Writers Conference: No Need to Fear

Okay, I’ve already touted the benefits of the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, as have a number of other bloggers.  But several people e-mailed me and whispered (virtually): “I want to go.  I should go.  But… but… I’m scared!“  For them and any others who have doubts:  Here is a helpful guest blog from Jeanette Hansome:

Help for the Scared-out-of-their-Mind

By

Jeanette Hanscome

I’ll never forget my first Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference. I arrived on campus in April 1995 excited, eager to learn, and scared out of my mind. I had a tight enough grip on reality not to go with overblown expectation, but I had a pitifully long list of fears. What if I got lost? What if the lady on the phone was wrong and I did need to sign up for workshops ahead of time? What if no one talked to me? What if the two stories that I sent in for critiques revealed that I stunk at writing? What if I couldn’t find my locker? (No wait; that was in seventh grade.)

Fast forward 17 years and I am not wandering the Mount Hermon grounds still looking for my room because I got lost and no one stopped to help because that would require talking to me. In fact, all of my fears got put to rest within 24 hours. I now oversee The Buddy System, a program especially intended for excited, eager, scared-out-of-their-mind newbies.

The Mount Hermon Buddy System was designed to help new registrants arrive at the writer’s conference with as many of their questions, concerns, and fears settled as possible. Those who sign up have a pre-conference resource—someone to pray for them and help them . . .

• Set realistic goals
• Know what to expect
• Be more open to what God might have for them at the conference
• Prepare to pitch projects to editors (if they plan to)
• Understand the ups and downs that come at a long, information-packed conference where they might face disappointments and where God often meets people in unexpected ways
• Work through nervousness and doubt

 At the conference, buddies provide . . .

• A familiar face
• Someone to check in with
• Someone to listen when discouraging hits and to celebrate with over exciting possibilities

Those who have participated in the past say that the Buddy System helped them feel welcome at this friendly but rather large conference. They felt better prepared and less overwhelmed. Those who serve as buddies find that the blessing goes both ways. There is something uniquely exciting about passing on tips and encouragement that we once needed.

So, you might be wondering, how can you get involved?

1)      If you are attending for the first time, simply contact me and ask to be added to the list. I will send you a few questions that help me in the process of matching people up.  

2)      If you are a returning registrant, I need a lot of buddies to make the program run smoothly. Even if you’ve only attended once, there are ways for you to serve.

I start matching first-timers with buddies a month before the conference. To sign up or learn more, e-mail me at jeaenttehanscome@sbcglobal.net.

Jeanette and Buddies

 

Of A Naughty Cat and A FREE Book

The bad news:

I’m “a day late and a dollar short,” and it’s all Owen’s fault.  She may be the sweetest kitty in the world, but when she sets her mind on hoisting herself up onto my desk, despite piles of work and a glass filled with water, she can wreak destruction.  And did she ever!  Notes and research soaked through.  Puddles dripping on my floor and chair.  And my beautiful keyboard, dead.  I tried to resuscitate it with towels and my hair dryer, but after several hours, it’s wonderfully illuminated back light fluttered, then went out for good.  Nothing to be done until I found a keyboard I liked as well.  Sigh~!

 

The good news:

The Hope of Shridula, book 2 of my new Blessings in India trilogy, will be released in two weeks.  It’s already available in Kindle format.  If you haven’t read book 1, The Faith of Ashish, it is available today and tomorrow—February 16 and 17—FREE as a Kindle download.

If you like the books, I would love to have your leave a review on Amazon, CBD, Barnes and Noble, and wherever else you think of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

George Eliot

Psssst… Want to Get Published?

“You’re a writer?  Really?  So, how did you get your start?”

I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked that question. Fortunately, I have a ready answer: “I went to a good writers conference!”

When I first started writing, I had no clue what I was doing.  All I knew was that from the time I was 12, I wanted to be a writer.  Time was passing, so it was high time I got going.  A friend invited me to go with her to the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in California’s beautiful Santa Cruz mountains.  She backed out, so I went alone. I arrived to  cherry blossoms breezing across the road and dogwood trees just beginning to open their pink and white cross-scarred blooms.  More importantly, friendly writers and un-intimidating editors strolled close enough for me to touch–and talk to.  

I hurried over to an editor and proudly handed her my amazingly well-written children’s book manuscript. She was amazingly underwhelmed. (Her exact words: “Keep writing, Dear. You’ll get better.” Ouch!)  My first inclination was to take the next bus home. Instead, I attended a tremendous Major Morning instruction class on the craft of writing (8 hours total), plus a plethora of workshops, and I spent my off-time rewriting like a crazy person. The result was my first published book (Special Women of the Bible, Concordia Press).

That’s how I got started. And it is just one of the reasons I’m so quick to recommend writers’ conferences to writers, especially those starting out.

