2009 ACFW Conference

Wow. I've gone to the ACFW Conference every year since 2004, this was my 6th -- and best one yet! (The photo below is of the dessert at the banquet.)

I can't urge writers and wanna be writers enough to attend conferences. The education, the friendships, the opportunity to meet agents and editors, the fire it lights in your heart to write, write, write are compelling reasons to push yourself to go to a conference. Start a separate account and put a bit of money in it monthly. In a year you should have enough for a conference.

Each year there are more wonderful memories made.

The Donald Maass early bird workshop was worth the price of the entire conference. So much info and so much advice!

I attended a continuing session on screenwriting. It was taught by Rene Gutteridge. She was wonderful about sharing her knowledge and encouragement. Guess what I'm going to try to do now?

The workshops and chats were wonderful, too. It's fun to sit with friends and learn new things about the craft and the industry.

On Saturday I participated in a book signing with over 100 other authors. Thrilling!

On the right is a photo of me with the delightful and talented author Nicole Young.

I was thrilled to join other WordServe writers for a wonderful dinner at McCormick & Schmicks on Friday night. Fun!

I was so happy that my friend Donita K. Paul won the Mentor of the Year award. Here she is with her lovely daughter Evangeline. Donita was very surprised, it was so much fun to see her get this well-deserved honor.

My friend Danica Favorite-McDonald was a finalist in the Genesis Contest (for unpublished authors), she won runner up. I'm so proud of her. Her Husband joined her at the banquet.











Here's my friend Michele Cushatt (she writes beautifully and is a gifted speaker) and the 2009 conference photographer Pauline Fortuna of Fat Tuna Photography.


This is a photo of me with Angie Breidenbach (Mrs. Montana!). And yes, that's her crown I'm wearing.

More ACFW Conference

Home again. Tired and exhilarated from all I learned.

Yesterday was the last day of the 2008 ACFW conference. At breakfast I finally ran into my online friend and influencer Annette Irby.The morning was full of continuing sessions and workshops and then we were off to the Mall of America for the book signing.

That's a photo of the SFS ad that was on the "Big Screen" in the rotunda of the Mall of America.

Last evening was the annual banquet.
Here I am with my agent, Beth Jusino.

My friend, Tiff Stockton (AKA Amber Miller) asked me to take this photo of her and agent Chip MacGregor all gussied up.

If you're interested in some more details of the conference, head over to the Words For The Journey blog where I also posted.

ACFW Conference

Oh, boy! 

In only 63 days I'll be off to Minneapolis and the annual American Christian Fiction Writers Conference. And I can hardly wait. 

ACFW has only been around since 2000. I was the 94th member to join in January of 2001. At that time, it was the ACRW, the "R" standing for Romance. When I joined, I didn't consider myself a romance writer (still don't), but I was convinced that all genres would be represented in the organization. In 2004, they adopted the new title, American Christian Fiction Writers. 

Although ACFW is a relatively young organization, it is considered one of the best around for Christian fiction authors. I've heard it said that the annual conference has become the premiere Christian fiction conference in the country. I agree 100%. 

When I knew I wanted to get serious about achieving my goal of becoming a published author, I started to attend writer’s conferences. There’s so much to learn of the craft, and I found face-to-face instruction the best way to gain that knowledge. The ACFW conference was the first national conference I attended. I went there knowing only a handful of writers and left having made many new, lasting friendships. Despite its size, the ACFW conference has a warm, welcoming air to it. 

So if you've never attended writers conference and you're considering taking your career to the next level, plan on attending the ACFW conference. It will propel you into the heart of the Christian fiction industry where you'll learn more about the craft, have the opportunity to get some face time with agents and editors, and make amazing friendships with fellow writers. Perhaps you'll even have a spiritual encounter with the Author of Life. This conference has a designated prayer room where there's always someone available to pray with you. 

I credit ACFW and their annual conference with being instrumental in helping me to achieve my long-time goal of becoming a published author. I began attending the yearly event in 2004, and in 2006 I had a serendipitous meeting with Jan Stob (acquisitions editor for Tyndale House) over lunch on the last day of the conference. That lunch resulted in Jan requesting my proposal and ultimately presenting me with a contract in March of 2007. This past AprilSearching for Spice was released, and the sequel, Out of Her Hands, will be available in October. 

So if anyone asks me if the ACFW Conference is worthwhile, my answer is YES!

I hope to see you in Minneapolis!