CFCWConference - Planning Committee

Introducing the Planning Committee

Mary & Nick Portzen, co-coordinators

Nick Portzen was born and raised in Dubuque, Iowa and joined the Army in 1970, at the age of 17. He was an owner/operator of a business in Wisconsin for 35 years. Widowed in 2018, Nick met and married Mary in 2021. With years of experience in cooking and catering, Nick will be providing the meals during our event. Nick and Mary speak together on the power of prayer in marriage and released their co-written book on the same topic, Soul Mates: Path to a Praying Partnership in January 2025. .

Mary Portzen, co-coordinator

Mary has been attending the conference since 2011 and became a speaker in 2012.

Mary Portzen graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in Psychology and is certified as a grief counselor. She co-coordinates the conference with her husband Nick. Mary is a widely published author under the name Mary Potter Kenyon, including hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, and essays in Guideposts and Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies. She has seven books published through Familius Publishing, including the award-winning Called to Be Creative: A Guide to Reigniting Your Creativity and Refined By Fire: A Journey of Grief and Grace. She and her husband released their co-written book Soul Mates: Path to a Praying Partnership in January 2025. Mary is a member of AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association).

https://www.facebook.com/marypotterkenyon1

https://marypotterkenyon.wordpress.com/

Sheri Shonk

Sheri Smith Shonk is a storyteller who loves surprises and great endings. Raised in Northern California, she now resides in Iowa with her husband and youngest three children. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a concentration in Creative Fiction Writing, from Southern New Hampshire University. Sheri loves trying new foods, family history, and listening to good music, particularly jazz when she writes.

“My desire is to write stories of real, flawed characters that experience the grace and restoration of God in a very real way, giving hope and light in a sometimes very dark world.”

Sheri has five self-published books, with the next book in the Houses of Hope Series, A Promise to Keep, just released December 20, 2024. She's at work on the next book.

Sheri can be found at: www.facebook.com/SheriSmithShonkAuthor

her blog https://pouringfromafullpitcher.wordpress.com

Find her books on Amazon.

Susan Hoffert

Susan A. Hoffert writes stories of daily living to warm a reader's heart.

Her pet adventures appear in several Chicken Soup For The Soul books and other anthologies.

Follow her Facebook at www.facebook.com/susanA.hoffert

Mary Jedlicka Humston

Writer/Poet/Speaker

Author and speaker Mary Jedlicka Humston’s poetry and essays have been widely published locally and nationally. She has won numerous poetry awards. She’s had a poem published every year since 2005 in the Iowa Poetry Association’s Lyrical Iowa. Thirty poems were published in past years in the Iowa City Press-Citizen newspaper. Another poem was displayed on the 2014 Krakow Wall of Poetry in conjunction with the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature. Humston has presented dozens of workshops, readings, and speeches on such topics as letter writing, poetry, writing, chronic illness, prayer, and Little Free Libraries. She coauthored Mary & Me: A Lasting Link Through Ink with Mary Potter Kenyon.

Like her on her “Mary Jedlicka Humston” Facebook Author Page, www.facebook.com/maryjedlickahumston

Darci Werner

Darci is our designated prayer warrior this year. Welcome, Darci!

A big Thank you to Joyce at T. J.'s Christian Book Store.

She's coming to the Conference this year and selling books for the speakers.

https://tjschristianbookstore.com/

Cherie Dargan, Webmaster

Cherie's first novel, Grandmother's Treasures, Book One, The Gift, was published in October 2022. Her second novel, Book Two, The Legacy, came out in October 2023 and Book Three, The Promise, was published in August 2024. Book Four, The Recollection will be published in June 2025. WordCrafts Press is her publisher.

She's already working on Book Five: The Sacrifice. Each book has dual timelines/dual narrators. "It's a little history, a little (quilt) mystery, and some faith, hope, and love."

Cherie is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) (https://acfw.com/)

Cherie lives in Cedar Falls & has been coming to the Conference since 2011. She's gained several writing mentors. One of her favorite titles is “mom” to her four children (Mikki, Sean, Jon, and Anna) and "grandma" to grandsons Corbin and Mason, 12 and 14, and granddaughter Nora, 2. Cherie is married to retired reference librarian/Tech Guru Mike Dargan, who serves as her tech support and cheerleader.

Follow her on Substack, https://cheriedargan.substack.com/

Follow her on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CherieDarganAuthor/

Her author website, www.cheriedargan.com

Her Amazon site, https://tinyurl.com/f8k2998z

Her publisher's website, Cherie Dargan | WordCrafts Press

Caption: Mary and her baby boy working on an article at her typewriter.

I love this photo! Doesn't it look like the baby is about to make an editorial comment? "Mom, break up that long paragraph."

This photo inspired my design of the website using vintage typewriters, laptops, and iPads.

Why attend the CF Christian Writers Conference?

Here Are Ten Reasons!

Get inspired.
Make a friend.
Meet a mentor.
Talk to published authors.
Reach for the next step.
Attend informative sessions.
Get questions answered.
Make connections.
Find out how other authors got published.
Enjoy nature & fellowship with other authors.
And maybe buy a book or two?

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