By Cara Putman, @cara_putman
In September I attended the American Christian Fiction Writers’ national conference in St. Louis. After two years where we couldn’t gather in person, it was such a breath of fresh air and inspiration to reconnect with writers at all stages of their careers. It can be easy to say that conferences are too expensive and we don’t have the resources, but it’s an important investment in your writing career for several reasons. Here are just a few.
- We need each other to keep growing. As someone who is actively writing book 40 while plotting and thinking about books 41-43, you could say I have a lot of experience. The reality though is that I still have a lot to learn. I need other writers to help me dig deeper and keep growing as a writer. While that can be done via long distance or Zoom, it’s much easier to do that when we’re in the same space. I also give the sessions my undivided attention when I’ve invested the time and money to attend.
- We can give back to the larger community. For me that looks like teaching and mentoring. I teach what I’ve learned to enable other writers to avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made. When I invest in mentoring others, I get to be part of opening the door for them. This is an effective antidote to those woe-is-me feelings when someone hits a bestseller list or finals in an award. I want to see others succeed. I want to make the path smooth for them and being part and serving the writing community helps.
- We find our people. Writers are a strange breed. We think in what-ifs. We see plot twists and characters everywhere we look. We have a movie that runs in our mind and voices of other people in our heads. We have characters who demand to tell their story and it’s not always the one we plotted. If we say these things in general in the larger world, we are deemed a bit odd and eccentric. But when we gather with other writers, you hear so many, “What? Me too!” The cheers and hugs are ecstatic as we realize we aren’t so strange after all.
- We value what we invest in. The first time I attended ACFW, I didn’t have a completed manuscript. There’s still a part of me that is stunned my husband encouraged me to drive to Nashville and invest the time and money in the conference. Sure, writing had been a long held dream, but this was getting serious. Sometimes that’s what we all need. A way to signal to ourselves that our writing is a serious pursuit. While I highly recommend attending the national conference, you can always start with a regional or local one. The important thing is to invest wisely in the dream you have. How will you signal to everyone including yourself that this is a serious pursuit for you and not a hobby?
Everyone has their own reasons for attending conferences, but these are a few that keep me attending year after year. Because Christmas is coming, if you want to jump start your 2023 conference fund ask for money to invest in a conference in lieu of other gifts. You never know how that investment will pay dividends into the future.
Why do you attend conferences? If you haven’t yet, what holds you back?
If they expected silence, they hired the wrong woman.
Caroline Bragg’s life has never been better. She and Brandon Lancaster are taking their relationship to the next level, and she has a new dream job as legal counsel for Praecursoria—a research lab that is making waves with its cutting-edge genetic therapies. The company’s leukemia treatments even promise to save desperately sick kids—kids like eleven-year-old Bethany, a critically ill foster child at Brandon’s foster home.
When Caroline’s enthusiastic boss wants to enroll Bethany in experimental trials prematurely, Caroline objects, putting her at odds with her colleagues. They claim the only goal at Praecursoria is to save lives. But does someone have another agenda?
Brandon faces his own crisis. As laws governing foster homes shift, he’s on the brink of losing the group home he’s worked so hard to build. When Caroline learns he’s a Praecursoria investor, it becomes legally impossible to confide in him. Will the secrets she keeps become a wedge that separates them forever? And can she save Bethany from the very treatments designed to heal her?
This latest romantic legal thriller by bestseller Cara Putman shines a light on the shadowy world of scientific secrets and corporate vendettas—and the ethical dilemmas that plague the place where science and commerce meet.
“Intriguing characters. Romantic tension. Edge-of-your-seat suspense. And a fast-paced ending that will leave you exhausted (in a good way!).” —Robert Whitlow, award-winning author of Promised Land
Since the time she could read Nancy Drew, Cara has wanted to write mysteries. In 2005 she attended a book signing at her local Christian bookstore. The rest, as they say, was history. There she met a fellow Indiana writer Colleen Coble. With prompting from her husband, Cara shared her dream with Colleen. Since those infamous words, Cara’s been writing award-winning books. She is currently marketing book 36 and dreaming up future books, not hard when she sees what-ifs everywhere.
Cara Putman is an active member of ACFW and gives back to the writing community through her service on Executive Board. She has also been the Indiana ACFW chapter president and served as the Area Coordinator for Indiana.
Cara is also an attorney, full-time lecturer at a Big Ten university, and all-around crazy woman. Crazy about God, her husband and her kids that is. She graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go Huskers!), George Mason Law School, and Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. You can learn more about Cara at www.caraputman.com.
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