ACFW: Day Two

Here we are on Day Two with soon to be published author Ann Shorey. Her historical series will be releasing soon from Revell. She’s yet another of our Oregon friends.

If you look back and forth between these pictures, who can see everyone at the same time.

One of the highlights of the conference was FINALLY getting to meet Roxanne Henke. We’ve been her fans as long as she’s been writing, yet never been in the same place at the same time.

Roxy with our friend, Judy Gann.

I love the look on Brandilyn Collin’s face in this pic. She did a fabulous job emceeing. I wish the photo hadn’t turned out so grainy, but the stage was the only place my new camera didn’t get good pictures.

One of the bubbliest people at the conference is Sharlene MacLaren. It’s always a joy to see her. If you remember, she won the HUGE Ashberry Lane Giveaway this year.

Our friend, Jennifer AlLee, who’s already sold one book and is, quite possibly, about to sell the next. See how she has a really bright idea?

And fellow Finalist in the Contemporary category of the Genesis, Jim Rubart. He actually was a double finalist, but had to remove his name from the other category when B&H contracted that book. Yay, Jim!!

Aside from taking pictures with all these wonderful people, Mom and I actually did squeeze some learning in. The early bird class ran from 8 AM to 2 PM, which sounds like a horribly long time, but Margie Lawson, speaker extraordinaire, made the time fly by whilst cramming our brains full of writing techniques that Deepen the Emotion and use Rhetorical Devices. Since Margie is a psychotherapist, she brought a unique POV to the class. I love how she talks about wanting to put our readers into trances, as in they become unaware of the dirty dishes or the late hour and want to keep reading.

Angela Hunt spoke eloquently during the keynote. The agent panel followed. Very interesting to see the varied personalities of the agents. I think, if you were unagented, this would be a very enlightening event to attend. You could easily see who would fit with your personality or not. (Start saving for next year if you couldn’t come this year.) We broke for dinner, and started the editor panel late. Cara Putnam emceed the panels and expertly rolled with the punches. And kept those extroverted editors in line. 😉

Before we went up to bed, we attended the Late Night Chat titled The Big Questions that Authors Never Ask … But Should. Allen Arnold from Thomas Nelson taught and, wow, did he bring it. One of my favorite things he said, when talking about entering a publication contract being similar to marriage: “You don’t just marry the guy who offers you the biggest ring.” This resonated with me because I’d love to sign with a house who really supports me for the long haul, even if they happen to lose money on the first book.