| Faculty |
Meet the conference faculty:
Twila Belk, Conference Director
Twila Belk, also known as the Gotta Tell Somebody Gal, is a popular speaker, writer, publicist, and former Christian bookstore owner. She directs the Quad-Cities Christian Writers' Conference and the Presbyterian Writers' Conference, which will be held in Nashville April 28-29. Twila is privileged to work full time with best-selling author Cecil (Cec) Murphey as his manager, personal assistant, publicist, promoter, scheduler, events coordinator, and biggest fan. She tries hard to make him look good and to keep him in line. She jokes that more appropriate titles for her might be Executive Director of the Cecil Murphey Empire, The Wind Beneath His Wings, or maybe even just Cec's Mom. Through her work with Cec she is getting to know the publishing industry from the inside out. She interacts daily with writers, agents, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals. Twila has written one book, numerous articles for a variety of publications, multiple radio spots, and lots of promotional materials. She contributed two stories for Cec Murphey's Christmas Miracles book, wrote a series of devotions for Disciplines 2009, and is currently writing a gift book with Cec Murphey. She's a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, The Writers View, Christian Booksellers Association, and Christian Humor Writers.
Taking multi-tasking to new heights (or depths, depending on your perspective), Cynthia Ruchti makes potato corn chowder for her husband of 37 years, loves on her three kids and five grandchildren, writes and produces a daily radio broadcast called THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME, edits and writes for the radio ministry magazine Backyard Friends, writes devotionals for TheChristianPulse.com, is the current president of the 2,000-member American Christian Fiction Writers, and in 2010 will see the release of her debut novel--They Almost Always Come Home by Abingdon Press--and a Christmas collection novella--A Door County Christmas. She writes stories of hope-that-glows-in-the-dark, but she gave up knitting, counted cross-stitch, sewing her own clothes, naps, and dusting baseboards a long time ago. You can find her at www.cynthiaruchti.com or in the kitchen, brewing herself another cup of tea.
Michelle Rayburn is a speaker, freelance writer, and musician with a passion for helping people connect the dots between faith, creativity, and everyday life. Drawing on her ministry experience, her creative hobbies, and her previous work as a registered nurse, she helps others discover the joy of finding God in everyday life. She writes a monthly column for Wisconsin Christian News called "Habits for Quality Living" and her writing has appeared in Christian Communicator, Focus on the Family, Victory in Grace, The Heartbeat of the Home, and online. She has also written several Bible studies for ChristianBibleStudies.com. Michelle has been a speaker and worship leader at women's events, MOPS meetings, conferences and retreats. Through craft workshops, seminars and blogging on trash to treasure decorating, biblical teaching, and non-fiction writing she connects her own dots while teaching others how to do the same. Michelle has her MA in Ministry Leadership with a counseling emphasis from Crown College. She has been married to her husband, Phil, for twenty years and they have two teenage sons. Their family serves in ministry at a Bible camp in north central Wisconsin.
James H. (Jim) Pence is a full-time speaker, singer, chalk artist, writer, and editor, living in North Texas. Jim turned to writing in 1988 as a helpful means of expression after the death of his baby daughter Michelle. Jim broke into book publishing in 2001 with How to Do Everything with HTML, a how-to book on Web authoring, written "by a non-techie for non-techies," and published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill. He followed this book the same year with another book for Osborne: Cascading Style Sheets: A Beginner's Guide. Osborne published a second edition of Jim's HTML book, re-titled How to Do Everything with HTML & XHTML, in 2003. Also a published novelist, Jim is the author of Blind Sight (Tyndale, 2003, re-released in fall 2009) and The Angel (Kregel, 2006). Jim's latest book is Terror by Night, the true story of the brutal Texas murders that destroyed a family, restored one man's faith, and shocked a nation. Tyndale House released the book in October 2009. A 1978 graduate of Dallas Bible College and a 2003 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, Jim has been in fulltime ministry since 1978. He served fifteen years as pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Greenville, Texas, before launching out by faith into prison ministry. He left pastoral ministry in 2000 to concentrate on reaching out into prisons in Texas. Jim continues to evangelize and disciple inmates through his Inmate Bible Institute and through prison chapel programs. A talented chalk artist and vocalist, Jim has shared Christ across the United States through music and art.
Jim has been a professional marketer since 1994, working with clients such as AT&T/Cingular, RE/MAX, ABC and Clear Channel radio, but his passion is writing fiction. His debut novel, Rooms, will release in April from B&H Fiction. Jim is the owner of Barefoot Marketing and the co-owner of The Writers View, a moderated online group for writers. He's also a photographer, guitarist, professional speaker, golfer, and semi-pro magician. He lives in the Northwest with the world's most perfect wife and his two almost-perfect sons. No, he doesn't sleep much.
