Colorado Christian Writers Conference

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From May 16th to May 19th I’ll be at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference (CCWC) held at YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park Center, Colorado. We meet in the Ruesch Auditorium.

When I finished this blog, I discovered I talk too much. If you know about this conference and don’t want to read what I’ve said, you can get information about the conference by clicking here.

This is my favorite writers conference of the year for several reasons. As a Colorado native, I can’t help mentioning it is in the beautiful area of Rocky Mountain National Park. If you can come a day early or stay a day late, it is worth your time to visit the park. Note: A Sunday tour of the park is an add-on to the conference if you’re interested. Okay, now that I’ve shown my state pride and prejudice, let’s move on.

So, what makes this conference great? I divide the answer into three categories – faculty, classes, and atmosphere.

The Faculty

This is an interesting bunch. Some, despite the casual dress code, are perfectly color-coordinated with stylish clothes. But don’t be startled by the tall man in torn jeans, black t-shirt, and a black stocking cap. He’s not a scary as he looks and he gives wonderful hugs. If you work with youth, talk to him because he has a special youth groups you’ll want to hear about. The lady sitting on the stairs, giggling – the one with the frizzy hair, she really won’t trip you when you step past her, but she is an awesome editor with great advice. It really is okay to tease the guy running around the mountain in shorts even though it might be snowing. Everyone else teases him and are thankful he’s there to help keep things running smoothly. Don’t worry when you hear people talking about the little old lady who is looney. She’ll keep you laughing while she motivates you to climb higher with your writing and in your life. You never know what the guy with the machete or the skeleton might do, but he enlightens your mind with unique knowledge of God’s Word. And under no circumstances should you feel like you are the only one who gets confused or has difficulty keeping up when the director switches between talking to you and to the Father. Listen closely to those prayers to discover a beautiful relationship with God.

Despite all the quirks, this faculty has warm and loving hearts combined with an incredible amount of knowledge. They will teach you in the classrooms, answer your questions in the hallways and at meals, and encourage you every chance they get. They will do all they can to find time for you. If they can’t provide what you need, they will point you to someone who might be able to help. Most will pray with you and for you.

During one-on-one appointments they will talk about your work. Talk about the possibilities for publication. Make suggestions. Encourage. They will also help you relax. If you are new to pitching your writing it can be intimidating to talk to an editor, publisher, or agent. However, you’ll find them to be easy to like people who want to help you.

The Classes

Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? Need help with the craft of writing? Struggling with the world of publishing? Can’t figure out how to market your book? Or maybe the world of a writer is weighing on you? Not sure how to get your message across? Are you a teen wanting to connect with other teen writers? No matter which your question is – There’s a class for that.

A wide variety of workshops and continuing sessions are available to meet the needs of writers no matter the experience level. One aspect of this conference I find refreshing is no lock-in. I’ve gone to conferences where if I signed up for a class, I was committed to that class and had to stay in it. Not at CCWC. If a workshop doesn’t meet your needs, you can slip out. If you realize during the first session that a continuing session will not meet your needs, you don’t have to continue. Go to something else. There is freedom. More than once, this freedom has allowed me to be in just the right place for a divine appointment.

The Atmosphere

This is what I enjoy most about CCWC. It’s a conference designed to meet the needs of the participants when they are there. Most of us arrive with a list of classes we want to attend and editors/publishers/agents we want to talk to. We have high goals and expectations of the success we will have. The truth is our plans and God’s plans frequently not the same.

Several times, when I got to the conference, I’ve discovered I didn’t get appointments with the person I wanted. Every time, if I remembered to have an attitude of “it will work out” the person with whom I did talk helped me in ways I didn’t expect, but lead me along the path God created for me.

As I said above, there is freedom at this conference. I’ve discovered although I thought this was the class I needed, but “accidently” walked into that one and it was perfect for the questions I had. Other times, I missed a planned class entirely because I’ve gotten into a discussion with another member of the faculty or a conferee. Sometimes these divine appointments have blessed me because this person is the one I needed to help me. In reverse, these divine appointments have blessed me because I was able to help the other person.

In addition to being a conference, this is a time of retreat. There are places around Ruesch Auditorium and on the YMCA grounds where conferees and faculty can quiet themselves and their hearts in a time of communication with God. It is a place where two or three can slip away and pray together. The morning worship starts every day with the right attitude.

This conference is built on the belief if the teaching and the worship is provided, God will provide the divine appointments and bless those who come.

Now that I’ve talked longer than I should, if you’d like more information about CCWC, please click here.

Colorado Weather

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When I asked myself, what has been fun and interesting this week the first thing that came to mind was Colorado weather.

