Peak Writing Conference -- A Treasurer's Perspective

You know, I'm excited about the prospect of being a part of launching our very first writing conference here in Colorado. I am confident it's going to be the first of many for years to come and set a precedent for a late Fall conference as well. We've got a fantastic line-up of speakers, delicious food, a book table and a book signing to boot! You can read all about it on the EVENTS page.

But, as the treasurer for the Colorado Springs chapter, I must say I'm learning a whole new set of rules and regulations, restrictions and requirements, as we move closer and closer toward crossing those T's and dotting those I's. All in the name of making sure we have our bases covered and are operating above board on everything connected to the conference.

First, I learned from a helpful CPA who has advised us in business procedures, that we need to file for a tax license in order to sell books at the conference. One must be filed with the state. The other with the county. Thanks to Norm, I located the forms we needed, but it was all Greek to me! :) So, a phone call was made and the forms were filled out for us. I only had to drop them off, pay for the license and we're all set. Phew! One thing down.

Second, I had to have legal forms for the authors who would be consigning books at our book table. Thanks to the years I spent co-running the national bookstore at the annual conference, I had these forms on hand. They only needed some minor tweaking, and we were good to go! Just have to make sure all authors complete the forms beforehand so we have their consent.

Third, and this doesn't directly affect me, but we are planning to record the 3 sessions and make a CD avaialable. Enter another set of rules and regulations to make certain the production is done correctly and all copyright information is visible on the front of the CD. I know I won't be handling this part, but I will be handling the orders and collecting the funds.

Finally, all of this is happening when I'm just 5 weeks away from delivering a baby. I'll be 3 weeks away when the day of the conference comes. They say that your brain gets sapped when you're pregnant, and this is so true! It's great to have a supportive board who is faithful to remind me when I forget something or write it down and send the notes so that I can reference and remember what it was I was supposed to do. If I had to rely on my memory? Yeah...I'm sure there'd be things not done. :)

I can only imagine what I'll be like after they baby's born. Might have to bone up even more on my vitamins and brain power supplements.

So, to wrap up, if you have been considering the conference and wondering if it's worth it to attend, don't delay. We'd love to have a head count in advance as much as possible to prepare the food. Me personally? I'd love to know about authors attending who will be selling books to make sure we have the space for everyone's products.

Just click on the EVENTS page and download/print the registration form. The 2 book forms are there as well.

Hope to see you there!

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Tiffany Amber Stockton is an author and freelance web site designer who lives with her husband and fellow author in beautiful Colorado Springs. They celebrated the birth of their first child in March and have a vivacious puppy named Roxie, a Border Collie/Flat-Haired Retriever mix. She has sold six books so far to Barbour Publishing. Other credits include writing articles for various publications, five short stories with Romancing the Christian Heart, and contributions to the books: 101 Ways to Romance Your Marriage and Grit for the Oyster.

Read more about her at her web site: http://www.ambermiller.com/.

Peak Writing Conference: Writing the Gift with Excellence

In case anyone has missed it, on this wonderful website we have a little nifty “events” page up there in the navigation menu. Go ahead check it out, I’ll wait…

Now then, when you’re done reading my ever-so-lovely post, click on that brilliant useful page and check out the Colorado Springs chapter’s one day conference, Peak Writing Conference: Writing the Gift With Excellence.

We will be having three wonderful speakers, Donita K Paul, Lisa Tawn Bergren and Beth Jusino.

The date of the conference is the 28th of February, the cost is $55 for ACFW members and $60 for non-members. And that cost includes food! I don’t know about you… but for me, when it comes to conferences, it’s ALL about the food. =)

I would give you more info… but then you wouldn’t go to that page and find out all the fantabulous stuff to be had there. You can even download the registration form from that page.

For me personally, the best thing about the conference is the fact that my best friend is flying in from California to see me (and Kim… and her agent. Whatever! It’s all about me! LOL) and will get to attend the conference too.

