Looking Forward to Writers Conferences in 2019

Another Monday is upon us. Let's face this week with a positive attitude and work to make the most of it. A new day means new blessings and new mercies. Thank the Lord, because I need all I can get! 

I made the suggestion recently, that writers would benefit from finding other writers to work with, learn with, learn from. Some of the ways I mentioned are: conferences, retreats, workshops and writers groups. In these different settings you can usually find editors, literary agents, mentors, publishers, etc. You may have the opportunity to learn from and even meet with some of these professionals to discuss your particular needs.

I plan to give you a head start on your research here, if you want to avail yourself of these resources. My list will by no means be exhaustive, it is just a taste of what is available to you. I know not everyone who reads my blog is a Christian writer, so I plan to give a choice for the Christian genre and the secular genre writers. 

Conferences:

Northeast

Secular: 

The Muse & the Marketplace
GrubStreet's National Conference for Writers
Boston, MA
April 5th-7th, 2019


This is a large conference with over 800 attendees. This conference is known for drawing some of New York's finest agents and editors. 

Christian:

Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference
Dock Mennonite Academy
Lansdale, PA 

August 8-10, 2019

All I know about this conference, is that it has been going for 36 years and has a great reputation. I have visited Philadelphia and it has so much history, it is worth the visit. One tip, if you want a great Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, ask a local police officer. That's what we did and he pointed us to a sandwich shop that made the most delicious one I had ever eaten.

West:

Secular:

2019 Northern Colorado Writers Conference

Fort Collins Marriott

Fort Collins, Colorado 

May 3-4, 2019

This conference will actually be held on a cruise! Their website states,  "The NCWC is one few writers' conferences that caters to a variety of genres including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting."

Christian:

2019 Summer Coaching Conference

Red Lion Hotel on the River - Jantzen Beach  

Portland, Oregon

August 12-15, 2019

With keynote speakers like Brian Bird (When Calls the Heart-Hallmark Channel) and Francine Rivers (A member of Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame), this must be a great conference.

South:

Secular:

SteuthFest 2019
Embassy Suites by Hilton Boca Raton 
Boca Raton, Florida
May 14-17, 2019


This one is for Mystery, Suspense and Thriller writers. One of the highlights of this conference is the hands-on forensic workshops! 


Christian:

Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference
Ridgecrest Conference Center
Ridgecrest, NC 
May 19-23, 2019

On their website they write, "This is an intensive, hands-on workshop.  Participants should bring a WIP and writing materials." I have been to the Ridgecrest Conferences Center several times for marriage retreats and enjoyed it very much. That area of the country is beautiful.

Bonus Christian:

ACFW 2019 Conference
San Antonio, Texas
Hyatt Regency at the Alamo
September 26-29, 2019


I attended this conference last year in Nashville, TN (Refer back to my three posts in September regarding this). I thoroughly enjoyed my first conference experience there. I plan to attend again this year. It was a wonderful experience. I learned so much and I met some of my favorite authors. This is definitely a great choice, if you are a Christian fiction writer. Also, I have visited San Antonio, TX many times and love it. It has so much history. Make sure to visit the riverwalk, if you go. 

Midwest:

Secular:

MWW Super Mini Conference
Ball State Alumni Center
Muncie, Indiana
July 27-28, 2019


"Our programming schedule focuses on key areas such as craft improvement, genre knowledge, finding critique partners, and forming writing support groups to help improve your writing."-website. They have designed their mini conference for writers of every level. 

Christian:

Breathe Christian Writers Conference
L. V. Eberhard Center
Grand Valley State University
Grand Rapids, MI
October 18-19, 2019


This is a conference by writers for writers. "Our smaller conference size means you get to mix and mingle with the breakout session leaders and keynote speaker."-website. Their keynote speaker is Gary Schmidt a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor recipient.

Ok, there you have it. This is just a handful of the options available to you. I hope you will seriously consider attending a conference this year, if you really want to step up to the next level in your writing. If you aren't a writer, there are probably great conferences in your particular area of interest.

I hope this is helpful. I hope this inspires you to find others at your level or those with years more experience to share your journey and help you along the way.

❉ Remember to subscribe here and on my website. (My website is still new and a work in progress.) I hope to get my first newsletter out this month and it should be made available to my website subscribers.  

May God bless you and your family this week.

In Christ,

Sandy

The Gift of Love

Happy Monday! Today I am looking forward to February 14th, Valentine's Day. I have a little advice, a little encouragement and some gift suggestions. I plan on celebrating with my Valentine, my Sweet Hubby and other family. Our traditional supper is steak and spaghetti, although spaghetti squash will have to do for me this year. I have been blessed with a loving husband and a loving family, but most of all a Loving God, because He has blessed me with them all.

God is Love and the love He has given us through the giving of His Son, the Lord Jesus is the greatest blessing. He shows us His love in other ways, too. He gives us family, friends, husbands, wives, special someones, children, grandchildren... Valentine's Day is a great day to celebrate the love you have for others and the love they have for you. 

Although many see Valentine's Day as a day for couples, I don't think it needs to be confined to that. As I said, it's a day to celebrate love. If you love anyone in your life, if anyone loves you, celebrate that relationship. If you are single and you can't help feeling left out, have you ever thought that Valentine's Day may be a good day to pray that God would lead you to the one He has planned for you when it's the right time? In the meantime, ask the Lord to help you grow into a person that will make a good spouse for that special someone. Caring enough about your future spouse to work at being the best you can be for them? That is a great gift.

