A belated note

I spent the week farther North, escaping the heat and enjoying some great outdoor activities, including swimming in the Great Salt Lake:

It's so salty you can back float with hands, feet, and head held out of the water. Pretty cool!

But although I missed the meeting August 12th, I heard it was a good one. Here's a bit about what happened:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

We have a speaker August 19th. Morgan St. James. Morgan is a member of the Henderson Writer's Group and the author of "Writer's Tricks of the Trade."
At tomorrow's Monday meeting she will be presenting "D is for Dialogue: putting words into your characters' mouths."

Here's a blurb about her presentation:

"Dialogue is a great way to reveal important back story, refer to a situation one or more of the characters knows about, or hint at what is to come. However, blocks of narrative often become information dumps. The trick is to strike a balance between narrative and dialogue--- keep the reader engaged with realistic patter."


BRAGS:

Congratulations to Darlien Breeze on being invited to speak at the Southern Utah Book Festival.
Congratulations to Natalie Fragiadakis on the publication of her ebook!


WRITING QUOTE:

"Ideas are like rabbits. 

You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." 

--C.J. Heck

WRITING TIP from Jo Wilkins:

"Avoid coincidences. If you create an unbelievable situation that the reader sees as an obvious way to fulfill the plot line, something that comes "out of the blue," the reader will not accept it. If your story has too many coincidences to fill in, catch up, or complete something you forgot to finish, you lose the trust of your reader. Unexplained things happen in real life, but they come off as unrealistic or contrived in fiction."

DID YOU KNOW?

Here are a few upcoming writing CONFERENCES within a day's drive:

The League of Utah Writer's Conference is September 13th and 14th in Salt Lake City. See more at http://luwriters.org/roundup.html

The Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Cold conference is September 20th-24th in Denver, Colorado. See more at http://rmfw.org/conference

The Writers of Southern Nevada Conference is October 11th-12th in Las Vegas. See more at http://nevadawriters.org

And here is some information about a few upcoming CONTESTS (And my thanks to Ann, who puts out a fantastic newsletter for her chapter of the League of Utah Writers, for the tips about some of these contests):

Gemini Magazine Flash Fiction Contest: $4 entry fee; deadline August 31. All six of the finalists published online in the October 2013 Issue of Gemini. For Rules and Guidelines, visit their website: http://www.gemini-magazine.com/contest.html
Romance: the Looking for Love Fiction Contest: No entry fee; deadline October 1st. Seeks unconventional love stories. $10,000 prize and publication. The contest is open to any professional or nonprofessional writer, regardless of nationality. One entry person. At least 50K words. http://www.quirkbooks.com/lovestories

Ceative Nonfiction Essay Contest: $20 entry fee; deadline November 1
For a future issue, Creative Nonfiction is seeking essays about mistakes--major or minor, tragic or serendipitous, funny or painful. Essays should combine a strong and compelling narrative and reach beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. Awards: $1,000 for Best Essay & $500 for runner-up. Essays must be previously unpublished - 4,000 word limit. https://www.creativenonfiction.org/submissions/mistakes

Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition: Entry Deadline: November 15th. These short stories must contain less than 1500 words. Early-bird fees are $20 per manuscript. There will be 25 winners. http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/short-short-story-competition

If you are looking for a writing contest, freelancewriting.com maintains a useful directory of contests, listed by deadline. Writers Digest also has a good collection of writing contests, which you can view here: http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/writing-competitions

CALENDAR:

August 2013 Sun       Mon      Tues      Wed           Thur           Fri                 Sat
	5 THE COFFEE HOUSE  in Henderson  6:30-8:30	6	7	8	9	10
11	12 Lutheran Community Church 6:30-8:30	13	14 Writer's Pen and Grill	15	16	17
18	19 THE COFFEE HOUSE  in Henderson Morgan St. James Speaking  6:30-8:30	20	21	22	23	24
25	26 Lutheran Community Church 6:30-8:30	27	28 West Side Meeting at Skinny Dugans 6:30	29	30	31
Sept 1	2  THE COFFEE HOUSE  in Henderson Hope C. Clark Speaking  6:30-8:30	3	4	5	6	7
8	9 Lutheran Community Church 6:30-8:30	10	11	12	13	14

Thanks for reading. 

-Jenny Ballif, Newsletter Editor