Emily in St. Louis

  

The Arch

It doesn't get much better than hanging with friends, except maybe the chance to hang with friends who share a passion for writing!

I was so blessed to be able to attend the American Christian Fiction Writers' conference in St. Louis last week, where I had a great time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones.

Being surrounded by 650 Christian writers and industry professionals for several days on end was phenomenal. Not only did we have the opportunity to learn more about writing through workshops, spotlights with different publishing houses, and continuing education classes, we got to share in worship and fellowship times.

I arrived a day early so I'd have a day to brainstorm with my good friend and critique partner, Sally. We had a great time plotting our next books, and in between our brainstorming sessions, we took the opportunity to do a little sightseeing. This is us at the Saturday gala, ACFW's annual awards banquet. 

My awesome roommie, Sally, putting up with my antics 

It was very exciting for me to have a chance to meet several of my critique partners for the first time. The picture below is of one of my critique groups, minus Karla, who couldn't attend this year but whose book O Canada!: Her Story is being released shortly. (It's a textbook for gradeschoolers combining a fun mix of Canadian history and biographies of famous Canadians. It can be preordered here: http://www.karlaakins.com/books. Yes, that was a shameless plug. If you have a child 4-8 years old, you should add this to their reading list!)
 

Going clockwise from me:
Jessica, author of a Love Inspired Historical releasing this spring
Camille, Genesis award winner & author of a Christmas novella coming this fall
Linda, agent at Hartline & author of a Christmas novella to be released late fall
Cheryl, who just contracted a three-book deal for a YA mystery series

 I'm blessed to be surrounded by such talented writers who constantly push, poke and prod at me to be better and who constantly offer encouragement. And as you may have noticed, they are all publishing their first books in the next few months (woohoo!), so expect more shameless plugs when the time draws nearer.... :)

Camille and I at the Gala Awards Banquet, where she
was named the Genesis winner of the Women's Fiction category! 

I had appointments with a few editors from different publishing houses and am thrilled to have received invitations to submit proposals for my project! I've been busy working with my agent to get these proposals out. Which is why it's taken me a week to get this post out. :)
   
  

My wonderful agent, Terry Burns and I at lunch

Camille, me, Karen (a Genesis finalist), and Carla Stewart, author of Chasing Lilacs and Broken Wings

Me with Joyce Hart, owner of Hartline Literary Agency

  

A view of the Mississippi River from beneath the Arch