Stories from KY Christian Writers Conference

I had a good time at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown last weekend. I don't think it's a big conference. I might not be a good judge of that since I've only been to it and ACFW last year. For sure, it's not as big as ACFW. It is a helpful and inspiring conference. This is a photo of the teaching staff and this year's co-directors. This was at the end and you can tell by everybody's smiles that a. it's over or b. we had fun. It's definitely b. we had fun. Or maybe after two days of smiling, the lips were stuck in the upturned position.

I do think there were more writers there interested in non-fiction and devotional writing, but I had some writers show up for my classes. I tried to share some experience and hints with a couple of topics. "Dialogue - the Fizz in Fiction" and "Facts in Fiction - Using History in your Stories." Not too many people were interested in the history one. I should have come up with a jazzier name for it. Say "Turning Truth into Lies." "History - It's Not for Wimps." I have no idea how I would relate that to writing, but it might have caught the eye of potential participants. Actually, I thought my history in fiction class was probably the more interesting of the two, or maybe that was just me since I was talking about the history I'd used in my books.

I met a lot of interesting writers among the staff and the attendees. I gathered a few names for my mental future characters' names file. One lady named Nellotie after her two grandmothers, Nell and Otie.  Then there was Mallonee. I love name tags. That's because I do better with a visual aid in remembering names. Of course there were all the usual names too. Sues and Anns and Barbaras and Jackies. I met one woman who had twelve children. I told her she didn't have time to write, but she said she did. She's the one who matters most there. What I guess I was trying to say is that IF I had twelve kids I wouldn't have time to write. I met a lady preacher who suffered some malady with a long name that made talking at first impossible and now several years later, very difficult. A preacher needs a voice. So she said she started writing to save her sanity. I know some writers, including me at times, who might tell her she was searching for sanity in all the wrong places. :-) But it seemed to be working for her. I met her husband too. He said he couldn't hear and she couldn't talk so they made a perfect pair. I got the feeling that was a much told joke.

Then there is Judy who is going through chemo - again. And yet she's always ready to pray for you and whatever problems you might be having when some might think she's got enough on her prayer plate. Plus she has a teenage son who called her last week to say, "Mom, I'm okay. I'm on the other side of the creek and the ambulance is on the way." That's what any mother of a teenager wants to hear!! He's dropped a rock on his foot and all turned out well, but though Judy could see her son across the creek in their subdivision, she didn't know how to drive to her son. But she found a way. Don't moms always?

And I can't not mention Barbara who went to church with a neighbor when she was nine and heard and heeded the call to salvation. When she got home, her mother asked her what happened to her, that there was a glow around her. I liked picturing her as a glowing nine year old. She grew up to be a preacher's wife and to love writing.

Plus there was Michelle searching for a way to keep her Christian bookstore open. Praying for the Lord to give her the opportunity to continue to minister through her store. The electronic age coupled with the down economy is making it very hard on brick and mortar stores.

Last, but certainly not least, I was privileged to listen to Cecil Murphey speak three times. He was very animated while he spoke and very determined to tell the truth about writing. No mollycoddling. But at the same time he was encouraging. Maybe what he had to say was even more encouraging because he did straight out tell the truth. He has published 122 books - some under his name, some as a ghostwriter for other names. That is an astounding number of books. He knows how to do it and he likes sharing what he knows.

Thanks for coming over to hear my tidbit stories about the conference. Have you been to a writers conference? If so what made it good for you. The workshops? The fellow writers you were able to swap stories with? The one on one conversations with published authors or agents and editors? I definitely enjoy meeting more reading and writing friends.

 Talk to you again Sunday. I'll be doing a book launch at the Corinth Christian Book Store in Frankfort tomorrow on Thursday, June 30 at 7 p.m. Would love to see you there if you're in the area.

Writing Workshops & the Winners are...

I've been working all week on getting ready for the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown coming up this Friday and Saturday, June 24 & 25. I had actually thought this was my first writers conference when I went last year, but then I was reminded that I had led some workshops at the Green Rivers Writers Retreat some years back - probably in the 1980s or 90s. That was in Louisville and I drove back and forth so maybe that's why I didn't think about it actually being a conference. But I did meet with writers and try to share my limited writing knowledge with them. That's what I'm going to be trying to do again at KCWC.

The picture is of me and last year's keynote speaker, Virginia Smith. Ginny did a great job of delivering the keynote speeches last year. Ginny does a great job every time she speaks. Just check out her website, Viginia Smith and you'll see that she has some interesting topics for her talks. And she's always fun. She was last year too. This year they have Cecil Murphey who has written so many books it's a wonder he hasn't lost count. Maybe he has! He has his name on some of the books and some of them he ghostwrote such as 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. They say he's a tremendous speaker and encourager so I know the conference attendees will more than get their money's worth. 