Blessings… and happy writing!

2009 Goals

Wow. The year has gotten off to a roaring start. I can’t believe that January is almost over.

I’m sure those of you who know me are waiting with baited breath to see if I succeed at this blogging thing. I’m holding my breath that this works. And if it doesn’t, I’ll probably pass out soon. ☺ I think I’m getting light headed. ;-P

Since this is my first time posting on the Inkwell, I’ll start with a bit of an introduction. I have been writing for twenty years and have books fourteen and fifteen coming out this year. I have a Web site and am trying to figure out this blogging thing. Technology is not my strong suit but I am trying to learn. Really I am.

Also, I am the president of the local ACFW chapter in Colorado Springs. Kim Woodhouse is our VP, Evangeline Denmark is our Secretary, Tiffany Stockton is our Treasurer, Heather Tipton is our Industry Liaison, and Daneen Padilla is our Publicity Office. I have a great team to work with. I couldn’t run our chapter without them.

We are hosting our first annual writers conference, Peak Writing Conference, at the end of February. This is going to be a great conference with Donita K. Paul, Lisa Tawn Bergren, and Beth Jusino. If it is the success I hoping it is and I haven’t gone crazy, we’ll do it again next year.

As this new year begins, I have asked the members of my local ACFW chapter to write down their writing goals for the year so I can pray for them throughout the year. I did this last year and enjoyed being able to pray for them.

I asked them to write out three or more writing goals. They needed to be realistic for them, measurable, and within their control. Here are some examples:

Don’t write, “I’m going to get an agent this year,” because you have no control over this. Rather write, “I’m going to send out one proposal a month until I get an agent.” You have control over how many proposals you send out but not if an agent accepts you.

Don’t write, “I’m going to write one book a month this year,” when you haven’t been able to finish one in your lifetime.
Rather write, “I’m going to complete one book this year.” If you complete twelve, great! It is fine to exceed your goals.

Don’t write, “I’m going to write more this year,” because how do you define more? More than what? How much did you write last year?
Rather write, “I’m going to write one page a day or a thousand words a week.” You can measure that.

Other goals you might want to think about putting on your goal list would be to read a certain number of books on the craft of writing, or going to a writer’s conference, or getting into a critique group, or starting one, start a Web site or blog. Stretch yourself.
And if you are not a writer, set other goals for yourself like reading books, or gardening, or volunteering, but do set some goals.

One of my goals for this year is to blog two to three times a week. That will be a stretch for me. I’m hoping once I get in the habit of it, it will come easier. I have actually start posting again on my blog. I have even started posting a chapter of a novella each Friday.

Then trade your goals with a writing buddy or among your crit group and pray for each other during the year.

“Reach for the stars. You may not get there but you will soar higher than if you had never reached at all.” Unknown

If you have no goals, any road will get you there. (Or rather nowhere.)

So I challenge you, set some long term and shorter-term goals for the year then focus on meeting them. Even if you don’t reach them all, you will get closer than if you never reached at all.

Blessings,
Mary
:-)

Opportunities with Our Web Site

Yes, yes, it's me. The illustrious...or perhaps *infamous* web designer for our brand new ACFW Colorado web site. It's been an exciting venture to get it set up and established, not to mention handling all of the little tweaks and updates. And of course, with several different "cooks" offering input on the recipe that would eventually become the site, it's been at times harried to keep up with everything and make sure all requests were handled.

Like so many others here among my fellow board members, my life is a busy one. But it was just like God to allow me time to make it through my THREE book deadlines this past week before it came my turn to post on this blog. Yes, that's right. If you haven't figured it out yet, we're on a rotating schedule that is shared by all of the board members for the currently existing chapters of ACFW in Colorado. As we form new chapters, we'll add the new board members.

