2021 Meeting Schedule
Our 2021 ZOOM @ NOON Speaker Schedule
January 30th—Janice Thompson—Writing in the Time of Covid
Our world has flipped upside down over the past year as we’ve dealt with lockdowns, illness, political upheaval, and (many times) internal chaos. Seeking God has never been more important. Listening to His voice has never been more critical. As believers and as writers, we must be tuned in to that still, small voice so that we can move forward in our callings with confidence and with messages to bring hope to a traumatized world. Writing in the Time of Covid will offer WOTS members a collective opportunity to seek God’s face for 2021, for this particular season we’re in. Together, we’ll look forward, led by His Spirit, ready to write the words on His heart, not our own.
Award-winning author Janice Thompson also writes under the pseudonym Janice Hanna. She got her start in the industry writing screenplays and musical comedies for the stage. Janice has published over 100 books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children’s books and more. She particularly enjoys writing light-hearted, comedic tales because she enjoys making readers laugh.
February 27th—Robin Lee Hatcher—Staying Organized During the Chaos of Writing a Novel
Chaos is often a good description of a novelist’s life. A writer must keep track of plot, characters, productivity, and much more while also trying to stay on top of life in general. Over nearly forty years as a writer, Robin has developed a number of techniques and strategies to help her stay organized. This workshop will look at many of the tools she uses or has used to organize her characters from book to book, to make sure her imaginary world comes to life, and to keep herself as productive and positive as possible.
Robin Lee Hatcher is the author of over 80 novels and novellas with over six million copies of her books in print. She is known for her heartwarming and emotionally charged stories of faith, courage, and love. Her numerous awards include the RITA® Award, the Carol Award, the Christy Award, the HOLT Medallion, the National Reader’s Choice Award, and the Faith, Hope & Love Reader’s Choice Award. Robin is also the recipient of prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards from both American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America®. When not writing, she enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, Bible art journaling, reading books that make her cry, watching romantic movies, and decorative planning. Robin makes her home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with a demanding Papillon dog and a persnickety tuxedo cat.
March 27th—Allie Pleiter—The Chunky Method
Bestselling international author Allie Pleiter honed her talents in the world of popular fiction, where she still releases multiple books a year. Allie has over 50 published titles to her name, and over 1.5 million Allie Pleiter fiction and non-fiction books have been sold around the world.
Her well-known Chunky Method system trains writers at every level to formulate plans and meet deadlines in a way tailored to their unique working style. Allie runs an active coaching practice helping writers and all kinds of creative people be more productive, as well as training productive people to be more creative. Already a national speaker among writing associations, Allie now extends her reach to entrepreneurs, speakers, consultants, and anyone who needs to bolster their productivity and creativity in a demanding marketplace.
Allie is an avid knitter, confirmed coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better.” She holds a BS in Speech from Northwestern University and lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband and the world’s most adorable dog.
April 24th—Rene Gutteridge—How to Get into Screenwriting
Have you ever wondered about the world of screenwriting? What it takes to break in? How it might fit in with your world of publishing? What tools or education you might need? Come join novelist and screenwriter Rene Gutteridge as we discuss this and more! She'll answer your questions and introduce you to how screenwriting works!
Rene Gutteridge is the award-winning and best-selling author of twenty-four multi-genre novels and is a seasoned collaborator in both fiction and film, with expertise in comedy, drama, suspense and contemporary. She has novelized six screenplays and movies, including Old Fashioned, with writer/director Rik Swartzwelder, Heart of the Country and The Ultimate Gift. Her romantic comedy with screenwriter Cheryl McKay, Never the Bride, won the Carol Award in 2010 for Best Women’s Fiction. Some of her suspense titles include Possession, Misery Loves Company, Ghost Writer andThe Storm Series.
Her indie film, the comedy SKID, was deadCenter Film Festival’s Best Oklahoma Feature Film Winner in 2015 and also won Best Oklahoma Feature at Red Dirt and Trail Dance. Her novel My Life as a Doormat was adapted into a Hallmark film called Love’s Complicated which premiered in January of 2016 and scored 2.1 million viewers. She is the head writer for Skit Guys Studios, where she is co-writer on a feature film due out in theaters in 2020.
May 29th—Kim Sawyer—Weaving the Spiritual Thread
Award-winning, bestselling author Kim Vogel Sawyer is a wife, mother, gramma, chocolate-lover, cat-petter, and--most importantly--a daughter of the King! With more than 1.5 million books in print in seven different languages, Kim enjoys a full-time writing and speaking ministry.
June 26th—Cara Putman—Using Enneagram to Find Your Characters
The award-winning, best-selling author of more than 30 books, Cara Putman graduated college at 20 and completed her law degree at 27. FIRST for Women magazine called Shadowed by Grace “captivating” and a “novel with ‘the works.'” Cara is active at her church and a full-time lecturer on business and employment law to undergraduate and graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. Putman obtained her Master’s in Business Administration from Krannert and her J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia School of Law. She serves on the executive board of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization she has served in various roles since 2007. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana. You can connect with her online at: caraputman.com
July 31st—Kim Woodhouse—Self-Editing
Kim is a devoted wife and mother, and a third generation Liszt student. She has passed down her love of music and the arts to hundreds of students over the years, recorded three albums, and appeared at over 2,000 venues to more than a million people. Her quick wit, enthusiasm, and positive outlook through difficult circumstances have gained her audiences at conferences, retreats, churches, military functions, and seminars all over the country.
