2022 Conference Faculty
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WS 11: Characters We Love to Love
WS 16: Killers or Kisses
WS 21: I’m Published! Now What?
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 the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. Her nineteenth novel, Authentically Izzy, debuts in November with Thomas Nelson. She loves connecting with readers and other authors through social media outlets like Facebook &
Instagram.
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WS 6: Be the 10%
WS 17: Building Metadata
With over half a million sales, Hallee Bridgeman is a best-selling Christian author who writes action-packed romantic suspense focusing on realistic characters who face real world problems. Her work has been described as everything from refreshing to heart-stopping exciting and edgy. Hallee loves coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. Above all else, she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength; has been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and relies on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide her.
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WS 15: The Changing Landscape of Fiction Publicity: Why Publicity Matters More Than Ever
Jeane’s love of books started her on the road to publishing in 1989 when she worked for NavPress as a sales representative. That early start brought her to where she is now: the founder and president of Tall Oak Media (formerly Wynn-Wynn Media), a company that specializes in publicity, of all types, both for publishers and individual authors. Tall Oak Media celebrated 20 years of business in September 2021. She has been fortunate to work with hundreds of celebrated authors over the years, for both fiction and non-fiction.
Tall Oak Media comes out of her love for amazing stories, and hard-working authors. Tall Oak is a full-service publicity agency that handles everything from publicity campaigns to consulting. And while there have been many changes to publicity in the past 20 plus years, Jeane is happy to still be doing something she loves.
Jeane is a proud small-town girl who loves supporting her community in every way possible, through school, church, local businesses, and civic groups. When not working, you’ll find her developing her upcoming podcast, having coffee around her fire pit, or participating with the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma, where she is honored to serve on the enrollment committee.
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WS 23: 8 Pillars of Resilience. Things to Torment Your Characters, Things to Improve Your Life
Joseph Courtemanche, the presenter, is a Senior Mentor for the coursework and has been involved since the beginning in the testing and improvement of the material. He is also the narrator of the audio book for the course (available on Audible.)
This material was developed from a scientific and Christian perspective, and addresses the major stressors faced by first responders and professionals who work in a high-pressure environment. People like authors under a deadline.
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CE 03: Writing in the Romantic Suspense/Thriller/Suspense/Mystery Genres: How to Keep your Readers up all night
Lynette Eason is the best-selling, award-winning author of over sixty books including the Extreme Measure Series. She writes for Revell and Love Inspired Suspense. Her books have appeared on the CBA, ECPA, USA Today, and Parable bestseller lists. She has won several awards including the Carol Award, the Selah, the Golden Scroll and more. Her novel, Her Stolen Past was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network. Lynette teaches at writing conferences all over the country. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Mystery Writers of America (MWA), International Thriller Writers (ITW), and Faith, Hope, and Love. Lynette can be found online at http://www.lynetteeason.com and www.facebook.com/lynette.eason and @lynetteeason on Twitter.
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WS 19: Deep, Deep, Deeper POV
Linda Glaz is a literary agent with Hartline Literary Agency and author of numerous novels. She loves that she understands what authors go through as an author herself. She is also a reviewer for numerous sites and a proofreader. She’s always looking for that novel that makes her laugh and cry all at once.
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CE 04: Fiction Techniques for the Nonfiction Writer
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.
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CE 04: Fiction Techniques for the Nonfiction Writer
Robin Jones Gunn is the bestselling author of over 100 books with over six million copies sold worldwide. She’s best known for the Christy Miller, Glenbrooke and Sisterchicks® series. Four of her novels have been made into Hallmark Christmas movies. Robin’s memoir, Victim of Grace along with Praying for Your Future Husband co-authored with Tricia Goyer are the most popular of her ten nonfiction titles, which include giftbooks and devotionals. Her books have appeared multiple times on the ECPA bestseller list and her work has been both finalists and a winner of the Christy and Gold Medallion awards. After living on Maui for a decade, Robin and her husband recently moved to California to be closer to their two grown children and four grandchildren.