In my "other life" when I'm not doing web design, I'm a published author and the treasurer for Worship! Write! Witness!, the Colorado Springs chapter of ACFW. Last year, when it came time for elections for the board positions for 2009, I had a momentary lapse of sanity in considering the position of publicity officer and handing over my position to someone else. It was our very own Mary Davis, president of the Springs chapter, who talked some sense into me. :)

For those who aren't aware, I'm pregnant and expecting our first baby in March. It's going to bring about a lot of change, and I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could take on anything more than I already do. So, thank you, Mary, for being a somewhat sane person during my brief spell of insanity!

Now, let's get back to this fantastic web site. Yes, I can say that, since I designed it and maintain it. LOL!

How about a peek in what's coming in the next week or so? Would you like that? Yes, I thought you would.

But first, here's what we have to offer right now:

• A blog on the main page that you can follow, posted to by the board officers for our existing chapters
• Individual chapter pages featuring their upcoming schedule and speaker line-ups for 2009
• Links along the sidebars on the chapter pages to member web sites and blogs
• A preview of other groups in Colorado who may or may not be in the process of forming an official chapter, so if you live in that area, you can get in touch with others who live nearby (if they become chapters, they'll have their own page)

Next up is a page spotlighting current and upcoming events that will be taking place in Colorado. These will include our one-day conferences and our annual retreat for now. However, if there will be multi-author book signings or speaking events, we'll also highlight those as well.

In addition, we'll soon be offering the opportunity for you to request critiques of your fiction writing by professional critiquers. There will be a page where you can fill out a form with your request and submit your pages. Proceeds will benefit the chapters in Colorado.

That's all for now, but stay tuned to all of the exciting things happening. We've just launched, but already, we're buzzing and hopping.

And don't forget, our national conference this year is coming to DENVER! It's been 5 years since it's been here, and we're all excited. If you're a fiction writer and are able to attend, you don't want to miss it. Of course, your favorite board officers here in Colorado will be there to greet you too. *winks*

That's all from me for this month. Thanks for stopping by.

* * * * *

Tiffany (Amber Miller) Stockton is an author and freelance web site designer who lives with her husband and fellow author in beautiful Colorado Springs. They are expecting their first child in March and have a vivacious puppy named Roxie, who is half Border Collie and half Flat-Haired Retriever. She has sold six books to the Heartsong Presents line of Barbour Publishing. Other writing credits include several writing articles for various publications, five short stories with Romancing the Christian Heart, nine contributions to the book, 101 Ways to Romance Your Marriage and 2 contributions to Grit for the Oyster. Read more about her at her web site: www.ambermiller.com.

You never stop learning

I made a horrible discovery about a month or so ago. I apparently can’t write in third person. Which really stinks since that is how my latest wip wants to be written. It looked like a beginner had written it, not someone who had been writing for a very long time.

I’ve always written in first person. Even before I knew the difference between first and third, it was always first for me. It’s where my voice fits naturally. By no means, am I an expert on writing in first… my crit partners will tell you that… but I’m certainly not a beginner.

One of my crit partners was in desperate need to slice and dice something (sick woman that she is) and the good friend that I am, sent it to her… telling her, “Now, just remember, this is still rough, I’ve never written in third before.”

I opened her crit when I got it back and was devastated to discover a crit, which bore a remarkable resemblance to the crits she used to send me when I first started writing. And everything she said was right.

I’ll be honest, I considered completely given up writing again. I can’t go back to square one! That would be crazy. Almost everyone I started out writing with is now published. How can I start over? I was already “behind” when I write in first but would be even farther behind if I wrote this next wip in third.

But then, my own words came back to haunt me. Whenever a beginner wants to quit writing, I encourage them by saying, if you ever stop learning how to write, you might as well give up now. The best writers in the world are always learning. Always honing their craft.

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On a personal note. I'm the Industry Liaison of the Colorado Springs Chapter, WWW. I've been a member of ACFW since 2004, back when it was still ACRW. I set up blog tours for authors when they have new books coming out and I also assist a number of authors.