ACFW Conferences Recap + My BIG News

I'm not sure what you did last weekend, but I spent five days surrounded by writers of all kinds and it was glorious! I walked...um, well flew, (begrudgingly) away from the 2015 ACFW Conference with a few major takeaways that I thought I'd share here.

5 Takeaways from the 2015 ACFW Conference

1. Worship

Rachel Hauck not only inspires me with her writing and heart for the Lord, but through music as well. Most of you know that I'm a musician on the side (when I'm not writing or taking pictures) and to be able to worship with 500+ writers is one of the most amazing experiences--EVER! I was blessed by her heart and I'm sure everyone else was!

2. Friendship

This year's conference was a special experience for me because I finally met (in person) so many amazing friends who I'd first made contact with online! It was the most amazing thing to put a hug to the name that I'd seen for so long throughout the year. It also reminded me that no matter what, whether we meet through ACFW or through a mutual love of books or writing, we're real friends - meeting in person is just icing on the cake.

3. Knowledge

There were so many amazing classes this year. Though I was running around taking pictures through a lot of them, I found myself picking up tidbits in every class during the few minutes that I was in the room. I can't wait to get the conference flash drive to listen through them all, but more than that, I can't wait to see what everyone else walked away with. 

For me, my "writing takeaway" was a reminder (from several authors and speakers) of how important it is to give our writing over to the Lord. No matter what, I want the Lord in every aspect of my writing and I am excited to jump into projects with this fresh on my mind.

4. Belonging
Where else can you go and be surrounded by people who just get you? There was so much laughter! Yes, a lot of it was coming from me. I fully admit to this and apologize publicly for the fits of giggles that struck me around midnight each night. ;-)

I walk away from ACFW with a renewed sense of belonging in the writing community. It's the perfect time for all of us to come out from behind our computers and to meet face to face and remind one another that we are not alone in this. We never have been.

I love that reminder and it fuels me to press on. To write more, write often, and write better.

(P.S. Natalie we miss you in this picture...)

5. Hope 

Lastly, I walk away from the ACFW conference with a renewed sense of hope. A reminder that--no, I'm not crazy for wanting to write stories about fictional people.  I'm not acting foolishly on some fanciful whim that fades with reality. The deep seated sense of purpose and direction I have is from the Lord and I'm not meant to go it alone, but with a community of like minded people who are focused on encouraging one another to better their craft. I have hope to strive for excellence. To dive into rewrites--again--and to put words to the page even when the inspiration lacks. 

I am a writer and I will write. 

***

Lastly, if you didn't see my Facebook post - I am thrilled that one of my photos of the amazing and talented Francine Rivers was used in this article for Publishers Weekly. Francine won the 2015 ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award and was at the awards gala to receive it. It was such an honor to photograph her there. I've long looked up to her and her amazing writing (The Mark of the Lion series will always be a favorite) and am so happy that she was recognized like this. 

If you attended I'd love to hear what you took away from the conference! If not, what inspires you and leaves you encouraged afterwards in what you're passionate about?

My BIG News....

All right - I've made you wait long enough, haven't I? I announced on my Facebook author page yesterday that I had some big news and I do...

I've signed a contract with Tamela Hancock Murrary of The Steve Laube Agency! 

I am so excited! It actually happened just before we left for the conference but I wanted to wait until the paperwork (and craziness of the conference) was over.

For those of you who may not know what this means, she is a literary agent and we'll be joining forces to get my books published. It's a long process (which includes me doing LOTS of writing) but having representation is a huge step. I am so pleased to be with such a wonderful agency and look forward to what the Lord has in store next.

Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter (click here). I'll be sending out an update at the end of this week that will include more stories from the conference and a special peek into how my novel Runaway got started!

Realm Makers Wrap Up: Coming back to real life...sort of

I don't know what you've been up to this weekend, but I was on an adventure!

I attended the 2015 Realm Makers Conference and had an absolute blast! And yes, that is me wearing a cape. But, it was the only picture I had of my travel buddy (and amazing author) Ronie! We took off to the conference and definitely had an adventure getting to the conference location (taking me along pretty much guarantees an adventure).

So, for those of you who have no idea what Realm Makers is, here is part of the definition from their website: "[Realm Makers] provide(s) a faith-friendly symposium for writers and artists, focused on science fiction, fantasy, and all their sub-genres." There were amazing speakers like Robert Liparulo, David Farland/Wolverton, Steve Laube, Julie Gwinn, Amanda Luedeke, Kirk DouPonce, and many many others! The conference was focused on Christian Speculative Fiction and it was just amazing.

I not only attended the conference, but I was also the conference photographer and did headshots from some awesome writers! I'll share some of the highlights...

First off I did some fan-girling with two of my favorite authors (you'll recognize my travel buddy there). It was awesome to snatch a photo with Tosca Lee and Ronie Kendig. As you can see in this last photo we were having way too much fun. Tosca is hilarious and so sweet and Ronie and I couldn't help but laugh with her :)

This lady was amazing! She was definitely the go-to person (along with Becky & Scott) for anything and everything. I learned really quickly that not just anyone could step into her shoes when she left my friend Andrew and I "in charge" for a few moments. We managed not to help two people and, in the long run, probably confused them more but hey...we tried to help!