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WS 07:Subtext: How to Say a Lot Without Saying Much At All
Betsy St. Amant Haddox is the author of over fifteen inspirational romance novels and novellas. She resides in north Louisiana with her hubby, two total opposite young daughters, a collection of coffee mugs, and one fur-toddler in the form of a mini-Schnauzer. Betsy has a B.A. in Communications and a deep-rooted passion for seeing women restored in Christ. When she’s not composing her next book or trying to prove unicorns are real, Betsy can usually be found somewhere in the vicinity of a cold brew with vanilla cold foam. She blogs frequently at http://www.ibelieve.com a dev,otional site for women. Visit her at http://www.betsystamant.com
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WS 10: Are You Ready For Hybrid
Rachel Hauck is an award winning, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She is a double RITA finalist, and a Christy and Carol Award Winner. Her book, Once Upon A Prince, first in the Royal Wedding Series, was filmed for an Original Hallmark movie. Two more of her titles are under film contract.
Rachel was awarded the prestigious Career Achievement Award for her body of original work by Romantic Times Book Reviews. A retired member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Executive Board, she teaches workshops and leads worship at the annual conference. She is a past Mentor of The Year.
In the real world, she’s a wife, writer, worship leader and works out at the gym semi-enthusiastically. A graduate of Ohio State University (Go Bucks!) with a degree in Journalism, she’s a former sorority girl and a devoted Ohio State football fan. Her bucket list is to stand on the sidelines with Ryan Day.
She lives in sunny central Florida with her husband and ornery cat.
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CE 1: Writing Historical Fiction that Appeals to the MODERN Reader
Jody Hedlund is the best-selling author of over thirty historicals for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Award. Mother of five, she lives in central Michigan with her husband and busy family. Visit her at jodyhedlund.com
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WS 14: Different Types of Publishing and How To Pick the One That’s Right for You
Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey is an Amazon bestseller and had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with two new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. (Talk about a series success story!) Cynthia is considered one of the leading, cutting-edge hybrid authors of our day, earning her full-time living from her writing. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013, 2014, and 2015 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, along with novellas in Barbour collections. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads.
She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”.
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WS 09: Biblical Fiction
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.
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WS 03: Landmines in Your Book Contract
Steve Laube, president and founder of The Steve Laube Agency, is a 35 year veteran of the bookselling industry. He began his career in the bookselling arena and his store in Phoenix was named the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) store of the year in 1989. He then spent 11 years with Bethany House Publishers rising to the position of an editorial director. In 2002 he was named the AWSA Golden Scroll Editor of the Year. The next year he became a literary agent and in 2004 formed The Steve Laube Agency. In 2009 he was named the ACFW Agent of the Year. In 2013 he was inducted into the Grand Canyon University Hall-of-Fame by their College of Theology.
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WS 02: Unleash Your Writing Superpowers: Strengths-Based Writing
WS 18: Overcoming Fear and Perfectionism/The Art of Audacity
TOSCA LEE is the New York Times bestselling author of The Line Between, A Single Light, The Progeny, Firstborn, The Legend of Sheba, Iscariot, Havah: The Story of Eve, Demon: A Memoir, and the Books of Mortals series (Forbidden, Mortal, Sovereign) with New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and optioned for TV and film. She is best known for her nuanced prose, unexpected points of view, meticulous research, and high-octane thrills.
Lee is the recipient of numerous awards including two International Book Awards, Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion in Science Fiction (beating one of her own books for the win), Literary Titan gold, Top Shelf Magazine Editor’s Choice Award, and the ELCA Book of the Year in Fiction for her portrayal of the infamous betrayer of Christ in Iscariot, which Publisher’s Weekly calls “impeccable and masterful.” The Legend of Sheba was a finalist for the same award the following year. In addition to the New York Times, her books have appeared on the IndieBound, Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and Christian bestseller lists, Library Journal’s Best Of lists, and as part of Target Stores’ “Target Recommends” program.
Called the “queen of psychological twists,” and “in a league of her own,” Tosca’s work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, The Historical Novel Society, Kirkus, Booklist, Woman’s World, Romantic Times, BookReporter, BookRiot, The Dallas Morning News, and The Midwest Book Review as “deeply human…” “powerful…” and “mind-bending.” She can currently be heard on American Airlines’ in-flight entertainment system on the Beautiful Writers podcast alongside writing luminaries Lee Child, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Dean Koontz.
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WS 13: From Story to Manuscript to Published
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.
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WS 24: Hook Your Reader With a Complex Plot
USA Today and top ten Publishers Weekly bestselling author Lisa Phillips is a British ex-pat who grew up an hour outside of London. Lisa attended Calvary Chapel Bible College, where she met her husband. It wasn’t until her Bible College graduation that she figured out she was a writer (someone told her). Since then 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.
