Mini Conference

One of the best treats a writer can give themselves is a day with other writers. There is nothing quite as contagious as a room full of individuals who share your passion. I recently enjoyed a mini conference with some southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana writers (see picture on the right). We were treated to a talented panel of speakers.

Terry Jude Miller is a poet from Houston, Texas. The recipient of many Poetry Society of Texas poetry awards, a Juried Poet for the 2011 & 2012 Houston Poetry Festivals and winner of the Global Peace Poem competition of the 2012 Tyler Peace Festival, his work has been published in scores of publications including the Texas Poetry Calendar, Harbinger Asylum, Postcard Poems and Prose Magazine, Everyday Poets, the University of Houston's Bayou Review, Ancient Paths, Orbis, Stepping Stones Magazine, Furnace Review, Shine Journal, Blue Skies Poetry, Survivor's Review, Live Oak Review, Lamplighter Review, Bijou Poetry Review, Chaffey Review, Foundling Review, Houston Literary Review, Boston Literary Magazine, the Edison Literary Review, and the Birmingham Arts Journal. Miller's books of poetry, are titled: "The Day I Killed Superman", "What If I Find Only Moonlight?", and "The Butterfly Canonical" and can be purchased at barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com. He is a member of the Academy of American Poets, the Poetry Society of Texas, the Gulf Coast Poets Society, and Poets Northwest (Houston). He is the creator of the Texas Poets Podcast. Terry is a retired professor of eMarketing and held an Innovation Fellowship at Kaplan University. More information is available at PoetTerryMiller.com.


Jessica Ferguson is the author of The Last Daughter, a romantic suspense. She is a staff writer for Southern Writers Magazine and co-editor of Swamp Lily Review, A Journal of Louisiana Literature & Arts. Jess worked as assistant editor/writer/photographer for The Times of Southwest Louisiana, and her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Louisiana and Texas. Her very favorite thing to do in life is to help and encourage others. Catch her blog at http://jessyferguson.blogspot.com.

Heather Duff, owner of Oxblaze Media & Marketing, specializes in building WordPress websites and developing content marketing strategies. Past clients include best-selling novelist Robin Lee Hatcher, as well as other authors and speakers. She enjoys generating creative ideas to help others establish and engage their online readership and grow their marketing platform. She recently published the first installments of a short story series on Amazon Kindle in the fantasy fiction genre and is currently working on its completion. Heather also works as a fiction ghostwriter. She lives in Lake Charles, LA, where she also serves as the communications director for her church.


Are you looking forward to any special gatherings?