One thing I love about living here is the weather doesn’t get boring. We’ve had two snowstorms this week and are expecting one more over the weekend. In between the storms, the temperature has reached the upper sixties and low seventies. Checking the thermometer outside my kitchen window at one in the afternoon one day it was 65 degrees. The next day, at the same time, it was 31.

I’ve been more aware of the weather this week because of a new friend. She moved to Colorado from the Northeast part of the United States. When I met her in the store one morning, she talked about being too warm in her heavy coat because even though it was snowing, it was about 30 degrees. Where she came from it was usually snowing for a stretch of several days with a temperature close to or below zero. During our discussion she said she planned to go shopping for a lighter cold weather coat.

A couple hours later, I saw her again in another store. By that time the snow was gone, the sky was bright blue, and the temperature was in the mid-fifties. My friend looked confused when she saw me. She asked if I’d gone home and changed clothes. I replied I hadn’t, but I had taken off one layer of my shirts and switched to a lighter coat I kept in the car. She looked even more confused. I explained layers and being prepared for a rapid change in the weather.

She walked away mumbling to herself. I hope she is talking to me next time we meet.

Write In The Springs

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I’m getting ready for two writing conferences. Today I’m talking about the first one, Write in the Springs.

This conference will be Saturday, April 14th at the First Evangelical Free Church (820 N. 30th Street, Colorado Springs) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Colorado Springs Chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) presents this conference. I’m looking forward to this day because I’ve been to several one-day conferences with ACFW Colorado Springs. Everyone I know goes expecting to learn, laugh, reconnect with friends, and have lots of fun.

Margie Lawson, the presenter, loves teaching writers how to make their writing strong. She not only teaches world-wide but has multi-day intensive writing cruises.

Classes during the conference day will include:

  • Deep Editing Techniques
  • Margie’s Top 20 Rhetorical Devices
  • The power of Subtext: Body Language-Dialogue Cues
  • Visceral Responses: Beyond Hammering Hearts

Now, while I’ve loved every ACFWCS Write in the Springs conference I’ve attended, I have to admit I’ve never heard Margie talk. So, I spent some time exploring her website. The classes look great. I talked to people who have taken classes from her. Those people talked and talked and talked in glowing terms about Margie. As I watch the days on the calendar march toward April 14th, I’m getting more excited for this conference. (I’m sure some editors are cringing at the picture of days marching.)

I hope many experienced and budding authors reading this blog will join all the writers at Write in the Springs. I’ll be near the registration table in the morning and be one of the workers making things run smoothly. Please stop and say “Hi.”

For more information on Write in the Springs, click here.

Welcome to Passing The Quill Blog

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I’m celebrating today. My website with this blog is finally alive and well.

Just like this picture, this Colorado girl is so excited, I feel I could jump over the mountains outside my window.
So, this was my website journey.

I’ve planned to have this website live and the blog active for a long time. A few months ago, I gave up trying to figure it out with someone else and determined I would do it myself and started studying videos on YouTube.com to do it myself. Not being technically savvy, I finally settled on a video sponsored by WebYoda.com to help me set up my WordPress.org website. It took over three weeks to go through the two-and-a-half-hour video. I finally got the website set up and almost ready to go live. Thinking I would be done in a few days, I announced it would be up in a few days, only to suffer the embarrassment of having to announce I had to delay going live.

There were two parts with which I wasn’t happy. They were the contact page and the blog page. Unhappily, I had to delay going live with my website because I couldn’t get those to work the way I wanted. Along with that, I felt frustrated and attacked by my lack of technical skills. After a couple hours of crying and fighting the desire to throw my computer through the window, I decided to fight.

Taking the basics I learned on the video and doing some research, I found WordPress plugins for both pages, got them installed, and here I am, with my website and blog alive, active, and functioning. I’m still working on some of the details and tweaking the site, but it can be and is being used.

The picture with this blog shows the elation I feel at accomplishing this. I’m part of the generation many say are not able to be competent beyond simple use of a computer. In fact, one of my young Bible students told me her dad is “really, really, really old because he is 53.” She made me feel ancient since I’m sixteen years her father’s senior.

I know my tech knowledge is limited. I did this, and I did it with very little help outside what I could find online. It took a lot of prayer, research, and hard work. It included frustration and tears. However, in the end, this website is up. My thanks to the makers of the tutorials I used and the writers who created the research. It is done. It will continue to improve. I have succeeded in fulfilling this dream. I encourage everyone reading this to pursue and fulfill your dreams. If I can be of help with your dreams, please contact me.

All that to say “Welcome to my website!” I look forward to sharing things that excite me on Fridays. I look forward to sharing writing, editing, and publishing information and opinions on Tuesdays. I will be back with more on Tuesday.