New Release: In Darkness

Special boxed set of the In Darkness series in both print and eBook out now!

In Darkness

By L. Diane Wolfe

Romance-Paranormal / Fantasy-Paranormal / Romance-Science Fiction

Print ISBN 9798988625148 $17.95, 342 pages

eBook ISBN 9798988625155  $8.99

Four souls shrouded in darkness…

A wary vampire relying on the assistance of a young woman to guide his clan to an ancient fortress. A talking shark with no knowledge of his earlier life who befriends a girl with issues of her own. A werewolf trapped by his secret smitten with a young woman battling trust issues of her own. And an alien devoid of all emotions pledged to a Terran woman determined to keep her own feelings intact.

These souls must discover the power of love if they hope to escape the darkness surrounding them…

LINKS:

Amazon print –

Amazon eBook - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWYM915Q  

iTunes - https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6476887107

Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940167675377

Kobo - https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9798988625155\

Gardners - https://www.gardners.com/Search/KeywordAnonymous/eBook?Keyword=9798988625155

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206112336-in-darkness

A professional speaker and author, L. Diane Wolfe conducts seminars, offers book formatting, and author consultation. She’s the senior editor at Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. and contributes to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

“…it’s a brilliant read and I found myself engrossed in the story…” The Strawberry Post 

“I am so shocked because I loved this book so much and it was a book that was so unlike anything I have ever read.” – A Ravenclaw Library 

“The author's technique of raw, magnetic characters and great plotlines is a gift. A very unpredictable story, my favorite kind!” 5 stars – Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews

TWITTER:

In Darkness boxed set by L. Diane Wolfe Amazon- https://tinyurl.com/ymu9488u iTunes- https://tinyurl.com/4s2t9nzf B&N- https://tinyurl.com/jpw6a8j4 Kobo- https://tinyurl.com/5rbb3cx2 #parnormal 

Planning for a Week of Love

Many are already making plans for the next holiday, but did you know there is actually an entire week of love that thousands celebrate? Most of the people I know only celebrate, or dread, the most famous day which is Valentine's. However, according to multiple sites, there is an entire week of love and each day leading up to Valentine's has a significant meaning or purpose.

According to those love experts, the days are as follows:

 

While I love flowers and jewelry, my family and friends know my favorite gifts are a good book and chocolate.

Interested in a few FREE romantic flash fiction pieces? Try my stories:

Thankful Every Day
Madame Tooshkas Spell
Masters in Love
Love's New Beginning

Or order the last IWSG anthology on the right - First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts.

Not sure what to get the writer in your life? Check out this list of suggested Valentines day gifts for writers or check out these Six Ways to Participate in Romance Week at Goodreads.

Want to share the theme of love with children? Check out these 10 Best Children's Books About Love.

So many of us love reading and writing. We have favorites that we return to again and again. How about you? 

I am especially grateful for a warm home full of books as I've been seeing the massive freezes and storms sweeping parts of the world. I hope you all stay safe, warm, and loved. Happy Valentine's!

Will you be participating in the week of love? What is your favorite genre? Favorite author? Favorite book from childhood? Are you doing something special that week, or for Valentine's Day?

Week of Love

Did you know there is an entire week of love? Most of the people I know only celebrate, or dread, the most famous day which is Valentine's. However, according to multiple sites, there is an entire week of love and each day leading up to Valentine's has a significant meaning or purpose.

According to those love experts, the days are as follows:

 

While I love flowers and jewelry, my family and friends know my favorite gifts are a good book and chocolate.

Interested in a few FREE romantic flash fiction pieces? Try my stories:

Thankful Every Day
Madame Tooshkas Spell
Masters in Love
Love's New Beginning

Or order the most recent IWSG anthology on the right - First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts

Not sure what to get the writer in your life? Check out this list of suggested Valentines day gifts for writers or check out these Six Ways to Participate in Romance Week at Goodreads.

Want to share the theme of love with children? Check out these 10 Best Children's Books About Love.

So many of us love reading and writing. We have favorites that we return to again and again. How about you? 

I am especially grateful for a warm home full of books as I've been seeing the massive freezes and storms sweeping parts of the world. I hope you all stay safe, warm, and loved. Happy Valentine's!

Will you be participating in the week of love? What is your favorite genre? Favorite author? Favorite book from childhood? Are you doing something special this week, or for Valentine's Day?

