I’m still revising my manuscript. Also, I drew a name from the commenters on my blog for the month of September. As soon as I get the full name and location of this person, I’ll post the winning information on my blog!
I have an October 16th deadline looming ahead. I’m still planning on blogging, but was too tired to post much today. I plan on blogging about a few category-type Christian romance lines that started back in the eighties before they folded. I’ll be blogging about this later on…sometime soon, hopefully.
I’ve never attended this retreat, but it sounds like fun, especially for those fans of African American Christian fiction! Maybe I can find some time in my schedule to actually attend this event? Who knows! I’m familiar with all of the authors who are on the roster to attend and all are very good! I’ve even reviewed some of their books on my blog!
Here are a few photos of me enjoying the annual ACFW conference in Dallas! Enjoy!
Tere Campbell and I munching candy at the annual chocolate party! This photo was taken by
Angie Breidenbach, a fellow writer and ACFW member!
I would like to congratulate ACFW’s Book of the Year Contest winners!
Contemporary Novella:
3rd Place: Diamond Place by Robin Lee Hatcher
2nd Place: A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher
1st Place: Home for the Holidays by Christine Lynxwiler…Barbour Publishing, Rebecca Germany, editor.
General Fiction, which includes Sci-Fi and Young Adult:
3rd Place: Feather by Susan Page Davis
2nd Place: A Bigger Life by Annette Smith
1st Place: DragonKnight by Donita K. Paul….WaterBrook Press, Shannon Hill, editor
Historical Novella
3rd Place: Reuben’s Atonement by Lynette Sowell
2nd Place: To Do Justice by Cathy Marie Hake
1st Place: Joie de Vivre by Lynette Sowell…Barbour Publishing, Rebecca Germany, editor
Lits
3rd Place: Front Porch Princess by Kathryn Springer
2nd Place: The Secret Life of Becky Miller by Sharon Hinck
1st Place: Hot Tropics and Cold Feet by Diann Hunt.…Westbow Press, Ami McConnell, editor
Long Historical
There was a tie for second place in this category.
2nd Place: The Measure of a Lady by Deeanne Gist
2nd Place: William Henry is a Fine Name by Cathy Gohlke
1st Place: Waiting for Summer’s Return by Kim Vogel Sawyer, Bethany House, Charlene Patterson, editor
Short Contemporary Suspense
3rd Place: Strictly Confidential by Terri Reed
2nd Place: Stormcatcher by Colleen Coble, writing as Colleen Rhoads
1st Place: Hearts on the Line by Margaret Daley, Steeple Hill, Diane Dietz, editor
Short Contemporary
3rd Place: That Wilder Boy by Kim Vogel Sawyer
2nd Place: My So-Called Love Life by Allie Pleiter
1st Place: A Season for Grace by Linda Goodnight, Steeple Hill, Allison Lyons, editor
Short Historical
3rd Place: Bayou Dreams by Kathleen Miller Y’Barbo
2nd Place: Spoke of Love by Cathy Marie Hake
1st Place: The Prisoner’s Wife by Susan Page Davis, Heartsong Presents, Tracie Peterson, editor.
Suspense
3rd place winners with a three-way-tie are:Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt, Fire Dancer by Colleen Coble, and Alaska Twilight by Colleen Coble
2nd Place: Widows and Orphans by Susan Meissner
1st Place: Dangerous Depths by Colleen Coble, Westbow Press, Ami McConnell, editor
Women’s Fiction
There was a two way tie for second place in this category.
2nd Place: Reclaiming Nick by Susan May Warren
2nd Place: Watching the Tree Limbs by Mary DeMuth
1st Place: The Fragrance of Roses by Nikki Arana, Revell/Baker Books, Jennifer Leep, editor
I’m still recuperating from the conference. Believe me, it’s a positive recuperation! The conference was great! I did my best to blog about it, but it was hard since I was up late some nights and was too tired to blog effectively the following morning.
My thoughts? The conference was way big! Much larger than last year! I almost feel safe to say it was twice as large as last year’s conference. The food was good and the fellowship was awesome! I enjoyed meeting new friends and visiting with some old friends.
It was great overall, and the end was fantastic. They announced that next year’s conference will be in Minneapolis and the booksigning will be held at the Mall of America!! Yes!!
I had a great time today, but I’m too tired to blog about it effectively. The awards ceremony was great. Most of the winners cried as they accepted their awards.
I will give more details about my trip once I return home.
Later!
I’m typing this blog entry on Saturday morning. I was too tired to blog last night. We started off the yesterday morning with scrambled eggs fahitas, coffee, juice and muffins. I sat at the table with Natalie Hanemann of Thomas Nelson. Each table has an editor, agent, or speaker assigned, giving attendees a chance to sit and speak with them during meal times.
Natalie kindly told that we needed an agent to submit to Thomas Nelson.
There was praise and worship afterwards, and I attended Randy Ingermanson’s workshop on marketing on the internet.
For lunch I sat at Beth Jusino’s table. Beth is a fairly new addition to the Alive Communications. I started off the meal by pitching my book to her. She invited me to submit a proposal.
After lunch there was more praise and worship time.
I had an appointment in the afternoon with Wendy Lawson of Books N Such agency. She invited me to submit my proposal to her.
I attended an afternoon workshop for taxes for writers.
Dinner last night was free time, so I went with the rest of the Barbour authors to the annual Barbour author dinner. Barbour does this as a treat for their authors and we were also given a small gift from Barbour.
When I returned to the hotel, I attended the workshop: Why We Write For Steeple Hill. It was interesting to hear the authors’ experiences as to how they came to be writing for Steeple Hill.
There are other posts about the conference here:
www.acfwconference.blogspot.com
I arrived in Dallas this morning. At 3:30, there was a worship service as well as a comical skit given by the ACFW board.
After enjoying a rather surprisingly tasty lasagna dinner, there was an agent panel. Allen Arnold, VP of Thomas Nelson served as our emcee. He said that Thomas Nelson plans to expand more into women’s fiction, romance, and softer fiction and young adult.
He asked all agents what they were looking for and they responded.
People in the audience asked questions and the agents responded. There was also an editor panel and we were able to ask the editors questions.
James Scott Bell, our keynote speaker gave a speech about the craft of writing.
I attended a late-night chat with Rebeka Nesbit of Tyndale and Jan Staub(sp?) about getting noticed in a saturated market.
A fellow ACFW conferee had a great chocolate party in her room, allowing me the opportunity to network.
I know the above summary was brief, but I’m tired and have to go to bed in order to get up for breakfast in the AM. Feel free to comment with your questions, and I will post responses in the comment section.
I had a really nice time with my local ACFW members today. We had lunch at the Olive Garden in White Marsh, Maryland. Today’s topic was agents! Our member leader, Dani, interviewed some agents and we discussed the different criteria that agents were seeking for submissions. I was going to bring my camera with me to take a picture like I did the last time:
April, 2007 ACFW Local Meeting
However, I forgot it, so I don’t have a photo for this time.
Interesting that one of the attendees is a Christy award winner! When she told me the title of her book, I proudly told her, “I blogged about that!” She wrote the YA novel, William Henry Is A Fine Name.
Here’s the link with the Christy Award winners:
We also talked a little bit about the upcoming ACFW conference. Since I’ll be attending, I’m hoping that I can blog about it each day. I’m looking forward to this conference!