I always feel a little inadequate - oh heck, I feel a lot inadequate when I am asked to lead a workshop. I'm a writer, not a teacher. But at the same time, I enjoy teaching. I did a community ed writing class for several years here in my county and found it fun. Time consuming, creative energy draining, but fun. So I do have some experience teaching and almost all the comments on my sessions last year were favorable. Wonder why that one really critical remark is the one that stuck?   (Sigh)

Last year I had workshops on character and rewriting. I was a little surprised to discover that a lot of writers thought the rewriting topic was not all that interesting. I like to rewrite. For one thing that means I've finished the hard part of writing and have the story told. But I'm not trying to encourage the wisdom of rewriting your work this year. My workshops are "Dialogue - The Fizz in Fiction" and "Facts in Fiction - Using History in your Story." 

I think I came up with good titles anyway. Now to put the meat into the session and deliver it in such a way that my advice will encourage other writers. Even if they leave my class saying that was a lot of nonsense and I can do better than that. A lot of good books have been written by writers who said that very thing. Motivation is necessary for characters in stories and for writers.   

But in the three conferences I have been part of I have found one thing true of them all. It's the people you meet, the friends you make that give you the most lasting benefits. The writing information is good. Feedback is good. Discovering new markets or new possibilities of ways to use your writing talent is good. But best is making friends who know how hard writing can be, who may have experienced the same discouragement over rejections or joy over acceptances. People who understand because they have the writing bug crawling around inside them too.

So if you're at the conference in E-town, be sure to introduce yourself and tell me you are a reading friend. Then we can be face to face writing friends too. 


A couple more items here. My first book launch for The Blessed will be next week on Thursday night, June 30th at the Corinth Book Store in Frankfort, KY at 7 p.m. If you live in the area I'd love to see you there. Then I'll have a Hometown Book Launch at the Anderson Public Library in July on Sunday the 24th at 2 p.m. Door prizes and chocolate there. Both places I'll be talking about writing my new Shaker book, The Blessed. On June 30th at the book store I'll be sharing the podium with Catherine Sheets, a Frankfort author with a new book out titled A Place Called Morning. 

And now for the big news. I have the winners of my Celebration giveaway. The winner of the "never win anything" (at least from my website) is Abi of ND. She picked Orchard of Hope.The winner of the "I've been blessed" drawing is Ann Marie. The winner of the angel figurine and a book is Donna of KY. The winners of autographed copies of The Blessed are Susan of NE, Sally of TX, Katie of CA, Linda of MI, and Virginia of VA. Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing. I'll be doing some more giveaways in September (you know, because when you get older you have to celebrate by giving stuff away), so check my events page on my website for when and how to enter. I'll also be guesting on some blogs that will be giving away a copy of The Blessed. That info is also on my website event page. 


Blessings to all of you. And wish me smooth talking and intelligent words for my workshops this weekend. If you were attending one of the workshops, what would you most want to know?



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The Gift of Enthusiasm

"Enthusiasm is contagious - and so is the lack of it." (Unknown author)

Here I am with Carlton Hughes, the teacher who brought his digital photography class to Shaker Village last Friday to practice their skills. Carlton is a college professor who does this one class for the high school in Harlan County. He also started a book club for some of his students and they were reading my book, The Outsider. I met Carlton last summer at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown.

(By the way, I'll be teaching two workshops there again in June. "Dialogue - the Fizz in Fiction" and "Facts in  Fiction - Using History in your Story" If you're interested in attending, you can check it out on their website. http://kychristianwriters.com  Bestselling author, Cecil Murphey will be the keynote speaker. I've heard he's a fantastic and enthusiastic encourager to writers across the boards.)

Anyway, Carlton was teaching at KCWC last year too and I liked him from our first hellos. Enthusiasm fairly radiates from Carlton so it's no wonder his students do so well and pay attention when he teaches. Another quote I found was "Knowlege is power and enthusiasm the switch." (Steve Droke) That's Carlton. He has the knowledge and even better the enthusiastic switch that can make others ready to hook into that knowledge. As you can see in the photo below a lot of his students wanted to take the field trip with him to Shaker Village.

I had the opportunity to look at some of the digital shots a couple of the students had taken. Very nice. I did find it interesting that more of the pictures were of the donkeys, horses and ducks than of the buildings. But there's that enthusiasm need again. The young people took photos of what they were enthused about. When I'm there I'm always wanting to take pictures of the buildings and the brooms and things that shout Shaker to me. And of course, that beautiful double staircase in the Trustees House where the kids are all posing on in the picture below. I think they are on the Brothers' stairs. I think the brothers always used the east doors and stairways and the sisters the west. Unless I've got it backwards. I would have had to learn my directions better if I'd been a Shaker. :o) 

So now I'm working to be enthusiastic about my new Shaker novel with the approaching deadline. Not nearly enough words written yet. Unfortunately I'm still feeling my way along the story as if I'm walking in a dimly lit tunnel and having to feel the brick side walls to keep going. But I'm sure I'm going to see the light at the end of the tunnel soon. I'm really hoping when I do see it, it's not a train!! I'll just keep in mind this quote from Dale Carnegie. He knew how to find success and how to share that success enthusiastically.

