Mount Hermon Writer's Conference

Sorry if I yawn while I write. Writer's conferences take a lot of energy.

I've returned home from Mount Hermon writer's conference set in the glorious red wood covered hills of California. So much green it made my eyes ache just looking at it. And while the area is famous for its spring rains, we enjoyed nearly a full week of sunshine and warm breezes. The only rain came on our final morning of the conference and blended with our goodbyes.

I attended the Career Track (additional application must be processed and accepted before being allowed to attend this track) with the other five ladies I blog with over on Novel Matters. While we behaved impeccably at all our sessions, and professionally whenever we set foot on common ground, we did have ourselves a hoot in the privacy of our cabins (cabins? More like charming small homes complete with closed in porches, claw foot tubs, and huge windows that opened wide to let the sun dappled breezes cool and refresh). It was a highlight of my time there to bond more deeply with these women - fantastic authors each of them.

And while we laughed until our sides ached (mine still do, a little), we also shared ideas, read our works in progress to each other, stretched each other, and challenged each other to grow as writers. We shared our hearts and our hopes and became a true community. I'll forever be grateful for those precious moments of "alone time" with these women. I'm a better writer, and a better person because of them.

Naturally, much more went on at the conference than bonding with friends. I was able to chat face to face with my agent, Wendy Lawton, something we'd not been able to do before. We were privileged to listen in on conversations between editors and agents (The entire conference was able to attend panels given by agents and editors - and while hearing the straight scoop wasn't always easy, it was valuable information for any writer to know).

Writer's conferences cost time and money - things we can not afford to waste. I'm not one to tell people where to spend their resources, but I do suggest if you are serious about learning the craft of writing, consider attending a conference. Research your options and choose one that best suits your needs and your career goals. Networking is one of the most powerful advantages of attending a conference. There's nowhere else you meet so many people in the industry. The value of that alone is priceless.

I'll be attending another great conference this spring, The Word Guild holds its annual Write! Canada conference June 18-20 in Guelph, Ontairo. Check them out and consider attending.

I bid you good writing.

The Christy Awards - Good news for readers

The Christy Awards
The Christy Award was named in honor of Catherine Marshall’s novel and of her contribution to growth of the fiction Christians love to read.

How They Work
Every year publishers are invited to submit novels written from a Christian worldview and copyrighted in the year preceding the awards. Each category of novels are read and evaluated against a ten-point criteria by a panel of seven judges composed of librarians, reviewers, academicians, literary critics, and other qualified readers, none of whom have a direct affiliation with a publishing company.

The nominees:
Contemporary Romance Category
Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
Finding Stefanie by Susan May Warren (Tyndale House Publishers)
Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black and White by Claudia Mair Burney (David C. Cook)

Contemporary Series, Sequels & Novellas Category
Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
Summer Snow by Nicole Baart (Tyndale House Publishers)
You Had Me at Good-bye by Tracey Bateman (FaithWords)

Contemporary Standalone Category
Dogwood by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers)
Embrace Me by Lisa Samson (Thomas Nelson)
Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon by Debbie Fuller Thomas (Moody Publishers)

First Novel Category
Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan-Lake (David C. Cook)
Ran Song by Alice J. Wisler (Bethany House Publishers)
Safe at Home by Richard Doster (David C. Cook)

Historical Category
Shadow of Colossus by T.L. Higley (B&H Publishing Group)
Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin (Bethany House Publishers)
Washington’s Lady by Nancy Moser (Bethany House Publishers)

Historical Romance Category
Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy (Barbour Publishers)
From a Distance by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House Publishers)
The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen (B&H Publishing Group)

Suspense Category
By Reason of Insanity by Randy Singer (Tyndale House Publishers)
The Rook by Steven James (Revell)
Winter Haven by Athol Dickson (Bethany House Publishers)

Visionary Category
The Battle for Vast Dominion by George Bryan Polivka (Harvest House Publishers)
Shade by John B. Olson (B&H Publishing Group)
Vanish by Tom Pawlik (Tyndale House Publishers)

Young Adult Category
The Fruit of My Lipstick by Shelley Adina (FaithWords)
I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires by Cathy Gohlke (Moody Publishers)
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

*****
My warmest congratualtions to my blog mate over at Novel Matters, Debbie Fuller Thomas for this amazing (and well deserved) honor. All of us at Novel Matters are doing the happy dance with you!
Ha-cha-cha!

The Tenacity Interviews - Debbie Fuller Thomas

Bad news. Crumbling global economy. Job loss. Ecological disasters.

We are surrounded by difficult news - and challenges. All the upheaval in recent months got me thinking about tenacity - what is it? how do we channel it? how can it see us through seemingly impossible times?

Welcome to The Tenacity Interviews on Fiction Matters. Each week you'll hear from two authors (each Monda and Thursday) who have used their tenacity to succeed in the face of rejection, distraction, and difficult times. The purpose of the interviews is to encourage you to keep pressing on toward your goal - whatever that goal may be. A cup of encouragement and inspiration for the road ahead. I have been blessed and encouaraged as I've talked with dozens of authors about their tenacity and where it's taken them. Let's begin:

Debbie Fuller Thomas is the author of Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon. Her second novel, Raising Rain, will be available September 2009. She has also been published in Chicken Soup for the Bride’s Soul and But Lord, I Was Happy Shallow. An eleven-year breast cancer survivor, Debbie and her husband enjoy their empty nest in a historic gold rush town in Northern California

1) Tell us about your latest book
Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon debuted last June with Moody Publishers. It is the story of a mother who loses a child to terminal illness, only to find she had been switched at birth. She gets custody of her adolescent biological daughter, who resists finding her place in a family of strangers. The setting is the Blue Moon Drive-in, where Tuesday night is Family Night.

