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2024 Conference Faculty

Rick Acker
Website: http://www.rickacker.com/
Hosting:

    WS 01: At Attention Plantsing
    WS 05: Tactics and Strategy-The Basics
    WS 09:  On the Radar for the Hot Topics

Rick Acker writes novels during his commute to and from his “real job” as a Supervising Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice. His unit prosecutes corporate fraud lawsuits of the type described in his #1 bestseller, WHEN THE DEVIL WHISTLES. Rick has led investigations and lawsuits that made headlines in and out of California. Most recently, he and his team won a string record-breaking judgments and settlements against the Wall Street players who created the toxic mortgage securities that triggered the Great Recession. When Rick isn’t writing or lawyering, you can usually find him with his wife, Anette, and their four children. They’ll be exploring in the hills east of San Francisco, watching a good movie together, or, of course, reading.

Kate Angelo
Website:
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    CE 01: AI Artillery: Fortifying Your Tactics

Kate Angelo once sold a lion to a circus in Shreveport after her mom realized lions weren’t great house pets. Growing up, Kate was a bookworm, dog groomer, exotic pet wrangler, horse trainer, cowgirl, and teenage pool shark. After aging out of foster care, Kate cultivated her inner computer nerd and worked as a web programmer. During a visit to Australia, Kate encountered Jesus and left the corporate world to pursue a life in ministry.

From her home in Southwest Missouri, Kate serves alongside her husband, strengthening and encouraging marriages and families through their nonprofit ministry. And after raising their 5 children, they are now fluent in both sarcasm and eye rolls.

Kate is a romantic suspense author, a coffee addict, tech guru, productivity enthusiast, expert knitter, avid boater, dog lover, prayer warrior, and known klutz. With Willow, her long-haired chihuahua taking up half her desk space, Kate writes thrilling stories with flawed characters who encounter hope and healing while ducking danger along the way. Connect with Kate at https://kateangelo.com/

Pepper Basham
Website:
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    WS 08: Writing From the Trenches
    WS 10: MASTERCLASS: Basic Training on Marketing Tips with Canva (the basics)
    WS 16: Make ‘Em Laugh…Not Sweat

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is a wife, mom to five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her novel, Hope Between the Pages, was a finalist for the prestigious Christy award. You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website at http://www.pepperdbasham.com

Misty Beller
Website: http://www.mistymbeller.com
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    WS 03:  Forming Double Battlelines: Thriving as a Hybrid

MISTY M. BELLER is a USA Today bestselling author of romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love. With over 40 novels published, she writes as both an indie author and for Bethany House Publishers, and is Managing Editor of Wild Heart Books, a traditional publisher specializing in Christian Historical Romance novels.

After thirteen years working in professional project management and marketing, Misty uses her experience in the corporate world to develop best practices in her writing and book marketing efforts. It is her passion to help other authors on this journey.

Connect with Misty at https://theambitiousauthor.com or https://www.wildheartbooks.org.

 

Ashley Clark
Website:
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    WS 11: Marching Forward: You’re Published, Now What?

Ashley Clark is the acclaimed southern fiction author of the Heirloom Secrets series. She has an M.A. in English and has taught literature and writing courses at the university level for fifteen years. She is also a longtime member of ACFW and is passionate about helping other writers. When she’s not writing, Ashley’s usually busy homeschooling her son or trying to pet other people’s dogs.

Colleen Coble
Website: http://www.colleencoble.com
Hosting:

    WS 01: At Attention Plantsing

USAToday bestselling author Colleen Coble’s novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, the ACFW Carol Award, the Romance Writers of America RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has 4 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana. Visit her website at http://www.colleencoble.com and connect at Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/colleencoblebooks?ref=hl

Amanda Cox
Website:
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    WS 14: Anchored Writing: Nurturing Spiritual and Mental Health for Christian Writers

Amanda Cox is a two-time Christy Book of the Year Award-winning author with a bachelor’s degree in Bible and theology and a master’s degree in professional counseling. Her studies and her interactions with hurting families have allowed her to create multidimensional characters that connect emotionally with readers. She lives in Tennessee with her husband and their three children.

