Buckle up folks...

WE ONLY HAVE TWO, COUNT THEM, 1, 2...slots left and we are a sold out conference

I am so excited. We only have two slots left and we are sold out! God is amazing and He loves proving to me that He is not only awesome, but faithful. If you know someone thinking of attending, tell them not to wait. Register now!


HOUSEKEEPING -  The Sparrow Book Contest is winding down. You only have a few days left to enter the contest. Give it a try. Step out and just TRY. It's good for you to put your work out there for folks to read. As the Nike commercial says - JUST DO IT! (That is Nike, right?

Likewise the Advance the Kingdom Devotion Contest is nearing an end as well. In fact, we may end it sooner than later, so if you are considering entering. DO IT NOW!

NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ALL CONTEST ENTRANTS: PAY ATTENTION!
If you have entered the Sparrow Book Contest and have not sent Sarah your manuscript - DO NOT HESITATE. Send it to:
[email protected]. These are due Jan. 2

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ENTERED THE ADVANCE THE KINGDOM DEVOTION CONTEST - PAY CLOSER ATTENTION. EMAIL YOUR ENTRY TO ANDREA MERRELL at [email protected] . Even if you have sent it to Cindy, email it again to Andrea. WHY? Charter Spectrum has been having tons of issues and email on my end is sloppy. WE DON'T WANT TO MISS ANYONE'S ENTRY. So EVEN IF YOU HAVE EMAILED IT TO CINDY, resend it to [email protected] . I REPEAT IN RED: RESEND YOUR DEVOTION ENTRY TO ANDREA MERRELL EVEN IF YOU HAVE SENT IT TO CINDY.

Housing on Campus:  We are slated to stay in Shepherd's Inn which is the Inn directly beside the Training Center. TThis is awesome because you are just steps away from the Training Center, and off-campus folks can drive up to the parking lot. CONVENIENT.When arrive at the Cove on Friday, you cannot check into your room until after 3 pm. YOU WILL DRIVE UP, PARK, AND GO INSIDE SHEPHERD'S INN and get your name badge. You cannot enter the training center 3rd floor without. Leave your luggage in your car. You will have time after the early bird classes to go back to Shepherd's Inn and get your room key. MEMORIZE THIS!

Off-Campus folks...You will drive up to Shepherd's Inn and get your name tag. Then park in the lot above the Training Center. You must get your name tag before entering the Training Center. If you are being dropped off, then drop off at Shepherd's Inn, get your badge and walk next door to the training center. Pick ups can be in front of the training center, but I recommend you text your ride and have them arrive just in time to pick you up. The buses will be running from Pilgrams Inn and they will need that drive under at the training center.

That's all about check in for now.

Early bird classes start at 1 p.m. You may come on campus at 11 a.m. Get your name tag and then visit the Billy Graham Chapel or the downstairs rotunda and bookstore at the Cove. Classes begin at 1 on the 3rd floor. You'll take the elevator in front of the HUGE fireplace to the 3rd floor where you'll be greeted by our bookstore staff and some faculty. We'll show you where to go from there for your early bird classes. Please DO NOT ARRIVE PRIOR TO 11 a.m. The Cove is not prepared for an influx of folks since they are checking other conferences OUT. Help keep down the chaos. :)

FACULTY BOOKSTORE - We will have a bookstore available to you with our faculty books, cd's and other sundries. We encourage you to browse the bookstore and make a purchase. Grab the faculty member whose book you purchase and let them sign it. Your purchases not only help our faculty (who we only pay in M&M's and peanuts) but again, you will be providing scholarship funds for next year.

Remember our MISSION - The Bob Box - any donations you make will be divided between the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and our Moore Square mission work.

YOU DO NOT SIGN UP FOR OUR CLASSES. We have Step Up and Step Out. The Step Up classes are geared toward newer writers while the Step Out classes are geared toward the more seasoned writer. BUT, you can attend either one. We recommend you pick a track and stay in it, but we can't force that. INSTEAD, prepare to buy the MP3s. We will record all the classes and keynotes. So if you miss a class in person, buy the MP3s and have the full conference teaching sessions forever. Plus, when you purchase the MP3s you are helping provide scholarships for next year.

15-Minute appointment sign up will be Friday night. Terri will fill you in Friday night at our general assembly.

January begins your weekly emails and additional study - This sets us apart from other conferences because we have short posts with additional learning and challenges/homework you can utilize to grow your knowledge of writing. These are not assignments you must bring with you to the conference. They are sent to you to encourage you to learn more. The link will post in your weekly newsletter and they can be found on our conference blog at www.ashevillechristianwritersconference.com.

All the Classes are listed, and the schedule is listed. There will be tweaks to the schedule - There always is. But you will have a good idea of the times when you look at it. Currently, it is written in wet cement. What will change this is the number of folks at the Cove for the weekend. COVID guidelines are still in effect for the Cove regarding the number of folks in a room. If they reach the coveted number in the dining hall, then they will break meals into two sessions. That will force a schedule change. Trust me, Terri and I wait holding our breath that it doesn't change, but it almost always does...and sometimes ...not until FRIDAY when you arrive. Be patient. Please.
Be patient with the meal lines, with the internet (because there will be tons of folks using it) and with our bookstore payment method (that depends on the speed of the internet). You may have to wait. It's okay. Get those MP3s, and you'll be sure not to miss a thing.

Keep a look at your watch. Once we get rolling, we are on a very tight schedule! It doesn't have room for dawdling.

Mentoring and Critiques - I know many of you are brand new, but I encourage you to make a critique appointment or mentoring appointment. Yes, they cost you a little money, but they are well worth the effort and investment.

