Conferences are Back!

Ken and I returned from the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference a couple of weeks ago and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to be back with writing friends in a setting that didn’t involve Zoom! Apparently, others felt the same way because there were 600 people at this conference!

The conference was held on the beautiful Ridgecrest Conference Center campus near Asheville, North Carolina in the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains.

What a joy it is to worship with 600 other like-minded people!

I just happened to celebrate my birthday on the second day of the conference and (even though I told him NOT to tell anyone!) my sneaky husband arranged for 600 people to sing “Happy Birthday” to me! That was a really special and fun moment, especially with our hilarious MC, Linda Goldfarb, narrating the occasion!

Ken and I both taught classes—more than 10 hours of teaching between us—and I gave the keynote address on Tuesday morning.

We also took appointments with conferees and hosted tables during each lunch and dinner in the cafeteria. (Those were some of my favorite, most fun times!)

Something really special happened for us when my first true independent novel (with Raney Day Press and a cover designed by Ken) won the Selah Award for Best Contemporary Womens Fiction!

It’s always a treat to spend a little time with my agent, Steve Laube. Steve gave a fascinating keynote one evening of the conference.

Ken and I barely saw each other coming and going during the conference, so one morning we skipped breakfast and had a little date at the Clouds Coffee Shop on campus.

As if all that wasn’t enough, the day we left the conference, we got a call that our 12th precious grandbaby had been born! He’s a boy, and he may be the cutest one yet (but then, I say that every time). He joins his big sister and three big brothers in Texas, and we can’t wait to meet him later this month!