Do you have a loved one that has lost a spouse? Maybe Valentine's Day would be a good time to invite them out for dinner or in some way take their minds off their loneliness for at least a little while. If you are not part of a couple, don't let that get you down. Find a way to celebrate the love of God and the many gifts of love He gives us. Be a blessing to someone else who may be feeling lonely.

If you are one who gives gifts on Valentine's Day, I thought I'd help you out by giving you some gift ideas. They are all books, but are you surprised? 😁

Children:

Berenstain Bears Lessons in Love by Jan and Mike Berenstain

Love Is . . .by Adapted From The King James Bible and Wendy Anderson Halperin (Illustrator)

Teens:

Holly's Heart by Beverly Lewis

The Guy's Guide to God, Girls, and the Phone in Your Pocket: 101 Real-World Tips for Teenaged Guys by Jonathan McKee

Singles:

The 5 Love Languages (singles edition) by Gary Chapman

God Send Me My Husband by Sherylynne L. Rochester

Married or Engaged:

The Love Dare Day by Day by Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick

Love & Respect by Emerson Eggerichs

Love Stories:

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

My Valentine by Tracie Peterson

Valentine's Day Ideas Book:

Christian Valentine Day by Dr. Miriam Kinai

We can all celebrate God's gift of love. I hope you, your family and friends have a very Happy Valentine's Day this year.  God Bless You!

In Christ,

Sandy 

P.S. 

I am enjoying my Read and Review book for this month, True to You by Becky Wade. I plan to give my review by the end of this month. Stay tuned! 

Qualities of a Great Writer

Hello, I hope your Monday is off to a great start. So far I am doing good and ready for today's post. The title for my blog was going to be The Write Stuff, but Author Max Lucado beat me to it, in an article I plan to reference today. "Great minds..." and all that. 😉

Anyway, Qualities of a Great Writer fits, too, because I do want to talk about the qualities of a great writer. I found several articles about this subject and really, if I had the time, I could probably find a hundred more easily, but even though this isn't a new subject, it is important enough for us to be reminded again. 

Not long ago, I heard a podcast host make the comment, "Everybody is an author." My immediate reaction was, "No, they aren't." Of course, I was right, but I'm sure she was just exaggerating to be humorous. Her comment did stick in my mind though, so I began to notice the monumental amount of books, authors, writers, magazines, articles...etc., etc...just about everywhere I went. Everyone may not be an author, but there are more than I can count. If you are a writer, why do you write? Do you want to be the best writer you can possibly be? Then come along and let's learn together.

Why do I write? I write for several reasons. I feel it is my calling. I feel that it is one of the reasons God created me, so I feel that He compels me to do it, by giving me a passion for it. I have stories, poems, ideas...whatever, that stay in my mind until I get them on "paper" or until I get them on paper and then perfect them as much as I am able. I love to write. It brings me joy. I love to read, but writing is so fulfilling to me that I can even put aside a great book and choose writing instead.

Interesting thought, but not really.

To be a great writer, I believe you must have a God-given gift for it, but for every gift we are given, we also have lessons to learn in order to use that gift to its fullest potential. Let's look at 10 of the qualities mentioned in the articles I read that I think may be good places to start in the process of going from an average writer to a great writer.

1. Attention to Detail
2. Discipline
3. Passion for Reading
4. Plunge Yourself into Your Writing
5. Creativity
6. Perseverance
7. A Love of Writing
8. Assess Your Strengths and Weaknesses as a Writer
9. Go to Writer's Conferences and/or join a Writer's group
10. Study 

Articles Referenced: Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Article 4

These are all great tips and pretty self-explanatory. One way I personally use to understand something better, is to try to find the opposite of that word or phrase. I don't know why, but it seems to bring me more clarification. For instance, years ago, I was studying the Fruit of the Spirit in the Bible (Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."). In order to understand this better, I tried to think of the opposite for each one. For example: Love-Hate, Joy-Depression, Peace-Anxiety, etc., you get the idea. So, that's what I did with these 10 tips. I tried to understand them better, by thinking of what I would consider the opposites. Here is what I came up with:

1. Vague
2. Disorganization
3. Apathetic about Reading
4. Multitasking While Writing
5. Copycat
6. Quitter
7. Writing is a Chore
8. Unwilling to Change or Grow
9. The Hermit Writer: Unwilling or Afraid to Learn from Other Writers
10. Stagnant

My opposite list could certainly be improved, so I would love to hear if you have ideas for better opposites for our qualities list. Also, if you have another quality you would like to share, please comment below. 

When I look at the list of opposites, it makes me want more than ever, to change, grow and become the best writer I can be. How about you? When you look at the qualities and then the opposites, do the lists give you different feelings as you read them? I can better see areas that I really need to work on. 

The two that stand out most as areas where I need to work are: discipline and plunge yourself into your writing. If you have read very many of my blogs, you know I am trying to find balance in my life. These are two of the things that suffer, when I am off balance. Hopefully, I am getting closer to where I want to be, but it is definitely a work in progress. 

Are any of you working towards a more balanced life? What areas are you struggling with as a writer? Don't try to make this journey by yourself. The ACFW Writer's Conference I attended last year and the Writer's groups I am part of have been invaluable to me as a writer. I am so thankful for all I have learned from the writers and authors who are ahead of me on this journey. Take a little time to research writer's conferences or writer's groups in your area, you may find one that is perfect for you.

Well, I hope this gave you some food for thought today. Whether you are a blog writer, poet or you write for a research journal, look at these lists to gain some insight into how you are doing. May God bless you and your family this week.

(SOURCE: BODYLITERATE.ORG)

In Christ,

Sandy

If you are doing the Read and Review with me for the book, True to You by Becky Wade this month, comment below. I would love to know who is joining in on the fun. Check out last week's blog post, if you want to find out more.