I’m a tiny bit jealous of those of you who live in Texas. Coming up next month, your state will be the center of the world for all who are interested in Christian publishing. Forget New York or Nashville, Dallas is where it’s happenin’ in September.

So, what’s going on? For starters, the North Texas Christian Writers’ Conference will be held September 8-9 at the Cross Timbers Community Church. From the online map, it looks like it’s somewhere between Ft. Worth and Dallas.

There’s a Writing Contest open to all who register for this conference, and you can still make the deadline, if you send in your submission by midnight on Wednesday, September 7:

CONTEST ENTRY CATEGORIES
Adult Fiction Novel, one chapter, including 1-2 page synopsis.
Children’s fiction short story or book, up to 1200 words.
Devotional, 600 word maximum.
Poetry
Non-fiction Book, one chapter and 1-2 page synopsis.
Non-fiction Article, 1800 word maximum.The faculty at this conference look amazing

You can read about the 17 faculty members here — these people are amazing!

Well, in case you can’t make it to that conference, you have another chance coming soon. The annual American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference will be held in Dallas from Thursday, September 21 to Sunday, September 24 at the beautiful Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum at the Galleria.

The keynote speaker will be Liz Curtis Higgs, who won the 2006 Christy award for her novel, Whence Came a Prince. I reviewed one of her books in my July Book Buzz column for Christian Women Online. I would LOVE to hear her speak.

If I lived anywhere near the Dallas area, I’d try to go to this conference — It looks like way too much fun. Hundreds of writers who love inspirational books — and surrounded by shops, restaurants, and bookstores. It’s almost too much.

So, Texas ladies, are ya goin’? 🙂

P.S. Congratulations to Carol, the newest addition to the CWO Blogging Team.