Frank Ball is a full-time freelance writer who directs the annual North Texas Christian Writers' Conference and directs North Texas Christian Writers' groups totaling some hundred-fifty members in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He has worked as a ghostwriter, writer's coach, copy editor for a trade magazine, and columnist for The Spirit-Led Writer e-zine. He was Pastor of Biblical Research and Writing for three years at Anchor Church in Keller, Texas, where he wrote sermons and hundreds of devotionals. His three latest books are Eyewitness: The Life of Christ Told in One Story, a compilation of all biblical information into one chronological story, Eyewitness Stories: Four Reports on the Life of Christ, his easy-to-read translation of the Gospels, and Eyewitness Inspiration: Contemporary Vignettes for Life, a collection of 90 devotionals. For more information, visit Frank's web sites at www.NTchristianwriters.com and www.EyewitnessTools.com.
Mona Hodgson is the author of Two Brides Too Many, published by WaterBrook Press and exclusively available at Walmart stores, and Too Rich for a Bride, available in 2010. Her writing credits also include nearly 30 children's books, contributions to 11 books for adults, and hundreds of poems, short stories, and articles in 50-plus newspapers and magazines. One of Mona's favorite things to do (besides writing or eating dark chocolate) is to mentor other writers. She speaks regularly at women's retreats, schools, and conferences through the United States and Canada. Mona lives in Arizona with her husband, Bob. Check out www.monahodgson.com to learn more. You can follow Mona at www.facebook.com/monahodgson and at www.twitter.com/monahodgson.
Lin Johnson is Managing Editor of Christian Communicator, Advanced Christian Writer, and Church Libraries; author of more than 70 books, with a specialization in Bible curriculum; a Gold Medallion Book Award recipient; and adjunct professor of writing at Taylor University Fort Wayne. She also directs the Write-to-Publish Conference in the Chicago area and teaches at writers' conferences across the country and internationally.
Please note that Marti Pieper will replace Larry Leech at the conference. Due to health issues, Larry is unable to attend the QCCWC this year. Marti Pieper's passion to read, write, and pray has yielded all kinds of adventures-writing and otherwise. In 2005, her involvement in a prayer project led her to assist Brent and Deanna Higgins as they told the compelling story of their son, BJ. I Would Die for You: One Student's Story of Passion, Service, and Faith (Revell, 2008) became a young adult best-seller now in its fourth printing. Today, Marti assists other CBA authors as book doctor, writer, and editor from her home in Mount Dora, Florida. She also writes and edits for popular Christian teen girls' magazine, SUSIE. In another ministry avenue, she serves as Director of Prayer and Publication for Awe Star Ministries, a student missions-sending organization. Marti holds a B.S.Ed. from The Ohio State University (Go Bucks!) and M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is wife to Tom (pastor and trumpet player extraordinaire) and mom to five amazing children, all of whom have served in international missions. Join her Read.Write.Pray journey at www.martipieper.com.
By God's grace, Tim Shoemaker writes and speaks full time. Tim is the author of seven books, teaches at writing conferences, and leads workshops around the country teaching parents how to lead effective family devotions. Happily married for 30 years, Tim has three grown sons and is active in church leadership.
Virginia Smith is the author of twelve Christian novels as well as dozens of articles and short stories. In 2008 she was named Writer of the Year at Mount Hermon Christian Writers' Conference. Stuck in the Middle, book one in her Sister-to-Sister Series, was a finalist for ACFW's 2009 Book of the Year award, and A Taste of Murder was a finalist for the 2009 Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Ginny's website was listed in the top ten writer sites of 2009 by Writers Digest. She and her husband divide their time between Kentucky and Utah, and escape as often as they can for "research trips" (or so she says) to scuba dive in the warm waters of the Caribbean. www.virginiasmith.org
Kathy Carlton Willis gets jazzed shining the light on God and God's people. At her communications firm, Kathy fiddles with words as: writer, publicist, writer's coach, book doctor, speaker, and more. She has a large network of industry connections and is affiliated with Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and others. A variety of her columns and book reviews have appeared online and in print publications. She served as grammar and style guru for three publications and ghostwrites a variety of books and e-books for clients. Kathy is a contributing author for The Reason We Speak, It Happened By Design: A Series of God-Incidence Stories and Groovy Chicks' Road Trip to Peace. She has a background in newspaper journalism, working as copyeditor and feature writer for several newspapers. She team-leads the devotions for The Christian Pulse and is a columnist for Christian Fiction Online Magazine. Kathy and her pastor/husband minister together in Raymondville, Texas. Read her professional blog at http://kcwcomm.blogspot.com and learn more about her at http://www.kathycarltonwillis.com/.