Capers With Carroll

For five days straddling last weekend, I took part in the 2008 edition of the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. I have now been home long enough to almost catch up on my sleep, but only to barely begin digesting all the information I picked up, and to try to remember all the people I met.

My 'Major Track' consisted of nine hours of workshop led by Randy Ingermanson. Randy's an interesting guy--physicist turned novelist--and I enjoyed getting to know the other members of the crew, as well. They helped me see some new ways of looking at my story.<

I workshopped the first twenty pages of Friday 10:03, and came away with a nice balance of affirmation in what I've written so far, and suggestions for improvement. I attended some of the shorter classes and discussion sessions, but I skipped several to meet one-on-one with editors and agents. Once I've made my changes, I have a couple of invitations for places to submit it.

I bunked with a couple of interesting fellows. Norris Burkes writes a syndicated column from his back ground as a chaplain in hospitals and the military. Lawrence Darmani (below, on the front porch of our cottage) came all the way from Ghana. He has published both fiction and poetry, and is the Africa Regional Trainer for Media Associates International, a ministry that trains and encourages writers, editors, and publishers in parts of the world that lack a history of printing their own literatures.Mount Hermon is a beautiful location. Therein lays my biggest regret: there was so much going on, I barely had time to take in the scenery.