If you are wondering whether or not you should lay out the bucks to attend such a conference, consider:

1. You will get expert training. Most of what I know I learned at writers’ conferences. Believe it or not, the biggest reason manuscripts are rejected is because the writing isn’t up to par. Your writing may be good. Perhaps even really good. But to be published, it has to be great enough to stand out in today’s glutted market.
2. You can get individual instruction. In some of the best writers’ conferences, special mentoring tracks are available. (They are at Mount Hermon.)  A published writer works with you and your manuscript to help you zero in on whatever it is you need the most.
3. You can “network.” Okay, I don’t really like that word. In fact, I’m not that crazy about the concept. Gathering up people in order to use them? Uggg!  But it can also mean easing into a group of people with the same struggles and concerns you have, where you can gain mutual support and wisdom. That’s a concept I do like!
4. Hear challenging presentations. Most great conferences have a keynote speaker who is way more than just entertaining. He/she is an expert in the field of writing and has helpful, inspiring words to share. (This year at Mount Hermon:  Liz Curtis Higgs!!)
5. Interact with the Pros. Yes, pros. As in editors and publishers and agents and such.  They are at the conference for one simple reason:  to meet people like you. They want to read your work and consider it. They want to help you be all you can be as a writer.

Some really good writers’ conferences are coming up. But I especially want to mention the 43rd Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference that’s just over a month away: March 29 – April 3.  Need an extra boost to get started?  Check out the ”head-start” offering the day before.

So, you ask, “Will you be there, Kay?”

Will I?! Couldn’t keep me away! In fact, I’ll be leading a Major Morning session entitled Want to Write With Sizzle?  Start With A Solid Foundation. I’d love to have you join me!

When? March 29 – April 3

Where? Mount Hermon (Santa Cruz Mountains), California

More info? mounthermon.org/writers

Want to talk to a real live someone? 888-MH-CAMPS

Charles Dickens and Me

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

When I was in 7^th grade, my teacher Mrs. Eckert announced to our class that would be reading A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.  We thumbed through the book and groaned in unison. Too long!  Too old-fashioned!  Too hard!

Still, I wasn’t one to duck my assignments.  My mother wasn’t one to allow me to!  So I grudgingly began. Paris and London.  Revolution and respite.  Charles Darnay, the reluctant French aristocrat and Sydney Carton, the British barrister who defended him in court and just happened to look amazingly like him.  And Lucie Manette, the sweet young thing loved by both, but married to Charles Darnay.

I didn’t know much about the French Revolution when I began the book, but by the time I finished it, I understood a great deal.  Excesses of wealth and power, and the horrific response they spawn.  I soaked in the plot twists :  Madame Defarge in her husband’s wine shop, knitting, knitting, knitting. I discovered underlying themes: Sin and redemption.  Death and resurrection.  And most wrenching of all to my twelve-year-old heart, the power and sacrifice of love.

With Charles Darnay imprisoned in the Bastille awaiting the guillotine, Sydney Carton had him drugged and secreted away in a carriage headed for London, then he took Charles’ place in prison.  To Lucie, Sydneyvowed:

I will give my life to keep one you love beside you.

Sydney Carton went to his death without regret.

It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done.  It is a far, far better place I go to than I have ever known.

Charles and Lucie made it safely back toEngland.  They named their baby son after Sydney.

Imagine being able to touch hearts and move society to action through words on a page! I wanted to do that!

Thank you, Mrs. Eckert, for introducing me to Charles Dickens.  Thank you Charles Dickens for being the spark for my own writing career. 

Oh, and happy 200^th birthday, Charles Dickens!

“Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.”

Charles Dickens

Paper Books Past and Future

So are paper books a thing of the past as some are warning us?  Don’t bet on it!

In a recent survey by PriceGrubber.com, 41 % of readers said they would miss aspects of reading paper books if they switched to reading e-books.

Why, you ask?  Here are the top three reasons people still love books with paper pages:

• 36 % would miss the feel of books. (My husband Dan is among them.)
• 13 % would miss their portability.  (That’s right. People actually like lugging them around.)
• 13 % would miss underlining and writing notes in the margin. (No, e-notes are not the same!)

How about you?  Would you miss paper books?  Why or why not?

“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough” bookshelves.

Anna Quindlen

Happily Ever After–Yes or No?

…and they all lived happily ever after.  The end.

Happy endings. It’s the stuff our childhood.  The goal of our lives.

But is it always the best ending for your story?

Certain types of fiction do lend themselves to happy-ever-after endings.  Romance, for instance.  And some contemporary fiction.  Christian fiction, too, perhaps.  Then again, maybe not.  But what about historical fiction?  Or science fiction?  Or literary fiction? Or global fiction?

