Giveaway results! And a little request

Has it already been a week? It has! And as promised, here is the winner of Julie Daines' book Unraveled, A Tale of True Love. Thank you all who participated, and please, please, read this book. You'll love it!

Since there were only 10 entries, I used the old fashion method of strips of paper in a hat. Also, my assistant wanted to... assist, so I let him. Isn't he adorable? Who wouldn't let him help?

he almost fed the resulst to the dog, but then wanted to it instead

If you can read the name, props to you! If you can't here it is:

Yadira!!!!

Send me an email at yamile.s.mendez@gmail.com with your mailing address and I'll send you your book.

Thanks for participating!!!

One last thing before you all go:

A friend of mine has always wanted to write, and this is the year she will start, for real. The only thing is that she doesn't know how. I gave her some advice and shared how I started. One day, I found out about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. It was already November 6th, so I had missed almost a week, but I started anyway and went ahead and wrote my first novel. That was six years ago. After that came a lot of self-teaching, reading every book about the craft I could get my hands on, and, my favorite, writers' conferences. 

Will you help me in giving her some advice? How did you start? What would you do differently if you could back in time?

See you next week!!!

2012 HWG FAll Conference

Hello Writers!

As the president for this year’s HWG Fall Conference for writers in St. George, Utah, I want to encourage all of you to join us at this exciting event! Regardless of your level of writing experience—from the published author to the uninitiated, never-before-published authors!—this conference has something significant for every participant!

This year, because of the diversity of topics, the number of speakers we were able to procure, and trying to fit everything in during the two days of the event, we have break-out sessions during each day’s programming. I think we have prepared the sessions in such a way that everyone will be able to attend speakers who will be most helpful and informative.

The Lexington Hotel, the site of the conference, has reserved a block of rooms for those traveling from afar at rates lower than their normal rates for this time of year. 

Be sure to call the hotel at: (435) 628-4235 to take advantage of these limited available rooms.

In addition to the great list of speakers scheduled, this conference will be a two-day event for everyone to network with fellow authors and industry leaders. Be sure to bring your personal business cards and book info!

Finally, we look forward to our first-ever FREE community lecture on writing each night. The goal of this portion of the conference is two-fold: We want to give members of our community a chance to learn about the basics of writing. Second, we wanted to have a significant audience for our “Authorpalooza” event that will highlight authors who have books published. The Authorpalooza will follow each night’s free community lecture giving authors who have books to sell not only potential customers but also the opportunity to share their experiences with these interested folks!

Thank you for taking part in this conference and we look forward to spending two days of inspiration, motivation and information with you in St. George, Utah!

Virginia S Grenier
2012 HWG President
&
David W. Smith
2012 HWG Conference Chairman

Who We Are!

The Heritage Writers Guild (HWG) is a St. George chapter of the League of Utah Writers (LUW), a non-profit organization dedicated to offering friendship, education and encouragement to the writers, poets and illustrators of Utah. New members are always welcome.

Our organization is dedicated to the encouragement and improvement of all writers and illustrators in their various skills. Members are writers, poets and illustrators with various interests at all levels of skill and professionalism. We meet monthly to write, read and discuss our work. We share ideas and expertise on the art of writing or illustrating.

Learn more and download the registration packet at

http://heritagewriters.tripod.com/fall-conference.html

Best Advice for the New Year

By Julie Daines

The year 2010 is almost over.  Now is the time for taking stock of our accomplishments and preparing for the year to come.  New year's resolutions and all that.

Maybe we can help each other out here.  What is the best advice you received this year?  What chestnut of knowledge can you pass on to the rest of us?  What great truth about writing did you learn?  What was that one epiphany that changed your writing for the better?

It doesn't have to be profound, just a tidbit of wisdom that might help us improve our craft.  Everyone approaches writing differently, so what works for some may not work for others.  But we can still learn from each other.  It's easier than learning the hard way....

Here's something I got from local author Rachel Nunes:  "If you want to be a better writer, read better books."  Sounds obvious, I know.  But there's a lot of trash out there in the young adult genre.  And there's a lot of really great writing too.  Read the great stuff to elevate your own writing level.

Leave a comment with your piece of advice.