The 2019
LWaS program welcomes Connie Leonard and Ann Boyles as our presenters this year.
Connie
Lewis Leonard will present, “Called to Write.” Why do you write? What are your
goals? What do you do when you get discouraged?
Lenoard
is an accomplished novelist and active journalist who writes fiction and
nonfiction. As a journalist, she regularly writes inspiring personal interest
stories about people who make a positive difference in the world. Her articles
can be found in multiple regional magazines published by Green Fox, With You in Mind Publications, and RedFinn Publications.
Leonard’s
latest Christian romance, Play Me back
Home in Texas, was released on Amazon in October 2019. Other books include Light up My Life in Texas, Somebody Somewhere in Texas, A Psalm a Day, and Big C, little c.
A
retired public school teacher, Leonard shared her passion for writing with her
students, encouraging many young writers to pursue their writing interests. She
has a Master of Arts in English and Education from Midwestern State University
and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Angelo State University.
Ann Boyles will present “How Subtext Can Create the Aha! Moment.”
Discussing an awareness of how subtext functions, how it can increase our skill,
and utilizing it to enrich our writing and capture our reader.
Boyles has written three novels that make up the series, Dragonfly
Trilogy. The stories are set in the mid-nineteenth century, primarily in Japan.
She is in the process of self-publishing and expects to launch her books
beginning in early January 2020.
Her Japanese settings harken back to a specific call God gave her to
Japan after she joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. She lived in
Japan for four years, where she taught English Bible studies as well as met and
married her missionary husband. She briefly met her Japanese cousins there, not
knowing she would someday write fictional stories about their common ancestor,
her great-great-uncle, the first American consul in Nagasaki.
Later, for thirteen years she directed the Dallas Baptist University
Intensive English Program for international students. Additionally, she led
teams for summer English camps and seminars in Taiwan, mainland China, and
South Korea. Officially retired now, she still teaches an international course,
“Developing the Christian Mind,” at DBU.
Boyles is the winner of the 2018 ACFW Genesis award and the ACFW
Virginia Crown award for historical romance. She believes these awards belong
also to her many mentors who came along to assist her, first in North Texas
Christian Writers, then for several years in the ACFW critique group at Janice
Olsen’s home, and currently in the local ACFW DFW group. Connect with Boyle at:
https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethAnnBoyles/.
The meeting is followed by a pay-your-way lunch at a nearby restaurant
for further fellowship and networking.
