ACFW . . . and Realm Makers

Wow! What a whirlwind ACFW conference this year! I really felt like it was here and gone and left me in a cloud of dust. As that dust clears, though, I think this may have been the most inspirational ACFW conference I’ve been to.

For those who may not know, ACFW stands for American Christian Fiction Writers, and they have an annual conference where hundreds of Christian writers from all genres gather together to learn, worship, and fellowship on a long weekend.

11200796_10207617348136891_6678106449078097704_nHighlights for me this year:

Meeting my roommates and spending time with them. (I didn’t know them beforehand, not even much from Facebook.)

 

Sharing with my agent and my hubby that one of the publishing houses requested a proposal for my fantasy trilogy. (Squeeeeeee!)

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Hanging out with my fellow spekkies from Realm Makers AND finding that there were several speculative fiction writers there who had not hear of Realm Makers and therefore getting to tell them about it! (Yes, that was a bad sentence.)

 

12004088_10207610882215247_5009947617500223860_nListening to the keynote speaker, Bill Myers, who is such a source of inspiration, laughter, and wisdom. I truly got the most out of his sessions than any other part of the conference this year.

 

Next year, the conference is in Nashville, much closer to my home. I’m so excited for that one!

 

Speaking of next year . . .

And about a completely different conference.

We now know the date and place for Realm Makers 2016!

 

And on that note, I’ll leave you with one last thought that I gleaned from Bill Myers.

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“The key to my success is that I’m a crybaby. I’m a coward. And I’m a moron. But I always say YES to God.”

 

This quote is going up on my wall tomorrow and will be my inspiration for the rest of the year. Amen!

Fab 5 Friday: Pre-Conference Insanity!

file0001024202589So, the next 9 days are going to be pretty insane around here. I am preparing for the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, which starts next Thursday. I’m the Faculty Chair, and I am presenting my first workshop, 3 Ks of Social Media for Writers. In the meantime, though, who’s ready for another Fab 5?

Books:

Right now, I’m working my way through Let’s Get Visible by David Gaughran–a book all about how to get your book visible on Amazon. It’s been rather informative and will influence marketing/publicity plans for myself and clients. I’m about halfway through the book.

I’m also reading The Ghost Box by Mike Duran. It’s been pretty interesting so far. I told my husband the tone reminded me of the old Dick Tracy-type novels but with a modern voice. (The main character is a journalist, though, not a detective.) And, of course, with a supernatural twist. I’m also about halfway through this one.

Website:

I recently joined Good Morning Girls and Women Living Well for another Bible study. This time we’re working out way through Proverbs. I like their method of reading the Bible, absorbing what we’re reading, and applying it to our lives. It makes Bible reading more intentional.

Products:

I found these awesome Cool Gear chillers last year at Walmart, where I bought 3. I loved them so much, I sought them out (this time only found them at Kroger) and bought 3 more! You stick them in the freezer and the gel freezes so you keep your drink cold without ice. They’re dishwasher safe too!

Goals: 

Goals? What goals? I’m supposed to be keeping up with goals? This month has been so crazy that, although I’ve accomplished a lot, it hasn’t been the projects I originally set out to accomplish.

I’ve made some progress on Bellanock, but nowhere near the 20K that I planned to write. I have the outline for my workshop done, but I need to get the handout prepared and write out some more of it. I’ve also tried to work on my freebie for the website, but it’s not done yet and won’t get done until I get back from vacation in July.

Exercise–well, I got a treadmill, does that count?

Conferences:

Over the next four months, I’m headed to 3 different conferences!

KY Christian Writers Conference: June 25-27; Elizabethtown, KY–This conference is for both fiction and nonfiction writers, and I already mentioned I’m presenting a workshop.

Realm Makers: August 7-8; St. Louis, MO–A symposium for speculative fiction writers of faith–speculative meaning fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural, horror, etc. Robert Liparulo is the keynote speaker, and highlights include game night and a costumed awards banquet! I’m also on the planning committee for this one and can hardly wait!

ACFW: September 17-20; Dallas, TX–A great conference for Christian writers. There is always a wealth of learning and networking to be done here. I’m not in charge of anything here, so I get to sit back, relax, and enjoy myself.

Are you headed to any conferences this year?

 

Books, websites, products, goals, and conferences–yep, that’s 5! I think I’m going to be mixing up the Fab 5 a bit, adding in some lists of Top 5 ____.

Now, go enjoy your weekend! But don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know how you’re doing first and what conferences you’re headed to this year first . . .