I spent this past weekend in Nashville Tennessee at the UtopYA conference. What was it like? Imagine a conference full of quirky chicks who all love to read, write and blog. Then add a hot shirtless cover model, a ton of raffle prizes and a few fangirl moments.

Attending a conference by myself was way outside my comfort zone. I’ve attended one other conference with a writer friend, but this time I was going solo. Arriving the night before, I set up my shuttle ride for the next morning. Then I imagined all the worse case scenarios:  I’d be too shy to  pass out any of my shiny new business cards. No one would talk to me. I’d eat lunch by myself, in the parking lot, behind a dumpster.

Before I could spiral into a black hole of insecurity, I posted my status on Facebook hoping someone  would comment and say they were riding the shuttle too. That way at least I’d recognize one person. And it worked. Ana posted she’d be on the shuttle. The only downside? She used a blog logo rather than her photo on the Facebook account. Okay. At least I had a name. A few minutes later, Kris posted she had a rental car and would be happy to give us a ride. So, the next day, I met up with the two women in lobby and we set out for the conference.

If you’ve never been to Nashville, it’s a gorgeous town with amazing architecture and lilac bushes which look more like lilac trees. The roads, however, are a mystery. In Illinois, the roads tend to run at right angles. In Nashville, the roads twist and turn and dead-end unexpectedly. Even with Google I don’t think we took the same route to and from the conference center twice, but we did laugh a lot.

Time for a confession. When I signed up for UtopYA, I didn’t realize it would be composed of Indie authors. Coming from my RWA and SCBWI background, I haven’t met many indie authors. I know hybrid authors who’ve published through New York and then branched out. Meeting women who’d taken a giant leap of faith and published on their own or through small presses was an amazing experience. They were marketing and publicity gurus. Swag ranged from a USB e-book bracelets to book cover wrapped lip balm.

Did I mention Jennifer Freaking Armentrout was the keynote speaker? She spoke about the crab pot theory. If one crab tries to crawl out of the pot, the others pull him back down. UtopYA was all about lifting other people up as you climb. All the panels were designed to help authors move forward in their career. Everyone I spoke to was nice. Everyone. That never happens. Whenever I bought a book, I’d give the author my business card and mention I had a book coming out from Entangled Publishing in January. Rather than smiling and nodding like they wished I’d shut up and go away, they all congratulated me.

What did I learn at UtopYA? Everyone is terrified that no one will talk to them. Suck it up. Take a risk. You’ll be glad you did.