I first thought about writing in 1993. A friend from church, Cindy Martinusen told me about her aspirations to become a novelist. My first thought was … Real people do that? She invited me to attend Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference with her. I was new as new can be. I was also 22-years-old and pregnant with my third child, …
ACFW — Wonderfully Strange
The 2010 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in Indianapolis was my first experience in attending a writing conference of any type. It was big. It was a little scary. It was a little strange. I didn’t KNOW any of these people. But I went anyway. I caught a ride in Louisville with two total strangers. OK, they were strange (pun …
ACFW Conference Makes the Grade
As a mom with three teens, one thing I’m very cognizant of is my children’s grades. I know very well the excellence my kids are capable of, and their grades are one indicator of how hard they work. Plus, those grades give me a reason to give my children a well deserved, “Great Job!” Which is exactly what I want …
ACFW Volunteer Spotlight
Mindy Obenhaus is this week’s volunteer spotlight. She is the coordinator for the Carol Awards. She has to find judges for the contest (5 per entry), people to head each category, answer questions about the contest, make announcements about the contest, troubleshoot problems that arise, write press releases for the finalists and make sure the category coordinators have the correct …
ACFW Conference Blog – Two Posts Today
First post is from Rachel Smith Fernandes: This year’s conference in St. Louis will be my fifth conference. I guess I’m somewhat of a seasoned professional. Or not. Like many other writers I’m an introvert. The prospect of attending my first conference was both exciting and terrifying. I’d made friends through the email loop and blogging, but what if I …
ACFW Conference Blog
Ashley Clark shares some wonderful conference advice in today’s post: Remember that high school feeling of getting caught talking in class? Maybe it wasn’t your fault. Maybe your friend in the seat beside you wanted to cheat, and you were actually saying, “No, I will not give you my answers,” but all the teacher heard was your mumbling, and next …
ACFW Volunteer Spotlight
This week we are highlighting Camy Tang. She has been the coordinator for the Genesis Contest for years. This requires a lot of work, recruiting judges, people to oversee each of the categories, sending the entries to the right person, troubleshooting when problems arise and sending out press releases about the finalists. She has filled in where needed and volunteered …
ACFW Conference Blog: Ten Reasons to Attend Conference
Ten Reasons to Go to ACFW Conference in St. Louis By Margaret Daley 10. The contest finalists will finally end their wait to see who has won in their category for the Genesis and Carol Awards. 9. Dr. Stanley Williams who has written The Moral Premise will be teaching the Early Bird session. His class will help us look at …
Comin’ home to a place I’d never been before
As the John Denver song Rocky Mountain High begins… “He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year, Comin’ home to a place he’d never been before…” That’s what attending the very first American Christian Romance Writers Conference in 2002 was like for me. I came home to a group of people I’d never even met before. An insane, …
ACFW Conference: the Place for Fiction Writers; Jeff Gerke
For novelists, the annual ACFW conference is the best Christian writers conference in the nation. There are several other Christian writers conferences every year that are very good and are in wonderful settings, but those are all for both fiction and non-fiction writers. ACFW’s conference is for novelists only–and it’s still by far the largest Christian writers conference of any …