Melanie Dobson
Website: http://www.melaniedobson.com
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    WS 06: Strategies From Spark to Story

Writing fiction is Melanie Dobson’s excuse to immerse herself in the past by reading old books, interviewing new friends, and exploring fascinating places around the world. She is the award-winning author of almost thirty historical, time-slip, and romantic suspense novels including The Wings of Poppy Pendleton, Catching the Wind, and Memories of Glass. Five of her novels have received Carol Awards, and The Black Cloister, her novel about a dangerous cult, was named the ForeWord Religious Fiction Book of the Year.

Melanie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from Liberty University and her master’s degree in communication from Regent University. Prior to her writing career, she was the corporate publicity manager at Focus on the Family and owner of Dobson Media Group. When she’s not writing, Melanie enjoys hiking, traveling, hosting a monthly writer’s group, and teaching as an adjunct professor at Corban University. More information about her journey is available at melaniedobson.com.

Amanda Dykes
Website: http://www.AmandaDykes.com
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    WS 02: Write from Freedom

Amanda Dykes is a drinker of tea, dweller of redemption, and spinner of hope-filled tales who spends most days chasing wonder and words with her family. She’s the winner of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten title, winner of the INSPY award and Kipp award. She’s also the author of Set the Stars Alight (a Christy Award finalist), Yours is the Night (recipient of the Kipp Award, Christy Award finalist), All the Lost Places (starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Foreword, Christy finalist), and her newly-released novel, Born of Gilded Mountains.

Jenny Erlingsson
Website: http://www.jennyerlingsson.com
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    WS 14: Anchored Writing: Nurturing Spiritual and Mental Health for Christian Writers

Jenny Erlingsson is a speaker and author of romantic fiction and creative non-fiction that encourages deep faith in diverse settings. With an educational background in Social Work and after years of pastoral ministry in Alabama, she currently resides in Iceland with her family. When she’s not running after her kids or ministering alongside her husband, she can be found writing and reading in the margins, with a side of Icelandic chocolate.

Tricia Goyer
Website: http://www.triciagoyer.com/
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    CE 05 Explore Your Publishing Options

Tricia Goyer is a speaker, podcast host, and USA Today bestselling author of over 80 books. Tricia writes in numerous genres including fiction, parenting, marriage, and books for children and teens. She’s a wife, homeschooling mom of ten, and she loves to mentor writers through WriteThatBook.Club. Tricia lives near Little Rock, AR.

Betsy St. Amant Haddox
Website: http://www.betsystamant.com
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    WS 08: Writing From the Trenches

Betsy St. Amant Haddox is the author of over twenty romance novels and novellas. She resides in north Louisiana with her hubby, two daughters, an impressive stash of coffee mugs, and one furry Schnauzer-toddler. Betsy has a B.A. in Communications and a deep-rooted passion for seeing women restored to truth. When she’s not composing her next book or baby-talking her dog, Betsy can be found somewhere in the vicinity of an iced coffee.

 

Rachel Hauck
Website: http://www.rachelhauck.com
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    WS 12: Fighting The Good Fight

Rachel Hauck is an award winning, New York Times Bestselling author, conference speaker and writing coach.

Carla Hoch
Website:
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    WS 18: FightWrite: Tactical Bootcamp

Carla Hoch is a Writer’s Digest writer and instructor and the author of the Writer’s Digest book Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes. Carla is a trained fighter, writer and educator who regularly teaches on the craft of writing fight scenes as well as the mechanics of fighting for writers. Her CAN award-winning blog, FightWrite.net, has been named in Writer’s Digest 100 Best Site for Writers five years in a row. Carla is a world champion jiujitsu player and has experience in almost a dozen fighting styles. She lives and trains outside Houston, Texas.

Angela Hunt
Website: http://www.angelahuntbooks.com
Hosting:

    CE 03: Atten-hut! Preparing Your Manuscript for Inspection

Christy-Award winner Angela Hunt writes for readers who expect the unexpected in novels. With over five million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than 150 works ranging from picture books (The Tale of Three Trees) to non-fiction books, to novels.

Now that her two children are grown, Angie and her husband live in Florida with Very Big Dogs (a direct result of watching Turner and Hooch and Sandlot too many times). This affinity for mastiffs has not been without its rewards–one of their dogs was featured on Live with Regis and Kelly as the second-largest canine in America. Their dog received this dubious honor after an all-expenses-paid trip to Manhattan for the dog and the Hunts, complete with VIP air travel and a stretch limo in which they toured New York City.

Afterward, the dog gave out pawtographs at the airport.

