 A.
K. Arenz
Mother of two
grown daughters and
grandmother of three, A. K.
Arenz has a two year degree
in office information
systems from
Northwest Missouri State University,
where she also worked for
several years. While with
the
College of
Education, A. K. assisted with the college
accreditation both at the
national (NCATE) and state
(DESE) levels. She’s found
this experience and that of
being administrative
assistant to the chair of
the Department of Computer
Science and Information
Systems to be invaluable
tools for her writing.
Since reading Walter
Farley’s Black Stallion
series as a child, A. K. has
been creating her own
stories. Her earliest
publication was in the
small, family-owned
newspaper where her
articles, essays, and poems
were frequently included.
From this early beginning,
she honed her skills through
university courses, studying
Writer's Digest, how-to
books on the craft, and
through frequent
submissions. In the
mid-nineties, her writing
earned her a stint with a
well-known
New York literary agency,
and, although it failed to
produce the hoped-for
results, her determination
to press forward eventually
led her to Sheaf House.
A. K. has had poetry
accepted for inclusion in
various anthologies, as well
as in the Maryville Daily
Forum newspaper. She won an
honorable mention and
publication in the chapbook
Look Who's Writing in
Northwest Missouri,
had an article published in
Family Safety & Health, and
was the creator, editor, and
head writer for a nationally
registered fanzine.
As a member of American
Christian Fiction Writers,
A. K. has found the
fellowship of both published
and non-published members an
inspiration. She has been a
judge in the ACFW Book of
the Year contest since 2005
and participated in judging
ACFW’s 2007 Genesis contest
for unpublished authors.
She lives in Missouri with
her husband and two
Himalayan cats. For more
information, go to
www.akawriter.com.
 Joy
DeKok
Joy
and her husband Jon live in
Minnesota on 35 acres of woods and fields
that includes a bullfrog
bog. They’ve been married 31
years and although childless
enjoy the love and
companionship of over 40
nieces and nephews as well
as the children of their
friends. Faith is a major
factor in Joy’s life. She
met Jesus when she was 15
and fell in love with Him.
She leads a weekly Bible
study, and as she studies
and shares Jesus’ Word with
other women, that love
affair continues.
Joy has
been writing most of her
life and also enjoys sharing
her heart and passion for
God with women as a popular
speaker. Marketing used to
scare the daylights out of
her, but somewhere along the
line she started to enjoy
it. In addition to writing
novels, is developing a
personalized marketing
toolkit for writers that
will be offered through
Sheaf House. The toolkit
will teach writers to
promote themselves and their
books without spending a ton
of money on PR. Joy has
begun coaching new writers
and encouraging them to
consider all the publishing
paths available to them.
You’ll find Joy on the Web
at
www.joydekok.com.
 J.
M. Hochstetler
Joan M.
Shoup, writing as J. M.
Hochstetler, is the author
of
One Holy Night as
well as of
Daughter of Liberty
and
Native Son, books 1
and 2 of her American
Patriot Series set during
the American Revolution.
When she isn’t writing
historical novels, she’s
tending to all the minutia
of running an independent
small press or happily
spending time with her
husband, daughters, and
grandchildren.
Born and reared in central
Indiana, the daughter of
Mennonite farmers, Joan
graduated from Indiana
University with a degree in
Germanic languages. After
moving to
Nashville,
Tennessee, she
worked for The Freedom Forum
First Amendment Center at
Vanderbilt
University, assisting with the development
and production of the only
weekly television program
devoted to First Amendment
rights, broadcast nationally
on PBS. She then spent
twelve years as an editor in
various capacities at
Abingdon Press.
Joan’s interest in the
American colonial and
Revolutionary War eras grew
out of the experiences of
her Anabaptist ancestors who
immigrated to
America from
Europe
seeking religious freedom.
She is currently developing
the subsequent books in her
series. Along with her
cousin, multi-published
author Bob Hostetler, she is
also working on a novel
about the massacre of three
of their ancestors during
the French and Indian War
and the Indian captivity of
the attack’s survivors.
Joan is married to a
truck-driving,
motorcycle-riding, retired
pastor, and they live in the
Nashville,
Tennessee, area whenever they are not exploring
the country with their
fifth-wheel camper. For more
information, visit
www.jmhochstetler.com.
 Deborah
Kinnard
Deb started writing at age
ten, frustrated because
there was no preteen girl
with a horse on
Bonanza. From there she
progressed to short stories
and really bad poetry. In
college, she gained two
degrees in health care and
spent time observing
hippies, basketball stars,
el-ed majors and other
strange species. While
raising two active girls and
cherishing her husband, she
has enjoyed a career that
encompasses Spanish
translation, volunteer work
at a crisis line, years in
assorted ERs that don’t
resemble the one on TV, and
a day job at a big
Chicago teaching hospital.
