Writing, Speaking, and Conferences, Oh My.

Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at http://www.gailmartin.com/

I've always loved the Wizard of Oz. Nothing can replace the original movie with Judy Garland and all her amazing friends. Oh thing I love about the movie is the heartfelt feeling -- There's no place like home.

Home is my solace and place of comfort, but despite that I often find myself in an airport or on a highway heading off somewhere to present writing workshops and keynote addresses at conferences or church events. It has become a third career for me. Being an author has opened so many amazing doors.

Next week, I'll be flying to Dallas, Texas to be on staff of the American Christian Writers Conference. Coming from an education background, teaching has always been a love, but being able to combine teaching writing and teaching writing that uplifts my Lord is even a greater blessing to me. Usually the ACW Conference in Dallas is one of their biggest, but the economy has taken a bit out of the conferees this year, so the director has made a tremendous offer of lowering the cost on this conference. This year tuition at only $35 per day.That’s $70 for both days instead of the usual $250.This special does not include the Awards Banquet dinner.

The Dallas ACW Conference is March 12-13, 2010 (Friday and Saturday)
Holiday Inn Select
2645 LBJ FreewayDallas, TX 75234
(972) 243-3363
(at I-35 and I-635)
Sleeping Room Block: $84 for one or two people

This is an amazing savings and I'd love to see you there. You will have the opportunity to meet and take classes from three other workshop presenters who also teach non-fiction and article writing. You will have the opportunity for free appointments to take with the presenters and join them for meals. I hope to see you there.

What would I be doing if I were home? Easy. I'm working on the first novel of my newest series called Dreams Come True, stories that revolve around parents with children who overcome serious illness. The novels are emotion-packed, fun, and romantic. What could be better? The first novel, A DADDY IN HIS DREAMS, will be in stores March 2011.

Novel Settings

Hi! Merrillee here. When I start a new story, I usually have the hero, the heroine and a problem. The next thing I need is a setting. Where do these people live? What setting will enhance the story? How will the place the characters live affect their lives? These are all questions I have to answer.

My goal is to write at least one book for every place I have lived. So far I have a series set in the small fictional town of Pinecrest, Washington, which I set near Spokane, Washington. I lived there when I was in high school. I took this photo of a sunset when I was visiting in Spokane. In all three books, my characters watch a sunset. Some of them see God's beautiful creation, while others find the array of colors an expression of their feelings. I especially like to use settings to convey character traits or feelings.

I also wrote one lone book set in Dallas, Texas, where we lived when my kids were in high school.

My next series of books is about three brothers, who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, but two of them have found homes in different parts of the country. I loved writing the first book because it is set at the beach in Florida. I live near the beach, so I could easily imagine my characters frolicking in the surf. I could feel the sand between my toes and the sea breeze cooling off a hot afternoon along with my characters.

The second brother lives in South Dakota. How did he get there? Starting when he was twelve, he went to visit his uncle's farm in eastern South Dakota and he fell in love with small-town life and farming. Numerous readers, who either lived in South Dakota or visited there, wrote to tell me how much they enjoyed reading about places with which they were familiar.

The third brother, who is a big-city business man, finds himself with a new job in the mountains north of Atlanta. He has to learn to adjust to living in a small town. Instead of looking at skyscrapers, he's looking at mountains and lakes.

Settings are important. They often make the characters who they are. It influences the way they think, the way they talk and the way they view life. What kind of settings do you like to read about—the big city, a small town, the seashore, the mountains or the wide open spaces of the prairie?