The professional highlight of my summer was attending the first ever Catholic Writers Conference Live organized by the Catholic Writers' Guild and co-hosted by the Catholic Marketing Network. Our turnout was small--we had more speakers than attendees, I think--but we offered three full days of presentations, pitch sessions with five publishers, and the most rockingly Catholic exhibitors floor ever, and extra programs. People came away energized, with new stories, helpful critiques and invitations to send their work to a publisher. I already know of one contract made based on contacts made at the conference!

On the show floor, we had a wonderful booth for the Guild where we featured member books, held signings, and made contacts with store owners, distributors and publishers. This week, I went over the booth notes, which included several leads on writing opportunities, some guest speakers for our Guild chats, some bookstores interested in our marketing newsletter, and even a place where we can apply for grants for the next conference.

Writing is no longer a solitary business, and in fact, with 250,000 books being published a year, only a few "fortunate" authors can go it alone. Because of that, I want to devote this month's tips article on how to get the most out of a conference or a writing group. I'd also like to encourage all of you to attend the Catholic Writers Conference Online, February 26-March 5. This is a totally free conference held via chat rooms and forums that' the CWG has run for several years now and it's always and excellent week. Registrations run October 1 through Feb 15 at www.catholicwritersconference.com. You do not need to be Catholic to attend, but you do have to promise to respect out beliefs.

Also this issue, Maria Rivera talks about writing and prayer life, while Maya Bohnhoff tells us more about the Baha'i faith. Enjoy!

Guest Columnist

Writing and Praying

By Maria Rivera

Looking back at my spiritual life, I have to recognize that my deepest prayers have always been accompanied by the need to write. At times, it was putting my needs or hopes in writing, at other times it was the need to write inspirational thoughts brought about from reading the Bible or the lives of saints, and sometimes it was easier to write than to speak the desires of my heart into prayer.

My writing journey started when my father gave me a Bible when I was in the 7th grade. My dad gave me one simple instruction: "Read the Psalms." In the words of the Psalms, I found sorrow, happiness and hope. I couldn't always identify with the depth, or the glory of it all, but I was entranced by the beauty of the words, the cadence and the honesty. Someone put to words their feelings; and thousands of years later I sat on my bed reading them, while whispers of sunlight snuck through the window onto the thin pages.

Not much later when life brought sorrow, happiness and hope, I read and I wrote. Occasionally I responded to the psalmist, with verses of my own – a battle of choirs, if you will. At first my verses were saturated with the angst of a teenager. But as I learned to better recognize God in others; in the beauty of nature and the perpetuity of the Sacraments, I wrote with inexplicable hope. Later when life opened up before me with options and, sometimes, fears; I wrote in poetry and prayer the desires of my heart. Before I knew it years had gone by and several journals had been filled with poetry, short stories, ideas, prayers, psalms of my own.

Today I can assure you, I pray by writing and write by praying.

María M. Rivera is a Spanish Medical Interpreter who writes on diverse topics. Her published articles include: "The Many Marys of Latin America" (The Catholic Herald); "Fatima by the Lake" and "Carmelite Ascent in Wisconsin" (National Catholic Register), "The Gift of Aunthood" (Canticle Magazine), and others.

Writing Tips

Making the Most of Conferences

By Karina Fabian

#1 Prepare your physical materials. Have your business cards handy, as well as any advertising freebies you might be able to hand out (like bookmarks and such.)

#2 Prepare your mental materials. Got a new book coming out, or a book you're trying to pitch? Have two "elevator pitches ready." (Elevator pitch: You have an elevator ride to tell someone about your book. What do you say? 100 words or less!) One should be geared toward editors and contain title, genre, word count and brief synopsis. The other, geared toward readers, might be more "back-cover blurb" style. I know of at least three people who got invited to send manuscripts based on an impromptu five-minute conversation because they were ready with their pitch.

#3 Prepare your online materials. Make sure your website and major social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, ShoutLife) are up-to-date. You never know when someone might look up your site.

