And There's More!

Spring has come—a time for renewal and growth. Warmer weather makes travel easier, and relaxing pandemic guidelines open doors to gatherings that have been unavailable for the past couple of years. So this is a perfect time to reserve a slot at a writer’s conference.

Beth Steury's blog, "It's Conference Time, Baby!" whetted our appetite with several nearby Christian writer's conferences. I encourage you to revisit that page and delve into these opportunities.

And there's more. In Indiana, we have access to several writer's conferences that are not tailored to Christian writers but are nonetheless helpful. Here’s a sample of such conferences coming up soon. I hope they'll entice you to get out of isolation and learn some new skills.

April 23 – 2022 Gathering of Writers. Sponsored by the Indiana Writer’s Center, the Gathering is keynoted by Angela Jackson-Brown, author of When Stars Rain Down (Thomas Nelson: 2021) with workshops in a wide variety of writing genres. Tuition is $99 for IWC members, $175 for non-members. Held at the Indiana State Library, Indianapolis. Details at https://www.indianawriters.org/product/gow-2022/

April 23 – Pen It! Writer’s Conference. Sponsored by Pen It! Publications, a Columbus publisher owned by Pastor Ray Stanton and his wife Debi, this conference features workshops on realistic dialogue, believable scenes, and more. The conference will be held at the Brown County Historical Society building in Nashville, IN. Tuition is $45 in-person or $35 via Zoom. Details at https://penitpublications.com/2021-virtual-writers-conference/

April 30 – Riley Children’s Author Workshop. Children’s authors Annie Sullivan and Chadwick Gillenwater present a day of seminars on writing children’s and YA books. Tuition is $100 and the event will be at the James Whitcomb Riley home, 528 Lockerbie Street, Indianapolis. Details at http://alturl.com/5bvra

June 2-5 – I.U. Writer’s Conference. Indiana’s most prestigious writer’s conference, this program has featured several Nobel and Pulitzer winners, National Book Award winners, and New York Times best-selling authors. All presentations are held on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. Tuition is $375 for classes (your choice of 3 per day) or $750 for workshops (including a manuscript critique, limited to 15 participants each). Details at https://iuwc.indiana.edu/

If your life has been enriched by writer’s workshops, I encourage you to support the Indiana Prison Writer’s Workshop, which offers twelve weeks of classes to inmates of three Indiana prisons. Consider making a donation, hosting a reading at your public library, etc. Details at http://inprisonwritersworkshop.org/

Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. His most recent book is Hard Times (Warner Press: 2019). He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth.

Having "Enough"...and Wanting More

Recently, I said, “Enough.” It wasn’t easy. But I did it.

I’d been working my bloomin’ tail off at the day job to get a book out for my employer, I was crosseyed with fatigue, and yet I still took two projects home that Friday evening, something I never do...simply because I didn’t want to look like someone who didn’t care if her colleagues’ work went out on time
I’m here to tell you...this is a bad idea.

As I writer, I experience a different kind of “off” time from my fellow editors.They’re readers, with no real aspirations to write. When they go home from the office, they don’t go “home” to another “office.
But I do. And therefore, there come places at which I’ve finally had to say, “Enough.”

Those manuscripts I took home? They sat all weekend in the same place I put them on Friday afternoon. I felt guilty about it, but not enough to do anything more than say, “Nope. Burned out here. No can do.”

That week, I was working on Chapter Two of a new story. (I’m still working on Chapter Two of that new story!) I like this story. I could, eventually, love this story...if I made it a priority and wrote more per day. But when one comes home tuckered from one’s day job, it’s not a matter of priorities. It’s a matter of sheer lack of physical and emotional energy.

Which got me thinking about when it’s time to say “enough” to someone else’s mission...and embrace one’s own.

You see, there is another gig around the world of writing, one that doesn’t exhaust me—in fact, it fires me up creatively: speaking to writers about writing. I do it online, I’ve done it “live”at conferences, and I want to do more of it. Some people tremble at the thought of speaking, teaching, or presenting. Not me. I’d love, love, love, to do more of it. But when I have a week or two, or a weekend, like this, I wonder how I’ll ever make that transition.

So I’ve decided to do something really radical, for me at least: ask for help.

If you are a person, or know a person, who’s looking for an experienced (ohhh, boy, am I) veteran to come into a workshop, conference, or writing program and put the rookies through some basic training...
...please pass my name along.

I give you permission. Carte blanche. With only one condition.
Do not pass me along to people who only want someone to do this for free. (!)

(Please understand, I do know that the occasional free gig is fine. But as a habit? Not so much. The Bible says the laborer deserves his/her fair wage. Besides, one look at me should tell you...I like to eat. ‘nuff said.)

Bottom line is, it’s long past time, in this writer’s life, to connect with people who’ll appreciate what I’ve come to understand about the writing trade over the past (you don’t want to know how many) years, and who may be willing to offer good old-fashioned honest Coin of the Realm for it.

So I’m hanging out the shingle. I’m placing the fleece. I’m praying for the best. And, with a few blessings, sooner rather than later, I hope to say “Enough!” to the rest.

Thoughts?
Janny
(Janet W. Butler)