Deb keeps busy with reading,
playing the guitar,
participating in an outreach
team at church, and skiing
in the winter.
Deb
is a member of American
Christian Fiction Writers
and serves as secretary to
the Chicago-Northwest
Chapter. Her previous
novels, include
Powerline
and
Oakwood (Treble Heart
Books), and
Angel with A Ray Gun
(2006), “Something Borrowed”
in the
Brides And Bouquets 2007
anthology, and
My Silent Heart
(November 2007), all with
ByGrace Publishing. For more
information, go to
http://www.debkinnard.com.
 Kathi
Macias
Kathi Macias
is an award-winning author
of more than twenty fiction
and nonfiction books
including
My Son, John, the
bestselling devotional
A Moment A Day from
Regal Books, and the popular
Matthews mystery novels from
B&H. Kathi has written
commentary for Thomas
Nelson’s Spirit-Filled Life
Bible (Student Edition) and
was part of the devotional
writing team for Zondervan’s
New Women’s Devotional
Bible.
Kathi's latest nonfiction
release from New Hope
Publishers, Beyond Me:
Living a You-First Life in a
Me-First World, was named
"top pick" in the Christian
Retailing category by Christian
Living. Two other nonfiction
books are also scheduled for
release from New Hope
Publishers in 2009: How
Can I Run a Tight Ship When
I'm Surrounded by Loose
Cannons? and Mothers
of the Bible Speak to
Mothers Today.
Kathi has also ghostwritten
and collaborated on books
for several prominent
individuals including Jack
Hayford, Kevin Leman, Josh
McDowell, Rosey Grier, and
Richard Halverson as well as
for the Minirth-Meier
Clinic. She has published
numerous articles, short
stories, and poems in
various periodicals. She is
a staff member for The
Christian Communicator
Manuscript Critique Service
and a member of The
Christian Proofreaders and
Editors Network, Christian
Authors Network, American
Christian Fiction Writers,
Christian Writers Fellowship
International, Advanced
Writers/Speakers
Association, for whom she
serves as membership chair,
and Orange County Christian
Writers Fellowship.
A former newspaper columnist
and string reporter, Kathi
served for six years on the
staff of a large church in
Southern California where
she did biblical counseling, trained
small group leaders, and
oversaw support and recovery
ministries. She is a popular
speaker at churches, women’s
clubs and retreats, and
writers’ conferences, and
has appeared on several
radio and TV programs. A
mother and grandmother,
Kathi lives in Homeland,
California, with her
husband. For more
information, go to
www.kathimacias.com.
 John
Robinson
John Robinson is fifty-six
years old, married
thirty-five years to the
finest woman on the planet,
his wife Barb. The father of
two grown sons and
grandfather of two, he’s
also the retired owner of a
successful financial
planning firm. John hopes to
eventually go into full-time
writing, and as the author
of the popular Joe Box
suspense series, is well on
his way. He’s made some good
friends in the Christian
publishing world, including
Karen Kingsbury, Al Gansky,
and Christy-winner James
Scott Bell, all of whom used
their talents to help John
hone his craft. Visit John
at his
Website.
 Jen
Stephens
Jennifer
Stephens grew up in a small
Ohio town where she developed a passion for
writing at an early age. She
participated in Young
Authors contests in grade
school, wrote her first
novel in high school, and
wrote dozens of poems and
short stories in between.
She majored in elementary
education with a
concentration in English and
the humanities at the
University of
Toledo.
Jennifer
lives in the
Nashville,
Tennessee,
area with her husband and
two beautiful daughters. She
teaches third grade at a
Christian school and is very
active with the youth in her
church. A member of Middle
Tennessee Christian Writers,
she writes in her “spare”
time. Her first novel,
The Heart’s Journey Home,
will release in February
2010.
 Michelle
Sutton
Michelle Sutton is a mother
of two teenage boys and a
wife of eighteen years. She
resides in
Arizona and is
employed full-time as a
government social worker.
She has been writing for
over five years and has
authored nine novels and has
several proposals
circulating the market via
her agent. A member of
American Christian Fiction
Writers for five years,
Michelle was elected to the
ACFW board to serve as
Volunteer Officer. She is
the Editor and Chief of
Christian Fiction Online
Magazine, a member of her
local writer’s group, a
member of CWOW (Christian
Writers of the West), and
she is also their blog
mistress.
An avid blogger and book
reviewer, Michelle is an
active member a variety of
blogger communities. Her
contact and friends list is
extensive and her two main
sites receive around a hundred hits
per day. She has
endorsed eight novels and
has had book reviews
published on Novel Reviews,
Christian Book Previews,
Writer…Interrupted, Favorite PASTimes historical blog, as
well as other sites. To find
out more about Michelle just
visit her website
www.michellesutton.net.
|
Affordable
Christian Web Hosting
