Idahowritersleague's Blog

2010 marks the 70th anniversary for the Idaho Writer’s League. The Coeur d’Alene chapter hosts the conference this year. Located at the Best Western Coeur d’Alene Inn at Appleway and Highway 95 in Coeur d’Alene, the conference runs from Thursday,  September 23, 2010 through Saturday, September 25, 2010. Information on the speakers, workshops, schedule, and related activities are available on this blog site.

Use the page links above to view the schedule and see a full list of presenters. Scroll down to see full bios for our featured authors and presenters.

Bio:

Frank became a police officer in 1993 after serving in the U.S. Army. He writes crime fiction set in River City.   To date, that includes three novels (UNDER A RAGING MOON, HEROES OFTEN FAIL and BENEATH A WEEPING SKY), two anthologies (ebooks THE CLEANER and NO GOOD DEED), over fifty short stories in a variety of venues, a forthcoming novel (AND EVERY MAN HAS TO DIE, March 2011) and anthology (DEAD EVEN, Fall 2010).

In addition to writing, Frank is an avid hockey player and a tortured guitarist. His wife, Kristi, and his three children are about the only folks who will watch him do either activity.

You can keep up with him at http://frankzafiro.com or his blog at http://frankzafiro.blogspot.com.  He is also actively on Facebook.

Frank also writes under his given name and you can check that out at http://frankscalise.com and http://frankscalise.blogspot.com

Workshop: Mystery Writing (With T. Dawn Richard)

Patrice Lewis is a freelance writer, author, and columnist, blogger, speaker, homesteader, wife, and mother.  She writes for a number of magazines and online sources on the subjects of homeschooling, craft businesses, parenting, frugality, rural living, farming, simplicity, preparedness, green living, and conservative socio-political commentary.

She is the author of the ebook “The Home Craft Business: How to Make It Survive and Thrive.”

http://patricelewis.com/index.html

Patrice writes novels under the name Patrice Moore. Her fiction works can bee seen at http://www.patricemoore.com/index.html

Workshop: Tally Sheet (With Chuck Lyons One-Sheet)

Workshop: Freelance Writing Patrice contributes articles to publications such as “Countryside Magazine”, “Crafts Report Magazine”, and WorldNetDaily.com and will teach us about freelance writing.

Chuck Lyons, author of Shanghaied Heart and Love on His Mind, grew up in the Yakima Valley of Central Washington State during the late 1940s to early 1960s. His upbringing flavors his writing, treating his fiction readers to a taste of the rural setting and values of those times.
He graduated from Washington State University, then worked 30 years as a Mechanical Engineer/Project Manager for several major manufacturing firms in Spokane, as well as surviving a two-year stint in the oil fields of Eastern Saudi Arabia. Amidst the lonely boredom of desert construction camp life, he studied photography and took up writing fiction.
He prefers plots in which a strong romantic theme underpins the story, demonstrating that reason, honesty, and personal strength form the foundation of all heathy relationships.
Semi-retired but still designing machinery and writing technical documentation for fun, he lives north of Spokane with his wife, Barbara. In this peaceful, rural setting he collects antique tractors, trucks, steam, and other machinery for his extensive museum.

http://chucklyonsauthor.com/

Workshop: Preparing a One-Sheet (With Patrice Lewis – Tally Sheet) If you would like a concise way to present information about your book to a potential agent/publisher, the one-sheet is a great way to do that. Chuck will discuss the elements of an effective one-sheet.

Coloring outside the lines is an activity that resonates with Barbara Hollace. At an early age, she took the road less traveled and has never looked back. Her formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and a Juris Doctor degree. Writing is her passion and her life experiences provide lots of writing fodder. Currently, she is an Associate Editor for a New York firm and founder of Hollace Writing Services. She balances this against her own writing pursuits including a novel series in process.

Barbara self-published her first book, From Dust to Dust, a poetry collection in 1985.  Other writing accomplishments include contributions to Mistletoe Madness edited by Miriam Hess, 2004, A Cup of Comfort for Military Families edited by Colleen Sell, 2008, Faith Hope and Healing by Dr. Bernie Siegel, 2009, and The SpokeWrite Journal, Spring 2009, Summer 2009, and Winter 2010 issues. She is also a blogger for the Seattle P.I, Apartment Living. Recent winner of the NABBW (National Association of Baby Boomer Women) Writing Contest, Barbara will be offering a free teleseminar, Pursuing Your Passion, on September 16^th. For more information, check out her website, www.barbarahollace.com

