Great Homeschool Convention 2025!

Dear Friend,

The Great Homeschool Convention 2025 is less than 2 days away! Oh, my!

I can’t believe how quickly it sneaked up on me! I am so incredibly late posting this, but I did want to give a shout out really quickly that the Great Homeschool Convention (GHC) is coming and so am I!

How many years have i been attending GHC?

This will officially be my third year attending the Great Homeschool Convention!

Wow. Writing that out was a little bit shocking. I can’t believe this will be my third year! In one sense of it, I feel like I just started this whole journey. Now I’m heading into my third year! What?!

When did I first attend then?

It’s easy to do the math, but maybe you’re like, hey, wait a minute! You said this is your third year, and yet The Lost King’s Daughter has only been out for two years??

Well, you’d be totally right, my friend! The Lost King’s Daughter is now officially 2 years old! (Happy Birthday, Book 1!)

But this is my third year attending the GHC because my first-ever attendance was an insane whirlwind of an experience, and an amazing one at that!

How did I end up attending?

My sister’s friend, Meredith, said I should attend the GHC to showcase my debut novel, and my younger sister highly encouraged me to go. I was scared to death! The GHC was literally 2 weeks after I would hit publish on my book (yes, that’s right. At that point, I hadn’t even hit publish or announced my first book’s entrance into the world yet!). I was like, I can’t do this!

But God’s Hand was seriously in this endeavor from start to finish. After much prayer to determine whether I should even apply for acceptance into the convention as an exhibitor, I finally submitted my application to the GHC, and it went through without a hitch. I then scrambled to find booth décor, and I providentially found absolutely everything I needed 50% off!

Side note: this was an added fear. I’d already spent so much on cover design and formatting, and I’d not even sold a single book yet, so how could I rack up more debt by purchasing a booth and a bunch of decorations and books to go with it?!

But, as I said, God provided! To find everything that cheaply priced that early in the spring season was pretty amazing. God literally worked it all out, from appealing booth display advice freely given by my brother to fabric poster suggestions given by an exhibitor who had way more experience with conventions than I ever did to everything getting delivered on time. It went so smoothly, it could only have been orchestrated by the Lord. I was and am still so incredibly grateful.

An added bonus my first year at GHC…

I unexpectedly was graced with a chance meeting with the amazing Christian man and author, Chuck Black. He stopped by my booth with his wife and introduced himself and gave me advice and pointers. It was incredible. I still can’t believe I had the opportunity to actually, literally meet Chuck Black. An amazing Christian author who has been writing for decades all these incredible, Christ-centered, biblically-based, allegories for children and adults alike. And he is literally the nicest guy. No pretense. No arrogance or pride. He is the most humble man I’ve ever met. And his wife is so, so sweet! Gracious and beautiful, she was so delightful to talk to. She is also genuinely encouraging and uplifting.

I was definitely starstruck and so wildly encouraged by Chuck’s outreach to someone like me, who had no experience (and still doesn’t really) and no concept or idea at all of how to even go about completing these conventions.

But things didn’t stop there…I also met some other amazing people from the writing/publishing world who rallied around me and gave me advice and tips and emailed back and forth. All of that came from the Lord, and to Him alone I give glory for giving undeserving me that chance to experience all that at my very first homeschool convention. This was such a blessing in my life, especially when I was so unsure of myself and how publication would go and whether or not readers would even want to read my book; and I’m still grateful and appreciative of it all.

Is God’s Hand still moving?

Absolutely, God’s Hand is still moving! If you’re reading this right now, it’s only because His Hand led you here. I’ve got nothing to do with it. My sole desire is for you to be focused on 1) Christ, as all glory and praise should be given to Him and Him alone, and 2) and my book. Not me.

I want my book to be the one thing that you take away from this visit, aside from a geunine focus on Christ. I want my book to be used for His glory. I meant what I said in the Acknowledgement’s section where I stated that anything beautiful, appealing, well-written or well-described In the Shadow of Emerald Fire series is all due to Christ and Him alone. If anything is unworthy or poorly written or uninteresting, then that’s all me. Haha. Sorry about that.

Does this resonate with you?

