Today I’m recovering from five days of an action packed conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The American Christian Fiction Writers Conference has always been an amazing event and this year was no exception. Thank you, My Book Therapy for encouraging me to step out in faith and attend. It was five days of rich and encouraging classes aimed at raising your writing up a level or three. Here’s what I learned at this year’s conference, maybe it will help you too.

• Praise & Worship. Surprise you? Not me. The praise and worship was amazing. The words of those songs reached in and grabbed me where I stood. Rachel Hauck and the praise team did a magnificent job. With a day full of classes and a pitch session, the praise quieted this writers heart and soul. The worship reminded me to turn my heart to who really holds my future, my Creator. Two of the songs stuck with me, so much so, they are now on my playlist. If you haven’t heard them before or if you haven’t paid attention to the lyrics, I encourage you to do so. They were Good, Good Father By Chris Tomlin and It is Well By Bethel.
• Friendship. I’ve been blessed to have amazing friends that encourage me on this writing journey. But most encouraging of all was time spent with friends and mentors. Not all of it was about writing, many conversations were heart-to-hearts about life’s struggle. The friendship and prayers offered up on my behalf were amazing. Just one side benefit of God’s blessing, once I decided to take a leap of faith into writing.

Alena Tauriainen, Kariss Lynch, Lindsay Harrel and Gabrielle Meyer at The ACFW Awards.

• Transparency. So many of the winners at the award ceremony shared their struggles during their acceptance speech. Several shared about battles with cancer while writing. I appreciate their honesty at a time when they didn’t have to be. It reminded me that we must keep going, to persevere. God is with us every step of the way.

• Community. There were over 100 first time attendees at this year’s conference. One of the first things I learned from My Book Therapy wasn’t about writing. It was about extending friendship to those along the journey. ACFW makes this easy because each first timer had a brown ribbon on their name tag. A simple smile and hello opened the door to conversations and new friends. I loved listening to the stories of others pursuing their dream.

Alena Tauriainen and Rachelle Gardner at the Books & Such Event

• Nuts and Bolts. Between appointments and meetings I was able to slip in several classes.
  • Jaime Wright taught about using social media as an extension of who you are. To be real. Example: If you like dogs, talk about dogs.
  • Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck taught about the different types of series and how to approach writing one. Very, very valuable for those of us interested in writing series.
  • Dani Pettrey taught about staying true to the story God called you to write. That while it may seem like a stretch, follow God and He will make it happen.
  • Hallee Bridgeman taught the in’s and outs of publishing indie. While it may seem a daunting task, she provided key steps and insight into the process.

If you attended, what were some nuggets you took away from the conference?