The leader of my writer’s group told us the Mount Hermon conference was THE conference to attend if we were serious about our writing. Many Christian writers got their start at this conference. When she attended, she heard from God so clearly about her writing and it jumpstarted her career. It was professional, the workshops were great, the setting beautiful. I thought, yes, that’s for me! Then she said Mount Hermon was in California and my heart sunk. I live in New Jersey. I have a special needs daughter. We’re a single income family. How would I ever be able to do this?
It might sound a bit trite to say, well, if God wants you there, He will provide a way. But it’s true. As I was praying and wondering, someone gave me a full scholarship, including airfare, without my asking. Really! A friend remembered I wanted to attend and she told the person who offered the scholarship and they contacted me. It took my breath away! And a couple of friends volunteered to get my daughter on the school bus every morning. I made my reservations and counted down the days.
Mount Hermon was everything I had been told. I learned more about the craft and business of writing, made friends, got encouragement and was even asked for my whole manuscript. I’d like to say my career took off, but it didn’t. Not yet. God doesn’t waste anything and He confirmed my calling through the conference, so I’m persevering and waiting on His timing.
Someday, I’d like to get back out there. In the meantime, I’m writing with confidence in what God is going to do through me. I encourage all writers to work to attend this conference. You will be glad you did.
Pam Halter was a home-schooling mom for nine years and has been a children’s book author since 1995. She has published picture books, articles and devotions and is trying her hand at writing YA fantasy. Pam is a panelist on The Writer’s View 2, on staff for the Philadelphia Writer’s Conference, a member of two writer’s groups, and hosts a blog about writing fantasy. She has been a free-lance children’s book editor for three years and is the children’s editor for Fruitbearer Publishing. Pam lives in New Jersey with her husband, two daughters and three cats.
In her first year at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, Jackie Alberta, a new faculty member, explains the need for having an openness to the ways that God is moving at this conference.
Rachel Phillips makes some interesting comparisons between the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference and other writing conferences. Look out for her “Eden” reference as well.
Any fully paid registrant may send the first 20 pages of two manuscripts or two articles, 2 children’s books or 5 poems or 3 devotionals ahead of the conference for either critiquing or editorial review. This is an opportunity you don’t want to miss!
Editorial review is by an editor of your choosing to see if your project is something he/she might be interested in for their company. It does not necessarily include critiquing.
Critiquing is done by published freelance writers, with years of expertise in your area of writing, who assess your work, offering concrete observations and advice. (If you’ve never been published, you should choose critiquing instead of editorial review.)
Proper formatting and mailing instructions can be found here. The Transmittal Form is here. All submissions must be in hard copy and must be postmarked by Saturday, April 9, 2011, and/or received at Mount Hermon at the latest Tuesday, April 12th.
You should also bring along several copies of your manuscripts–there may be a second opportunity for submitting mid-conference!
Mt. Hermon was the first writer’s conference I ever went to and every year I get to go, it’s like going to my home away from home. The beautiful setting, the friendships, the classes, it feeds my writer’s soul and helps me grow in my craft.
You brainstorm, you connect, and you laugh. And missing it always feels like a huge loss. I’m so thankful to all those who take the time to make the camp such an enlightening and uplifting place.
Thank you, Mt. Hermon Writer’s staff for all you’ve done! I can’t say it enough.
Rachel Marks is an award-winning artist and writer of fantasy/science-fiction for young adults. She has had several short stories published (The Sword Review, Dragons, Knights, and Angels, and AlienSkin) and is attempting to publish her first novel. She worked to start-up the Inspirational Literary E-zine Haruah: Breath of Heaven and worked as managing editor while it got it’s feet planted. She is a member of SCBWI and was privileged to be accepted to and attend Orson Scott Card’s literary boot camp. In 2010 she was awarded the Lauren Beyenhof True Grit Award at the Mount Hermon Writer’s conference.