I do hope this resonates with you, and that the words God has allowed me to write in The Lost King’s Daughter and The Heir somehow brings you closer to Him, strengthens your walk with Him, your faith and trust in Him above all things, and helps you to see that Christ is the One Who deserves our absolute devotion, praise, and thanks for all the blessings He has bestowed on us, whether or not we deserve them.

That’s the beauty of it. Christ still gives to us good things, even though we don’t merit the gift. Just like salvation. It’s so moving when you really stop and think about.

I hope you’ve found even this encouraging and uplifting to your soul.

Am i excited then to return to the GHC?

You obviously already know the answer to this question! YES!

It’s just so marvelous to have fellowship with the Christian homeschool community.

Last year, in particular, I met so many beautiful and creative and caring girls who love to read. We ended up chatting about all kinds of different things from cattle and ranching to training horses to writing to their hopes and dreams for the future. I loved every minute of it. And talking with their mothers who have the same mindset that my mom had when I was growing up is so refreshing. As an adult, I feel like I don’t get to see that a whole lot, and I love witnessing it.

And if you love quoting Princess Bride…I’m your girl! I had so much fun at the Dayton Teach Them Diligently convention quoting lines with the mom of a teenage reader! If you’re reading this, then thank you for that moment in my day! I so enjoyed that!

Needless to say, I am more than ready to meet up with old friends and new friends alike! I may be shy initially in-person because I’m such an introvert, but once I warm up, I’m pretty easy to talk to. 🙂 I might talk a tad too much. Haha.

So, where’s the GHC this year?

The GHC is at The Greater Columbus Convention Center!

Need to register?! Go here to sign up!

When is it?

The Great Homeschool Convention 2025 is this weekend! April 24th-26th!

Thursday night starts off the special Shopping only exhibition, starting at 5:00pm and ending at 8:00pm.

Then come back or start your day on Friday for shopping, speakers, and lots of great events. Doors open at 9:30am and close at 7:00pm.

Last day to shop, look at anything and everything homeschool, and, of course, visit me, is Saturday! Doors open at 9:30am and close at 5:30pm.

I hope to see you there!

What’s my booth number?

It is number 715!

Do you want a simple but fun freebie?

Come visit my booth! I added a little extra special something for this Great Homeschool Convention in 2025. It’s just small and won’t last, but I thought it would be fun to incorporate it into my booth setting. And best of all, it’s free!

Also, I need to know your thoughts on it and obtain your honest feedback. So, please stop by and see what it is, and then let me know whether or not you like it. If you do, I’ll try and improve upon the existing item. If not, I’ll head back to the drawing board, and/or you can let me know what you’d most look forward to seeing at my booth!

Have I ever been to Columbus before?

I’m excited to have this unique opportunity to attend the GHC in Columbus, as I spent almost 4 years of my life in the good, ole city of C-bus! It’s a little bit like returning home, but not?

I am looking forward to seeing my sister, too. She’s arranged her work schedule to help me out a bit during the days I’m at the convention! So, I won’t be alone afterall, and you’ll see a new face alongside me. I thought maybe I’d have to do the GHC by myself, as I did with Teach Them Diligently, but God’s provided a helper, and I’m grateful my sister’s willing to man the booth with me as much as she is.

Which of my books will be available for purchase?

Book 1-The Lost King’s Daughter and Book 2- The Heir! Purchase Book 1 or Book 2, or purchase both and save!

Book 3 is still in the editing stages! I apologize if you’re disappointed and were hoping to see it this year! I knew it wouldn’t make it to production by the time the GHC rolled around, even though the convention is later in the year than usual. Book 3 is just too massive to get done super quickly! As with the first two books, I want Book 3 to be the best it can be for you, so that you’ll have an equally delightfully enjoyable time consuming the remainder of Finockt’s story. And since it’s the final book…it has to be perfect!

On a budget?

If you’re on a budget, but you’d still like to purchase my books, then ask me about discounted options!

I’ll be up front, these books will be discounted secondary to bumps and bruises they received during shipment. It made me sad to see some of them so maltreated, but if you don’t mind a little bump or two, then this might be a great option for you to still get my books but at a price you couldn’t get elsewhere!

Come ask me about them!

See you soon!

I hope you’re able to come and visit me! I can’t wait to meet you in-person and learn more about you and just chat about anything and everything!

Hope you have a great couple of days, and see you very, very soon at the Great Homeschool Convention 2025!

Until then…take care, and God bless xoxo