The 2013 American
Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference rocked. I was honored that the Lord made
a way for me to go to Indianapolis. Next year is in St. Louis, Missouri, and I’d encourage all to start planning to go now. The link is www.acfw.com then click 'Conference' and sign up! I promise, if you love being in God's presence with 600-700 Christian writers, you will not be disappointed!
ACFW's
‘First Timer’s Email Loop’ blew me away, all the information astounding. Everything
posted by two board members Brandilyn and Cara proved so helpful to make all us
first-time attendees feel comfortable—from traveling to what it would be
like once we arrived. Plus it let us newbies make friends with others before
we went, too.
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| Holly Michael from Kansas City MO |
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| My Roomie, Mimi Conteur from N. Carolina |
These are my new sister- writer-friends who were all First timers like me : ) There was an immediate bond! And we're starting an online critique group.
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| Tanara frm Phoenix AZ |
The ACFW ladies introduced many First-Timers to One-Pages—a tool to have your novel idea/synopsis and
biography on one page to hand to an editor or agent; they went over the
‘elevator pitches’ and even took the time to critique and help make those the
best they could be. All this made interviewing with an agent or editor so much
less intimidating.
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| Mary Sue McAdoo Seymour and me : ) |
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| The Seympour Agency Ladies |
Blessed to already have Mary
Sue, a New York
agent who hosted a dinner at P.F. Changs for all
her authors on Friday night, I didn’t need any agent appointments! It was great
meeting all her ‘Seymour
Ladies’, my fellow agency scribes.
 |
| Beth Adams, Amanda Demastus and me |
And I already have my editors
for historical Christian romances in Beth Adams and Amanda Demastus with my VOW
UNBROKEN debuting from Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, next
March. It’s available now for pre-order so you don’t have to remember! My
editor said it would really be great if there were a thousand pre-orders
waiting to be shipped on March 4th! You can go to any number of
sites, but here’s two: www.amazon.com/Vow-Unbroken-Novel-Caryl-
They hosted
a Saturday dinner at a great pizza place for the Howard authors. This photo is taken at the ACFW gala Sunday night. Anyway, they’ve got first option on my romances, so I didn’t
need to meet with another editor for those.
So, I took
STARFISH PRIME, book one of The King’s Highway trilogy to pitch to a mid-grade
Christian editor. I pre-chose Kim Childress with Zonderkidz; I figured with her
raising four kids almost the same age as the four grandsugars I’ve got, on top of our love for the Lord, we’d hit it off. She
flabbergasted me when she told me the manuscript was already on her desk in the
short pile! She’d already taken it to her editorial board and they had a couple
of questions which I was able to answer. I believe it was another divine
encounter!
And here's another miracle. I’ve gone
to schools all over Texas
with the mid-grade River Bottom Ranch Stories as a visiting author, teaching
creative writing for grades K-5. I use the new songs God gives me that go with
the stories to reel in the student’s attention if it starts to stray. So, I’d
asked the Lord for a new song to go with STARFISH PRIME. I got the beginnings
on the plane in route. Then in a class—thirty minutes before my appointment
with Kim—He gave me the entire song which I sang to her! It’s a sweet tune
titled Angels Unaware. I’ll post the lyrics sometime, but this is already
getting long. Kim promised to get back with my agent within the month! Can you
say exciting? :)
What I
looked forward to most was the corporate praise and worship, and it did not
disappoint! God’s manifest presence came down and Holy Spirit walked among His
people! I sang. I went to His throne. I even danced before Him a bit! It was
absolutely Heavenly to be there and love on Him with so many fellow writers!
I’m praying
He makes a way for me to attend every ACFW Conference until He comes again!
What a wonderful experience it was!
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