Conference Presenters Lookin’ Good
The 2011 Idaho Writer’s League Conference at Pocatello September 22-24 takes shape with Pocatello’s own Don Aslett, getting things rolling as keynote speaker. Invited back after his electrifying presentation at the 2005 conference in Pocatello, this nationally renowned housecleaning guru is a best-selling author and owner of his own publishing company. Often featured in national magazines, he has appeared on Oprah, Regis and Kelly Live, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and many other TV shows. Expect a power-packed, enthusiastic, informative, inspiring, and entertaining message.
Don Aslett
Saturday’s program will begin with a motivational speaker, John Boyd, from Layton, Utah. Founder and managing partner of J-Curve Sales and Author of The Illustrated Guide to Selling You, he was educated at the University of Utah-David Eccles School of Business. Like freelance writers, he prefers having control over how much money he makes and how he spends his time. He has spent the past 20 years helping others, including many freelance writers, get to the next level of sales, earnings, and satisfaction. He will cover defining yourself, selling yourself, standing out, attracting and making connections with buyers, eliminating worry, and using effective, easy-to-follow sales practices for writing and publishing.
John Boyd
Two presentations during each of five, hour-long sessions will fill the remainder of each day. Descriptions follow for presenters who have already committed to the conference. Keep checking here for updates as plans progress.
Heidi Taylor
“What Publishers Want to See” and “Writing Your Query” are topics for Heidi’s workshops. She also brings information on how electronic publishing affects the business of getting published and pros and cons of hiring an agent. A graduate of University of Utah, Ms. Taylor began working with Deseret Book/Shadow Mountain Publishers six years ago. She studied English and Creative Writing with some of the best creative minds in the business and works as a product manager in the areas of children’s, teen, and young adult fiction and non-fiction. Her current job includes working one-on-one with authors to acquire and develop their manuscripts from conception to publication. She has had the pleasure of working with New York Times Bestselling author, Brandon Mull, and his Fablehaven series as well as with Christmas Jar’s author, Jason F. Wright, and dozens of other talented writers, artists, and designers. She loves searching for diamonds in the slush pile!
In addition to her workshops, Ms. Taylor will listen to pitches on Friday afternoon.
Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson works from his home in Layton, Utah as an Internet entrepreneur, website developer and consultant. He is CEO of Customer Elite, a microsite marketing platform. A graduate of Brigham Young University, his married and has four children. His training and experience working with writers has taught him the importance of writers using electronics to take control of their own writing destinies. His presentation and a second one in collaboration with John Boyd will help conference attendees incorporate electronics more effectively into the business of writing.
Alan Davidson
Phyllis Davidson
Phyllis, a long-time member of Pocatello Chapter, IWL, has served the chapter diligently in nearly every office, kept the chapter alive at its lowest point, and even hosted chapter meetings in her home during the years when her husband was too ill to be left alone. She returned from teaching composition and research at Utah Valley University to the beautiful country home her husband built in the hills west of Pocatello. She attended Idaho State University to complete the education she started before marriage at Brigham Young University, taught in Pocatello’s public schools, and now in retirement teaches English as a second language. How she also finds time to write and get published is a mystery, but she accomplishes it. Since coming back to Pocatello, she has presented useful and inspiring composition lessons at chapter meetings, expertise she will share at the conference.
Phyllis Davidson
Deanne Porter Casperson
Deanne will lead workshops on writing lyrics for songs. From a family that made music part of daily life, Deanne attended Ricks College and Idaho State University. She married her biggest fan Kerry Casperson who teaches at ISU. They have four children and six grandchildren. Deanne’s composition, "God Bless America, Again," won a nation-wide songwriting contest and was performed during a rally at the Idaho State capital at the request of Governor Dirk Kempthorne. At the request of Idaho Congressman, Mike Simpson, it was performed again in Washington, D. C. during a National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and at a reception for international dignitaries along with another of her compositions, "In Idaho." She wrote "Time to Go Again" for a family to submit with adoption papers, songs for the national "Safe Place" program and the Public TV production, "An Idaho Family Christmas," and many others for special occasions and school productions. "Scrooge, A Musical Christmas Carol," she wrote, (including script, orchestration, and lyrics) and directed is being published by Harmony River Publications. Many of her songs can be heard on the “Sounds of Sunday” radio broadcast. Deanne currently teaches music at Snake River High School near Blackfoot and directs the girls singing group "Nuthin' But Treble." Besides making music, she enjoys trying healthy recipes and 4-wheeling.
 Deanne Casperson
Rod Miller
A perennial favorite at IWL conferences, Rod returns this September to share his expertise in workshops on short fiction, the essay, research, and marketing. Rod grew up in a cowboy family and rode rodeo while getting a degree in broadcast journalism at Utah State University. After trying professional rodeo, radio, and television, he settled into advertising where his creativity wins him many awards. His curiosity led to trying his hand at cowboy poetry, then short fiction, essays, magazine articles, and book reviews. Eventually he tackled book length biography, history, and novel writing. His works have appeared in many Western magazines such as American Cowboy, Western Horseman, and Range. He currently has six completed books, among them, The Assassination of Governor Boggs and Gallows for a Gunman, novels; John Muir: Magnificent Tramp, biography; and Massacre at Bear River—First Worst, Forgotten, history.