IWSG: Characteristics of Your Favorite Genre

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive. Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

OCTOBER QUESTION - What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

MY ANSWER - My favorite genre (at the moment) is YA romance. Romances usually include the full cycle of a romance, beginning with their first meeting (although sometimes characters will already know each other and rather than having an adorable or awkward meeting there will be a trigger event that begins the change in feelings from platonic to romantic). Then, the relationship will be tested or stressed by some series of events. These events can range from simple misunderstandings that are blown out of proportion to serious matters of life and death. Eventually, the conflict is resolved, and the characters are able to fully acknowledge their love, usually resulting in a happily ever after. Some focus on historical scenarios, and others on more contemporary life. They can range from sarcastic, dry-witted, and/or out-right weird, to traditional and sweet. Some even have a heavy dose of trauma or life-threatening situations as part of the plot.

How about you? What are some characteristics of your favorite genre?

17 More Writing Contests

 Many of these contests are about to begin accepting submission. Please click each one for more specific details.

1. Sitcom Writing Contest, write a 22 minutes sitcom episode with the winner receiving a prize of $10,000 if the script is the sole winner (or shared if more than single winner) and another $5,000 if the script is used on sitcom independent production studios. Due July 1, 2022.
2. Screenplay Writing Contest, write a screenplay / teleplay about drama comedy on today's political environment and a culture difference between individuals involved in the story limited to a maximum of 5,000 words. This is jointly sponsored by Teen America Foundation and Los Angeles-based motion picture production. Due March 31st, 2023.
3. Poetry Writing Contest, Springfield Film Festival and Springfield Art Institute have united their prize budgets to offer a writing competition for all levels and all ages to submit their own original poetry about Climate Change for a two round contests. Due June 30th, 2023.
4. Satirist Comedy Writing Contest, looking for the next George Carlin, the man referred to as, "a major force in comedy since 1960s and there will be no substitute for his insight, nor his tireless and hilarious attacks on the enfranchised. Due August 30th, 2023.
5. Love Story Writing Contest, is a contest for romance novelists and new writers who want to try writing about the magic of love and the everlasting love between a couple and their journey into deepest emotional bond that can be experienced. Due June 1st, 2023.
6. Romantic Poetry Writing Contest, by Franklin Arts Institute Grant offering new writers an opportunity to earn a cash prize for writing romantic poetry. All work submitted must be original work by the contestant and all contestants are expected to be. Due February 1st, 2023.
7. Ocean Dream Cruise Liner Writing Contest, sponsored by Fairview is looking for the best ocean dream poem that captured the mood of cruise passengers on the seas and the nostalgic emotional creativity that is brought to one's heart at the deep ocean at night making hearts speak of love and romance, desperation and agony, or dreams. Due December 21st, 2022.
8. Short Story Writing Contest, by grant offered through Georgetown English Literature Institute and Winchester Creative Writing School together uniting to promote short story competition that is both ambitious and exciting for new writers. Due May 31st, 2023.
9. Amazon Novel Contest, a novel writing contest for original, unpublished or self-published, fictional, English language manuscripts of any genre that is not offensive, pornography, publicity, indecent proposals, technical manuals or guides. Only accepting the first 10,000 entries.
10. Dayton National Story Award Contest, is aimed at providing a competition that would result in constructive and, we hope, inspiring short stories by writers of all levels, but particularly new writers joining the profession for the first time.  Due January 30th, 2023.
11. Halloween Poetry Writing Contest, is a writing competition organized each year by Salem Writing Arts Foundation with the intention to create out of the ordinary poetry and allow the development of dark poetry as a means of communicating arts. Due January 31st, 2023.
12. Writers Village Writing Contest, offers a national contest for a work of fiction without a pre-defined theme and all styles are welcome. Genre-based fiction would be crime, mystery, science fiction, political, suspense, horror, or historical and all levels. Due May 30th, 2023.
13. Emerald City Writing Competitions Contest, a writing award contest with the famous writer Scott Moore as the panelist judge for the best new original fiction about American history that is both enticing fiction and based on an even in American history. Due June 15th, 2023.
14. Centerville Leaf eBooks Writing Contest, is once again presenting its annual creative writing contests and this year the theme/genre is best original work of fiction in mystery or drama that is presented and distributed in eBook format in North America. Due June 1st, 2023.
15. Winchester Commonwealth Short Story Prize Writing Contest, sponsors an annual $10,000 award for its short story writing competition to introduce new writers and new artistic work into the industry and is open to everyone in U.S. and a few others. Due May 21st, 2023.
16. Madison Poetry Writing Contest, is open to all U.S. and international poets of all levels who may consider themselves hopeless romantics, dreamers, visionaries, idealists, or just normal people gazing into art of expression, poetically. Due February 1st, 2023.
17. Alexandra Manchester Fiction Writing Contest, is a joint sponsorship with publishing houses and Clinton Literary Awards Foundationthat offering a semi-annual writing competition for debut fiction, fiction, nonfiction, and young author. Due January 31st, 2023.

