at exactly the moment I needed to hear it. I also implored him to not add me to his "creepy stalker" list, because I swear, I'm not normally all fangirly and bumbly and stupid. Okay, well I'm stupid and bumbly pretty often and I have been known to get fangirly on people (Kristin Chenoweth, John Green, Gail Giles...), but I'm not usuall all three of those things at once.

But, you see, it doesn't matter. Because today I totally have my inspiration on! I'm ready to follow that dream!

Oh, and if my story doesn't inspire you to check out this guy, this video sure as heck will: