RECENT NEWS & COMING EVENTS
OCTOBER 2024
October 10-12: We attended Ozark Creative Writers Conference in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, another of our favorite places. As usual, the conference was an encouraging and inspiring event, thanks to the wonderful board of directors and the quality speakers they bring in. We had a great time catching up with friends and meeting new people who share our love of writing. And we were honored to speak on our writing journey at the opening session on Thursday. Learn more about OCW here.
Several members of our writing group were in attendance, and were well represented at the awards banquet, with WCCW members taking in 34 awards. (Gary and I had 22 of those, with Gary the big winner overall.)
SEPTEMBER 2024
We spent a week recharging and relaxing at one of our favorite places, Perdido Key, Florida. I wasn’t able to get any writing done, but I managed to finish four novels that had been on my To-Be-Read stack for quite a while. I’ll be blogging about the diverse scope of my vacation reading soon.
August 31, 2024
The 29th annual White County Creative Writers Conference was held in Searcy. If you missed it, you can see some pictures and highlights here.
JUNE 2024
In June we attended the 80th annual Arkansas Writers Conference. We brought home a few awards, and had a great time catching up with some great writing friends.
MAY 2024
New Collaboration coming soon: Crimes, Sins, and Misdemeanors is a collection of short stories by twelve writers who were all given the same three word prompt. The results are a diverse group of stories that include something for everyone. We are excited to be included with this talented group of writers.
May 18: Book Signing
We held a book signing in Heber Springs at The Bookish Emporium of Arkansas. We love this independent book store, and were had a great time visiting with old friends and making a few new ones. If you haven’t been to this great Independent Bookstore, you are missing out. If you like books, you will LOVE this store located at 514 West Main Street in Heber Springs.
APRIL 2024
April 6: BOOK SIGNING
Gary and I held a book signing at the Pangburn Library Used Book Store. We had a great time visiting with friends and neighbors, and we sold several books. If you missed it and want a signed copy, get in touch with either of us.
MARCH 2024: New Release
Gary and I decided to try our hand at independently publishing a collection of our short stories. We learned a lot in the process and had fun, plus we are able to share some of our stories with family and friends in an inexpensive format. It is available as an eBook at most eBook outlets, as well as in print through most book retailers. Or you can reach out to one of us, and we’ll be happy to sell you one. We’ll be having some local signing events in the near future. I hope you enjoy the stories in Favorite Animal Stories.
FEBRUARY 2024
February got here in the blink of an eye. The contest season is not too far ahead, and it’s time to work on some ideas.
JANUARY 2024
With no hard deadlines looming, we were able to spend some time working on bigger projects that had been neglected. It’s cold here, and we both keep browsing for a sunny vacation spot.
OLDER NEWS______________________________________________
DECEMBER 2023
During our week at the lake, I organized a collection of western short stories by members of White County Creative Writers and created an eBook. There are twenty-one short stories by eight award-winning writers. You can find the Anthology here .
NOVEMBER 2023
November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. World-wide, thousands of people are committing to write an average of 1600 new words per month, with the goal of finishing a complete first draft of a novel in the month. It’s just the kick in the seat that some writers need to get moving on a project.
OCTOBER 2023
October 12-14
We attended Ozark Creative Writers Conference . The three day event in beautiful Eureka Springs, Arkansas, included 31 writing contests, multiple sessions, an open mic event, two banquet meals, live entertainment, plus an awards ceremony where contest winners were announced. You can view their website here. Gary and I love this special conference and the opportunities to visit with old friends and met some new ones. We compete to see which of us does better in the awards, but also cheer loudly for all our friends and fellow writers. We made plans for future collaborations with some talented people.
October 27-28
We attend OWL fall conference in Branson and had a good time meeting new friends and reconnecting with a few old friends. We enjoyed the speakers’ sessions and even brought home some awards. You can view their website here..
SEPTEMBER 2023
September 2
The White County Creative Writers Conference in Searcy is an annual must for us. As always, it was a great conference, with interesting and informative speakers. The conference included 27 writing contests this year in a wide variety of genres. There were 394 entries this year, another conference record. Gary and I came home with some awards, and some cash to help pay for our October trips.
AUGUST 2022: New Book Release
Thanks to Oghma Creative Media’s Young Dragons Press, my children’s picture book released August 30. It is available on Amazon.
You can read more about it the Young Dragon’s website.
I wrote the story about three years ago for a contest that called for Bigfoot stories. In 2020, Young Dragons Press sponsored a contest for a children’s story, so I made a few revisions and entered the story there. The story won first place, and they expressed interest in publishing it. I signed a contract with Young Dragons Press in September 2020, right before the publishing industry, along with most everything else, shut down due to the pandemic. Read my blogpost about the long road.
Toolshed Surprise is a fun little story, with a subtle, kind message. The illustrations are bold and colorful, and overall, I think it is a beautiful book. I hope you’ll check it out.