Your Writing Questions Answered
Do you have questions about the writing life? About Inspire Christian Writers? I'm happy to answer them.
No, I don't have all the answers and I promise not to pretend I do. But, I have some brilliant and highly talented friends in the Christian publishing industry willing to help me. So ask away!
I'll answer the questions I can and seek help for those that are beyond my experience and expertise.
Today I'm going to answer a question I received on Facebook from Chrissy Drzewiecki:
"How did Inspire begin? When it was at Warehouse Christian Ministries there were maybe 10 of us, but what put the fire in you to start the group and continue?
Thanks for this question, Chrissy.
I launched Inspire after attending a Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. My first day at the conference I discovered something that continues to fuel me as I lead Inspire--a deep sense of belonging. I met other Christian writers for the first time and realized Wow! These are my people!
Initially I planned to host a writers conference in the Sacramento Area in order to recreate that camaraderie closer to home. I spoke with a pastor at Warehouse (my church home at the time) and he suggested starting a writer's group first and then add training, workshops and a conference as the needs of the writers warranted the effort.
Jon Drury, who hosts an Annual Christian Writers' Seminar and New York Times best-selling author Cecil Murphey encouraged me to start a group and later develop a writer's conference.
I distributed flyers at my church inviting anyone interested in writing for publication to join me for a kick-off meeting on May 14, 2004. Fourteen women crowded my dining room that night and Inspire was born. We moved our meetings to Warehouse and met there for several years until October of 2008, when we became too large.
We started our second group in Rocklin/Roseville, which is still thriving under the leadership of Dana Sudboro.
We've since added ten more groups with several more on the horizon. And we now host an the annual Write to Inspire Conference.
Writing can be a lonely adventure because we spend so much time working in solitude. Inspire allows us to fellowship with other writers, building community and providing the feedback we need before we submit our work for publication. I hope when writers connect with us, they experience what I did all those years ago: Wow! These are my people!