An Introduction

My name is Carlton W. Hughes, and most of you may know me as the emcee of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference for the past two years. I'll be blogging here occasionally, but it has been suggested that I tell you a little about myself.

I was born the son of a poor wheat farmer . . . oops, just kidding! Seriously, after stints in Virginia and Michigan, I grew up in extreme Eastern Kentucky near the border of Southwest Virginia. I was an only child, so I developed a vivid imagination.

I earned college degrees in the communication fields and spent 3 years teaching at a community college in West Virginia before returning to Eastern Kentucky to teach. I have been married to my wonderful, beautiful wife for 14 years, and we have 2 sons.

I accepted Jesus into my heart a little over 10 years ago, and He has literally rocked my world. First He called me to be the Children's Pastor of my church. Evidently He has a sense of humor, seeing that I had always said that I would NEVER work with young children. I have learned to never say "NEVER!" Through my work there I got involved with Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse and currently serve as our county's coordinator for that wonderful project (visit http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ to see how you can get involved).

I have always been a creative person and had dabbled in writing over the years, but God seemed to "stir the gift" when I began working in children's ministry. I began writing material for my work--Christmas plays, VBS curriculum, skits, and on and on. I became the "go-to-guy with the pen" when anyone in the church needed something for any special event or program.

One day I will write about the many "God-incidences (as opposed to coincidences)" that led to the publication of some of my work, but I don't have room to do it in this post. Suffice to say, God is good, and He has placed some wonderful people into my life (many through KCWC) to help me and to encourage me on this writing path. My most recent publication is an essay in the book Simple Little Words, from Honor Books/David C. Cook. Visit the website at http://www.simplelittlewords.com/. Buy the book, tell them I sent you (shameless plug!).

Currently, I am still writing for my children's ministry and have several other projects in the hopper. I covet your prayers as I seek God's will in my writing and as I step into some "new shoes" for KCWC.

Some fast facts: my favorite food is chocolate; my favorite TV show is I Love Lucy; my favorite movies are Facing the Giants, Hoodwinked, and Because of Winn Dixie; I am a huge Christian music fan and have favorites across the genres, although Avalon and Steven Curtis Chapman are a couple of my all-time faves; my favorite Bible verse is Isaiah 41:10 (look it up!); my Bible hero, other than Jesus, is Joseph (Old Testament); my earthly spiritual hero is Joni Eareckson-Tada.

May God bless your writing, Carlton!