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Conference Season – Part 3 – INCWC
Angela Breidenbach joins us with insights into the Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference. Thank you, Angela!
Christian career conferences for authors often focus on craft and pitching. Important and crucial elements in building a writing career. Many conferences are known for being tipped toward fiction or non-fiction. Some are small local, others regional, and a few are large national events.
The Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference is a newer regional opportunity offering fiction, non-fiction, children’s, and freelance. It’s held in Spokane, Wa. allowing writers around the Pacific Northwest shorter and less expensive travel options. (A big deal since the airlines consider this region “remote” and charge higher flight rates.)
INCWC offers a smaller venue. Wonderful for building friendships in the industry. The classes are taught by seasoned professionals like Blythe Daniel, Jim Rubart, and Clint Kelly. (Do I get to tell you I’m on faculty too?) Classes include options for writing craft, marketing, career, and speaking. Is that all? No. But then again, how can one describe anything to its ultimate?
Pitching, sure there are opportunities, but some of the best pitching chances are at the meal tables where the faculty hosts a chat time while breaking bread together.
The conference director, Jan Cline, put together an excellent CD package of the classes and general sessions from INCWC. They’re very affordable and available on the website: http://www.
inlandnwchristianwriters.com/ conference The conference has a new facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inland-Northwest- Christian-Writers/ 110714949018877
Upcoming 2013, the keynote speaker will be Doc Hensley.My favorite part of INCWC is the super well organized schedule. Jan, the director, is always on the look out for better, more effective ways to run the event. She’s gifted and shares that gift generously.
I also like the holistic view of writing that this regional gem displays. Writers write. In order to make a living as a writer, Solomon’s wisdom of seven income streams must come into play. Fiction, non-fiction, freelance, speaking, editing, teaching, and coaching are some options. But it’s possible to break down fiction into genres, non-fiction into genres, freelance into types…you get the picture. Designing book covers, websites, virtual assisting, can also be avenues to use writing talent as an income stream. The INCWC offers the opportunity to learn and grow in many of these areas to help a writer earn money and grow their career.
Come join us in March in Spokane. You’ll be blessed as I am by the Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference.
(I’ll be on faculty again and would welcome feedback on what attendees would like to learn from me too.)
Angela Breidenbach’s family tradition is to make photo memory quilts for each child as they graduate high school. Each unique quilt displays memorable moments of family life spanning birth to graduation. Angela is Mrs. Montana International 2009, a multi-award winning inspirational speaker, and author. Her works include Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life, Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance, and on Kindle Creative Cooking for Colitis. Other works by Angela include compilation books and devotionals from Guidepost, Group, and articles in magazines, ezines, and newspapers. Angela also coaches courageous confidence, personal growth, and powerful living. She’s certified in mentor/peer counseling as a Stephen Minister and life coach. Angela serves as an assisting minister for her congregation in Missoula, MT. Not only did she walk the hard line of deciding to donate her mom’s brain for the study of schizophrenia, but she’s also on the brain donation list at the Brain Bank-Harvard McLean Hospital. Angela is married with a combined family of six grown children and now several grand children. Look for her next book, A Healing Heart, from Abingdon Press April 2013.
Angela Breidenbach, Speaker/Author
http://www.AngelaBreidenbach.com websiteConference Season – Part 2 – ACFW
April 27 – Kimberly Buckner – My Book Therapy
May 4 – Christina Tarabochia – Oregon Christian Writers Summer Coaching Conference
May 11 – Karen Barnett – Mount Hermon
May 18 – Jodie Bailey – Blue Ridge
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Sunshine!
The sun finally made a full appearance in Oregon. After months of gray, this is an event that should close businesses, stop the presses and halt all indoor activities. We should have a special name for those first sunny days. I’m thinking something like…We Survived Day. Okay, maybe not that, but I’m just beginning to get caught up on my vitamin D so you’ll have to forgive me. Here’s a few shots that show how the Nelsons enjoyed the sunshine.
Jason brought home a trailer load of hay. This is me “helping” with the unload.
Dug this beauty out of the garden. Yes, I do know they grow better if left in the ground, but isn’t it amazing?
Bella gets very excited about trailers loaded with hay. Eating is her very favorite use of time.
Under all that straw is Hazel, Joshua’s 4H project. I’m afraid I’ve already formed an attachment to her. She’s the sweetest pig we’ve ever had.
And she’s awake! Hazel loves people. This is the first year we’ve had only one pig. I worried that she’d be lonely, but she’s seems content to let us scratch her back, socialize with the horse, sleep and eat.
Here’s Hazel with her buddy, Bella.
A weird shot of me with my youngest daughter.
Two oak trees fell with the last round of flooding. My husband can’t wait to get started with the chainsaw, but first we’re going to use the tree as a backdrop for our family pictures. Marci, of MarciB Photography, will be snapping some shots of our crazy crew very soon.
The rain keeps returning, but each downpours seems a little shorter than the last. I believe spring is really here.
What’s your favorite time of year?
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Conference Season – part 2 – ACFW
A Buffaloe’s Roamings Through the ACFW Conferences
By Lisa Buffaloe
In 2007, I attended my first ACFW conference in Dallas. Bolstered by friends I had met through Lena Nelson Dooley’s critique group, I came in with wide-eyes and pen poised ready to learn. The worship every morning, incredible classes each day, and the fellowship with old and new friends were amazing blessings. I even had the chance to visit with (*ahem* stalk the agent) I wanted for representation.