Can you believe it? There’s less than a month till the conference!
The Mentoring Clinics are held each day during the major morning tracks, are by application only & limited to ten writers per group. The goal is to give novelists and nonfiction writers concentrated time for having their works in progress critiqued in a knowledgeable, sympathetic, but realistic manner. This is an awesome opportunity!
To participate in the CAREER TRACK: for Professional Writers you must complete an application and meet specific criteria. The focus of the Career Track is book publishing, marketing, and career development. DEADLINE is March 18th.
I have attended two Mt Hermon conferences and would love to attend many more. God spoke to my heart while there in ways that have changed my life. He answered prayer in amazing and faith-affirming ways and opened doors of opportunity that gave me the confidence to pursue writing.
I’ve learned much, both from workshops and continuing tracks, to the times of worship, prayer and reflection. Mt Hermon is an amazing place filled with the unmistakable spirit and presence of the Lord, a place where you can’t help but be moved and inspired. I can’t believe how much a few days at Mt Hermon has shaped me as a writer. It has been a tremendous, life-changing experience for me.
Camille is an avid Christian novelist/writer and takes her faith-inspiring fiction seriously enough to lock herself away with a computer more than her family would like. They’ve learned that Lasagne from a box is not from the devil, after all, and that duct tape can stop a surprising amount of bleeding. She is represented by Rachelle Gardner of WordServe Literary Group.
It’s a month away from Writers Conference and we are attempting to encourage more teenagers to attend. What an incredible experience it would be for any teen who loves to write to have the privilege to learn the craft of writing in a setting like Mount Hermon! So here’s the deal . . .
We’re offering a one time 50% discount of all conference costs for any teen who would be participating in the Teen Track. This does not include travel or fun costs once here, but any conference charges, including tuition, housing and food. The process would be the same for registration . . . register on-line at www.mounthermon.org/writers, and in the comment box, mark it TEEN TRACK writer, and ask for a campership form. From there we’ll handle the working out of the details.
Do you know any teen that loves to write and just needs a little encouragement financially? Spread the word! You’ll be happy you did . . . and I can promise you THEY will be!
I just got a message from an excited writer eager to tell me all about the novel she’s writing. “My greatest fear was writing the dialogue,” she wrote. “I was afraid I couldn’t make it realistic enough. But I stumbled onto a secret. I’m hiding my digital recorder in the house so I can capture real talk and copy it!”
Um… uh-uh.
See, the aim isn’t really to write real talk. In real talk, we say such things as:
“Hey, guess what! I just got back from the… what’s it called? Um… oh, I hate getting old! That place where we had your brother’s birthday deal, remember? Over by that apple place? Anyhoo, I thought I saw Micky there. So funny after what happened that other time. Last year, you know… You were there. It was so hot and windy and that funny guy who sells the….”
No, the aim is to give the illusion of real talk while you actually accomplish something important such as moving your story forward or revealing a character or showing an incident rather than simply telling about it. The illusion of dialogue might say something like:
“Hey, I just got back from Gray’s Farm. I thought I saw Micky, but after what happened last year, it can’t be!”
Writing good dialogue is an art. (Okay, that dialogue isn’t so good, but you get the idea.) If you write your dialogue well, it will add great strength to your work—non-fiction as well as fiction.
Kay Marshall Strom www.KayStrom.com Recent Releases: In the Presence of the Poor: Changing the Face of India The Call of Zulina - Grace in Africa Trilogy Book 1 Second-Half Adventure Forgotten Girls: Stories of Hope and Courage The Voyage of Promise - Grace in Africa trilogy Book 2 Upcoming Releases: The Triumph of Grace - Grace in Africa trilogy Book 3 (Feb 2011) Faith: The Blessing of Ashish - Blessings in India trilogy Book 1 (Sept 2011)
Blog: http://www.KayStrom.wordpress.com
Twitter: http//twitter.com/kaysblab