Then there were my roommates (picture above) who were amazing! Julie Gwinn, Bethany Kaczmarek, and Ronie. We had a blast in our "dorm-style" housing.

From Suzanne Hartmann

And yes, that's me dressed as "Super Photography Girl" with my trusty camera and maroon cape (on loan from my friend Jenn). And even superheros have jobs to do...so I also took photos of the amazing costumes ranging from baby raptors to steampunk to a black hole. We had it all at Realm Makers!

So, when we weren't dressing up (and even when some of us were) we attended classes. Everything was geared toward the Christian Speculative Fiction genre and was so really informative.

There were some amazing quotes from the great instructors and I had a blast tweeting them back when possible.

 Then there was the Zombie Apocalypse Nerf War....

 [Enter dramatic voice] 

There I stood, surrounded by nerf guns and the threat of zombies, and I decided it was worth it...I would photo the war. I had no other choice but to show the truth! 

From Suzanne Hartmann

Ok, but really it was a BLAST and I did feel a little like an embedded photo journalist. Thankfully I only got hit once in the forehead...sad to say he was actually aiming for me too, despite my lack of affiliation to the humans nor the zombies. But it was worth it. Can't wait to show the pictures I captured of this fun event. 

Another fun aspect of the conference was getting to meet amazing people (like Amy here). We connected on Facebook...I'm not sure when? But being able to meet in person was so awesome! 

 Lastly, I was so encouraged by the keynote speaker Robert Liparulo. He started the conference off by explaining his computer had crashed and he'd stayed up until 4am fixing his slides - ouch! But then, as he shared, he told us the word he heard from the Lord was "Stop!" He explained that we as writers tend to compare ourselves with other writers or let things get us down etc. when we just need to stop and put all of that aside.

Then, at the end of the weekend, he shared that the last word was "Go!" And that we should go and write the story that God has placed on our hearts to write. It was the perfect thing for all of us writers to hear because we often feel like we should wait and rest and he was telling us to go for it!

Well, after all of that, I was sad to go home but was SO happy to get some Starbucks at the airport since we'd been without great coffee all weekend. Yes, I'll admit right now to being a coffee snob!

Anyway, that's where I've been all weekend!

What about you, dear readers? Do you enjoy Christian Speculative Fiction (like Sci-fi, Fantasy, and the like)? If so, who are some of your favorite books/authors?


*Special thanks to Suzanne Hartmann for some of the photos she took of ME! Check out Castle Gate Press for another look at Realm Makers!*

2014 ACFW Conference Highlights

Conference selife - I allow one
of myself per year ;)

It's not often that you leave a place knowing--and feeling--that people truly understand you. For me, that place is the ACFW Conference. Though this was only my second year attending, I feel as if I've been a part of the ACFW family for much longer than that. They are warm, welcoming, and above all - they understand my weirdness!

The ladies out for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory

What's that, you may ask? Weirdness? Well yes...in fact, having a conversation about the voices in your head is common place at a writers conference and it's normal! Not to mention when you get a group of us romantic suspense writers together all we tend to do is talk about ways to kill people...without getting caught. But, not to worry - it's only in our fictional worlds of course.

For me, thinking about this year's conference causes my eyes to do this funny watery thing and my throat to get a little constricted. Honestly, the Lord brought about amazing friendships (ones that happened even in the span of 5 days!) and I know they will last.

Some of the highlights
(represented by photos because...well, you know me and photography)

Brandilyn Collins as the MC for the conference. She does such a fantastic job each year! (P.S. For a little treat, visit her amazing website and you'll see one of the headshots I took of her last year right there on her page! Eeek!)

Worship by this amazing woman of God! Rachel Hauck does such a beautiful job in leading us to the throne each year at the conference. Her sweet spirit and genuine heart for the Lord pour out in her words and through her beautiful voice! I was personally encouraged by the song choices and the time spend before our Father in worship.

Chatting with this amazing woman!!! My dear readers, I talk about her a lot but I can't say enough great things about Ronie Kendig! Catching up with her at the conference was definitely a highlight - and I smile in anticipation of our continued friendship now that we're within "meeting up" distance - yea!

Haha...another highlight - bunny ear selifes with this guy! Chip MacGregor is hilarious and kept photo bombing my shots of the conference with his deceptive and sneaky bunny ears! It was only right that we got a selfie of it.

Being in St. Louis right by the Arch. Wow! Our hotel was in the best location ever. This shot was taken from our room window at sunrise - talk about a view! The staff was so friendly and the hotel itself was lovely. I particularly loved the park right out the front door where I took my headshot clients to capture the beautiful natural light and green foliage.

Another highlight: these people (and sooo many more I didn't get to take pictures with).

So...can you tell I had an amazing time at the conference? I'm so sad that it's over! I typically get to see these people one time a year (which is definitely NOT enough) and leaving is always hard. I'll probably do a more 'writing oriented' update later, but for now this post has helped me relive a small portion of the conference plus it has updated you, so I'd call that a win! ;)

If you went to the conference, what were some of your highlights???