@RamonaRichards

It’s the last day of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference! Feeling relieved? Overwhelmed? Overjoyed?

I’ve written earlier in this blog about the best ways to “come down” after a conference and make use of what you’ve learned, as have folks much wiser than me. Check out these posts for those tips:

https://www.blueridgeconference.com/aftermath-of-a-writing-conference/
https://www.blueridgeconference.com/worry-writers-conference/
https://www.blueridgeconference.com/what-to-do-after-you-get-home-from-a-writing-conference/

Instead, what I want to say to you today is “Welcome Home.”

Veteran Blue Ridge folks already know this, but if you’ve just completed your first Blue Ridge conference, then you have joined in a fellowship of writers who will become lifelong friends, supporters, and encouragers. Blue Ridge attendees are very much a family. And like any family, there are good things and bad, squabbles and tattletales, estranged siblings, and “blood kin”—who don’t actually share each other’s DNA.

But a family nonetheless, one you will grow to cherish to your last breath.

Writers, after all, are an odd lot. We don’t usually meet people in our everyday lives who understand how our minds work, the peculiar way that writers see the world. They don’t “get” that devotional writers see spiritual application in the smallest rose or that fantasy writers envision ethereal setting down every alley. That suspense writers can turn a misplaced shoe into a kidnapping plot and romance writers can see a hero in the quirkiest teenager. That Bible study authors feel their heart burning for God and desperately want to share that with others.

But those kinfolk at the conference do. You don’t have to explain anything to them.

Because you’re home.

And, as you head back to your “real” homes, I pray you won’t forget that. That you will reach out to the people who have touched your heart and mind this week. Keep the connection going through emails and social media. Send those thank you notes to agents and editors (they really do leave an impression).

Rest—which is a vital part of recharging and refocusing what you’ve learned—but don’t return to your solitary writing closet.

Because you are no longer alone. You are family.

Ramona Richards is the associate publisher for Iron Stream Media, the parent company of New Hope Publishers, Iron Stream Kidz, and Ascender Books. She has been an in-house editor for Abingdon Press, Thomas Nelson, Rutledge Hill Press, and Idealsmagazine, and has freelanced for a dozen other publishers. The author of nine novels, three books of devotions, and numerous magazine articles, she is a frequent speaker for women’s and writers’ groups, and has presented at numerous conferences across the country. Her latest book, Murder in the Family,will be released in October from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas.

Website: Ramonarichards.com

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Twitter: @RamonaRichards

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