Mount Hermon

I don’t know when I’ve done

Anything that’s more fun

Than attending the conference here.

I just love this place

And somehow by God’s grace

I’ll return again next year.

The meals are so good

I eat more than I should,

I most likely will gain some weight.

But it’s the spiritual food

And the Christ-like attitude

That makes Mount Hermon so good.

Dave Talbott has been our host,

Of many talents he can boast,

Besides that he makes us all laugh.

But the very best part

Is God’s love in his heart

For the conferees and the staff.

I didn’t know I would find

A staff so helpful and kind,

And so willing to supply every need.

A discouraging word

Around here is not heard

Just encouragement that we can succeed.

I’ve not been here before

But I’ve never felt more

Like I’m among all my old friends,

Everyone that I see

Gives a smile to me

I won’t forget them after this conference ends.

Ann Ingermanson, teen writer

April 6-10, 2001

Semi-neurotic, sometimes needy, socially challenged writers should stay at home. Definitely stay at home. Like in a darkened cave donning flannel PJs and coffee stained tees, only occasionally braving natural light to buy groceries and peer despairingly into mail boxes.

Right?

That’s what I used to think. But then I went to the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference and my life changed. And I’m talking an I-got-married-had-a-kid-discovered-the-best-bookstore-in-the-land kind of change.

Really.

Because of Mount Hermon:

I have confirmation from industry experts that I possess the talent and temperament to make it in ths business.

I can call two of the most talented writers EVER accountability partner and friend.

I have an online support group that encourages, supports and gives me advice daily.

I am a member of two brilliant writers groups that critique me hard and love me well.

I’ve been mentored and befriended by some of Christian publishing’s giants.

I recognized my marketing savvy and help others with promotion—for pay!

And maybe most importantly—I found where I belong. I found family.

I’ve never felt so loved or understood (all while learning about writing and publishing!). And seriously, tuition is way less than the cost of therapy. I hope you’ll brave the light of day for this year’s conference and discover what God has for you. If you do, be sure to find me and say hi. I’ll be the one by the coffee cart trying not to spill.

Cheri Williams writes middle-grade fiction and sometimes-humorous non-fiction for grown ups. You can connect with her at www.cheriwilliams.com, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Athough I’m an Oregonian now, my heart still belongs, in part, to San Jose where I grew up.

As a teenager, every summer weekend I could manage it, I’d drive over the hill to Santa Cruz and play at the boardwalk or swim in the surf or just lay on the beach.

These days I only get to the Santa Cruz area once a year.  It’s always the Thursday before Palm Sunday until the following Tuesday.  I speak, of course, of the Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference.  It’s really one of the highlights of my year.  From my first year at Harvest House, I staked my claim on that conference. I think I’ve spoken so highly of it that my editorial colleagues at Harvest House are downright envious.

The first time I went to the conference (back in the mid 1980s), I went as an aspiring writer.  And like most aspiring writers, I couldn’t afford the tuition, so I was offered the chance to be a shuttle driver to and from the San Jose airport in exchange for full tuition.  I still remember the long drive to the airport when my only passenger was an editor I admired and wanted to talk to.  Naturally, that was a very slow drive as I probed the editor for all the information I could get.

A few years later I had sold some articles and was invited to teach some workshops.  Then, in 2000 I was hired as a senior editor at Harvest House and since the 2001 conference, I’ve attended every year.  That very first year I returned to Harvest House with three proposals we went on to publish—one of which was by an author who has turned out to be one of my favorite authors to edit.

I’ve had such varied experiences at the conference.  One year I passed up a book proposal that went on to  top the bestseller lists and sell millions of copies.  Another year I met a friend I hadn’t seen in forty years. She didn’t even know I had become a Christian since I’d last seen her.  I also reconnected with an old college friend who lives year round at Mount Hermon.  One year we had the treat of seeing our friend agent Steve Laube scammed by Randy Ingermanson posing as an aspiring writer. Read about THAT fun escapade here: http://www.ingermanson.com/scams/art/sb.php .  And who can forget the time Rachel took all the staff for ice cream in Santa Cruz?

Each year I look prayerfully ahead to the glorious five days at Mount Hermon and wonder what God will do there this year.  It’s always something to remember.  It makes me feel like a teenager again.

