Faculty

    Our keynote speaker Rusty Wright comes to us as a representative of the Amy Foundation, which
    sponsors an annual writing contest.  He is an award-winning author, journalist, syndicated columnist
    and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. His columns have appeared in mainstream
    newspapers across the US. His writing credits include many Evangelical Press Association magazines
    such as Christianity Today, Decision, Worldwide Challenge, Plain Truth, and Physician. He trains
    Christian leaders, broadcasters, print-media specialists, and Internet professionals in effective
    communication with secular audiences and holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of
    Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively.
                    
Rusty's workshop theme will be "Effectively Communicating Christ to Secular Audiences."  Could God use your talents
to influence non-Christians for Christ?  Learn how readers think and feel, what they want and why.  Discover practical
tools for analyzing your audience, including their religious persuasion, intellectual level, psychological makeup, needs,
moral attitudes and issues.  Tap their felt needs, grab attention, touch hearts and minds, and communicate spiritual
truths.




    Co-keynoter Sharon Norris Elliott is an author and popular speaker whose theme for herself and
    main message to her audiences is to live significantly - live a life that matters. Her most recently
    published books include Raising Boys to be like Jesus (Judson Press, 2009), and Living a Milk &
    Honey Life: Letting Go of What’s Holding you Back (Beacon Hill Press, 2006). Sharon hosts A Heart
    for the Word, her inductive Bible study show on www.WebTV4Women.tv, and writes a daily
    devotional blog at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. She also has numerous published articles and
    devotions to her credit.

                        Sharon is dedicated to instructing Christian authors and encouraging them toward excellence.
Toward that end she serves as CEO of AuthorizeMe, through which she conducts seminars to help get those book
ideas out of your head and down onto paper. She also teaches high school English and Journalism at South Bay
Lutheran High School in Inglewood, California, near where she lives with her husband James.

Sharon's keynote, "Make Them Say Ha! Ho! Umm! Ah!," will inspire and challenge you. Her workshop will be "Non-
fiction that Sizzles and Searches the Heart." Learn how to structure your nonfiction book, including focus, fiction
techniques, editing, and fine-tuning. Create a saleable book proposal and query letter. Learn about publishing rights,
copyright law, contract negotiations, income tax, and marketing the finished product.




    Andrea Doering is senior acquisition editor with Revell Books, an imprint of Baker Publishing
    Group.  She is the former editor-in-chief of Crossings Book Club, a position she held for six of the
    fourteen years she was with the book club.  Her experiences also include academic publishing, book
    packaging, and Focus on the Family.  She holds an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from the
    University of Maine, and has published several children’s books and short stories.

    Andrea's workshop will be "Turning Shoppers Into Buyers."  Your reader is in the store, virtual or
    physical—what makes them choose one book over another?  What subjects are most appealing, and
why don’t "felt needs" always turn into sales? What will bring them back for the next book? At some point in your
writing, the reader becomes a factor.  With over 13 years selling directly to Christian readers, Andrea shares what she’
s learned about the people looking for your work.



    Don Patterson is the assistant director of our conference, and also serves as the fearless leader of
    the High Desert Christian Writers’ Guild. He is a graduate of California Baptist University and Golden
    Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. At seminary he wrote a column for The Current, the student
    newspaper. In twenty-five years of pastoral ministry, Don has published articles in the Quartz Hill
    Journal of Theology and the California Southern Baptist.  In 2001 he won a second place award at
    the Glorieta Christian Writers’ Conference. He has been a featured speaker at the California Southern
    Baptist Convention Pastors’ Bible Conference and the High Desert Baptist Association’s annual
    “Harmony” conference.  His first novel, Colombian Kilo, was published in 2009 by Quartz Hill
    Publishing House.

Don lives in Quartz Hill, CA with his wife Karen, a teacher at a local Christian school.  They have two grown sons.

Don's workshop will be "The Hero's Journey: A Guide to Writing Fiction."  All great storytelling, from ancient myths
to modern screenplays, uses the same basic elements to draw in the reader and make him/her want to persevere to
the end.  




    As an author and speaker, Kathi Lipp has spent years learning how to market her ministry to
    churches and readers across the United States. She is a full-time speaker and author whose first
    book The Husband Project sold more than 20,000 copies in the first year and has just released her
    second book, The Marriage Project. She has contracts for three more books with Harvest House. As
    a speaker, Kathi travels the country speaking more than 60 times a year to Women's Ministry
    Groups, Retreats, Marriage Conferences, and Mom's Groups. She is a frequent guest on radio and TV
    throughout the US. She also does individual coaching to help speakers and writers grow their
    ministry.