HAPPY WRITING!

February Scribbler Box: Romance

Some of you may remember that about two years ago I tried a subscription box service called Scribbler. If you'd like to learn more about what attracted me to this service, or why I discontinued it after more than a year, please click the link in my "Labels" below.

However, one theme I always regretted they did not offer a focus on was romance. In February this year, they finally offered it. I felt the timing was perfect as I had just discovered my YA short romance "Paper Faces" will be published this summer. I excitedly ordered the box, and anxiously awaited the end of the month when the themed treasure would arrive. 

To say I was disappointed is a mild statement.

First, for those who are not familiar with this service, you can pay a fee (one time, annually, or monthly) to receive shipments of "selected for you material" pertaining to writing. Touted as "The only subscription box for novelists - created by authors, for authors." The monthly box can be purchased for just $27.50 - $29.99. However, don't forget the additional ten dollars or so a month in shipping.

The website claims the box will help novelists do the three most important things: stay motivated, improve craft, and connect with writing professionals. Inside each box is - curated writerly gifts, a new release novel, a revision letter from an editor, an exclusive invitation to chat with a publishing professional, and a collectible "writing passport" from a bestselling author. To learn more: https://www.goscribbler.com/

So, why was I disappointed? I mentioned before that I had discontinued the service a year or so ago. I did not feel the value of what I received matched the cost I put into it each month. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed SOME of the books and liked SOME of the gifts that came in the boxes, but much of it was not something I wanted (I don't drink coffee, collect pins to wear on my person, or some of what I felt was wasteful nonsense). 

Yet, I was genuinely enthusiastic about this box. I had enjoyed some of the other themes. The writerly gifts usually tie into the theme of that month by genre, holiday, or the book itself. This month did not. I wanted to LOVE the romance box. I didn't. 

As always, the first thing you see upon opening the box is a writing exercise/contest postcard. Each month provides a new challenge for writers to practice. The "Curated Writerly Gifts" this month include a pencil pouch with a text conversation format reading "what are you up to?!" and a reply of "oh you know...writing", a package of cocoa mix, brown pencils, and a pin with a pie chart of the writing process (see picture above). None of this is related to the theme of romance and it felt like a missed opportunity as well as a rip off of expectations.

As usual, this box also came with an inside look at the publishing process for this featured author, and an exclusive invitation to chat with a publishing professional: Jessica Tribble, Senior Editor at Thomas & Mercer, the collectible 'Writing Passport' with the author discussing the theme and the book which I am not overly excited about either.

The new release included this month: Digging Up Love (Taste of Love) by Chandra Blumberg

Alisha Blake works her magic in the kitchen, creating delectable desserts for her grandfather’s restaurant in rural Illinois. Though Alisha relishes the close relationship she has with her family, she can’t help but dream about opening a cookie shop in Chicago. She may be a small-town baker, but Alisha has big ambitions.

Then a dinosaur bone turns up in her grandparents’ backyard. When paleontologist Quentin Harris arrives to see the discovery for himself, he’s hoping that the fossil will distract him from a recent painful breakup. Instead, he finds Alisha―and sparks fly. The big-city academic and the hometown baker seem destined for a happily ever after.

But Alisha is scared to fall in love. And Quentin’s trying to make a name for himself in a competitive field, which gets even more complicated when the press shows up at the dig site. For love to prevail, the two may have to put old bones aside―and focus on the future.

So, what do you think? Am I overreacting? Am I being too picky? Have you read anything from this author? Do you subscribe to any boxing services? What do you recommend? Have you heard of SCRIBBLER? Are you tempted to join?

Week of Love

It's the week leading up to Valentine's, and while I love flowers and jewelry, my family and friends know my favorite gifts are a good book and chocolate.