One of my all time favorite historical novels is Year of Wonder, by Geraldine Brooks.  It’s a grim setting, to be sure, and a harsh topic–1665, during the plague years.  But Brooks draws us into one village and focuses her story on one person.  Not only are we pulled into a gripping tale, but we come away with a whole new understanding of a time and place in history. Unfortunately, she felt she needed to tack on a fanciful happy-ever-after ending.

Much of my writing is also set in the shadowy periods of our past.  There wasn’t much happiness for slaves. The Indian caste system is extremely resistant to change.  Becoming a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean one walks out of life’s oppressive fog and into no-problem, no-worry sunlight.

I do love happiness.  And I am not a fan of downer endings.  And I know an ending must be satisfying, or why go to the trouble of reading the book?   But for me, the best endings are hope-ever-after.  (Which, by the way, are oftentimes quite happy.)  Even a novel set in the plague years, or in strife-torn Sudan, or on a slave ship, or in a nest of human traffickers, can end with hope.  And hope is happy.  And extremely satisfying.

But, of course, that’s just me.  How about you?  What type of ending do you find satisfying?  Does your preference define what type of fiction you read?

“True love stories never have endings.”

Richard Bach, author

The Girl in the Pinned-Together Blue Dress

Now, during National Slavery and Trafficking Awareness Month (January), many radio shows invite me to do interviews.  And with each one, the interviewer says, “Tell us a story that will help us understand.”  

Good idea.  May I share a story with you?

A couple of years ago, an Indian teenager was showing me her home—a make-shift village thrown together in the middle of a sprawling garbage dump on the outskirts of one of India’s most industrialized cities. I spotted a smudge-faced little girl picking through the mounds of trash. She stepped barefoot into a ditch running with raw sewage, then looked up and caught sight of me. 

I smiled. “Hi,” I said.  (The teenager with me translated.)

The child’s dark eyes opened wide.  She fingered the rusty safety-pin held her dirty blue dress closed. 

“That’s a pretty color,” I offered, motioning to her dress.

 The child neither moved nor spoke.

I asked her name, but she continued to stare in silence. Then I blurted out the question I ask children all over the world: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The girl, still silent, kept her eyes on me.

Somewhat nonplussed, and overwhelmingly sad, I bid the little one good-bye and turned to go.  That’s when she spoke.  In a voice so soft I barely heard it, she said, “I can’t be anything.”

Traffickers don’t agree.  They spy such ones as that child and see horrible possibilities. Fortunately, they aren’t the only ones who disagree with the girl.  Shortly after I left, two young Indian teachers came to that garbage dump and sought out children for a school they were starting.  Since then, they have patiently taught those forgotten children to read and write, and have prepared them to make better lives for themselves.  Even that little girl in the pinned together blue dress.  She was in their first class.

 “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Mohandas Ghandi

18 Trafficking Did-You-Knows

Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  I’m so glad.  As a self-avowed 21^st Century Abolitionist, I desperately want people to know about the horrible scourge of slavery.  That includes human trafficking.

Ten years ago, when I first started writing about 21^st century slavery, people had trouble believing this was actually happening.  People–especially girls and women–kidnapped, bought and sold?  Forced to work as slave labor… or prostitutes?  “You writers,” one radio interviewer huffed after Daughers of Hope, my first book on the subject, came out.  “You do like to grab hold of some fringe cause and blow it all out of proportions.”

That was then.  Today, after so many celebrities have dipped their toes into the abolition waters, most of us know something about human trafficking. 

 Here are some facts you may not know:

1. Approximately 40 million people are held as slaves today, more than ever before in history.
2. Trafficking takes many forms, including forcing victims into prostitution, making them labor as slaves, tricking them into debt bondage, forcing them to serve in wars, harvesting their organs.
3. The average cost of a slave is around $90—an all time low.
4. 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation.
5. About half of all trafficking victims are children.  80% are under 24. 
6. An estimated 30,000 victims die each year.
7. Family members often sell children and other family members into slavery.
8. According to a 2009 Washington Times article, the Taliban buys children as young as seven years old to act as suicide bombers. The price? $7,000 to $14,000.
9. Countries that rank high as a source of trafficking includeBelarus,Russia,Ukraine,Albania,Bulgaria,Romania,China,Thailand, andNigeria.
10. Victims are trafficked to many countries.  High on the destination list areBelgium,Germany,Greece,Israel,Italy,Japan, theNetherlands,Brazil,Turkeyand theU.S.
11. Most human trafficking in theU.S.occurs inNew York,California, andFlorida.
12. Human trafficking has been reported in all 50U.S.states,Washington,D.C., and in someU.S.territories.
13. The FBI estimates that over 100,000 children and young women are trafficked inAmerica.
14. Women are trafficked into theU.S.mostly to work in sex industries.  Others are trafficked in to work in seatshops, in people’s homes, and in agriculture.
15. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes because it is hugely profitable and it involves little risk.
16. Human trafficking is estimated to bring in somewhere between $9 billion and $31 billion.
17. In less than five years, it is expected to surpass the drug trade.
18. According to the U.S. State Department, human trafficking is one of the greatest human rights challenges of this century, both in theUnited Statesand around the world.