Through research and study (and a whole lot of trial and error), she has come up with the do's and don'ts for the
Christian market. Spend an hour with Kathi at her "Book Marketing Bootcamp." You will learn how to make blogs,
Facebook, & Twitter work for you, create online book sales, get media exposure, and reach event planners who are
looking for speakers like you.  




    Sheryl Ann Crawford is the author of ten books for children and dozens of magazine stories. Her
    latest book about the Human Body, for grades 1-2 will be released by Scholastic in November 2009.
    She is published with Faithkidz, Clubhouse Jr. (Focus on the Family), Standard, Word, and
    Harcourt/Trophies. Her stories have appeared in BabyBug, Highlights, Trails N' Treasures, American
    Girl, and Discovery Years (FOF). She has taught beginning writing classes at conferences and her
    local community college. And she especially loves to encourage new writers!  

    In her "spare" time Sheryl is Volunteer Disaster Action Team Nurse for the American Red Cross. She
    has served as a shelter nurse for victims of earthquakes, fires and floods.  She is happily married to
Bob (a UCLA Bruin!), has two grown sons who make her so proud, two granddaughters who each want to grow up to
be Tinkerbell, and two rescued dog-children who wear her out.

Sheryl will teach what she knows best: "The Basics of Writing for Kids."  Do you have ideas for children's stories but
don't know where to go from there? If you have the gift, you need to learn the skills required to write for this genre...
then practice! Sheryl will point you in the right direction, encourage you, and show you how to break into the
publishing field.




    B.J. Taylor writes on assignment for Guideposts magazine and has been published in Writer's
    Digest, Romantic Homes, Victorian Homes, Angels on Earth, Lexus, John Gray's Mars and Venus in
    Love, and many others. She is the author of The Complete Guide to Writers' Groups That Work.  B.J.
    won the Pacesetter Award at the 2006 Mount Hermon Christian Writers' Conference, an Editor's
    Choice Award at the 2004 San Diego Writers Conference, and was a finalist at the 2004 Yosemite
    Writers Conference.

    B.J. enjoys teaching as much as she enjoys writing. She lives in Southern California with her  
    husband, a dog looking for a job (they're writing a book about it), and three frisky felines.

B.J.'s workshop will be "Building Your Portfolio: One Step at a Time."  What is it you want to achieve?  Set goals,
such as attending conferences or attending classes.  Who should you submit to, and how?  Learn the steps on the
ladder to success, and show editors you're a person they want to work with.  Make your writing the best it can be: get
help from instructors, fellow writers, or critique groups.




    Dr. Donald Guerrant is the author of Dynamic Discipleshp: A Team Discipleship Experience and has
    served as a pastor for over 34 years.  As a sought after speaker, Don is known for his Christ-
    centered messages, dynamic style, contagious sense of humor, and “expansive” storytelling (he’s
    from Texas!).  Pastor Don lived in and served a church in Harlem for two years while earning his
    Master of Divinity degree in New York City.  He studied screenwriting for five years with Linda Seger,
    and faculty from UCLA and the American Film Institute.  His script Thou Art With Me is being
    shopped around to several producers.
                   
                    Don and his wife, Norma, make their home in Lancaster, CA.

Don will lead a workshop titled “Writing the Screenplay.”  Beginners will learn the basics including the three-act
structure, the correct format, and the pros and cons of screenwriting.  Experienced screenwriters will learn
storyboarding, 36 dramatic situations, and other tools to improve your craft.




    Kathi "Easy Writer" Macias represents Author Solutions, which offers many options for self-
    publishing.  She is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten
    several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and
    business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs.
    Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and
    recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from the Advanced Writers and
    Speakers Association at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet.

    Kathi lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time
    riding their Harley.

Kathi's workshop will be "What Are Your Publishing Options?"  Let's explore the differences, advantages, and pitfalls
of traditional publishing, self-publishing, and print-on-demand publishing.  




    Agent Kelly Mortimer established her agency with one thought in mind: Too many great writers
    couldn't get their foot in the door. She's only 5'4”, but she wears a size 8-1/2 shoe, so she thought
    she could help. And she has, exclusively signing writers not yet published (or not pubbed in the last
    three years), editing their work, and kickin’ down doors to sell it.

    Kelly is a three-time nominee, and 2008’s winner of the American Christian Fiction Writers "Agent of
    the Year" award. She has a wicked sense of humor, and she knows how to use it.







    Our conference director Steven Hutson will not be leading a workshop.  However, he will be on the
    lookout for promising new authors on behalf of the Hartline Literary Agency.  
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