The New Year is barreling toward us.

Here at the Blue Ridge Conference, we couldn’t be more excited with what’s to come. Not only has our main conference continued to grow, we’ve added some boutique retreats to our event schedule.

Several years ago DiAnn Mills and I realized that Blue Ridge was much more than a single event—it was a community—and one that has given us the ability to follow the call God has entrusted us with. We believe that God has asked us to help writers hone their skills and learn the intricacies of the publishing industry so that God can work through them to reach the world. Or as Alton Gansky so eloquently summed it up—“Changing the World One Writer at a Time.”

A big part of this calling is providing opportunities to learn. While the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference is our premier event for this goal, we have added four additional opportunities for writers who want to go deeper in specific areas.

Mountainside Marketing Retreat—January 17-20

Mountainside Nonfiction Retreat—August 30-September 2

Mountainside Novelist Retreat—October 6-9

Mountainside Speakers Retreat—November 8-11

We’ve kept these four retreats small, with attendance limited to 50. We’ve also done our best to keep the price affordable. These are hands-on events where every attendee is expected to come ready to work.

Don’t worry, we’re also continuing to expand the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference with more faculty and cutting edge information. Last year our post-conference event was such a success we’ve decided to do it again. This year we have the amazing Jane Friedman with us all day Friday, May 29 for the Post-Conference. (To register for the post conference, you must be registered for the main conference).

We will also be expanding the teaching we do in our Facebook Group—Blue Ridge Conference Writers. And we have a couple of surprises we’ll be announcing soon. So be sure to stay connected!

Blessings,

DiAnn & Edie