Conference Season

I have a busy summer in front of me.  The good news is that it includes attending two great conferences: the Southern Christian Writers Conference (SCWC) and the Faith and Fiction Retreat.

Southern Christian Writers Conference (SCWC) is a local conference for me, as it’s held at the First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  It starts at 11am on Friday, June 12 and ends around 4pm on Saturday, June 13.  The conference cost, including meals, is only $100.  The keynote speakers are Cecil Murphy and Vanessa Davis Griggs, people I know.

I met Cec years ago at a conference on St. Simons Island.  It was during his workshop session that I began developing the idea for what became The Amen Sisters.  In fact, I wrote the first draft of the article, Helping a Friend through the Trauma of Leaving an Abusive Church, during his session.  I respect him as a writer and teacher and look forward to his message.

I met Vanessa a couple of years ago but it feels as though I’ve known her longer. She’s one of the most encouraging and loving people I know, in addition to being a wonderful writer.  Her keynote is bound to inspire as well as teach. I look forward to it as well.

You can find out more about the Southern Christian Writers Conference (SCWC) here.

The Faith and Fiction Retreat will be my getaway for the summer.  It will be held in Orlando on July 16-19. Patricia Woodside has an excellent recap of last year’s event here.  This year, I’ll be a featured author alongside ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Tia McCollors and Tiffany Warren.

The schedule for the Retreat is jam-packed with sessions for readers and bookclubs and sessions for aspiring and established authors.  I’m especially looking forward to the late night book discussions with the featured authors.  That should be a lot of fun.

The Retreat is reasonably priced at $119. Actually, that price is a steal when you look at the agenda.  The hotel starts at $139 a night, not a bad price for the location especially if you share.  If you don’t have a sharing buddy, just let the conference organizers know and they’ll hook you up.

You can find out more about the Faith and Fiction Retreat here.  I hope to see you there!

NOTE: That picture has nothing to do with the Retreat.  It’s me and my mom in New Zealand several years ago.  I’ve given up on trying to find pictures that match the content of the post.  From now on, I’ll just share pictures that tell you something about me.