Find out more at http://www.authorlisaphillips.com
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WS 11: Characters We Love to Love
WS 16: Killers or Kisses
WS 21: I’m Published! Now What?
Cara Putman is the award-winning author of 34 novels and a non-fiction title. By day she is an award-winning lecturer at a top business school at a Big Ten university. By night she writes the stories her characters whisper to her. Her latest novel Lethal Intent released in January from Harper Collins Christian Publishing. You can learn more about Cara and her books at http://CaraPutman.com You c.an also listen to her podcast Book Talk with Cara Putman on Spotify, Google, or Apple Podcasts
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WS 20: Pros, Cons, and Tips for Writing a Series vs. Standalone Novels
DEBORAH RANEY’s first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she’s still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. A RITA Award, Carol Award, and National Readers Choice Award winner and three-time Christy Award finalist, Deb is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas. They love road trips, Friday garage sale dates, time with their kids and grandkids, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard. Learn more at http://www.deborahraney.com.
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WS 05: De-Perplexing Proposals
Cynthia Ruchti had proposals demystified for her at an ACFW conference years ago. In the space of that one workshop, she went from “steep learning curve” to “Isn’t this fun?” (almost). Now, in her roles as author of more than 35 published books and literary agent for Books & Such Literary Management, she has participated in the creation, critique, review, or reconstruction of many hundreds of proposals. She takes them seriously…with a side of humor. Cynthia is also ACFW’s professional relations liaison. She and her husband live in the heart of Wisconsin. https://www.cynthiaruchti.com
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WS 12: Making the Sale
WS 22: Maintain a Killer Platform
Award-winning author Janice Thompson got her start in the industry writing screenplays and musical comedies for the stage. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children’s books and more. She particularly enjoys writing light-hearted, comedic tales because she enjoys making readers laugh.
Janice is passionate about her faith and does all she can to share the joy of the Lord with others, which is why she particularly enjoys writing. Her tagline, “Author, Baker, Mischief Maker!” sums up her take on life.
She lives in Spring, Texas, where she leads a rich life with her family, a host of writing friends, and three mischievous dogs. When she’s not busy writing or playing with her nine grandchildren, Janice can be found in the kitchen, baking specialty cakes and cookies for friends and loved ones. She loves to blog about cakes, cookies, and other sweet treats on her Out of the Box Baking Blog. No matter what she’s cooking up—books, cakes, cookies or mischief—she does her best to keep the Lord at the center of it all.
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WS 1: First Round Fiction Edits Using Story Structure
Janyre Tromp has worked in the CBA industry for more than twenty years, spending time in both marketing and editorial. Currently, she is a developmental and acquisitions editor for Kregel Publications by day and a writer at night. For the record, you pronounce her name Jan-air . . . like the stove, but not like the book. She loves talking about books and interacts regularly with authors on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/JanyreTromp) including biweekly writing and editing tips.
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WS 04: Writing to Connect with Readers’ Emotions
Carrie Turansky is the award-winning author of more than twenty inspirational novels and novellas and a winner of the ACFW Carol Award, the International Digital Award, and the Holt Medallion. She loved traveling to England to research her latest Edwardian novels including No Journey Too Far, No Ocean Too Wide, Across the Blue, and The Highland Hall series. Her novels have received stared reviews from Christianbooks.com and Library Journal and have been featured in World Magazine. They have been translated into several languages and enjoyed by readers around the world. Connect with Carrie on her website: http://carrieturansky.com and o,n Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcarrieturansky/
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CE 2: How to Write REAL Romances
Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” She started out in fiction writing award-winning contemporary romances, including Somebody Like You, which was selected as one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. Beth transitioned to women’s fiction with her Thatcher Sister Series, which she calls “a Little Women gone wrong” collection of books highlighting complicated sister relationships. Published by Tyndale House, the series includes Things I Never Told You, which won the 2019 AWSA Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year, Moments We Forget, and The Best We’ve Been. Beth is also a Christy Award winner, an ACFW Carol Award winner, and a RITA® finalist. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation, and also enjoys speaking to writers group and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to living with imaginary characters and is also one of Beth’s most trusted brainstormers for her novels. Visit Beth at bethvogt.com.
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WS 08: How to Make Money in Publishing
Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling, Christy, Carol and RITA award–winning author of more than sixty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. In addition to her writing, Susan is a nationally acclaimed writing teacher and runs an academy for writers, Novel.Academy. For exciting updates on her new releases, previous books, and more, visit her website at http://www.susanmaywarren.com.
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.