Presenters

Becca Anderson

holds a journalism degree from Northern Illinois University. She has worked for advertising and public relations firms, and spent 14 years in corporate PR. In 2000, she quit her day job to go freelance, writing for local clients, special interest magazines, international trade journals, association publications, and online clients. She also is a published novelist. She is passionate about coaching other writers to find venues for their writing and improve their craft.

John Barry

is the editor-in-chief of Bible Study Magazine (http://www.biblestudymagazine.com), a freelance book editor, a minister, and the author of The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah (forthcoming, Paternoster Press, 2010).  By age 23, he had published or had forthcoming over 50 articles (both scholastic and general titles) and was featured as an expert blogger in Theology on ConversantLife.com.  Bible Study Magazine, which he took from conception to reality in under six months, was one of the top 10 magazines launched in 2008 according to Library Journal.  Articles by John have been featured on high-profile web sites, like SermonCentral.com, and he has been interviewed by national radio hosts and industry experts.  Knowledgeable in Greek, Hebrew and Syriac, John has regularly held his own at national conferences with scholars three times his age.

Terry Burns
writes inspirational fiction and is an agent with Hartline Literary Agency http://www.hartlineliterary.com.  As a writer he has over 30 books in print including 10 novels. A Young Adult entitled Beyond the Smoke came out from BJU Press January 2009 and is a finalist for the Will Rogers Medallion, a historical fiction entitled Saints Roost just came out from Mountainview Press, just finished ghostwriting a novel for a publisher, adapting two screenplays into book form, and a series that began with Mysterious Ways from River Oak Publishing (the series bears that name). The second, Brothers Keeper came out Feb 1, 2006 and Shepherd's Son came out January 1, 2007. Other fiction includes Trails of the Dime Novel, a trade paperback from Echelon Press, Don’t I Know You? and To Keep a Promise from Fictionworks. He has published over 200 articles and short stories. A popular speaker at workshops across the country, a bookstore of his available works as well as a regular blog can be found at www.terryburns.net. As an agent Terry says "I'm looking for a good book, well-written in a unique voice, aimed at a market that looks promising, and where I feel I have the contacts appropriate to be able to sell the book in that market."

Andrea Chevalier

is a motivational speaker, Certified Personality Trainer, and author.  She has published articles on Crosswalks.com and has been a contributing author to several books.  Andrea is on the teaching staff for the CLASSeminar, a national seminar that trains both speakers and authors (www.classeminars.org).  She lives in the Houston area with her husband Gary, who is a worship pastor, worship consultant, and author.  Together they are raising the two best gifts from God they could have ever asked for, Audrey Grace and Allison Geri.

Gary Chevalier

is a worship pastor, Certified Personality Trainer, author, and motivational speaker.  He serves on the teaching staff for the CLASSeminar (www.classeminars.org - a national organization that trains both speakers and authors), writes a monthly column for the Baptist General Convention of Texas Department of Music & Worship, and has been a contributing author to various books and websites.  He shares his life with his amazing wife, Andrea, who is also a speaker/author, and their two darling girls, Audrey and Allison.

Robert Darden

is Associate Professor of Journalism at Baylor University.  He is the author of more than two-dozen books, including People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music; Reluctant Prophets and Clueless Disciples: Understanding the Bible by Telling Its Stories; and his most recent book by Abingdon Press Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor. He's entered as Senior Editor of the late, nearly great religious humor and satire magazine, The Wittenburg Door, for twenty years.  His current research is titled Nothing But Love in God's Water:  The Influence of Black Sacred Music on the Civil Rights Movement.  Robert and his wife Mary live in Waco, where he is the drummer for the R&B band After Midnight.

 Mary Landon Darden          

is an author, higher education consultant, and adjunct professor at Baylor University.  She earned a doctorate in higher education administration from the Scholars of Practice Program at Baylor University in 2006.  She is the recipient of state and national higher education administration awards, including the 2001 National Exemplary Program Award for Community Services from the National council of Continuing Education and Training.  Darden served as a college administrator from 1994-2002 with McLennan Community College.  Her new book, Beyond 2020:  Envisioning the Future of Universities in America is published by the American Council on Education and Rowman and Littlefield.  Check:  http://www.marydarden.com .  Darden has frequently worked as a freelance feature writer/photographer.  She wrote, directed and hosted her own television show for four years and is currently the Executive Producer and Host of a weekly radio show for KWBU-FM and Texas NPR stations titled Treasures of The Texas Collection. 

Mike Farris

is a literary agent with Farris Literary Agency and an entertainment attorney with the Dallas, Texas, law firm of Tipton Jones.  As an agent, he has placed several award-winning novels for publication, including Balaam Gimble's Gumption by Mike Nichols, winner of the 2004 Texas Institute of Letters John Bloom Humor Award, and Dreams to Dust:  A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush by Sheldon Russell, winner of the 2006 Langum Prize for Excellence in American Historical Fiction.  Mike represents various university presses and has successfully placed subsidiary rights to their published books, including negotiating the sale of movie rights to producers and Hollywood studios.  Most recently, he closed a three-book deal with Berkley Publishing for his client Sharon Pape's upcoming A Portrait of Crime mystery series and sold the rights for a potential television series to a major Hollywood studio.

