Newsletters

4 days and counting. . . I got my runnin' shoes on. What about you? 

Please remember to mail your paid critique fees asap. If you need and address, contact Terri at bootcampcritiques @ gmail.com Week 7 - Assignment 7 and Roster


This weeks assignment is from me, Cindy Sproles. It's an important assignment too. You've seen these newsletters say, IT'S ALL ABOUT YOUR BEST, and that is what this last assignment is all about. It's all those little details you check and recheck before you hit the send button. As you prepare to print and ready your work for this coming weekend, apply these steps to each piece. We call it, spit shining your work. Visit our blog at http://www.ashevillechristianwritersconference.com/acwcwritersblog for Assignment 6.


CHECK THE CONFERENCE UPDATE PAGE
Everything you need to know about check in at the Cove is there. Including the Roster.  Now, about the Roster. Remember I told you this is not a life or death thing - it's a networking tool. If we did not get your bio or if we've accidentally missed yours, it's okay. It's nothing to get upset over. When you talk to folks, just add your contact information on their conference manual. Sheila and I have gone over this and over this, but we are only human. We can make mistakes, so just know, it's not personal. We didn't single you out and refuse to publish your bio. Just roll with this. It's really okay.  For those we knew we did not have or could not find their bio and photo, we've added your name and contact info at the end of the roster. You're still there.

How could we miss a bio if you sent it months ago?  Well, easy. I've asked over and over to NOT respond to this newsletter, the thread grows so long it's nearly impossible to find an email with an attachment. Or when we transferred the bios and photos, the internet gobbled them up. There's tons of reasons. Just roll with this. It's really okay. 

Here is the link to the 2018 Roster 
Click HERE


Here are the finer details: OFF CAMPUS CONFEREES ONLY
If you are an off campus conferee, you will stop at the guard shack, check in, get your parking tag, the proceed to the TRAINING CENTER. It will be the second left as you go up the mountain. There is a sign that tells you this is the building. FYI...there are only three. Pilgrams Inn is the first left, Training Center is the next, all the way to the top and circle left is Shepherd's Inn.

Park and go in the front doors. Make an immediate RIGHT once you are inside and go into the office. There you will pick up your name badge and your conference materials. You may then proceed to the elevators across from the big fireplace and go to the 3rd floor. You'll find us eagerly awaiting your arrival. We'll direct you to the early bird session.

THIS IS FOR OFF CAMPUS CONFEREES ONLY!

FOR ON-CAMPUS CONFEREES ONLY
Stop at the guard shack, check in, and get your parking tag. Proceed up the mountain to the FIRST LEFT to PILGRIM'S INN. DO NOT GET YOUR SUITCASE OUT OF YOUR CAR - you cannot check into the hotel until after 2:00 p.m. You will enter the front doors and be met by our conference care representatives. They will have you sign a liability form, give you your conference materials, and your name tag. If your room keys are available either they or a Cove representative will give it to you. BUT YOU CANNOT ENTER YOUR ROOM UNTIL AFTER 2 p.m.  We have planned plenty of time after the early bird classes for you to make your way back to the hotel and get yourself settled in your room.  

Once you get your name tag, catch the bus that runs every 5-8 minutes. They will drive you the 2 very steep blocks to the training center. Wear your badge, go inside the big doors and head to the 3rd floor. Once you are there, we will direct you to the early bird classes. 

ALL CONFEREES
* Do not arrive at the Cove before 12 noon.
*Every conferee must sign a liability release.
*You must wear your badge at all times. It is your entrance to the 3rd floor and your meal ticket all wrapped into one.
*The bookstore will open after supper Friday night. 
*Appointment signups will happen Friday night after the main session.
*During the housekeeping session of the main event Friday night, we will give you all the in's and out's of the classes. Don't sweat this! We got you covered. Just be on time to the main session and you'll get all your information.
*Your schedule is printed inside your ACWC MANUAL
*It's very COZY on the 3rd floor of the training center, so be patient, be kind, and everything will run smoothly.
* The Bob Box will be on the bookstore table. Remember this is our tithing from the conference. We will support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and help Bob Hostetler raise his $4000 goal in behalf of Caylee and Ryder, his grandchildren who both have CF. Please come prepared to offer a small gift to this cause. We want our conference to be one that not only teaches but obeys the commandment of caring for the sick and elderly. Over the last three years, ACWC has provided close to $4000 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We make a difference - and to prove that...last year, God doubled our gift. We'll let Bob tell you about that Friday night.
*Snack stations - The Cove provides snacks to us during the open hours in the training center. There's a large station as you go toward the dining room. You can get coffee, drinks, water, even soft serve ice cream. On the 3rd floor, hot drinks are provided to the left of the bookstore, and in the lobby of your hotels you will find drink stations with soft drinks and coffee, and tea - all at no additional charge to you. I SIMPLY ASK that you clean up after yourself. Please don't leave cups and napkins laying around. There are trash receptacles every where. Help us keep things nice. Remember, we are at the Cove under the arm of Christian Devotions Ministries. Help represent us well.