#4 Swallow your shyness. Writers are by nature solitary creatures, but we're all friendly folk. (Yes, even the editors.) Say hello to people. Strike up a conversation in a line. Bring a few extra dollars to invite someone to coffee. (Coffee is short and non-threatening amount of time, while lunch during a conference can be seen as a commitment.)

#5 Put more than your name on your nametag. Put your book title, that you review books, your tag line--anything that will give others a clue as to who you are. It's also a great way to get a conversation started.

#6 Ask folks about their work. In addition to what they write and why they love it, find out about their publishers, agents, etc. This is the place to get the inside scoop.

#7 Ask folks what you can do for them. Are there editors looking for writers? (We found several at the conference/trade show who didn't take pitches.) If you have a book blog, would someone at the conference want to be interviewed by you? If you review books, are there folks who are looking for reviews?

#8 Make a "card catalog." When you get someone's card, tape it to one side of the page. On the other WRITE NOTES! Why did you talk to this person? What did he say? Does she want you to follow up on something?  Be sure, too, that the card has an e-mail address. Many people do not put e-mail addresses on their business cards because they want folks to go through their website. If you get a card while walking around, write notes on the back and tape it to the page so you can flip it over.

#9 Follow up. If folks asked for info, provide it. If they were interested in your book, send more info. If they bought it, thank them.

#10 Enjoy yourself! Conferences are a great time to renew your energy and enthusiasm for the craft.

Religion Research

The Bahá’í Faith — a Primer for Writers — Part 2

By Maya Bohnhoff

Bahá’í views of God, Manifestation and man.

In a little book called The Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh writes (expressing God’s point-of-view): “Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.” 

As in previous revelations, Bahá’u’lláh reveals God as a spiritual Being exalted above human comprehension. Still, we are noble beings, made in God’s spiritual image and capable of reflecting all of His virtues. The choice to do that (or not) is ours, but we can’t do it unaided. This is where the divine Mediator comes in. 

Bahá’u’lláh refers to these Mediators as “Manifestations of God”—as in Christ’s statement “I manifested Your Name to the men You gave Me out of the world.” They are vastly important in Bahá’í belief because They are the only Way in which we connect to God’s will directly. So whether a Bahá’í uses the word “Manifestation”, “Prophet”, “Avatar”, “Christ” or “Buddha” we are talking about a Being that we understand to be the very Face and Voice of God Himself—the Face He shows humanity so that we can understand and love Him. To a Bahá’í there’s no such thing as “merely” a Prophet or “only” an Avatar. This Being is our spiritual lifeline because He reveals the will of God for each age. 

What this means, in practice, is that Bahá’ís view Bahá’u’lláh, Christ, Buddha, Moses and other Mediators as being one and the same. Bahá’u’lláh illustrates this idea with a metaphor (paraphrased): God is like the physical Sun (in that He gives life and light to our spiritual world) and the Manifestation of God is a perfect MIrror that reflects that Light. If we mere humans are capable of a little reflective power, this Being is able to reflect that Light (the Holy Spirit) to a perfect degree such that we look at Him and “see” God. The Manifestation, then, is the Word of God in human form.

Be aware though that while Bahá’ís revere the Manifestations we do not worship Them. Worship is for God alone. But Their words are the Word of God, so study of the scriptures is very important to Bahá’ís, as is prayer and meditation, though the form of meditation varies widely. Bahá’ís are also exhorted to absorb as much knowledge about the world we live in as we can so that we understand our place in it and can work intelligently toward its betterment. 

What’s scripture? Chiefly the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, which are contained in over 100 letters and books written by Bahá’u’lláh Himself in Arabic and Farsi between 1852 and 1892. The originals are kept in an archive on Mount Carmel in Israel. We also regard the scriptures of previous revelations as sacred and refer to them as well for spiritual sustenance. It’s not unusual for a Bahá’í to quote as frequently from the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita, for example, as from Bahá’í scriptures.

Next: Bahá’í history 101A.