Newsletters

Week 4 of extended learning comes from:
Our own longtime editor, Andrea Merrell is wonderful to provide our week 4 assignment.. Andrea is going to work with you on Sensory Perception. I know you'll enjoy this lesson and assignment. It is my hope you are taking these weekly assignments and looking over your work in progress. There are great tools in these posts. Click Andrea's name or here on BLOG.


REMINDER...time is drawing short for a shirt. ONLY 14 DAYS LEFT TO ORDER A SHIRT. Shirts are available until February 5.
(And faculty - You have a shirt waiting. Stop ordering! LOL)
I tell ya, try to surprise your faculty with a little gift of a shirt, and they all ORDER ONE. Now the cat is outta the bag and faculty now knows they have a shirt. (Party poopers.) Last year I surprised them with wonderful pastry. This year, something less fattening!

After the 5th, you'll have to contact Taryn yourself. But YOU REALLY NEED ONE OF THESE. Last week I gave you a list of reasons why. And just to remind you, they are as follows: 1) It's a great way to introduce yourself, let folks know what you do for a living, and strike up a conversation that may lead to book sales and speaking engagements.
2) You'll look really COOL, cuz Taryn only makes COOL STUFF.
3) You'll put a star in your heavenly crown for being a benefactor to our mission. 
4) Your purchase will help the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation create new and updated medications that Bob's grands and my cousin now take which improves their quality of life. And when that happens, there are happy tears everywhere.
I KNOW YOU WANT ONE OF THESE!!! I KNOW YOU DO!! Our own Taryn Souders has graciously INVENTED these. They are available on the front page of the website. The shirt is listed in the right sidebar. Just scroll down till you see it. The shirts are $14 small to large. $16 for XXL and up. But here is the really great thing. $2 of every sale goes directly into our Bob Box for the Cystic Fibrosis mission of this ministry. Besides having a fun shirt that folks will definitely comment on, you're helping our mission for the weekend. What are your benefits from purchasing a WARNING: I AM A WRITER shirt?
So go to the website, scroll down that sidebar and purchase your shirt. Then send me an email to let me know (as a back up to pay pal) and I can get your info to Taryn. Your shirt will be waiting for you when you arrive at the conference in our conference bookstore. Just tell Bennie, Kevin, or Wendy you're there to pick it up.








Just so you know...
I WILL STATE AGAIN...if there is a faculty member not showing as a mentor or critiquer, CONTACT TERRI. Here's the thing...we are behind on the website because honestly, we weren't sure we'd get to have a conference with covid. What would normally be perfectly attuned, is not. I remind you (and faculty) if there is a faculty member you'd like to have mentor or critique, and you don't see them listed on the site, contact Terri. We'll - well, she'll see if she can fix it. Keep in mind, these slots are filling quickly so if you are interested in a mentorship or paid critique, don't tarry. Contact Terri. (Tarry....Terri...nothing like a keen sense of humor).

SO TO REPEAT:
Mentoring and paid critiques are still available. I have a lot of faculty willing to do mentoring this year so if I have missed adding one to the list on the site, just send Terri a note and ASK! FOLKS, you're looking a the picture of imperfection here. I miss stuff ALL THE TIME! So, if you don't see a name of a faculty member listed, ASK. We'll see if we can threaten them with bodily harm to mentor you. LOL!  Contact Terri Kelly at [email protected]. She will set up your mentoring or be the grim reaper because we all know, I'm all sugar and candy! (snicker).
 We have (FORGIVE ME IF I MISS SOMEONE)
Bob Hostetler - fiction and non-fiction
Edie Melson - Blogs, websites, social media
DiAnn Mills - fiction
Linda Gilden - Non-fiction & speakers
Billy Wayne - Playwriting, writing lyrics, melding ministry
Linda Glaz - fiction and non-fiction
Larry Leech - memoirs and fiction
Nancy Lohr - Fiction and YA
Susan King - editing, non-fiction
Denise Loock - fiction and non-fiction
Andrea Merrell - fiction and non-fiction
Eddie Jones - Fiction and YA
Taryn Souders- YA
Les Stobbe - non-fiction and fiction
Candy Arrington - Non-fiction
Lori Hatcher - non-fiction and speaking

FACULTY - If I missed someone - I'M SORRY. My brain is only so big.
CONFEREES, If I missed someone you want to mentor, CONTACT TERRI - She cleans up this puppy's puddles. :~|
[email protected]
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OFF-CAMPUS REGISTRATIONS ARE STILL AVAILABLE!