Workshop Title:

Writing Outside the Box: Developing Your Skills and Building Your Platform

Description:

As writers, we are passionate about our message, whether that is a novel, short story, poem, children’s book, or magazine article. We often have a goal in mind, and at times, several of them. But in our journey from where we are to the finish line, there are miles of uncharted territory. The swamp is filled with pitfalls and perils including countless hours of editing and the hollow echo of rejection until ultimately, we reach the summit with shouts of victory.
Writing Outside the Box offers suggestions about how to hone your skills and present a better finished product. Yes, you can have fun on this learning journey and even make a few bucks along your way. We’ll also talk about the ever elusive term, “your platform” and what you can do to build your clippings file and notoriety.

Deby Fredericks has been a writer all her life, but thought of it as just a fun hobby until the late 1990s.  She made her first sale, a children’s poem, in 2000.

Fredericks has three fantasy novels out with Dragon Moon Press, The Necromancer’s Bones (2009), Too Many Princes (2007) and The Magister’s Mask (2004). The Magister’s Mask was a finalist for the 2005 Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPIE) in the fantasy category.  She is just putting the finishing touches on a new fantasy novel and shopping around a middle grade fantasy, The Wyrm’s Way.

Her children’s stories and poems have appeared in magazines such as Boys’ Life, Babybug, Ladybug, and a few anthologies.  She also serves as Regional Advisor for the Inland Empire Region of the Society of  Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, International  (SCBWI).

Deby’s website is http://www.debyfredericks.com/

Workshop: Queries and Cover Letters. Before you are published you need someone who will read your work. Creating an effective query and cover letter gets the process going. Deby shares with us her expertise on this popular topic.

Dr. Mark William Cochran is a long time member of Toastmasters International and has been recognized as a Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest award a toastmaster can receive. He is a popular educational presenter at Toastmasters conferences and a highly acclaimed speaker in the chiropractic profession. Mark has published articles on the subject of public speaking and has won numerous awards in inspirational, humorous, impromptu and evaluation speech competitions.

Mark is the author of Oby’s Wisdom! A Caveman’s Simple Guide to Health and Well-being, recently published by Bitterroot Mountain Publishing, LLC. Oby’s Wisdom placed first in the 2009 Idaho Writer’s League nonfiction book contest. Check out Mark’s website at http://www.obyswisdom.com/

Workshop: Public Speaking for Authors. Your book is written. Now what? The process of getting your book published and on the bookshelves requires talking to people. Pitching your book to an agent or promoting your book to readers means talking. Mark will share with us many things he has learned from his years with Toastmasters about public speaking.

Barbara Rostad is an award-winning poet including the IWL Vardis Fisher Award for Humor in 2004. A journalist, she has been writing for the Rathdrum Star from 2005 to the present. A versatile writer with degrees in journalism and sociology plus teaching experience in English, speech and sociology, Barbara has published poems and articles and edited newsletters plus a book describing a cross-country ski program for visually-and mobility-impaired persons. In addition she has reported stories for several weekly and bimonthly newspapers and  also has experience as a research analyst and editor as well as other technical writing and editing. A short story of hers appeared in Kaleidoscope, A Collection of Tantalizing Tales, 2003 and articles in Idaho Magazine, 2005.  She has belonged to IWL since 2000.

Poetry Workshop: Barbara will share her talents and expertise with poetry with conference attendees.

Nikki Arana is an award-winning author of women’s fiction, essays, poetry, and magazine articles whose work has been published in the United States and Canada. She has won numerous national awards, including the American Christian Fiction Book of the Year for Women’s Fiction, the Beacon Award, the Excellence in Media Silver Angel Award, the Write Touch Readers Award, and others. Her book, The Winds of Sonoma was named One of the Top 20 Books of the Year by Christianbook.com. All of her books deal with social, political, and spiritual issues that confront society today.

Nikki is also the recipient of the Jessie Cameron Alison Writer of the Year Award and the Idaho Writer’s League Writer of the Year Award. She is also a professional editor and scout for the Natasha Kern Agency.

The Book is Written . . . Now What? How to improve your chances for a sale.

This class is for authors who are getting ready to submit or those whose submission has been rejected. The class will give numerous specific suggestions about how to build a resume for yourself . . . and your book. How to craft a 10 second pitch for your book to use at conferences. How to write a successful query letter to an agent. And a 16 point evaluation of different elements of the craft of writing to determine if your manuscript is really ready to send out.

Visit Nikki’s website at http://www.nikkiarana.com