Tag: authors

#CFRR2016 -News about the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat-Nashville, TN- August 24, 2016

What a fabulous opportunity to meet with these wonderful Christian authors! If you are near Nashville, or can visit in August, I know this will be a great time of fellowship with Christians celebrating writers and readers of inspirational books. The registration deadline of July 26 is fast approaching. (Earlier if capacity is reached.) LOOK AT ALL THESE CHRISTIAN AUTHORS–some of my very favorites!

Christian Fiction Readers Retreat

PRESS RELEASE:

Christian Fiction Authors and Readers to meet at Unique Retreat

Intimate gathering of Readers and 30+ Authors will meet before ACFW Conference
Nashville, TN June 17th, 2016 (wire)

A one day gathering of Christian Fiction readers and over 30 authors will be meeting in Nashville, TN on August 24th from 9am-6pm CDT. The event’s theme is “Honoring God through Christian Fiction” and will feature speaker sessions, author panels, breakout sessions, prayer & worship and author signings as well as booth sponsors.The Christian Fiction Readers Retreat (CFRR) is an unprecedented event in the Christian Fiction genre for readers to meet authors. The event will include food, games, giveaways and free books. The event takes place on August 24 in Nashville, the day before the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Conference also in Nashville this year.

Avid reader Bonnie Roof from Louisville, KY teamed up with book bloggers “Annie JC” of justcommonly.blogspot.com and “MeezCarrie” of readingismysuperpower.org to form the planning committee based on their common passion for Christian fiction and a desire for authors and readers to interact in a casual setting. Keynote speakers at the CFRR include authors Julie Lessman, Tamera Alexander, Laura Frantz, Mary Connealy, and Ruth Logan Herne. Authors currently due to appear and participate in panels and other activities are Becky Wade, Brandy Heineman, Carrie Fancett Pagels, Carrie Turansky, Caryl McAdoo, Dana R. Lynn, Dani Pettrey, Debby Giusti, Elaine Stock, Gabrielle Meyer, Genevieve Woods, Jan Drexler, Janet Dean, Jean Gordon, Jennifer Slattery, Kara Isaac, Kate Breslin, Krista Phillips, Kristi Ann Hunter, Marie Wells Coutu, Melanie Dickerson, Melony Teague, Mesu Andrews, Myra Johnson, Pepper D. Basham, Sarah Monzon, Shelley Shepard Gray, Susan Anne Mason, Susan Page Davis, and Tracey Lyons.

The CFRR event will be held at the Scarritt-Bennett Center, located just north of Nashville’s trendy Hillsboro village and just south of Nashville’s booming downtown. The event will take place on August 24th, 9am-6pm CDT. The event is open to registered attendees only. Registration is currently open online at http://christianfictionreadersretreat.blogspot.com/p/fee.html for $98 until July 26th or until the venue capacity is reached.

Contact:

Annie JC
Event Coordinator
Christian Fiction Reader’s Retreat
justcommonly@gmail.com
http://christianfictionreadersretreat.blogspot.com/

BIBLE VERSE

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:9 KJV

 PRAYER
Dear Lord, please bless this amazing event. Be with the incredible organizers as they complete the work of preparing for this retreat. Be with all these fabulous Christian authors as they spread Your Word through their writing. Be with those attending this special gathering. May all be blessed with an inspiring time of fellowship. In Jesus’s name, Amen
Thank you for stopping by to read about this event. I hope you will be able to attend. I’m sure you will experience God’s treasured blessings.
BLESSINGS TO YOU,
Sherida

 

 

 

 

 

TUESDAY TEA: Buildin’ the Dream Conference Review

 

Buildin' the Dream Conference-Author Tool Kit
Buildin’ the Dream Conference-Author Tool Kit

Writing conferences are like treasure chests filled with gems of inspiration, education, and fellowship. The Buildin’ the Dream conference held on May 29 and 30, 2014, in Scottsdale, Arizona, was indeed a treasure. The sold-out conference fulfilled its advertised agenda:  “Authors Helping Authors” by “Equipping writers with the tools to build and live their dream.”

MY REVIEW

Inspiration: The Thursday night event started with keynote speaker, Diana Gabaldon. Attendees were impressed with her gracious manner and candid encouragement as she discussed her writing journey. Her wise advice to writers: READ, WRITE, DON’T STOP.

Diana Gabaldon
Diana Gabaldon

Education: Friday was filled with workshops in three areas to suit the needs of all attendees–Craft, Publishing, and Business. Scheduling allowed for participants to attend six session. The following are the valuable presentations I attended with a quick summary of what I learned.

Crafting the Dark Moment with Deena Remiel: What is your protagonist’s biggest fear? Show this confrontation and escalate this fear along the arc of your story.

Self-Publishing Pitfalls with Morgan Kearns: You need strength to survive the publishing process, and you need know when to seek professional help.

Adding Humor to a Manuscript with Kris Tualia: Use humor to make your characters believable and to relieve tension.

Covers to Get Attention with Anya Kelleye: Your cover needs a strong focal point which conveys the genre with emotion.

Carve Out Time to Build Your Dream with Camelia Skiba: Learn to use snippets of time effectively.

Sprinting-It’s All About Word Count with Virginia Nelson: Write as fast as you can for 15 minutes (no editing), take a 10 minute stretch/do chores break, then repeat as necessary. As a test exercise, I wrote 300 words in 15 mintes….longhand, without a computer!

Many other workshops were offered. I wish I could have attended ALL!

 

Goodie bag
Goodie bag

Fellowship: It was good to find new-to-me authors and to connect with other writers…people who “get it”….”speak the same language” …. “understand me.”

Other information: We all got goodie bags with notebooks, pens, and promotional items, including a lip balm stick, a thoughtful item considering the location in the sunny desert of Arizona! I love the purple and yellow colors used as the theme colors—bright and cheerful for our successful writing journey! Arizona Dreamin’ is held after the writing conference. It is a romance reader event where attendees have the opportunity to chat with various romance authors. I wasn’t able to stay for the second conference, so regret I didn’t get to meet inspirational author Hallee Bridgeman, one of the featured authors at the reader event. There was a bookstore, a photographer offering professional author headshots, and publishers taking pitches. A yummy box lunch was provided by InD’tale, an online magazine serving self-publishers. http://www.indtale.com

Beautiful purple and yellow dessert table.
Beautiful purple and yellow dessert table.

 

Highland Blend Tea from Scotland
Highland Blend Tea from Scotland

Today, I’m serving Highland Blend tea from Scotland in honor of Diana Gabaldon’s new release in the Outlander series, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, published on June 10, 2014. Help yourself to the imaginary dessert treats of chocolate brownies and cheesecake bites. (REAL ones were served at the conference, but my picture of the filled dessert table were too fuzzy.) I’d recommend the Buildin’ the Dream Conference scheduled for May 28-29, 2015, in Scottsdale, Arizona, if you live in the area. It is affordable, right-sized, and provides great opportunities to learn from other authors. Information about both events can be found at http://www.arizonadreaminevent.com. Thanks for joining me for #TuesdayTea!