Angela admits to being fascinated by animals, medicine, psychology, unexplained phenomena, chickens, and “just about everything” except sports. Books, she says, have always shaped her life— in the fifth grade she learned how to flirt from reading Gone with the Wind.

Her books have won the coveted Christy Award, several Angel Awards from Excellence in Media, and the Gold and Silver Medallions from Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. In 2007, her novel The Note was featured as a Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel. Romantic Times Book Club presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers in 2019.

Also in 2006, Angela completed her Master of Biblical Studies in Theology degree. She completed her doctorate in biblical studies in 2008 and her Th.D. in 2015. When she’s not home reading or writing, Angie often travels to teach writing workshops at schools and writers’ conferences. And to talk about her pets, of course.  She is also an avid photographer, using her photos to help find homes for animals at local rescues.

 

Creston Mapes
Website: http://www.crestonmapes.com
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    CE 02: Bootcamp Into Indie

Creston Mapes grew up in northeast Ohio, where he has fond memories of living with his family of five in the upstairs portion of his dad’s early American furniture store - The Weathervane Shop. Creston was not a good student, but the one natural talent he possessed was writing.

He set type by hand and cranked out his own neighborhood newspaper as a kid, then went on to graduate with a degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University. Creston was a newspaper reporter and photographer in Ohio and Florida, then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, for a job as a creative copywriter.

Creston served for a stint as a creative director, but quickly learned he was not cut out for management. He went out on his own as a freelance writer in 1991 and, over the next 30 years, did work for Chick-fil-A, Coca-Cola, The Weather Channel, Oracle, ABC-TV, TNT Sports, colleges and universities, ad agencies, and more. He’s ghost-written more than ten non-fiction books.

Creston has penned 14 contemporary thrillers, achieved Amazon Bestseller status multiple times, and had one of his novels (Nobody) optioned as a major motion picture.

Creston married his fourth-grade sweetheart, Patty, and they have four amazing adult children. Creston loves his part-time job as an usher at local venues where he gets to see all the latest-greatest concerts and sporting events. He enjoys reading, fishing, thrifting, bocci, painting, pickleball, time with his family, and dates with his wife.

Keep informed of special deals, giveaways, new releases, and exclusive updates from Creston: crestonmapes.com/contact

For Creston’s eBooks, audiobooks, and paperbacks: amazon.com/author/crestonmapes

Joy Massenburge
Website:
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    WS 20: Battle Plan: Finding Your Motivation to Write

Joy K. Massenburge is a multi-published author. She is also a contributing author for Our Daily Bread: Oh, Freedom Edition. When she is not writing, she is speaking at women’s retreats, conferences, and team building workshops for various companies. As the CEO of Joy K. Massenburge & Associates, she leads a team of mindset accountability coaches who help focused-driven women defend their calling, discover their strengths, uncover their blind spots, and declutter their lives by mastering their calendar so they can walk in the fullness of JOY.

She resides near Tyler, Texas. You can find her curled up reading a book to her grandchildren, caretaking for a donkey, hens, a dog, cat, or filling her five-acre country home with fifty-plus people for a Blue Bell ice cream party.

Mark Mynheir
Website:
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    WS 05: Tactics and Strategy-The Basics
    WS 09:  On the Radar for the Hot Topics

Mark Mynheir has written five novels, one of which was a finalist for a Christy Award in 2010. He’s also written articles for Focus on the Family’s teen magazine Breakaway, The Lookout magazine, Christian Fiction Online, Today’s Christian Living, and CBN.com. In addition, he co-authored two prayer books with Max Lucado: Pocket Prayers for Dads and Pocket Prayers for Military Life. Besides being a writer, Mark has been a police officer for over 35 years, serving as a narcotics agent, S.W.A.T. Team member, and homicide detective.

Carrie Stuart Parks
Website:
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    CE 04:Recognizing the Belt of Truth at Attention

Carrie Stuart Parks is a multi-Christy, Carol, Golden Scroll, and Inspy award-winning author in addition to numerous other awards. An internationally known forensic artist, she teaches courses in forensic art to law enforcement professionals across the US and Canada. Carrie is a popular speaker and presenter and has been the Special Guest at the Writer’s Police Academy, Early Bird Special Presenter along with Frank Peretti at the American Christian Fiction Writers, Keynote at the Oregon Christian Writer’s Conference, as well as presented at ThrillerFest, Daphne Du Maurier’s Kiss of Death, BlueRidge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference, and numerous other conferences. As a professional fine artist, she her paintings hanging in a number of corporate and private collections and has written and illustrated best-selling art books for North Light Publishers. 