Nick Harrison is a senior editor of both fiction & non-fiction at Harvest House Publishers. He’s the author of several books including Magnificent Prayer, His Victorious Indwelling, and 365 WWJD: Daily Answers to “What Would Jesus Do?” He lives in Eugene with his wife, Beverly. You can visit him at www.nickharrisonbooks.com.

Call me a Mount Hermon addict.

I first came to Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in 2003. After three years writing, I needed to know if it was my calling or just a time-consuming hobby. That year I submitted for critique. I was stunned when two authors told me I was writing at a publishable level and encouraged me to submit to editors and agents. I gulped down my fear and did as I was told.

This began a five-year stretch of “good” rejection letters. Each year I went to Mount Hermon and soaked up excellent teaching, learned about the publishing industry, and reveled in the beauty of the redwoods.

In 2008 at Mount Hermon, I submitted to Vicki Crumpton from Revell, and that September, Revell offered me a three-book contract.

At Mount Hermon I got my start, learned about the craft and business of writing, and sold my novel. More importantly, I made deep friendships and heard the voice of God.

I’ll be back this year. I need my fix.

Sarah Sundin’s first novel, A Distant Melody, was released in March 2010 by Revell, the first book in the Wings of Glory series. She lives in northern California with her husband and three children, and she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. Visit her at www.sarahsundin.com.

Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference was something I planned to do… you know, after I moved to Hollywood, cast myself as Dolly Parton, and produced my debut film with Matthew McConaughey.

I’d read all about M.H. Most of the authors I admired/stalked got started in this magical place. And I thought, “How nice. Maybe some day after I (a) get a life (b) get a manuscript (c) get a shorter list of lame excuses… I’ll go.”

The truth was… I was terrified.

Then it happened. In a moment of what could only be described as extreme delusional insanity, I submitted an essay to Cec Murphey’s Mount Hermon scholarship competition.

The delusions continued when I learned I was one of the “winners”. This was better than a role in Hollywood, I thought. Plus, now I could skip the wig and implants.

Then I realized… I had to write a book proposal.

I’ll spare you the next several months of despair, gloom, and chocolate. Ultimately I did share my proposal with an agent beneath the beautiful canopy of California redwoods. Then I trudged back to my gorgeously furnished room, looked in the mirror, and saw the booger hanging out of my nose.

I wish I was making that part up.

The next part I am also not making up: I still do not live in Hollywood, do not look like Dolly Parton, and do not film with Matthew McConaughey. I do, however, have a contract with the agent I met at Mount Hermon – which only goes to prove that M.H. is, indeed, a magical place.

B.J. Hamrick is a journalist, humorist, and the editorest of www.realteenfaith.com. Photo: Rachel Zurakowski, B.J. Hamrick, Annie Downs, Tricia Goyer

The internet has changed the solitary endeavor that writing has traditionally been. Keeping connecting with your peers via the internet is a great way to stay encouraged, learn, and help other writers do the same.

But what good is all that encouragement and learning if you can’t connect with people who have the expertise and influence to help you and your fellow writers benefit from it?

One of the best reasons to invest in a writer’s conference is the opportunity they buy you to meet face to face with people in the industry who can influence your project.

Sure, we can be reached online. But, honestly, it’s the writers we meet in person who set themselves apart from the email deluge.

At conferences, we enjoy being reminded that there are real people with talent and dreams behind the screens we stare at all day long. We appreciate connecting with and helping writers grow and learn. We like talking with authors to help them discover what their next career step might be. And we covet the chance, not only to potentially find a great project, but to help someone take the next step toward their own success.

In publishing, there are few guarantees, but here’s one I feel confident offering:

If you come, you will learn. You will connect. You will have taken an important next step. You will be blessed. And, you will probably be a blessing to someone else.

So, what are you waiting for?

Sandra Bishop – Sandra is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary, an agency of two which is consistently listed in the top five dealmakers on Publisher Marketplace. MacGregor Literary is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR).  In spite of 2009 being her first full year as an agent, and a very tough year all-around, Sandra placed twenty of the agency’s fifty projects for publication. She is looking forward to exceeding that in 2010.

Prior to agenting, Sandra worked in the marketing department of a major CBA publishing company, and made a living as a freelance writer. Sandra and her husband Glenn have one son, and an adopted Katrina dog who lives with them in Portland, Oregon.

