Highlights of ACFW-LA Aspiring Writers Workshop June 3, 2017

DiAnn Mills, Mary Cooke, Winnie Griggs

Hello. My name is Mary Cooke and I write using my former name, Mary Lou Cheatham. June 3, 2017, I was one of the privileged north Louisiana writers who spent the day with two accomplished, multi-published authors, DiAnn Mills and Winnie Griggs.

DiAnn and Winnie go beyond writing: they have become teachers devoted to sharing their skills with other writers.

DiAnn, a professional who has boundless energy, taught us all day except for one hour. She lectured about character development. Her amazing handout, Advanced Character Sketch, was worth the cost of the workshop. (You can obtain a free copy by going to her website, DiAnnMills.com  and requesting a copy.) She shared some valuable insights about the use of backstory.

Winnie, who is eager to help Shreveport writers succeed, explained the importance of stakes in fiction writing. Both DiAnn and Winnie are world famous authors and I felt honored that they posed in a picture with me.

Eileen Copeland, Judy Burford

The members of American Christian Fiction Writers--Louisiana worked hard planning, organizing, and implementing the conference. I am especially thankful to the president of the organization, Judy Burford.

The members of the chapter have become a team, each using his or her special skills to produce an outstanding conference.

We met on the Bossier Parish Community College Campus, which is beautiful, new, and spacious.

Carole Johnson, Tammy Kirby, DiAnn Mills, Beverly Flanders

I'm looking forward to learning more from DiAnn Mills. In addition to compelling novels, she has published a writing manual, The Dance of Character & Plot. (available on Amazon) I can't wait to read this book and work through the exercises.

Morgan Smith, Karen Steadman

Hal Carter, Charles Sutherland

Charles Sutherland said:

Only two things could have made the 2nd Annual Writers Workshop better than it was. 1) If more aspiring writers had attended, and (2) If we could have had DiAnn Mills speak for two days instead of one. Maybe next year.

I was too busy listening and taking notes to take pictures. Hopefully, I'm inspired to show up at the page starting this week.