▼ CLICK BELOW TO EXPLORE ▼
A DECADE+ OF STORYTELLING POWERED BY THE BEST WRITERS ON THE PLANET

BE PART OF THE LEGACY

TAMPA BAY • FEBRUARY 23-24 2026

This FINAL encore experience will be unlike any other. Because like everything we do, it's been "reimagined" from beginning to end. It's not a virtual or hybrid event. It's not a conference. It's not a seminar, a workshop, a meeting, or a symposium. And it's not your typical run-of-the-mill everyday event crammed with stages, keynote speeches, team-building exercises, PowerPoint presentations, and all the other conventional humdrum. Because it's up close & personal by design. Where conversation trumps presentation. And where authentic connection runs deep.

A Simpler Time

It was a simple little place, out near the edge of the holler, simply known to all as “The Church”. A place to gather individually or as a family, a place to pray to the God they knew who heard and answered their prayers.

Not much to look at, just some logs for walls with openings cut into them for light, a simple roof made of shakes for keeping out the weather, and a steeple to help identify it. With an opening in the front wall that welcomed them, one and all. 

Come Sunday you could see walking through the holler from all directions, that special day they’d set aside each week to pay their respects, to the One who gave them life, nourished their crops, and healed their sick, the One who had set the sun, moon, and stars in place.

And, when things happened as we know they can, they’d make a special trip out to that little place, at the edge of the holler, laying their burdens before him, asking that He might mend the wrongs, making everything right.

It was a simpler time, a smaller world, a moment where life was about waking and working, eating and sleeping, and praying, being thankful for what one had, their God, their family, and their land.

Mike Sutton
Mike Suttonhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/703649711176635
Greetings from M L. Sutton, a born-again Christian and retired citizen of the Great Lakes State of Michigan, currently living in the Northern Michigan town of Cheboygan. A father of two wonderful adult children who also live in Cheboygan, and a husband of forty-three years, before losing my wife to a health-related illness in May 2020.  I began writing in a journal in April 2020, with the words and feelings that I had wished to express to my wife but could not because of pandemic guidelines and her illness. After her demise, I continued to write to vent the hurt, confusion, frustration, and sorrow associated with her absence in my life, culminating with the release of my first book, “To Lose a Soul Mate,” which was published by Xulon Press, and released to the public on September 25, 2022. In losing my wife, God had given me a gift, one that I could share with others, the gift of writing what my heart felt and my eyes saw, as though looking through the windows of my heart. This new gift allowed me the opportunity to see through the pain and grief of losing my wife and to recognize the beauty that had always been around me, but I had not taken the time to fully enjoy, or be thankful for it. I now write for enjoyment, as it gives me a sense of peace and comfort, sharing my material as a Featured Contributor on, BIZCATALYST 360°, The Writers Café, and Dirt Road Storytelling, both on Facebook, while also working on a second book, a collection of writings from both heart and soul; which I plan to have published at a later date.  Before that, I was enjoying retirement with my wife, after having worked for nearly 31 years for the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources, as a Park Manager in various parks throughout the state of Michigan. 

DO YOU HAVE THE "WRITE" STUFF? If you’re ready to share your wisdom of experience, we’re ready to share it with our massive global audience – by giving you the opportunity to become a published Contributor on our award-winning Site with (your own byline). And who knows? – it may be your first step in discovering your “hidden Hemmingway”. LEARN MORE HERE


CONVERSATIONS

RECIPIENT OF THE 2024 "MOST COMPREHENSIVE LIFE & CULTURE MULTIMEDIA DIGEST" AWARD

WE ARE NOW FEATURED ON

EXPLORE 360° NATION

ENJOY OUR FREE EVENTS

OUR COMMUNITIES