As a writer, Mike collaborated with television journalist Murphy Martin in 2003 to write Martin's memoir, Front Row Seat:  A Veteran Reporter Relives the Four Decades that Reshaped America, for Eakin Press.  In 2009, he collaborated with rodeo cowboy turned actor/director/producer Robert Hinkle to write Hinkle's memoir, Call Me Lucky:  a Texan in Hollywood, for the University of Oklahoma Press.  Mike's novel Kanaka Blues, a Hawaiian thriller, is set for an August 2010 release by Savant Books, an independent publisher in Honolulu.

Mike is also an award-winning screenwriter.  His screeplay Live From the Boneyard is currently being cast by Sweet Revenge Entertainment of Beverly Hills, with Adam Sandler protege Nicholaus Goossen (Grandma's Boy, The Shortcut) attached to direct.  His inspirational family screenplay Reaching Jordan, based on a true story, is in development with Sabbatical Pictures (The Beacon, Exit Speed) for possible production in 2010, and his adaptation of the award-winning novel Balaam Gimble's Gumption is in post-production with Blue Logic Productions.  In collaboration with New York Times best-selling novelist Patrick A. Davis, Mike is co-creator of two television series based upon Davis's novels that are currently under contract to a Los Angeles-based television producer.

Pamela Dowd

enjoys creating strong stories with characters who display candid, growing relationships with God. Her Mom-Lit novella, All Done with the Dashing (Sept. 2004), can be found in Barbour’s All Jingled Out 2-in-1 anthology and in Barbour’s 4-in-1 Simply Christmas, published in a hardback Special Collector’s Edition (Sept. 2005) and in paperback (Sept. 2004).
She was profiled in the cover story of the February 2002 The Christian Communicator magazine and featured in a July 2001 Writer’s Digest Special Issue article entitled, "In Their Words – Seven Successful Writers Share the Joys and Challenges of Working in Today’s Inspirational Writing World."
Pamela has written book reviews for publication and numerous articles for popular magazines.  Her works have been included in anthologies. 
She has published numerous greeting cards, including her own line, Cookie Jar Greetings, published by Warner Press, as well as copy on assignment and freelance for DaySpring, Leanin’ Tree, and Celebration Greetings.  She has written exclusive catalog product descriptions and web copy for Home and Garden Party.
Besides writing, Pamela has been a private school principal, a pre-school director, a kindergarten teacher, a legal secretary, and a children’s clothing designer. On street or treadmill, she enjoys reading and walking simultaneously! 
Pamela and her husband, Rodney, make their home in East Texas. They have three daughters, three sons-in-law, and three grandchildren. 
 

Bill Keith

is an experienced and widely-traveled journalist.  A graduate of Wheaton College with a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas and a degree from the Tokyo School of the Japanese Language, Keith has authored a number of biographies, medical and inspirational books and numerous magazine articles.  Before retiring he was the editor in chief of the Lone Star Eagle.  He has served as a journalist for thirty years, traveling in twenty-five foreign countries, having worked as a war correspondent in Vietnam and on freelance assignments in West Berlin, Tokyo and the Philippines.  He has been an investigative reporter for The Shreveport Times, city editor for the Shreveport Journal, Director of Public Relations for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and Bureau Chief of Baptist Press.  For ten years he was Senior Editor for Huntington House Publishing in Lafayette, Louisiana, editing more than fifty books.

 Miriam Hees 

Miriam Hees started the business plan for Blooming Tree Press more than 12 years ago.  Blooming Tree Press began publishing Children’s and Young Adult Fiction in 2002 and will begin publishing Adult Fiction, Graphic Novels and Romance in 2011. With 5 current imprints, Blooming Tree Press will have 35 books in print by the end of 2010.

Miriam is a 4^th generation Texan with a fabulous husband and two wonderful grown children.  She loves to quilt, sew and crochet for her favorite charities and is also a pretty darn good amateur chef.

Anna Herrington

joined Blooming Tree Press at the start of 2007, and is now the Editorial Director for two imprints, Tire Swing Books and Blooming Tree Press Children’s.  She loves books, and has a passion for middle grade and young adult historical fiction.  Anna was the editor of Haven, a middle grade novel that came out in the Fall of 2009.  As a leukemia survivor, Anna spends a lot of her time advocating for petient rights and educating the medical community as well as the public on the unique needs of young adult survivors.  Her hobbies also include reading, watching movies, listening to music, hiking, singing, and spending time with friends and family. 

Archie McDonald

Archie has been teaching history at Stephen F. Austin State University for 46 years and is the retired director of the East Texas Historical Association and former editor of the Association’s Journal.  He still serves in promoting the University and the Association. He is a past president of the Texas State Historical Association and past vice chair of the Texas Historical Commission.  He is the author/editor of more than twenty books on historical topics—and one book of humor entitled Helpful Cooking Hints for HouseHusbands of Uppity Women.  Archie is also a charter member of a small Baptist church in Nacogdoches and a member and past president of the Nacogdoches Rotary Club. 

