Nearly a half dozen Oregon authors will gather to share wisdom and encouragement with aspiring writers at the Cascade Christian Writers Conference later this month at the Canby Grove Christian Center.
Scheduled to take place from June 25 through 28, the annual conference by Oregon Christian Writers is a chance for both aspiring and veteran writers to find inspiration and motivation.
“I owe a great deal of my writing career to the connections I’ve made at writing conferences,” said Christina Suzann Nelson, an award-winning author of six novels and coordinator of the conference. “I met my first agent at the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference. The friendships have been an added blessing.”
The Sunday through Wednesday conference features six in-depth morning coaching classes on the business of publishing, deep point-of-viewl the differences between self-publishing, indie publishing, and traditional publishingl recording your own audiobooksl starting a podcast and creating unforgettable memoirs.
Portland’s Jennifer Anne F. Messing, an award-winning author and poet, will teach three workshops: “Prolific Publishing in Magazines in the Midst of a Busy Life,” “Heart-Songs: Expressing Life and Faith in Poetry,” and “Seven Steps to Design and Publish Your Print/E-Book on Amazon.”
She is past president of Oregon Christian Writers and the author of four books, including “Love’s Faithful Promise,” which won the American Fiction Award.
Thirty afternoon workshops will address topics such as writing meditations for The Upper Room and Focus on the Family magazines, identifying your call to write in the Christian market, creating puzzles, using fun newsletters to build platforms, publishing magazine articles, avoiding burnout, self-editing for nonfiction writers, creating winning book proposals, and more.
The faculty includes agents Linda S. Glaz and Blythe Daniel and acquisition editors Andrew Breeden of The Upper Room, Linda Howard of Tyndale House Publishers, Sherri Langton of Now What? and Bible Advocate, Janyre Tromp of Kregel Publications, and Stephen O’Rear of Clubhouse Magazine and Focus on the Family.
Robynne Miller of Beaverton, the author of 10 books and many articles and essays, will teach an in-depth, three-day coaching class on “Self, Indie, or Traditional, Oh, My!” and a workshop, “What Are You Really Writing About?”
She organizes the Vision Christian Writers Conference at Mt. Hermon and serves as president of the board of Inspire Christian Writers.
Two Eugene area writers will teach and mentor conferences during the three-day event. Author and literary agent Nick Harrison of Eugene will teach a workshop on “How to Create a Winning Book Proposal” and meet with writers interested in representation by WordServe Literary.
He is the author of more than a dozen books and worked as a bookstore manager and acquisitions editor for Harvest House.
Jesse Rivas, an entrepreneur and creativity coach, will teach a workshop on “Your Life Theme.” He coaches people to pinpoint their authentic identity. He founded AboveTheSun.org , a creative arts organization designed to raise an army of wholehearted creatives to release heaven to earth.
For more information and to register, visit oregonchristianwriters.org/events/cascade-conference. Registration closes June 15.