We do still have off campus registrations available. On-campus is sold out. So, if you have writing peers that may be interested...give them a shout. We'd love to have them. LET'S SEE ACWC GROW THIS YEAR!

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The Devotion Contest goes into February 5. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION: Send your entries to [email protected]. Attach your document to your email and send with DEVOTION ENTRY listed in the memo box. I want to sure we don't miss any devos. Also, heads up for those who enter the contest. Once the devotions are judged they will be forwarded to our Christian Devotions Editor who will then make a few tweaks and schedule your devotion for publication on the website. When you get a note from Martin Wiles, open it up. Good things are inside. EXCITING? You'll get a writing credit under your belt. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO MY PERSONAL EMAIL.
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CHECK IN  DETAILS - I spoke with Patty at the Cove and things are on track. There is a conference leaving as we are arriving so we are really hoping to secure Pilgrim's Inn this year. This is the hotel directly beside the Training Center and only steps away from the front door. We are waiting to see if there are enough available rooms in that hotel to accommodate our reservations. As soon as I know, you will know. So, hang tight. 

A COVID REMINDER - Please, please, do not come to the conference if you are sick. Contact me and we will work something out with your housing costs.Help us keep everyone safe. Just so you know, your temperature will be taken twice. Once at the gate, and once when you check in with us (for insurance reasons).  If you are running, even a small temperature, you will not be allowed on campus. Again, this is for the safety of everyone. Contact me if you are ill. (But you won't be...I trust in that fact.)

Our insurance waiver - Yearly we are required to present the Cove with a certificate of insurance. AND our insurance company requires you to sign a liability release. I will make this available on the newsletter page closer to conference time. You can read through, and then when you arrive and the gals slide that clipboard in front of you, you can sign without holding up the line. (If you only knew the finer points of putting together a conference - Isn't that right, Linda Gilden, Edie Melson, DiAnn Mills, Eva Marie Everson, and Taryn Souders?

Having said that, do keep this conference and our sister conferences in your prayers. Pray for good health, financial provision, safe travel and good weather. Also, pray for the planning, the directors, and all the staffing hands it takes to manage these conferences. When we sign on the dotted line, we are taking on $30K plus. It is only because of God's goodness, that we meet expenses. So pray for us and the conferences we lead.
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MP3s, Pre-Registration, and BOOKSTORE - We will have MP3s available to purchase. For $45 we are offering the full conference PLUS ADDITIONAL CLASSES YOU WON'T HEAR IN PERSON. We always encourage conferees to purchase MP3s. It's something you should plan for regardless of which conference you attend. WHY? Because you have the extended learning at home FOREVER. I always get the MP3s at conferences and when I travel or when I am home, I can continue to learn the craft of writing. This is money well spent. Plan on purchasing the MP3s. You can pay for these in the bookstore with Wendy. We'll contact you when they are ready to download (it's usually early April. It takes time to edit and upload.) We'll send you an email and a link to our password protected page.

Pre-registration - For $35 you can pre-register for 2023. This will assure you an on-campus room. Around end of Aug, we'll send you a note for your first payment. If we do not hear from you, the money goes into our scholarship fund. But we hope we hear from you.
Go ahead and pre-register. Secure an on-campus room.

We will offer a bookstore for your shopping. It will have books by our faculty. Unfortunately, we can only house faculty books. We simply do not have the space to house conferee books. BUT, that doesn't mean you can't carry your book with you and share it with your peers. If they wish to purchase one, you can work the details out with them.  We hope you will visit our bookstore. Your purchases will help our faculty and also help build our scholarship fund.