Again, everything is on the Conference UPDATE PAGE.  

Get your professional photograph made - While you are at the conference we are pleased to welcome Mary Denman and her beautiful photography. If you'd like to have a professional headshot made for your web page or submissions, business cards, etc. Mary is your gal. She'll be set up and will schedule appointments for Saturday. We'll let her give you more info on Friday night, but if you need a good photo, take this opportunity to have a nice professional photo made. Mary will do you right.

PLEASE DO NOT START A FACEBOOK PAGE OR ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE REGARDING OUR CONFERENCE. Christian Devotions and the Asheville Christian Writers Conference is a 501c3 non-profit organization that must adhere to strict guidelines by the government. Any pages on social media must be monitored by us. If you wish to chat with folks about the conference and keep in touch, we have a Facebook page you are able to upload your photos to and where you can keep up. If you open any social media with our name you endanger our non-profit status. Use the social media page we have. We welcome your photos.

Any last minute housing changes must go through me. Do not assume you can bring a friend on campus. The Cove does not charge us per room, they charge us PER PERSON. All the rooms are filled on campus. If you have a change, please contact me so I can work out the details. 

And here is what God is speaking to me . . .

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. - Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

From the beginning, I've tried to drive home "doing your best." Present yourself worthy and present your best to God. We live in a world of entitlement. It's something that hurts my soul to see.  Few take pride in the work they do, much less work hard to accomplish it. But you are different. You are set apart. You know that, right? When you took Christ into your heart, you became set apart, adopted. . . a child of His. And any child should want to please their parent.

We are so blessed. Our poor are wealthy by the majority of the world's people. But in our blessing, we have become hardened, demanding, and impatient. What you will see this weekend, are servants who want to train up a new group of writers. Our faculty is prayed over and chosen not just by their skill, but by their HEART. Christian Devotions Ministries and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas operates on the "people with the right heart." 

It's important you understand, the writing world is a slow turning wheel. Publication does not happen overnight, or even over many nights. It sometimes takes years. God's timing is not ours and if you will take away one thing this coming weekend, it is that when you work at your writing with all your heart, as if you are working for the Lord and not human masters, you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as  reward. God blesses that done and given in His name. But He blesses in HIS TIMING.

You've heard me say repeatedly, be kind. Be joyous. Trust. Believe. You are called. All those things are important stepping stones for your pathway to publication. This faculty is gathered in His Name, in obedience and hope, that you will earnestly listen and learn to discern the still quiet voice of God. Follow your writing dreams, but let God lead the way. Be patient and trust in His timing. WORK to continually prove and improve yourself and your work. 

Every faculty member will tell you their personal road to publication has been a journey, not a given. I can guarantee they can name countless failures and falls, and numerous times they have crawled back to their feet and trusted God to lead the way. Your writing is not perfect. Neither is ours. Nor do we walk through the submission process cocky and convinced ours is the only work that should be published. We have learned the humility in the work and the joy in a finished project, that after months or years, is finally sold.

Be kindhearted. Be determined. Be joyous. Be giving. Be faithful. Be prayerful. Be humble. Be teachable. Be sweet spirited. Be God-filled and God-inspired. And trust Him with your work. Cover it in prayer. Praise Him for every rejection because it's a call to learn. Allow yourself to fall and then be picked up by the Master. Trust me people. You WILL see a difference in your attitude, in your work, and in your success when you truly allow God to work through you in His time.

We are praying for you. Really we are and have been since Sunday, February 19, 2017. You are here because we prayed for God to send you and guess what? You heard and obeyed His call.  

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Safe travels on Friday. You are loved. You are blessed. And we stand ready to serve you.

Much Love,
Cin  and EJ
Beth, Dee Dee, Bennie, Kevin, Scott, Renee, Terri, Anna, Edie, Linda, Lin, Yvonne, Larry, Diana, Les, Lori, Sarah, Sheila, Andrea, Denise, Latan, Tim, and Bob.