Interested in a few FREE romantic flash fiction pieces? Try my stories:

Thankful Every Day
Madame Tooshkas Spell
Masters in Love
Love's New Beginning

Or preorder the upcoming anthology on the right - First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts

Not sure what to get the writer in your life? Check out this list of suggested Valentines day gifts for writers or check out these Six Ways to Participate in Romance Week at Goodreads.

Want to share the theme of love with children? Check out these 10 Best Children's Books About Love.

So many of us love reading and writing. We have favorites that we return to again and again. How about you? 

I am especially grateful for a warm home full of books as I've been seeing the massive freezes and storms sweeping parts of the world. I hope you all stay safe, warm, and loved. Happy Valentine's!

What is your favorite genre? Favorite author? Favorite book from childhood? Are you doing something special this week, or for Valentine's Day?

Christian Power of Love

Happy Summer All! 

As many of you are searching for those great beach reads, I wanted to share some great Christian fiction series. The newest release just came this past week (June 15th).

Love’s Overcoming Power

Temptation, Abuse, Grief and Doubt are plagues common to women all over the world. In John, 16 Jesus said…. In the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.

In this Women's Fiction collection comprised of three full-length novels and one novella, Pamela S Thibodeaux shares stories that exemplify the power of God's love to overcome whatever situations life throws at you.

Includes: The Visionary, Circles of Fate, My Heart Weeps and Keri's Christmas Wish. 

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/LovesOvercomingPower

Tempered Truth book 5 in the Edgy, Inspirational Tempered Series

Fate declared them neighbors. Scandal insisted they were brothers. The fact that they looked enough alike to be twins only added fuel to the rumors flying about their parentage.

For fifty-plus years Craig Harris and Scott Hensley have enjoyed a bond nothing can sever.

Not the insinuations that they share the same father.

Not the years of strife and grief and heartache.

Not even death.

Will the truth set them free or will it destroy the friendship that has lasted a lifetime? 

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Tempered-Truth

New to the series? Check out book 1, Tempered Hearts! https://books2read.com/TemperedHearts

Author bio: Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story!

Links:

Website address: http://www.pamelathibodeaux.com

Blog: http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/psthibnewsletter

FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib @psthib

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pamelasthibodea/

 Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1jUVcdU

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pamela-s-thibodeaux

Instagram: https://instagram.com/pamelasthibodeauxauthor

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1268453.Pamela_S_Thibodeaux

How about you? Would you like to recommend and great reads for this summer?

2021 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest

 The Seventh Annual IWSG Anthology Contest!

Guidelines and rules:

Word count: 5000-6000

Genre: Sweet Romance - publisher says these can be Contemporary, or Historical

Theme: First Love 

Submissions accepted: May 7 - September 1, 2021

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group. You must belong to at least one aspect of the IWSG to enter.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

Our official judges:

Author Nancy Gideon
Nancy Gideon is the award-winning bestseller of over 70 romances ranging from historical, Regency, and series contemporary suspense to dark paranormal and horror, with a couple of produced screenplays and non-fiction writing books tossed into the mix. She’s also written under the pseudonyms Dana Ransom, Rosalyn West, and Lauren Giddings.

Agent Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates
Caitlin Blasdell has been a literary agent with Liza Dawson Associates since 2002 with a focus on commercial fiction. Before becoming an agent, she was a senior editor at HarperCollins Publishers.

Author Susan Gourley
Susan Gourley is traditionally published in fantasy and science fiction romance using the name Susan Kelley. She is currently serving as the President of the Pennwriters writing group renowned for the annual conference.


Agent Melissa Gaines, Victress Literary

Author Jennifer Lane
Jennifer Lane writes sports romance and romantic suspense with a psychological twist. She has published nine novels and two short stories, including Behind the Catcher’s Mask as part of the IWSG Masquerade Anthology.

Agent Rachel Beck, Liza Dawson Associates
Rachel Beck joined Liza Dawson Associates in January 2020 after working at a boutique literary agency for four years. She has been in the publishing industry since 2009 and worked at Harlequin editing romance novels for nearly six years before transitioning her skills to the agent world in order to be an advocate and champion for authors.

Author Chrys Fey
Chrys Fey is the author of the Disaster Crimes series, a unique concept blending romance, crimes, and disasters. Hurricane Crimes, Book One, is an award-winning romantic-suspense novella.




Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Dancing Lemur Press' imprint, Freedom Fox Press, next year in the IWSG anthology. (Please see their site for general submission guidelines.) Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

This is our seventh anthology contest! Previous titles include Dark Matter: Artificial, Voyagers: The Third Ghost, Masquerade: Oddly Suited, Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime, Hero Lost, The Mysteries of Death and Life, and Parallels: Felix Was Here.

