That time of year...

It's that time of year! Spring is in the air (was winter ever even here?) and I'm teaching at two different (very different!) writing conferences over the next two weekends, and I'm really getting excited about it!!

The first is the 2012 Christian Writer's Conference at Benton United Methodist Church in Benton, Louisiana. Here's the link for info if you're interested in coming and live nearby! http://bentonumc.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=34608&PID=905079

It's a one-day conference, and I'll be teaching on writing YA. I went last April to it's first year (now annual!) and taught, and had a really great time. This is a sweet group of people, all varying levels of experience (from published authors to brand new aspiring authors!) and the conference had a great turn-out. I expect good things this year as well! They'll be an on-site bookstore, lunch, and a bunch of workshops covering a wide variety of writing for the Christian market.

The second conference is the 2012 NOLA STARS conference, another annual event that has been going on in Shreveport for several years. Here's the link: http://nolastars.com/conference/

This conference is put on by the North Louisiana chapter of the RWA (Romance Writers of America) and is a two-day event with opportunities to meet with editors and agents in the industry, learn the craft of writing, network, and more. I attended this conference twice and taught last year on Time Managment for the Busy Writer. This is a "secular" conference, and includes christian writers and other genres, even erotica. It definitely branches me out ;)

Check out the industry lineup!

Scott Eagan, Literary Agent, Greyhaus Literary Agency
Christina Hogrebe, Literary Agent, Jane Rotrosen Agency
Leah Hultenschmidt, Senior Editor, Sourcebooks
Angela Polidoro, Editor, Bantam Dell
Lori Wilde, Editorial Director, Entangled Publishing, Indulgence line
Others TBA

This year I'll be teaching on the topic of "Subtexting". My workshop is titled "Subtexting: How to say a lot without saying much at all" and I'm really excited about it. I strongly believe subtexting is a fantastic way to really connect with your reader and draw them into your story - turning them from a reader to a participater.

Hope to see you there! (or at both!) :)