Rod Miller
Larry Morrow
After 45 years as a commercial cargo plane pilot, 25 of them flying heavy cargo internationally, Larry retired and moved to Pocatello. Thousands of narrow escapes, adventures, excessively extended work hours, and a constant bombardment of news that fellow pilots had crashed and died created unrecognized trauma, but when the excitement of his job no longer kept him on the edge, he recognized that something was wrong. He sought therapy and was diagnosed with PTSD. Learning that this disease is real, he followed his counselor’s suggestion to write, as therapy, about his experiences. He joined IWL to learn how to write. Recording his exploits has already led to one book soon to be published, and he has barely scratched the surface of his many narrow escapes. He will share how writing has helped him overcome the effects of PTSD brought on by his numerous close calls.
Bethany Shultz-Hurst
Bethany is well known to many IWL members for previous presentations at conferences. Her presentations are knowledgeable and interesting, and she teaches with great clarity. Her presentations this year on writing dialogue and more about poetry than she has already taught us are sure to be well received. Bethany teaches in the English Department at Idaho State University. She teaches in the English Department at Idaho State University, where she has been named a Distinguished Teacher and an Outstanding Public Servant. Her work appears or is forthcoming in journals such as Gargoyle, 5am, The Gettysburg Review, Rattle, and Smartish Pace. She received an MFA in Creative Writing, Poetry from Eastern Washington University.
Bethany Schultz-Hurst
Susan Swetnam
Upon completion of her PhD at University of Michigan in 1979, Susan came to Idaho State University where she is a professor of English. She discovered a great love for Idaho’s mountains where she runs, hikes, skis, snowshoes, and climbs. Indoors, she is an avid knitter and cook. Her work has evolved from the history and theory of the novel to research on and writing about western history and culture, Idaho pioneer stories, and food. Besides writing books, she is a freelance essayist published in numerous magazines. An avid foodways scholar, she has written for the Greenwood Press’ American Regional Cultures, and she contributed to a Smithsonian traveling exhibit on Idaho foods and culture. She has been writer in residence for Washington State’s Espy Foundation and has served on many review board for the National Endowment for the Humanities. She loves teaching, especially young writers, many of whom publish. Her expertise will greatly benefit those who attend her conference presentation on writing memoirs.
 Susan Swetnam
Vaughn Phelps
Vaughn Phelps began life in the same hospital as his father and uncles in San Francisco where his grandfather built turntables for cable cars. An uncle produced steel for the Golden Gate Bridge. Thinking to follow family tradition, Vaughn studied architecture. At work in an architectural firm, he found himself unhappily confined in an office, so he turned his engineering training to manufacturing law enforcement equipment. There he heard fascinating stories of factual cases, and his interest in writing was born. After four “poorly formed” (his words) novels, he took many college writing courses, attended numerous writing seminars, and joined several writer support groups. Drawn to screen writing, he found the writing exhilarating, but he did not enjoy the pitching to directors and producers the work entailed. He retired from the city lights to south central Idaho where the rural setting allows him tighter focus on writing. He will share his expertise during a workshop on script writing.
Vaughn Phelps
Gary Townsend
Gary Townsend, a member of Idaho Falls Chapter, currently serves as First Vice-President of Idaho Writer’s League. After earning a BA in English Language and Literature from William and Mary, he worked in Washington, D.C. as a personnel specialist and management analyst while completing graduate coursework in organization development.
After moving to California, he worked as a midnight shift manufacturing supervisor, which enabled him to attend daytime writer’s workshops—including the remarkable Pearle Silvernale’s in San Diego. Pearl’s workshop ran successfully for more than twenty-five years. She asked Gary, a member for three years, to write her workshop’s operating “Guidelines.” This lively group enabled Gary to finish a campus novel about the sixties while publishing poetry in William and Mary Review, Japanophile, and San Diego Showcase.
When Gary retired to Idaho (to teach music in Idaho Falls), he joined IWL and Merle Kearsley’s “Wednesday Nighters” workshop. He has hosted the group Merle founded ever since she moved to Driggs. His presentation, “Making Your Workshop Work,” is based on twenty years’ experience in critique groups.
Gary Townsend
Wallace J. Swenson
Wallace J. Swenson is an experienced writer, producing many short stories and articles as well as eleven novels. He’s currently working on number twelve. His first published novel, Morgan’s Pasture, was released by Three Muses Press in June of 2010. Retired twice, Wallace now writes full time and presents what he’s learned about writing at conferences and workshops when invited. He's the current President of the Idaho Falls Chapter/IWL and a past IWL Vice President. A native son of Idaho, he lives in Shelley with his wife of 49 years attending to grandkids and each other.
Wallace's presentation will center on the creation of a novel from concept to book signing. He'll touch on why we write, how it's done, seeing a book published and making one sell.
Wallace J. Swenson
Kitty Fleischman
Kitty Fleischman, publisher of Idaho Magazine, chose “Idaho History: keeping it alive and keeping it real” as her conference workshop topic. A patron of Idaho Writer's League, Kitty sponsors contests especially for its members.
After a career spanning from Michigan to Alaska to Boise as a journalist/photographer for UPI, she co-founded Idaho Business Review. When it sold, she worked around the nation for the new owners. However, this wife, mother, grandmother, and outdoor enthusiast preferred to be home in Boise and founded her mostly free-lance written, non-fiction publication. It covers Idaho history, heritage, recreation, and adventure.
Kitty Fleischman
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