Mentoring can change your entire outlook and work in progress. Take advantage. You will have a 1-hour private appointment with your mentor. OH MY GOODNESS. I wish that had been available when I started writing. Well, now it is.

Edie Melson will help you with your website, blog, or social media. TRUST ME. You need Edie to look over your blog and let her help you tweak it, so your platform builds quickly and efficiently. EDIE IS AMAZING. She still has a couple of appointments, but generally, Edie fills up FAST.

Lori Marett - Works with WRAMS, mentoring writing service. She is a screenplay writer and amazing at brainstorming and content. She can look at your work and spit out suggestions faster than Jack Spratt. Book with Lori.

Les Stobbe - TO LATE! LES IS FILLED. See, I told you... folks fill up.

Larry Leech - Larry is a freelance author and coach/mentor. He has been helping authors for years. He can help you whip your novel or nonfiction into shape so it is ready to be presented to publishers and agents. Larry has helped tons of authors become known for his mentorees, becoming published and award-winning. Larry is super at those personal stories too! There are only a couple of slots left with Larry.

Billy Wayne Arrington - Billy is the music man, but that's not all - he's a playwright and musician. NOT ONLY THAT, but Billy has run an amazing ministry for years at his venue, the Lamplite Theatre. He works with ministries, he's an evangelist, and of course, an amazing singer. Billy can lead you through the process of is your work something that could become a play or movie, or is your poetry workable as lyrics. But more so, with his years of experience in active ministry, he can guide you into beginning your own ministry.

These appointments cost you a little investment, but it is money well spent to have one-on-one attention to your work. Make those appointments and remember, they fill quickly.

Critiques are also available, and this is where a faculty member does a quick line-by-line glance at your work in progress. They will point out the good and the things that need work. Again, these 15-minute critique appointments, cost a little but are well worth the effort and cost. They fill quickly

OH YEAH!
I did say this? It bears repeating - PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL BY HITTING REPLY. When you do that, EVERYONE gets the email, and not only that, but a huge thread starts, and most of the time, I can't see who sent what. If you need to send me a note, email me at [email protected]. Also, mark this email address as a safe email in your browser security so we don't go to spam. If you miss a newsletter, they are all posted on the website under newsletters. Everyone SHOULD have the information in one way or another. (In other words, I didn't know...doesn't work. Grin)

[email protected]. - Look, there's my email address again!

WEATHER - Weather in February is always iffy. However, we have never had snow. (Well, one year ...like 14 yrs ago. But the roads were cleared within hours.) God has been faithful to us year after year by holding the weather at bay. Just know that if it should snow, Asheville has roads cleared in hours. They're accustomed to snow in the winter. It's nothing for you to worry over. We just ask you continue to pray for good weather and safe travel.

There is no refunds on reservations after midnight on Dec. 31. We've paid the bills.


AGAIN - I simply ask that you pray over this conference. Pray for safety, good weather that God will send those He'd have to attend so that every slot is filled to over-flowing with wonderful conferees to keep our faculty hopping. Pray for our provision. Pray for the Cove and their folks who work with us because THEY ARE PRAYING FOR YOU ALREADY. Let us know if we can add you to our bi-weekly prayer warriors so you can walk with us through the obedience of prayer. Pray that this conference will be focused on the work of the Father and that His calling to you will be clear. NO JOKE....pray.
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Eddie and I lost a dear friend a couple of months ago. She was ninety-eight. Elizabeth Van Liere was a woman who forever changed our lives. We first met Betty at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. She held tight to her grandson's arm as he led her up the steep hills at conference center and all the way, she was cracking jokes and laughing a sweet belly laugh that only an elderly lady could muster.

I'll never forget. She slid a devotion across the table at me and said, "Well, I wrote this old thing. See what you think!" And to my surprise, she'd done the Christian Devotions, HOOK, BOOK, LOOK, and TOOK, perfectly. Think was, she had no idea she did.

Betty pitched her book of humor and devotions and Eddie and I both fell in love with the laughter in her aging humor. We published Dare to Laugh in 2015. In the years the book was on the shelves, it probably sold 100 copies at it's best, but Betty (82 yrs old at the time), was out peddling that book everywhere. She bought them ten books at a time because that was all she could afford. Each year Betty set up a table at the local flea market and craft show. She carried her books, placed them on her table, and then stood to greet folks as they walked by her. She didn't try to sell her books - she showed her book and would say, "Let me show you what God has done in my life." Betty ministered and at the end of the day, God had sold her books. She would laugh and say, "Cin, Either God sold them or He picked them up and took them with Him at the end of the day. Either way, there was money in the kitty and no books in the box."

We loved Betty. I always expected a weekly email from her where she would inform me of the devotions on Christian Devotions that she liked or didn't agree. But at the end of every email, every phone call, these were Betty's words. "Cindy, my love, the peace of Christ."

Every time I heard or read those words, I was touched. First, because Betty was such a love and second because she wanted only the peace of Christ for me.

We've just finished the Christmas season, and I am reminded of the description the prophet Isaiah left us with about the coming Messiah. In one place, we are reminded that the suffering Christ endured brought us peace. And here we have it...the peace of Christ.

I know many of you are worriers (me too, welcome to my spot), and I know many of you are a little nervous about attending a conference, not knowing others, wondering if you'll fit in, will you make friends, can you even write? But I want you to think of our sweet, sweet Betty, who looks down from heaven today and now experiences the full peace of Christ. She would be thrilled to see you here.

So, as you prepare for this conference, I want you to practice saying those words...the peace of Christ. And when we join together at the Cove, this is the greeting I would love to hear...The Peace of Christ, because we all know that had it not been for the loving sacrifice, we would not experience the peace.

Lay down your burdens. Cast away your fears. The peace of Christ be with you.

Cindy Sproles, Director ACWC