Category Archive

Donna Schlachter is the volunteer we are spotlighting this week. She has served the past four years as treasurer for HIS Writers. During this time she has taken on many duties outside of a traditional treasurer role in both her home chapter and the state organization. She was instrumental in seeing that all four of the ACFW Colorado retreats ran …

I think the most common question I’ve been asked since being published has been, “How did you do it?” My answer is always, unequivocally, “With the help of others who were willing to mentor me.” The next question (especially if the asker is also an aspiring author or a closet writer) is usually, “How did you meet them?” When I …

This week we are highlighting Jill Hups. She has been with HIS Writers from the beginning. She served a four-year term as secretary, and when she reached term limit, was willing to serve as vice-president. A visionary, she makes extra work for herself by serving as a driving force behind many of the new endeavors at both the local and …

This week I’ve started one of my favorite times of the year, running first time orientation for the ACFW conference. A few years ago we realized that approximately a third of our attendees any given year were first timers. I’ll never forget my first time at conference in 2005. I went with a fellow writer from Indiana — a gal …

This week we are honoring Crystal Laine Miller. She has been active in the Indiana chapter of ACFW as an officer and advisor. She has served both as a judge for the Carol Awards and Editor and Agent of the Year Contest. She steps up to help ACFW when volunteers are needed such as at our annual conference. Crystal is …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Writing is one of the few businesses with a very small required investment. A computer, printer, books on writing, and a membership in ACFW: That’s the bare minimum. You can get books on writing from the library so buying them isn’t necessarily an expense you have to have. So now you’re in pretty good shape. Or are you? There’s one …