 

Lisa Phillips
Website: http://www.authorlisaphillips.com
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    WS 15: Building a Full-Time Career

Lisa Phillips is a USA Today and top ten Publishers Weekly bestselling author of over 60 books that span Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line, independently published series romantic suspense, and thriller novels. She’s discovered a penchant for high-stakes stories of mayhem and disaster where you can find made-for-each-other love that always ends in happily ever after.
Lisa is a British ex-pat who grew up an hour outside of London and attended Calvary Chapel Bible College, where she met her husband. He’s from California, but nobody’s perfect. It wasn’t until her Bible College graduation that she figured out she was a writer (someone told her). Lisa is a worship leader, tea aficionado, and dog lover of two crazy Airedales.

 

 

Sarah Sundin
Website: http://www.sarahsundin.com/
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    WS 17: Under the Tent—Unveiling Structure to Unleash Your Story

Sarah Sundin is an ECPA-bestselling author of World War II novels, including Embers in the London Sky. Her novel Until Leaves Fall in Paris received the 2022 Christy Award, and The Sky Above Us received the 2020 Carol Award. Sarah lives in California, where she loves walking her rescue dogs and teaching Sunday school. She serves as co-director of the West Coast Christian Writers Conference.

Kathleen Y’Barbo Turner
Website: http://www.kathleenybarbo.com
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    WS 19: Iron Sharpens Iron-The Good Ammo

Kathleen Y’Barbo is the Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than 100 novels, novellas, and nonfiction books with over 2 million copies in print in the US and abroad. She is a multiple Carol and RITA finalist and is a member of the ACFW executive board. Find out more about Kathleen and her books at http://www.kathleenybarbo.com.

Bethany Turner
Website:
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    WS 16: Make ‘Em Laugh…Not Sweat: Behind Enemy Lines

Bethany Turner has been writing since the second grade, when she won her first writing award for explaining why, if she could have lunch with any person throughout history, she would choose John Stamos. She stands by this
decision. Bethany now writes pop culture–infused rom-coms for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight. She lives in Southwest Colorado with her husband, whom she met in the nineties in a chat room called Disco Inferno. As sketchy as it sounds, it worked out pretty well in this case, and they are now the proud parents of two teenagers.

Kelley Way
Website: kaway@kawaylaw.com
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    WS 04: Battle Preparation: Estate Planning for Authors

Kelley Way was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California. She graduated from UC Davis with a B.A. in English and a minor in Music, followed by a Juris Doctorate.

After law school, Kelley did a one year fellowship at the Pacific Justice Institute, during which time she was approached by her first client, the copyright holder of a New York Times bestselling fantasy series. After the successful resolution of the case, she opened her own law firm. She now practices copyright, trademark and estate planning law at The Law Office of Kelley A. Way in California.

Kelley is a member of: The California State Bar, The American Bar Association, The Contra Costa County Bar Association, Christian Legal Society, Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA), Estate Planning Council of Diablo Valley, American Christian Fiction Writers, and West Coast Christian Writers.

When Kelley is not practicing law, she spends her time reading, writing, knitting, singing, and spending time with her family. She enjoys learning new languages, and is currently studying Japanese.

 

Kimberley Woodhouse
Website: http://www.kimberelywoodhouse.com
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    WS 07: Army-Crawl of Publishing: It’s a Turtle Race

Kimberley Woodhouse is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than forty books. A lover of history and research, she often gets sucked into the past and then her husband has to lure her out with chocolate and the promise of eighteen holes on the golf course. Her books have been awarded the Carol Award, Holt Medallion, Reader’s Choice Award, Selah Award, Spur Award, Christian Market Book Award, Golden Scroll Award among others. A popular speaker/teacher, she’s shared with over 1,000,000 people at more than twenty-five hundred venues across the country. Married to the love of her life for three-plus decades, she lives and writes in Colorado where she’s traded in her hat of “craziest mom” for “Nana the Great.”



Participation of an individual presenter, agent, editor, or publisher in the ACFW conference does not constitute endorsement by ACFW. Conference attendees are advised to use due diligence and take personal responsibility when choosing industry professionals with whom to schedule appointments or enter into agreement.