Kentucky Christian Writers Conference

I'm going to be at a writers conference coming up, and I'd like to get the word out about this one because it would be great to meet some of you there. It is the Kentucky Christian Writers' Conference, to be held on Friday and Saturday, June 22 - 23, 2007, at Grace Heartland Church in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Go to for more info on this. Now, for my part of the news:

I'm going to be co-teaching a Fiction Workshop with Virginia Smith. Here is the workshop overview:

Workshop Overview:
A Novel Approach to Fiction will teach writers the necessary elements for writing compelling fiction. Our “tag-team teachers” will discuss every part of the process, from character development to storyboarding the plot, to polishing your prose. If you want to write fiction, or if you already have several fiction works under your belt, this class will have something for you. Come and share in this interesting format. The extended time slot will allow our co-teachers to cover more ground and will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions. The welcome mat will be out and the light will be on, so feel free to come and go as needed if you have appointments with editors during part of this workshop. You’ll be able to follow along with the provided materials.


Bios:

Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker in the summer of 2005. Since then she has received contracts for six novels and published numerous articles and short stories. She writes contemporary humorous novels for the Christian market, including her debut, Just As I Am (Kregel Publications, March 2006) and the upcoming Murder by Mushroom (Steeple Hill, August 2007). Her short fiction has been anthologized, and her articles have been published in a variety of Christian magazines, including Today’s Christian, Women Alive!, Evangel, Standard, and Cross & Quill. Smith is the critique group moderator for the Christian Writers Fellowship International, and serves on the board of directors of the Christian Authors Network. An energetic speaker, she loves to compare real-life situations to well-known works of fiction, such as her popular talk, “Biblical Truths in Star Trek.” www.VirginiaSmith.org

Kathy Carlton Willis has always enjoyed fiddling with words. She is an inspirational and motivational speaker, literary publicist for Glass Road Public Relations, copy editor and content writer. GRPR helps novelists with line edits, content edits, book proposals, finding the right agent, creating media campaigns for book PR, blog tours, as well as a speakers bureau. A variety of her columns and book reviews appear online and in print publications. She is somewhat of a grammar guru, with columns for writers appearing in three publications, including ByLine Magazine. She served for some time as a copyeditor and writer for The Sunday Challenger. Kathy’s favorite ministry is mentoring other writers. She has owned 10 online critique groups and currently serves as a writer’s coach for an online mentoring clinic to help writers achieve their dreams. Her volunteer time with the Fellowship of Christian Writers and The Writers View allows her to pay back to the writing community for all they’ve done for her.

I'll also be offering a Manuscript Critiques service for the conference. Contact me for more details.