Author Frank Peretti, credited by Newsweek as having the hottest novels in Christian fiction, will be the keynote speaker at the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference next week in Portland, Oregon. His multiple, award-winning stories have sold more than fifteen million copies. A natural storyteller, Frank is considered one of the biggest surprises in publishing and USA Today refers to him as a “plot magician”. TIME magazine dubbed him the father of Christian fiction.
Tessa Afshar will deliver the address at week’s end. She burst into the public eye with her debut novel, Pearl in the Sand, which won New Author of the Year award in 2011, an honor given by Reader’s Choice Awards.
Conferences are not new to me. I’ve participated in all varieties, all venues all over. I’ve flown as far away as Texas, and stayed as close to home as Yachats, Oregon. Each seminar offers a different complement of skills and speakers. Writers take away new ideas, connect with editors and agents, and make lifelong friends. Improving the craft is everyone’s bottom-line.
This year will be different for me. In the past I’ve attended as a seeker, hoping to relate to an editor or agent with my work. But this conference I attend as a published author. I’ve not walked this road before and I’m sure the new moniker holds many surprises for me. The only constant will be the ever-present One who directs each of our steps and leads our lives. He is the one in all of this that we write to please.
Proverbs 3:5-6 reads: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”
See you next weekend.