Belinda Pollard

Lynne Castelijn writes stories about life in a Philippine jungle for social media. She reveals her unique style and format, and how vulnerability, though terrifying, has created deep connections with other people.

Bible translator Albert Castelijn has spent 28 years as a missionary worker in a remote village in the Philippine jungle. He shares the practicalities and the miraculous moments of working with words across culture and language barriers.

Karen Kepert, Christian songwriter and author of the children’s picture book Scruffy and Silk, talks about the challenges of packing a lot of meaning into a small word count, and how her songwriting began seemingly from nowhere and grew in surprising ways.

Author, blogger, and Instagrammer, Nicci Toomey, began blogging her way through a very difficult time in her life, and her writing grew into a book and a ministry.

Laura Thomas, who describes herself as a late bloomer in her writing career, speaks about facing rejection and finding support on the path to publishing 9 books across non-fiction, romantic suspense and teen and children’s fiction.

Chrissy Garwood, author of the River Wild Christian Romantic Suspense series and the YA Fantasy River series on being a ‘genre butterfly’ and how she dealt with the idea that someone in Christian ministry doesn’t sit around inventing stories.

Donita Bundy, author of the Armour of Light Christian urban fantasy series, former Somerset Writer in Residence, high school creative writing teacher, blogger and preacher, on writing multiple first-person POV and the challenges of faith-driven creativity.

Nikki Florence Thompson, writing teacher and author of the memoir Fight, Flight and Faith, shares how an unusual partnership with a good editor helped strengthen and refocus her book, and about God’s tenderness in comforting and encouraging the fearful.