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REMINDING YOU AGAIN!!!
REMINDER: THE BOB BOX - If you know our conference, then you know we never do a conference without doing mission work as well. We are, after all, a ministry.  Each year we opt to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Our own Bob Hostetler, has two grands who have Cystic Fibrosis, I have a family member with this, and a number of ministry friends also either suffer with CF or have children who do. It is only fitting that we support this as a ministry. Each year, we set a box in our bookstore, lovingly labeled the BOB BOX, and we hope you feel moved to donate. Whatever is in the box at the end of the conference, the ministry matches the amount and we then hand it over to Bob Hostetler, whose son works for a company that doubles every donation. So by all due rights, it's multiplied three times. Which is awesome. Please consider donating to the Bob Box and let's do as we are commanded...to care for others. We will also provide a link via Pay Pay that you can also donate on line. DONATE TO THE BOB BOX.

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AND AGAIN...we never have too much prayer. What you should pray for -
As we draw closer to the conference, please, please keep it in your prayers. We pray daily for you as a ministry. Join arms with us and pray for these things:
Good weather.
Safe travel.
Good and safe health.
Our faculty.
Our conferees.
Our families.
Open hearts and minds.
Pray with thanksgiving - for we are grateful.

I THINK THAT IS ALL - Continue to check the website NEWSLETTER page for updates. Just before the conference happens we'll post all your registration information on the conference update page.

                                              
 

And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.  For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.- Habakkuk 2: 2-3

Writers love this scripture. I mean, what's not to love? A command to WRITE. But I encourage you not to read into this scripture what is not there. Habakkuk and God were in the middle of  a heavy conversation. God had given Habakkuk a vision of what was to come and what he needed to tell the people. Habakkuk grumbled, God responded, but ultimately, Habakkuk declared his faithfulness to watch and wait. It would be hard, but God instructed him to write the vision and make it plain for those who read it. Make sure they can understand it for not only did it describe the hardships but it held great encouragement that God would not leave His people.

WRITE it down. IT WILL COME. There's the WAIT. (Oh, how we hate to wait.)  It will come according to God's WILL.

It is important that you recognize your call to write. In fact, before you leave the conference, we are going to ask you to write down when you first felt that call. You'll give us those and then in May, Eddie and I will hike the mountain, pray over those papers, anoint them, and we will bury them at the feet of God. There God will have them to read and smile over - to bless.

This scripture in Habakkuk is about Habakkuk writing down the vision he had so that people would not forget. They could see it, read it, understand it. But also, a key thought is the WAIT. It will await it's time and not delay.

You see, as writers we grow impatient with waiting. If God calls us to write, why do we have to wait for publication? Why so long...if ever? I can just do it myself. Well, God promises it will come. It will not delay. Our problem is, we are not prepared for the how or when. Early on in this ministry, Eddie and I sat in a class at Blue Ridge taught by Alton Gansky. We didn't know each other at that time, but later in the week, we met. Oddly enough, we both wrote the words Al said in that first class. In fact, we've based a lot of this ministry around it. Al said, "If you want to write for God then you need to understand that your words may never end up on the shelves of a Lifeway Bookstore. They may only be meant for the person sitting next to you. If you are willing to accept that, then God will use your work to His glory."

Those words set the precedence for what we wanted writers to grasp. WRITE the vision. WAIT on God's timing. In His WILL it will be used to His glory.

Keep that in mind. There is nothing wrong with writing the vision. Do what you are called to do, but do not run ahead of God. Do not tell Him what you expect Him to do with His will for your work. Writers, be patient. Learn the value in WAIT. But more so, trust in God's will and timing.

Do not be surprised where your words will land because when you offer them back in obedience, God may use them on a school bulletin board, or a nursing home, or a card of encouragement. . . maybe a book. Your call is to write the vision. God's job is to use it to His glory.

Write the vision. You can't obey if you don't write. Wait. Pray. Give the work back...and He will prosper the work.

Much love,

TYPOS should be forgiven, auto correct hates me!