Marv Knox

became editor of The Baptist Standard weekly newspaper of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, January 1, 1999, after serving as associate editor three years.  Before that, he was editor of The Western Recorder, the Kentucky Baptist weekly newspaper from 1990 to 1995.  He has been an editor for the Baptist Press in Nashville, an associate editor of The Baptist Message newspaper in Louisiana, director of news and information at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and assistant news director at the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board.  He has written or co-written five books.  His writing and editing have been honored with awards from the Dallas Press Club, the Religious Public Relations Council and the Baptist Communicator’s Association.

Viola Palmer

 is from Fort Worth, Texas, and is a graduate of Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.  She has been, along with her husband Jim, for 28 years in Honduras and Nicaragua a missionary nurse witht he Southern Baptist International Mission Board.  She has extensive experience working with children in various cultures.  Before going to the mission field Viola was a children's minister for Marin Covenant Church.  She has several devotional entries in Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore and Friends.  Based on her missionary experiences, Viola has written two children's books, The Man in the Green Jeep and The Daugher of no One.  Both books tell the story of missions through the eyes of children.  Viola's collection of mission short stories and novels opens a larger world view for teh child of today.  Viola is an accomplished speaker and captivates audiences with her dramatic monologues.

Lexi Smith

is an established blogger with an enthusiasm for helping others use technology to enhance their writing lives. She shares her experience and resources at BloggingForWriters.com. In addition to writing at Lexical Light, her personal blog, she earned a spot as contributor to Intellectuelle, a group blog on the Evangelical Outpost website. She also writes the content for 64mascots.com. She has taught in children’s ministry, public school and home school. She enjoys living and learning with her husband Jack and their five children in Round Rock, Texas.

Scott Sosebee

became the Executive Director and Editor of the East Texas Historical Association in 2008.  Dr. Sosebee manages and is editor in chief of the journal for the East Texas Historical Association.  He serves as an Assistant Professor of history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, specializing in the history of Texas and the American South.

Donn Taylor

is a poet and novelist who holds a PhD in Renaissance literature and has more than 20 years’ experience teaching poetry in liberal arts colleges. His poetry has appeared in Christianity and Literature, The Lamp-Post (Journal of the California C. S. Lewis Society), and other journals, as well as general audience publications such as the Presbyterian Record (Canada). His poetry collection Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond was published in 2008. His fiction includes a suspense novel, The Lazarus File, and a light-hearted mystery, Rhapsody in Red. He has also published essays on writing, literary criticism, ethical issues, and U. S. foreign policy. In a prior incarnation, he served in two wars with the U. S. Army.

Janice Thompson

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 fifty books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children's books and more.  In addition, she enjoys editing, ghost-writing, public speaking, and mentoring young writers.  She currently serves as Vice-President of CAN (Christian Authors Network) and was named the 2008 Mentor of the Year for ACFM (American Christian Fiction Writers).  She is active in her local writing group, where she regularly teaches on the craft of writing.  Janice is passionate about her faith and does all she can to share the joy of the Lord with others, which is why she particular enjoys writing.  She lives in Spring, Texas, where she leads a rich life with her family, hosting of writing friends,a nd two mischievous dachshunds.  She does her best to keep the Lord at the center of it all.  You can find out more about Janice at www.janiceathompson.com .

D D Turner

The Marshall News Messenger managing editor DD Turner has been in the newspaper business for more than 20 years, mainly at community newspapers.  She has been at the News Messenger for five years.  She was worked for the Del Rio News-Herald, Big Spring Herald and the Brownsville Herald after getting her start at a twice-weekly in Rockport.  She attended Del Mar College in Corpus Christi and Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, majoring in journalism.

Ana Walker 

is a native of Marlin, Texas, where she began her journalism career as sports editor for her high school newspaper.  She earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Baylor University and was editor-in-chief of the campus daily newspaper, The Lariat.  The Baylor faculty also named her Outstanding Woman in Journalism.  Her more than two decades in the field of professional newspapering includes reporting and editing jobs at The Herald Coaster in Rosenberg, The Baytown Sun, The Waco Tribune Herald, and most recently at the Longview News-Journal where she spent more than 19 years in various editing positions.  She was editor of that publication from 2003 until early 2010.  During her tenure at the newspaper, her staff consistently received statewide recognition in various journalism competitions and was also recognized for public service.  She has coached many a young journalist beginning his or her career.  Many of them remain on the staff of the News-Journal while others have gone on to bigger publications, including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Washington Post, the Austin American Statesman, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, The Arkansas Democrat and others.  Walker is also a columnist whose work has received recognition in various journalism competitions.

Lenora Worth

has written 40 books for three different publishers.  She reached a milestone in 2006 when she received her 25th book pin from Steeple Hill and Harlequin.  Her books have won both regional and national awards and she now has over 1 million books in print.  Currently she is writing both Love Inspired and Love Inspired Suspense for Steeple Hill.  Married to her childhood sweetheart, Lenora has two grown children.  She wrote a weekly opinion column for five years for the local paper and she recently retired from doing freelance work for a local magazine to concentrate on fiction writing.  Lenora lives in Louisiana.