Unfortunately during that time, due to Lyme Disease, my white count was being monitored weekly by doctors. My second day at the conference, my results came back at a dangerously low levels. I hurried to the prayer room, where Mary DeMuth and Brandilyn Collins prayed over me. In the midst of hundreds of people, God used these wonderful ladies to cover me with His protection.
Brandilyn Collins and Lisa – ACFW 2010
Unfortunately, the time spent in the prayer room caused me to be late for an editor appointment. I didn’t explain my reasons for my tardiness; I just tried to pitch my book. The editor wasn’t very impressed. Whimper.
In 2008, the conference in Minneapolis was again a wonderful opportunity to visit with friends, learn the craft of writing, and engage in incredible worship. The Mall of America book signing was a fun way to spend an afternoon watching author friends interact with readers.
Lisa and Tamela Hancock Murray – ACFW 2010
The 2009 conference in Denver, was again an awesome opportunity to visit with my buddies, attend wonderful classes, meet new friends, worship, and pitch to acquisitions editors.
I call the 2010 ACFW Conference in Indianapolis, The Amazing Divine Setup. My manuscript, Nadia’s Hope placed as a finalist in the Genesis contest, and I wondered if my time for publication had come. For my all-day flights, I purchased Jim Rubart’s novel, Rooms. I started reading at the Boise airport and finished when the plane touched down in Indiana. The book is basically a metaphor for how God walks us through past experiences (rooms) on our way to healing and to Him. God used Jim’s book to prepare my heart.
One of my appointments was with the same editor from 2007. Needless to say, I was scared stiff. However this time, as I walked into the meeting room, she cocked her head, smiled and said, “I remember you.” God had prepared the way. She asked two questions, one personal and one about my writing. And those questions I knew weren’t just from her. God was gently nudging me forward regarding my past and my writing. My manuscript didn’t win the Genesis contest, but I’m still smiling about God’s divine setup.
That night during the Harp and Bowl prayer session, I kept my head down in prayer as songs were played and others prayed. I cried, laughed, praised, and listened. I surrendered my ideas and my thoughts as I opened myself to whatever God desired to do with me and my writing. I’m still smiling.
The 2011 conference wasn’t what I expected. In many ways, the time was more than I could have hoped—laughter and hugs with friends I don’t see often enough, giggling until midnight with my roommate, howling over the ideas of goofy genres a publisher would never consider, and sweet times of praise during worship. Classes, meetings, opportunities to learn, and even the mortified snickering over food caught between my teeth at the lunch table prompting a scenario that could lead to a hilarious scene in a romantic comedy.
Lisa and Lynne Gentry – ACFW 2011
Then there were tears of dashed hopes, and the longing for hugs that didn’t come because of schedules, sick children, and the interruptions of life.
However this conference wasn’t just about writing. Before I had left home, I received a phone call about an opportunity. The offer wasn’t anything on my radar and not where I thought God was leading. During the entire conference I prayed for guidance and finally received the answer before I flew home.
I sat in the airport and peered around the corner of a different, unexpected, exciting God-orchestrated turn. Today I’m hosting Living Joyfully Free Radio, and I marvel at God’s goodness and the ways He has been working. My writing continues with daily blogs and articles, and my fiction waits in the wings for God’s perfect timing on publication.
When God says He knows the plans He has for you, trust Him. His ways are always the best, and exceedingly, more than we could ask or imagine.“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD…” (Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV).
Lisa Buffaloe is an avid blogger, writer, speaker, and radio host for Living Joyfully Free Radio. She is a contributing author of The One Year Book of Joy and Laughter. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications and in e-zines. Her fiction manuscripts, have placed as finalists the last two years in the Women of Faith writing contest, and also finished as a runner-up in the 2010 American Christian Fiction Writer’s (ACFW) Genesis Contest, and finaled in various other contests. Lisa is represented by literary agent, Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency.
I’m so pleased that Lisa took the time to share here. The ACFW conference is a life-changer. I’ve attended the last four years and strongly recommend this conference to fiction writers of all levels.The ACFW 2012 Conference is open for registration.
Dates: September 20-23, 2012
Location: Dallas, Texas
April 20 – Angela Breidenbach – Inland NW Conference
April 27 – Kimberly Buckner – My Book Therapy
May 4 – Christina Tarabochia – Oregon Christian Writers Summer Coaching Conference
May 11 – Karen Barnett – Mount Hermon
May 18 – Blue Ridge – Jodie Bailey
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Digging Up Seeds
I had a dream the other night that, for the most part, isn’t unusual for me this time of year. I knelt in the dirt digging around to find the seeds I’d planted days before. No, that’s not just a dream. I really do that. But in my dream I found a pea spreading out in the earth. I picked it up and placed it in my palm. As I stared a bright green sprout burst forth and grew toward the sun.
I don’t know that the dream had any particular meaning, but I woke up happy.
Yesterday, I was really out in my garden. And I was really digging up my seeds. Don’t judge me! I never claimed to be a patient woman. Anyway, I think I expected to see the growing seed again. But instead I found a bunch of half-eaten peas and a few that were just beginning to show signs of life.
Bummer. But I probably planted fifty peas, so I think I stand a good chance of harvesting at least a few yummy treats.
The moral of the story (if this silly story even has one): Even in my impatience sometimes miracle happen or it’s important to plant a lot of seed.
You decide.
It certainly applies to my writing. Every once in a while, usually about the time I’ve given up, I receive some kind of request or encouragement that I hadn’t expected. I love those days!
As for the second moral, in publishing it pays to sow a lot of seeds. Maybe one will take off.
What do you think?