Sandra is currently taking new clients, but only open to unpublished authors she meets at conferences and via referrals from published authors.

When I think of Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, what first comes to mind are the people God brings together year after year to that special place nested between the mountains and the sea. There I’ve made many dear friends, met my wonderful agent, and received guidance from teachers who sacrificed their time and energy to help dreamers become writers and writers become better.

Mount Hermon is about learning and laughter and music and prayer—and food (lots of food). But above all it’s about God’s unmistakable presence and power, which you can feel. Somewhere among and between the conversations and the quiet times, when my heart is wide open, I sense his hand in bringing me to Mount Hermon. I might be gazing at a sunlit meadow or talking with a new friend or resting in the hush of Palm Sunday service, and in a moment of clarity I understand why I was brought to that special place. Time after time the reason is more wonderful than anything on my goals list—and one I wouldn’t want to have missed for the world.

Marilyn Hilton has published numerous articles, devotions, stories, essays, and poems, and The Christian Girl’s Guide to Your Mom, a book for preteen girls. By day she’s a technical writer for a software company in California’s Silicon Valley, not far from beautiful Mount Hermon. Visit her website at www.marilynhilton.com.

I know, I know, sounds like hyperbole. But Mount Hermon’s Writer’s conference is a writer’s paradise. Consider:

#1. A beautiful setting, smack-dab in the middle of the Redwoods. Creativity—and a sense of God’s power and presence–abounds.

#2. Excellent teaching. Every year I think the teaching staff can’t get any better, and every year it does. This is THE place to refine your craft.

#3. Six days surrounded by writers! People who speak the same language you do, think like you do, and understand—and share–your “quirks.” This, my friends, is a little taste of Heaven.

I’ll tell you a secret from the editor’s side of the desk: most editors attend writers’ conferences to teach, not to find authors (usually folks attending aren’t ready to be published, so it’s good they’re at a place to learn). The exception? Mount Hermon! I’ve acquired a number of authors I met there, which is why this is the one conference I attend every year.

So come to learn, to grow in your career and craft, to soak in the beauty and peace of the place, and to see what God has in store for you. You won’t be sorry!

Karen Ball is the executive editor of fiction at B&H Publishing Group. In her 27 years in publishing, she’s acquired/worked with such amazing writers as Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Terri Blackstock, and James Scott Bell. A best-selling novelist herself (The Breaking Point, What Lies Within), Karen considers her job as an editor one of God’s greatest blessings.

The very first writing conference I attended was Mount Hermon in 2004, and it was a phenomenal experience for me. I took the beginner’s fiction track, which provided solid writing principles, examples and application of those techniques. The teachers, Brandilyn Collins and Randy Ingermanson, were fun, approachable, and terrific teachers. I came away with a solid understanding of story structure, character arc, and professional writing techniques.

God also worked in my life by introducing me to three writers who played significant roles in my career. Sharon Hinck, unpublished at the time, would go on to selflessly mentor me in the months after the conference. Meredith Efken, whom I had met online through American Christian Fiction Writers, mentored me through my first conference experience so that I was not overwhelmed and got the most out of it. Marilynn Griffith would later help me get my first agent and work with me to help me understand the publishing industry. In addition, I met wonderful authors like Tricia Goyer and Mary DeMuth.

Mount Hermon was a great conference for a new writer like myself, with terrific teaching and fantastic Christian fellowship.

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her humorous contemporary Sushi series and her romantic suspense, Deadly Intent. She is a staff worker for her San Jose church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. Visit her website at www.camytang.com. She is pictured with Brandilyn Collins.



The 2010 Web Binder for this years Writers Conference is up and running under “Forms” on the menu.  Go to the bottom of the Forms page to find it. 

Please check the Workshop Schedule against the binder and print off the workshops you want to go to, or just download the whole thing onto your laptop and bring it with you.  They are in  pdf format, so If you can’t type into a pdf file, you’ll need to print them off before you come.

There will be six copies of the binder for DISPLAY in Hospitality, so if you decide to change your mind once you get here, you can have Hospitality print off whatever you  need for a very reasonable price per copy. 

Last week before we all get together for this glorious time.  Can’t wait to be with you all and see what God will do.