© 2023 Joyce McCullough
If you are on a writing journey, you know the importance of ideas, inspiration, encouragement, and motivation. You need an occasional boost to keep you going. You need juice for your journey!
The Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, catapulted me on to this writing road over twenty-five years ago. Always loving words, I had dabbled in poetry as a child and served as copy editor for my high school yearbook. After receiving a college degree in English, I became a high school English teacher and continued to surround myself with reading and writing. When a colleague mentioned the KCWC, I eagerly checked it out and found myself hooked!
I was so inspired by my first experience with KCWC that I sought out similar venues such as Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, Writerfest Nashville, The Art of Writing, Southern Christian Writers Conference, Southern Festival of Books, Southern Kentucky Bookfest, and others. I became a member of the Serious Writer Family and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The connections I made in one group led me to connections in another. I joined social media groups to further connect.
When I returned a second year to KCWC, I renewed friendships and felt fueled to forge ahead on my journey. Conference connections led to acceptance of my work in two magazine publications.
From themed keynote messages to valuable workshops led by experts in their fields, writing conferences have provided me with a bounty of blessings:
- MWL (Manuscript Wish List) from prospective agents
- How-to handouts on everything from marketing to creating a website
- Inspiring keynotes by authors such as Sally Stewart, Lysa TerKeurst, Bob Hostetler, and Hallee Bridgeman—just to name a few
- Infectious energy from best-selling authors such as Michelle Medlock Adams and Liz Curtis Higgs
- Motivation to submit to publications such as christiandevotions.us and Chicken Soup for the Soul
- The discovery of new beloved authors whose works now grace my bookshelves
- The honor of becoming an influencer for other authorsAn added bonus of virtual attendance
Over the years the people I have met along my writing journey have become like family. They are no longer names I see on bookstore shelves. They are genuine, caring, talented mentors who have inspired and encouraged me to continue writing.
Even though the journey is often slow and filled with potholes and roadblocks, writers’ conferences provide a healthy way to keep energy in your engine as you navigate the road.
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After teaching high school English for more than thirty years, Joyce McCullough now spends her time writing, tutoring, teaching piano lessons, and doing volunteer work. She has written for numerous faith-based publications including Focus on Your Child, Alive, The Cumberland Presbyterian, The Missionary Messenger, and Christian Devotions Ministry. Joyce is excited to announce she recently signed with End Game Press for her first picture book to be published in 2024. Visit her blog, The Literary Lyonesse.