 (All these statistics are estimates, of course. Human trafficking is so shadowy a crime that it’s difficult to get accurate statistics.)

Today, January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  But President Obama went a step further and named all of January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.  Thank you, Mr. President.

 

“Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.” 

Winston Churchill

Meet Miss Crankypants~

I have a good friend (who also happens to be a great writer) who you really must meet. I call her Linda, but she won’t mind if you call her Miss Crankypants.  She says, “I gripe so you don’t have to.”  Enjoy today’s guest post!

What Do Editors Really Want? A Ratings System!

One of my writing students was all excited. She’d self-pubbed her first book and written a memoir, and stood pitching it to an editor at a writing conference. Editor confessed that the student’s memoir was a tough sell (in editorspeak, No way, Jose), but what if she designed a women’s devotional on the same topic? Now, THAT he’d be interested in seeing. “Write 12 of these devotions and send me the proposal,” editor said.

Long story short, she hired me to whip a proposal into shape per Editor’s specifications. She and I were both satisfied with the results. She sent her work in and received a quick turnaround email: Sorry, Editor wasn’t as enthusiastic as he needed to be about Student’s project. Student considered taking up knitting instead of writing.

This scenario happens more often than it should. Even seasoned writers latch on to what they believe is genuine enthusiasm for a project, only to learn that their stuff was never really in the running. Once I sent a novel to an editor I know personally, who requested my work and was excited to read an historical by me. A week later Editor claimed the company was only looking for contemporary novels. Say what?

Maybe we all need a rating system to gauge Editors’ reactions, something like the old American Bandstand TV dance show. Songs, not dancers, were evaluated by participants who rated rock and roll classics on stuff like “the beat,” “danceability” and other properties. An editor could respond to my proposal or manuscript on a scale from one to ten, ten being “your story is cool and I will try to get it through committee.” A five would indicate, “Your stuff is great but to be honest, this is a book I myself plan to write and you haven’t got a chance.” That I could live with.

Editors can’t afford to pass up the one story that is the next bestseller, so they cheat by feigning enthusiasm for stuff they know in advance they can’t use. And writers do their best to interpret the smallest positive response as a shoo-in for publication. I wish both would be a bit more realistic, so writers wouldn’t get their egos bruised and editors would still find the diamond among all the dirt clods. At least I’d know whether the historical that just got turned down had a good beat you could dance to.

 Linda Clare (AKA: Miss Writerly Crankypants)

Read more of Linda’s blog posts at: 

Linda Clare’s Writer’s Tips

 

Miss Writerly Crankypants

 

The Fence My Father Built goes to Amazon.com

 

Reasoning With a Dragon

Guess what I got for Christmas.  A dragon!  I like it a lot because it helps me get my work done faster.  Who would have thought?  I do have one complaint, though.  At odd times, my new dragon tends to blurt out the weirdest things.  Yesterday, for instance, he wrote, “Beavers built Claude’s church.”

Say what?  I congratulate those industrious critters for taking on such a project, but who is Claude?  And what does this have to do with the new edition of my book, The Cancer Survival Guide: Practical Help, Spirtual Hope, that I am so busily updating?

I’m a patient person.  I gave my dragon another chance. It wrote: “The land was ravaged by her hairy slugs.”

Come on, Dragon. That’s going too far!

Perhaps I should explain. My new dragon is a speech recognition program called Dragon Naturally Speaking.  I put on a headset and speak into the microphone, and the dragon turns my dictation into typed text.  Since I have been contracted for an updated version of The Cancer Survial Guide (it is now ten years old), I jumped at the chance to read the text in rather than retype the entire book.  The program really does work well.  Most of the time.  Until the dragon belches out an unintelligible sentence such as: “Israelites laundered in the wilderness forty years.”

I have decided that my dragon simply doesn’t want me to take him for granted.  If I stay attentive and regularly take time to read over what he writes, I can easily mend his goofs.  Those church-building beavers?  What I said was, “The believers…”  And Claude?  I said “God.”   The land ravaged by hairy slugs?  Should have read,  “The land ravaged by horrendous floods.” And those laundering Israelites?  Easy mistake.  I said they “wandered in the wilderness forty years.”  (I’m sure their clothes were filthy, however, so the laundering wouldn’t have been such a bad idea!)

After two weeks together, my dragon and I have come to an understanding.  I will speak more carefully and correct him gently, and he will continue to learn from his mistakes. 

As Dragon wrote, “Give Claude flea control.”  (I said, God is in complete control.)

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

J.R. R. Tolkien