The Woodhouse family’s story has been on the front page of newspapers, in magazines, articles, medical journals, and most famously featured on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They were also asked to share their story on The Montel Williams Show and Discovery Health Channel’s Mystery ER along with hundreds of other TV appearances and radio interviews.
Kim has been writing seriously for more than twenty years. Songs, plays, short stories, novels, picture books, articles, newsletters – you name it – she’s written it. It wasn’t until a dear friend challenged her to “do something with it” that she pursued publication. Now, she is a best-selling author of more than two dozen books, with more on the way. She has won The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and has finaled in the Selah Awards and the Spur Awards.
She is passionate about Bible study, reading, music, cooking, and pretty-much-all-things-crafty. Kimberley has been married to her incredible husband for twenty-nine years and counting and they have two married adult children.
August 28th—Sarah Sundin—The Super Synopsis
Sarah Sundin is the ECPA- and CBA-bestselling author of When Twilight Breaks (February 2021), The Land Beneath Us (2020), The Sky Above Us (2019) and The Sea Before Us (2018), and the Waves of Freedom series, the Wings of the Nightingale series, and the Wings of Glory series, all from Revell. In addition, she has a novella in Where Treetops Glisten (WaterBrook).
Her novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. The Land Beneath Us was a finalist for the 2020 Christy Award, The Sky Above Us won the 2020 Carol Award, and The Sea Before Us received the 2019 Reader’s Choice Award from Faith, Hope and Love. Both When Tides Turn and Through Waters Deep were named to Booklist’s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years,” Through Waters Deep was a 2016 Carol Award finalist and won the 2016 INSPY Award, and her novella “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in Where Treetops Glisten was a 2015 Carol Award finalist.
A mother of three adult children, Sarah lives in northern California and teaches Sunday school and women’s Bible studies. She enjoys speaking to community, church, and writers’ groups, and has been well received.
She serves as Co-Director for the West Coast Christian Writers Conference, and she belongs to American Christian Fiction Writers and Christian Authors Network.
September 25th—Deb Raney—Show Me a Story
DEBORAH RANEY dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. Her almost forty books have garnered multiple industry awards including the RITA® Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Carol Award, and have three times been Christy Award finalists. Her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, shed light on the ravages of Alzheimer's disease and inspired the highly acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. A Vow to Cherish continues to be a tool for Alzheimer's families and caregivers. Deborah is on faculty for several national writers' conferences and serves on the executive board of the 2600-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization. She is a recent transplant to Missouri with her husband, Ken Raney, having moved from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.
October 30th—Sharon Hinck—Health of a Writer’s Heart
Award-winning author Sharon Hinck writes “stories for the hero in all of us,” about ordinary people on extraordinary faith journeys. Known for their authenticity, emotional range, and spiritual depth, her novels include humorous contemporary fiction, women’s fiction, the ground-breaking Sword of Lyric fantasy series, and her new Dancing Realms series. She has been honored with a Christy finalist medal, three Carol awards, and a 2020 Christy Award in the Visionary category for her fantasy novel Hidden Current.
Sharon’s undergrad degree is in education, and she earned an M.A. in Communication from Regent University. She spent ten years as the artistic director of a Christian performing arts group, CrossCurrent. That ministry included three short-term mission trips to Hong Kong. She has been a church youth worker, a choreographer and ballet teacher, a home-school mom, a church organist, and a bookstore clerk. One day she’ll figure out what to be when she grows up, but in the meantime she’s pouring her imagination into writing. She’s published dozens of articles in magazines and book compilations, and released her first novel in 2006. In April, 2007, she was named “Writer of the Year” at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference.
When she isn’t wrestling with words, Sharon enjoys serving as an adjunct professor for the Creative Writing MFA program at Concordia University, and also shares with conferences, retreats, and church groups. She and her family make their home in Minnesota.
November 20th—Dr. Ted Baehr—How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Losing Your Soul
Whether you want to be in pictures or just watch them, or even just complain about them, it seems that almost everyone is interested in the mass media of entertainment. In HOW TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL), Dr. Ted Baehr tells you what you need to know about the current state of the mass media of entertainment, how to use your faith to change the culture of Hollywood, and how to make a creative contribution to the whole world.
Dr. Ted Baehr is Founder and Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment and Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission® ministry, as well as a noted critic, educator, lecturer, and media pundit. His life’s purpose is to be used of God to redeem the values of the media while educating audiences on how to use discernment in selecting their entertainment.
“He who controls the media controls the culture” – Ted Baehr.
December 4th—WHITE ELEPHANT BOOK EXCHANGE Christmas Party
WHITE ELEPHANT BOOK EXCHANGE
Christmas Party
Private, invitation-only event for members of Writers On The Storm, ACFW The Woodlands Texas Chapter, from 11:00 am —1:30 pm Bring a book with a crazy title or theme in a gift bag to exchange. The individual who brings the craziest title or subject matter (by popular vote) wins a door prize. Lunch provided.
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