I will be visiting Our Nation\u2019s Twin Cradles of Liberty! Yay!<\/p>\n
First stop, August 4-6: I\u2019ll be at The Catholic Marketing Network <\/a>Hoo Hah in Valley Forge, PA! While I\u2019m there, I will be hanging at the National Catholic Register table and also doing a little yak session on writing for the Catholic Writers\u2019 Conference. Here\u2019s their press release:<\/p>\n Catholic Writers to Hold Conference in Valley Forge, PA<\/p>\n World Wide Web\u2013The second annual Catholic Writers\u2019 Conference LIVE will be held August 4-6, 2010, at the Scanticon Hotel Valley Forge in King of Prussia, PA. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer\u2019s Guild and the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), and held in conjunction with CMN\u2019s annual retailer trade show, the Catholic Writers Conference LIVE provides Catholic authors with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, fellow writers, and bookstore owners from across the globe. <\/p>\n This year\u2019s conference will feature presentations on such topics as market tips and time management for busy writers, poetry, creating evil characters, working with an editor, creating winning proposals, journaling and much more. Speakers include Catholic publishing representatives Mark Brumley \u2013 CEO of Ignatius Press, Claudia Volkman \u2013 General Manager of Circle Press, Regina Doman \u2013 acquisitions editor for Sophia Institute Press, and Tom Wehner \u2013 Managing Editor of the National Catholic Register, all of whom will also hear pitches from writers. <\/p>\n Among the other speakers are Mark Shea (Mary, Mother of the Son<\/em>), Michelle Buckman (My Beautiful Disaster), Donna-Marie Cooper-O\u2019Boyle (Mother Teresa and Me<\/em>), Susie Lloyd (Please Don\u2019t Drink the Holy Water<\/em>), and Publicist Lisa Wheeler from the Maximus Group. <\/p>\n \u201cAttending this conference has been the best thing I have done for myself professionally,\u201d Carol Bannon, author of the children\u2019s book Handshake from Heaven, said of the 2009 conference. Her fellow writer Melanie Cameron agreed, saying she left the last conference re-energized. \u201cI recommend [this] conference as a resource for any author (or wannabe) at any stage. You will walk away empowered!\u201d<\/p>\n The Catholic Writers Guild, a religious non-profit organization, sponsors both this live conference in August and an online conference in February to further its mission of promoting Catholic literature. \u201cOur conferences are totally focused on encouraging faithful Catholics to share genuine Catholic culture and faith in their writing no matter what genre,\u201d says CWG President Ann Margaret Lewis. \u201cThese events are integral to our mission of \u2018creating a rebirth of Catholic arts and letters.\u201d That will be fun because I get to see some old friends, as well as meet folks whose work I have admired, as well as connect with those whom I have heard of with the hearing of the ear, but never met.<\/p>\n After that, it\u2019s off to Boston for a visit with the sundry wizards behind Catholic New Media who will be gathering for the Catholic New Media Conference<\/a> August 7. I\u2019m told the joint is sold out, so it should be fun. I have fond memories, not only of meeting Amy Welborn <\/a>for the first time at one of those soirees (what? you haven\u2019t checked out her fine work<\/a>?), but also of meeting Jeff Miller, the Curt Jester<\/a>, who *greatly* impressed me with his humble good humor. And many other fine folk besides (you know who you are!) Plus, I got to see a screamingly funny short film by Mac and Katherine Barron of Catholics in a Small Town<\/a>. I hope they YouTube it someday.<\/p>\n Then, there will be the fun of seeing Greg and Jennifer Willits <\/a>again, whose \u201cThat Catholic Show<\/a>\u201d remains a fine work of viral catechesis over the web. Not only are they fun people, but they had the moxie to inform me that I apparently resemble Philip Seymour Hoffman<\/a>, which fills me with a nameless dread.<\/p>\n All this will be big fun. Then I fly home on Sunday, August 8. Oh! And I\u2019m still hoping to figure out a way to meet Mike Flynn<\/a>, author of Eifelheim<\/a><\/em> (which you badly need to read), who lives about 60 miles out side Philly. Dunno if that one\u2019s gonna pan out.<\/p>\n Oh! And I\u2019ll see Jimmy Akin, who I\u2019m also told I resemble. And maybe Stephen Greydanus, who I don\u2019t resemble at all, but who does live in Jersey and who I\u2019m hoping to pressure into making the haj.<\/p>\n Anyway, if you are Catholic and living in the Northeast Corridor somewhere, please stop by one or both of these events. I\u2019d love to meet you!<\/p>\n
Registration costs $85 for CWG members, $95 for non-members and $42 for students. There\u2019s also a discounted combined membership. To register or for more information, go to http:\/\/www.catholicwritersconference.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n