Christina Suzann Nelson

No cartoons this Saturday morning. After breakfast I was back in the Continuing Education class. This time I was able to stay for almost the entire morning session. I did have one appointment near the end.

Susan and Rachel talked about scenes and making them more powerful. I’ve learned to evaluate a scene for tension. You can’t seem to get enough good conflict or tension in fiction. The other thing was to write it between the quotes whenever possible. I’m going back through my manuscript and placing more action in the dialogue.

After another huge lunch, we were off to workshops and then the big events began.

Here is a couple pictures from the book signing.

The day concluded with the ACFW Annual Awards Banquet. It is always such fun to watch people being rewarded for their hard work. For your reading pleasure, I’m listing the ACFW book of the year award winners. Enjoy.

Debut Author

A Passion Most Pure Julie Lessman

Lits

Sweet Caroline Rachel Hauck

Long Contemporary Romance

Controlling Interest Elizabeth White

Long Contemporary

Symphony of Secrets Sharon Hinck

Long Historical (tie)

My Heart Remembers  Kim Vogel Sawyer
I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires  Cathy Gohlke

Mystery

For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls Nancy Mehl

Novellas

Stuck on You in A Connecticut Christmas anthology Rhonda Gibson

Short Contemporary Suspense

Broken Lullaby Pamela Tracy

Short Contemporary

Family Treasures Kathryn Springer

Short Historical

Family of the Heart Dorothy Clark

Speculative

The Restorer’s Journey Sharon Hinck

Suspense

Fossil Hunter John B. Olson

Women’s Fiction

The Shape of Mercy Susan Meissner

Young Adult

The Big Picture Jenny B. Jones

Christina

The ACFW conference always provides an amazing opportunity for worship. Thanks to Rachel Hauck and the worship team for bringing us such great music. This is one of the songs they performed.

Somewhat bright, but definitely early Friday morning I joined the group of over five-hundred ACFW members for breakfast. Obviously this was a very peaceful and intimate event. We continued with worship then off to classes.

All morning I was scheduled to be in the continuing education class taught by Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck. Both of these women are not only generous with their time and gifts, but also multi-award winning authors. This class turned out to be just the thing for me this year.

I’ve been working on the craft of writing and come a long way, baby, but what I needed this year was a bigger picture. Susan and Rachel taught on diagnosing the problemed areas in our manuscripts and gave us techniques to fix all of our problems. Well, maybe not all of my problems. They didn’t even touch on how I’m suppose to get all this laundry done.

I had to miss a fair amount of this session due to appointments. My first was with Deb Raney. If you haven’t read any of her books, stop reading now and go to amazon.com to order one. My meeting with Deb was to go over the first three chapters of my manuscript. This was the second year I’ve done this with her. The input of someone with her kind of experience is priceless. I’ve grown more as a writer from these evaluations than any other thing I’ve done.

My second appointment was with Beth Adams of Guideposts. Beth and I met in Minneapolis last year. She’s one of the people I look forward to seeing at the conference. We are blessed to have so many editors and agents take the time to listen to our pitches and answer questions one on one.

Lunches are hosted by editors and agents. I plopped my tired self down at Chip MacGregor’s table. He has a great reputation as an agent but is somewhat flawed in his devotion to the Oregon Ducks. No one’s perfect.

The afternoon found me taking in another appointment and workshops. By dinnertime I felt exhausted. Friday night we don’t join together as a group for dinner. I met up with three new friends and took a short walk to the nearest Mexican restaurant. Yummy food, fun company.

After dinner it was time for the late night agent chats. I attend the talk with Rachel Zurakowski, Karen Solem, and Steve Laube. All three agents did a fabulous job expressing what they are looking for and giving their impressions for the future of publishing. Twice during this session, the lights turned off on their own, reminding me that I needed sleep.

Keep watching for the continuing saga that is ACFW in Denver.

Christina

Thursday morning I pulled my tired body out of bed at what seemed like a crazy time. I threw myself together and went directly to the Starbucks in the lobby. By the time the conference was over the man behind the counter knew me well.

My fat-free Carmel Machiato in hand, I trudged to the registration desk for my shift. Luckily I wasn’t doing a job that took much skill because I was still very sleepy. Greeting the attendees and giving them their special ribbons was a nice way to start my day. So many wonderful people to meet and not nearly the time to talk to each one.

It was at the registration desk that I met one of my critique partners face-to-face for the first time. What a blessing. Our group has been working together for six months now, but we’re from all over the country so we’ve not technically met each other. I’m looking forward meeting more of the group next year in Indianapolis. Isn’t that right, Janay, Jodie, Ginny and Donna?

Next it was off to the D0nald Maas early bird session. If you’re a writer, you’ve probably heard of Donald Maas. His book, Writing the Breakout Novel, is a must have for writers hoping to improve their craft. The workshop ran from 8:00 am through 4:00 pm. The information he shared with us changed more than a few writer. I can’t tell you how many times I heard writers say, “I thought I had a manuscript ready, then I listened to Donald Maas and I have to go home and rewrite.” Yes, I was one of those writers. By the end of the day, my head was bursting with information and I had to go up to my room and just sit in the silence.

After a good half hour of staring blankly at a wall I was able to rejoin the throng of ACFWers for the opening ceremony and dinner. This year’s keynote speaker was Debbie Macomber. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this woman. Her story encouraged me and left me with a feeling of confidence in my decision to pursue writing. She is not only a gifted writer, but an amazing speaker and woman of faith.

Here’s a picture of Debbie Macomber and me. My camera was acting up this morning so it may be a little hard to see.

Check back for part two.

Christina