"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success."

How important do you think enthusiasm is for you? And what are you the most enthusiastic about?

On the Road to a Story

This is the road through the middle of the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill near where I live. It's peaceful looking, isn't it? No traffic runs on it today except maybe what the workers of the living history museum there use to carry supplies, etc. But at one time this was the main road for everybody wanting to go between Harrodsburg and Lexington. And it wasn't peaceful at all during the time of my Shaker novel that is being shipped out to stores and readers now. The Seeker takes place during the first two years of the Civil War and soldiers were continually marching along this road between battles and skirmishes. John Hunt Morgan actually mustered in his troops in the middle of the Shaker village since it was a central location for the soldiers from the nearby towns. Later Morgan came back through the village on one of his guerilla raids through the area. The Shakers hid their horses, but prepared food for the soldiers. They did that all through the war. Before the Battle at Perryville, the Shakers served 1,500 meals on one day to soldiers marching through the village. And I set my characters of The Seeker right down in the middle of it all.

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That's one of the fun things about writing historical fiction. I get to read history out of the history books and then say what if this woman or this man (my characters) was there. What would they do? How would it change their lives? The War Between the States certainly changed our country and the lives of the people who lived then. That included the everyday life of the Shaker village.

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The Seeker is being shipped out to stores and those people who pre-ordered copies should be getting them in the mail soon. I got a couple of boxes of books today to have for my book launch in July and to take with me to the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference Friday and Saturday. I'll be teaching three classes. Two on "Making Characters Come to Life" and one on "Revise, Revise, Revise." Have no idea how many people will be in my classes, but hoping a few people sign up so that we can have fun learning together. I taught some writing classes for Community Ed several years ago and enjoyed teaching. But I like writing better.

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I did finally type "The End" on my work in progress, Shaker book four. But really that's just another beginning. Now I have to go back and pay attention to my teaching about "Revise, Revise, Revise." I'm anxious to read back through it and see what I need to do to make it better. Anxious as in excited as well as anxious in worried that I'll see major holes that need patching. I'm hoping nothing too major since Mr. Deadline is stomping ever nearer.

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I'm doing a guest interview on Margaret Daley's Blog tomorrow, June 10. Check it out at www.margaretdaley.blogspot.com. She had some great questions and if you make a comment there you'll be entered in yet another drawing for a copy of The Seeker.

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I'll draw for another winner in my book giveaways this weekend. Check out the details on my website, http://www.annhgabhart.com/. Hope I get to meet some of you this week at the KCWC. Two whole days of nothing but talking about writing and books. Sounds like great fun! If you're in the area (Elizabethtown, KY is really close to a lot of towns in KY) and want to come, they are taking same day registrations at the door on Friday and Saturday morning. You can check things out at their website. http://www.kychristianwriters.com/.

Messy Desks, Deadlines, and Writing Classes

~~~Here's my granddaughter ready to take over her grandma's place as writer for the day. She's a super fast typist, but it's a little hard to read all those words she types without concern over proper placement of letters. Free flowing thoughts - er fingers. Perhaps good for the creative energy.

~~~I'd like to blame the messy desk in the background on her, but I have to admit the mess is all mine. I like a neat desk, but I think papers reproduce overnight and spread like creeping kudzu. Scattered about in no particular order I have bank statements, calendar books, church bulletins, books of inspirational sayings, and info on my computer that's still not working properly and all my troubleshooting isn't fixing.

~~~Everybody groans when I say the word "Vista." I hear all of you out there groaning now. I don't really care what operating system I have as long as it operates. I've always been that way about cars too. As long as the motor turns over and starts purring when I turn the key, I'm happy. Of course I like one that's small enough to parallel park with ease which means my husband considers it a toy car. So we usually ride together in his van.

~~~But one reason my desk is so messy is that I'm having to push toward a deadline and do some promo things for The Seeker that's making an appearance at the same time as the deadline. It's good to have something to blame your mess on. Everything that comes up I say I'll do that in July the same as I did last year. I didn't get everything done in July last year. Some of those "to do" things are still on my list. My list is turning yellow with age.

~~~But before July, I'm going to be leading a couple of classes at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown the middle of June. I hope - really hope - to have my book finished before then. The two classes I'm leading are about developing characters and revising. The revising one sounds so dull that nobody will probably come to that one, but making your writing better by careful editing and revision is definitely worth the time and effort.

~~~I'm beginning to worry I may have gotten in over my head with these classes. I taught a community ed writing class for several years and enjoy teaching, but the people coming to this conference will probaby know more about writing than I do. I go on instinct a lot. You can't teach instinct. But maybe I can share some of the things I've discovered in my many years of writing. That's one thing I'll probably have on most of the attendees, the number of years I've been at it.

~~~But if you were coming to my class, what would you like to know? What questions would you ask? What tips would you share about character development or revising? If you've got an extra minute, let me know.