2) Debbie, you found success fast, the first thing you ever submitted to a publisher was accepted. Then, you didn’t sell another book for 19 years. Tell us about your first sale.
In casual conversation, my new neighbor asked if I’d ever thought of writing. She had written articles and children’s take-home papers for her denomination, and it piqued my interest. So I submitted a personal experience article to my denomination’s magazine, and they bought it. Unfortunately, it was purchased for future publication, and the magazine folded before it was printed. But it was very gratifying to know they thought it was good enough to print.

3) How many manuscripts/articles did you write in those nineteen years?
I submitted two other articles that year, but had no luck. During that time, I operated a home day care, and I began a gold rush romance while the children napped. Several years went by, and by the time it was ready, the genre was saturated and no one was buying. At that time I was being treated for breast cancer, and I ‘sold’ my personal experience story to Coping With Cancer magazine (for magazine copies) and had my first by-line. I submitted a short article to a regional parenting magazine and was surprised to find it published in their December issue without my knowledge. They paid me and asked me to write three more articles for them during the next year. I found I could follow guidelines and meet deadlines, and I began to submit to book collections. Chicken Soup for the Bride’s Soul bought one, and my cancer story was reprinted in another. By this time, I was well into writing Tuesday Night, and decided to devote any spare time to that instead of writing articles, since I was now working full-time and raising a family.

4) Why didn’t you just throw your hands in the air and say “forget it!”
Believe me, I felt like it! There were long stretches of time when life got in the way and I didn’t write, but I was miserable. It was usually at times like that, when I put down a book I was reading and said, “I can write better than this.” I think all authors have said that at some point. Reading ‘how to’ books on writing, attending writer’s conferences, and especially meeting regularly with other writers has also kept me going.

5) Is tenacity something you learned along the way? Or does it come naturally to you?
I think I had a little deep inside. There were so many demands on my time and attention, between working full-time, raising a family and being a pastor’s wife. But I believed that God had entrusted this ministry to me, and that I was accountable for it. Housecleaning took a backseat, as did nightly home-cooked meals. I had to make choices, even at church. My writing was just as legitimate a ministry as teaching Sunday school or singing on the worship team, and I couldn’t do it all. Before the book was published, I sensed that some people thought I used my writing as an excuse not to get involved.

6) Who believed in you the most? What role did they play in your ability to keep going?
I have to say that my husband supported me without question. He doesn’t read fiction, so it wasn’t based on belief in my abilities. He simply validated that I had every right to pursue writing, if that’s what I felt like I should do. Also, I highly valued the opinions of the editors and writers at the writer’s conferences, and my agent. I kept their comments and re-read them when I get discouraged.

7) Can you be tenacious and content at the same time?
When being tenacious pays off, I’m content. I don’t like getting up at 5:00 a.m. to write, but it feels good when I’m in the ‘zone’ and have to force myself to quit writing and get ready for work.

8) Where will your tenacity take you next?
My next book, Raising Rain, will be out in September 2009. Having written my first book over a period of years with no real timetable, writing this one under a deadline is a real challenge. I write early mornings, late at night, weekends, and sometimes take my laptop to work and find a Starbucks at lunch. I’ve even cloistered myself for days at a Catholic retreat center to write without distraction. After that, there’s always marketing.

You can visit my website at http://www.debbiefullerthomas.com/, as well as the new blog http://novelmatters.blogspot.com/, and www.twitter.com/Debbiethomas

*****

My thanks for the wonderful interview, Debbie, and for kicking off The Tenacity Interviews with great panache!

Speaking of Debbie's new blog http://novelmatters.blogspot.com/ - Today is the launch of Novel Matters! We're live! Pop on over and join in the fun - I'm there today kicking off the blog, answering questions, and waiting to see you!

I bid you good writing.

Blog Matters - New Blog Coming!

What do you get when you take seven writers and throw them together in a chat room?

A new blog!

I'm thrilled to give you this sneak peek into the new author blog coming January, 2009 to a computer near you!

Novel Matters - seven diverse authors who share a passion for rich, lush, luxurious novels. Let's meet the gang!

Upper left is Debbie Fuller Thomas, author of Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon that needs to be on your "must read" list.

Next to her is Patti Hill, who's newest book Queen of Sleepy Eye, is hot off the presses, having just released in September. Grab a copy today!

Rounding up the top three is Sharon K. Souza, her second novel Lying on Sunday is available RIGHT NOW!

In the middle row, well that girl on the left sure does look familiar. What a privilege to be part of this group of talented authors. My book Talking to the Dead (Rats, I don't have a clickable title yet, but you CAN pre-order my non-fiction book!)releases June 1, 2009.

The sweetie in the middle is Jennifer Valent, her debut novel Fireflies in December is available for pre-order!

Center right is Kathleen Popa, author of The Feast of Saint Bertie. Her wonderful book is just awaiting for you to pick it up.

And Latayne Scott rounds out the group. She's the author of Latter Day Cipher, available for pre-order!

Novel Matters will be a blog about slowing down and taking a deep breath. Digging deeper into great books, exploring the themes and ideas that matter to novels.

There will be amazing contests, giveaways, guest bloggers, and so much more - all coming in January!

So, with this amazing blog in the works, what does it mean for Fiction Matters? It means more great guest bloggers, writing tips, and everything we love about this blog!

I bid you good writing.