Our poor Assassin is under the weather so I'm covering a bit late for her today. "Under the weather" might be code for on assignment, but I'm not at liberty to discuss that. Sorry for the delay, but on with the show.

Exactly four weeks from today, I'll be walking into a giant room in the Anaheim Marriott with the sole purpose of selling my manuscript to an editor with St. Martin's Press. Thankfully, I have an agent to hold my hand (figuratively, not literally) but I'm still scared poopless.

Heck, the entire conference has me a little freaked out. I've been filling in my schedule though it still seems surreal I even have a schedule. Retreats and panels and receptions and parties and dinners and pitching and someone get me a brown paper bag!

I did get a really good idea for the pitch this morning, so there's a slim chance I won't be panicking about this bad boy the night before. (Ask Chance about my epic pitch break downs. She's witnessed two.)

Most of you won't be joining us this year, but everyone experiences this sort of thing. Planning for something big. Packing for a cruise or a cross-country drive. Heck, even planning for the day you give birth is an exercise in not running around screaming with your hair on fire.

What do you do to keep calm? Do you make lists? How early do you start packing? Do you have every outfit planned in advance or do you wing it? (How do you do that???) Let's talk prep work and planning and reducing the hyperventilating.