You know how most writers are trying to win the attention of agents? Those of us who are on the MWW planning committee are writers in a very unusual position: We have to turn down agents who want to be on the faculty of our conference.

(REGISTER FOR MWW 2016 WHILE THERE ARE STILL SPOTS)

Maybe they just have always wanted to come to Muncie.

Maybe it’s that agents have discovered some pretty amazing writers at our conference (cough…cough…Veronica…Roth…cough).

We’ve had many agents tell them that we are their favorite conference. The thing is, we work them like dogs. They lead sessions, take pitches, give speeches, and review manuscripts. Still, they want to come back.

“Maybe next year,” we tell them.

Each year we get writers from all over the United States and sometimes from other countries. Folks travel for an entire day to get to our conference in Muncie.

Sometimes we scratch our heads and wonder why folks love the conference so much. 

(Jama on the bottom right in the pimp hat. That’s a sentence I never thought I would write!)

But really, we know why. We have a secret weapon. We call her Jama.

Jama is the executive director of MWW and the head cheerleader for every writer who attends. Her love, compassion, and enthusiasm for writers and writing is contagious.

Jama recently shared her enthusiasm for MWW on her own blog. She writes:

I’ve been connected to MWW since my sophomore year of college and now I’m a granny, so basically about 67% of my life. {Don’t let your brain explode trying to do the math, let’s just say that I’m no longer middle-aged.} First, I attended as a participant, then after my MWW-impacted manuscript was accepted for publication, I came on board as a committee member. Eventually, I became the director.

MWW set a torch in my chest for helping other writers turn their dreams into reality. That fire has burned in me for {redacted} years. It’s like a ministry for me. “Amen!” “Let’s make this happen!” I proclaim.

From the very beginning of my time on the committee, I’ve been called to cheer. And to serve.

From my way-back years to my now-year, I serve writers. Fiction writers, nonfiction writers, poets, and all those who are struggling to know what they’re writing. I serve writers who write mystery stuff, romantic stuff, inspirational stuff, children’s stuff, blog stuff, or scary stuff I’m too sensitive to read … and I even serve those who write their stuff on a Mac. Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll serve ‘em all. I love ‘em all.

I love so many of these MWW people more than I love a big ol’ hunk of chocolate. I love writers in all their diversity. I love that the common bond for all of us truly is that we want to be writers who make an impact.

Read the rest on Jama’s Happy Day Moment blog.

~ Kelsey