I’ve just returned from a week at my favorite writers’ conference, Mt. Hermon’s Christian Writers Conference in California (near Santa Cruz and San Jose).

Mt. Hermon is considered the premier Christian writers’ conference on the West Coast, and the 400 registrants came from all over the U.S. and Canada. From novices eager to learn the craft of writing to well-known authors who’ve published hundreds of books, this conference offered something special for everyone.

What a difference a year makes
My experience at Mt. Hermon this year was quite different from last year’s. A year ago, I attended with the goal of pitching my adoption book proposal to as many agents and editors as possible. I gutted it out through rejection after rejection and spent some time crying on my roommate’s shoulder.

A few editors expressed interest in my proposal, and I went home infused with a sense of determination, eager to beef up my proposal and submit it to the editors who had requested it.

This year, I had the honor of teaching workshops on blogging and press release writing. While teaching represents a different kind of stress, it wasn’t nearly as stomach-churning as facing the dreaded editors. I’d like to welcome all my blogging groupies who will be checking out my site in the next days and weeks!

I didn’t feel compelled to pitch projects to editors this year. A few days before the conference, I was offered a contract for my adoption book! I still can’t believe it. But the contract is sitting right in front of me, in living black and white. All I have to do is negotiate a few points, sign that baby, and I’m off and running on my new career as an “author.”

Adoption writers, unite
The conference was a great place to meet other adoption writers. I met the following people, whose writing I’ll be featuring in upcoming posts:

Mardie Caldwell, host of the popular radio show, “Let’s Talk Adoption,” and author of AdoptingOnline.com and Adoption: Your Step-by-Step Guide.

Sherry Kyle, author of the children’s books: My Special Someone: A Child’s Perspective of Adoption and Adoption Stories From the Bible.

Joseph Bentz, author of Cradle of Dreams, a fiction novel about adoption.