With over 20 years in the business, Lee Warren has written 17 books and hundreds of articles for various newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently writes for “The Pathway” newspaper in Missouri, “Living Light News” in Canada, and ChristianExaminer.com
This award-winning writer is also a contract editor for E-Moon Publishing and Bold Vision Books, and is on staff with The Christian Communicator manuscript critique service. He is a certified CLASSeminars trainer, and has taught at Christian Writers Conferences throughout the United States.
Lee will be teaching the workshops Beyond ABC’s (Friday night), Understand Your Publishing Options and The Nuts and Bolts of Indie Publishing. Visit the workshop page to learn more.
We asked Lee a few questions to help you get to know him better.
Do you set goals for the new year? If so, does it help you produce more? I set goals and I set up systems to achieve them. Without a system (an actual plan), goals are just hopes. /This year, I’ve set a walking goal of 8,000 steps per day. My system for achieving this is to walk 2,000 steps before work, 4,000 steps after lunch (usually on a treadmill at the gym), and 2,000 steps at night./I’ve also set a reading goal of 30 minutes per day. My system for that is to listen to audio books while I walk, usually at the gym. And then to read on my Kindle app before I fall asleep each night./I track both goals with an app on my phone called Persistence. One glance tells me whether or not I’m staying on track for the year.
Who influenced you most in your life…what/how/why?My grandfather Ed on my dad’s side of the family./My parents divorced when I was eight years old. My dad wasn’t in the picture a lot in the first few years afterward, but Grandpa Ed stepped into the gap. He took me fishing and for walks in the woods. We piddled around in his workshop. And he taught me how to shoot a BB gun (after I passed his stringent safety exam). But more than all of that, he was a quiet, faithful presence in my life – showing up to fix things around our house, slipping my mother money when she needed it and always being available to talk./Recently, one of my family members told another family member that I’m like Grandpa Ed. If that’s true, it’s because of him.
What is your favorite part of a writing conference?Making genuine connections./I taught a class at a conference last summer in which someone asked me how to stick to a consistent writing schedule, especially since she has a family. She wanted to help her family understand that her writing time was important. I told her they will only come to such an understanding if she protects her writing time. Not that she should neglect anybody, of course, but her words matter. And when she protects the time it takes to produce them, like she would protect her devotional time, then her family will see how important her writing time is and begin to take it seriously, too. I think we both had tears in our eyes after that conversation.
Visit Lee on his website to learn more about what he writes and his editing services.