This year we welcome Susan King back to our conference. She will be presenting two workshops. Style: The Key to Excellence in Writing and Turning Personal Experience into a Devotional Message
Susan and husband, Joe, have three grown children and two young grandchildren. While Joe and their children are whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River, Susan can be found with her daughter-in-law and the grandchildren at a children’s museum or aquarium.
How did you get into writing/publishing/editing? As an English major in college, of course I was always intending to write “The Great American Novel.” When a stay-at-home mom and pregnant with my third child, I started writing that novel as a catharsis while going through a major crisis with my parents’ marriage. When the crisis abated, my motivation to finish that novel ebbed as well. At the same time, I discovered magazine-feature writing as a way to help bring in money to support our family. A year later, due to rumors that the company my husband was working for was closing down, I sought and secured a position as a writer and editor for a Christian psychological institute and later began teaching English full-time at Biola University. Soon after my husband’s job took us to Nashville (and a teaching position at Lipscomb University), the sale of our house in California fell through and I had to seek a second full-time position—this time as an editorial assistant for The Upper Room. (When I answered the ad, all I knew was that it was a part-time secretarial position at The United Methodist Board of Discipleship.) Before long, I was Assistant Editor and then Associate Editor (all the while continuing to teach full time).
Minoring in magazine production in college, all I really wanted to be was an editor, but I didn’t know how to become one. I knew how to become a college professor (since both my parents were). Yet, for over 20 years now, I have worked as an editor. Long after I had put that dream aside, God gave me the desires of my heart. (See Psalm 37:4.)
What do you see as the greatest take away from your workshop? The motivation and skills to write an excellent devotional and to improve a conferee’s writing in every genre.
Who will get the most out of your workshop? Anyone who wants to write excellently and to reach an audience of millions all over the world.
What book are you currently reading? The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King.
If you could share only one piece of information with a writer, what would it be? While writing and publishing a book sounds very appealing, don’t forget the many advantages to writing for magazines before, during, and after the book writing.
Thank you, Susan.
We look forward to seeing you again at the Wordsowers Christian Writers Conference April 28-29!
To find out more about our conference and to register click HERE.