A Time for Love

It's Valentine's, and while I love flowers and jewelry, my family and friends know my favorite gifts are a good book and chocolate.

Not sure what to get the writer in your life? Check out this list of suggested Valentines day gifts for writers or check out these Six Ways to Participate in Romance Week at Goodreads.

Interested in a few FREE romantic flash fiction pieces? Try:

Thankful Every Day
Madame Tooshkas Spell
Masters in Love
Love's New Beginning

Want to share the theme of love with children? Check out these 10 Best Children's Books About Love.

So many of us love reading and writing. We have favorites that we return to again and again. How about you? 

I am especially grateful for a home full of books this week as we prepare to bunker down through the greatest freeze our area has seen in decades. I understand much of the United States will be doing the same. I hope you all stay safe, warm, and loved. Happy Valentine's!

What is your favorite genre? Favorite author? Favorite book from childhood? Are you doing something special this week?

IWSG: A Writers Secret

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

JUNE QUESTION:  Writers have secrets! What are one or two of yours, something readers would never know from your work?

MY ANSWER: I LOVE to read and write romance - voraciously. Why might this be considered a secret? The truth is, while I have written A LOT more romance than any other genre, I haven't attempted to publish most of it. I'm not sure why - perhaps academic stigma? Most of what I have published has been nonfiction, science fiction, horror, etc. - you know - serious genres. I think somewhere along the way, I've subconsciously picked up the idea that to be taken seriously as a professor, teacher, etc. I must steer clear of "cheap, tawdry, smut". I still can't figure out how Romance causes this negative backlash. Ok, so there is the erotic genre, but I'm talking about sweet, or soft core, romance - nothing centered on on what happens (or should happen) behind closed doors. Most of the romances I've written I'm completely comfortable sharing with my mom and daughters, but not the rest of the world.

Why do you think romance has this stigma? Do you think it's a legitimate concern? Do you have any secrets?

IWSG: Favorite Genre

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

JUNE QUESTION: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

MY ANSWER: I genre hop quite a bit, but the most common element seems to be romance. Whether I'm reading, or writing, I enjoy elements of love. It's the most basic human need, and universal theme, so it makes sense that I would prefer a tale with elements of that emotion - even when it's not an outright romance novel.

For a sample, check out a few of my FREE short stories:

Thankful Every Day
Madame Tooshkas Spell
Masters in Love
Love's New Beginning

Which genre is your favorite to read and write in and why?

Sharing Your First Conference

On March 3, I took my ten year-old to her first writer's conference. While she enjoys writing, I was worried she wouldn't like attending a conference. After all, how many preteens want to spend a Saturday in classes? My mom went with us. You can see her and my daughter, to the left, getting their first look around the conference location during registration. That's right, three generations of women in my family at the same conference. Clearly, writing is in the blood.

If you've never been to the Jambalaya Writers Conference, or one similar, there are usually multiple sessions at every hour and you pick the ones you want to attend. 

For the first hour, all three of us chose to take part in the "Tale of Two Authors" session. Both authors write romance and spoke briefly about the genre itself, but the main focus of the session was the varying approaches to publishing - Liz Talley got her start with traditional publishing houses such as Harlequin while Jaycee Ford started Indie. Now, the balance seems to be using both methods. These women were engaging and interesting. While my daughter has no interest in Romance (for now), I felt this was a nice, relaxing, open, and even fun first session.

At most conferences I attend, I have a specific goal. All of my day is spent towards one achievement, genre, editor, agent, etc. However, I decided to try a variety of sessions this time since I enjoy writing in a variety of styles. While I encouraged my daughter to attend any of the sessions that interested her, she generally chose the same ones I was interested in attending.

My mother chose a different speaker for the second session, but my daughter and I went to one hosted by Louisiana Poet Laureate Jack Bedell. I found this experience to be quite interesting and enjoyable. We particularly related to his comments on how writers can get too caught up in form and expecting the first draft to be perfection right out of the gate that it interferes with the story of the poem itself. He showed examples of other poets work, and his , where the poem started as a story or free writing with no form. We looked at their development from early draft to publication. Notice I say publication and not completion. Many authors go back a tweak following publication. The end of the class we spent writing our own freestyle story - no line breaks, no punctuation, etc. We both left that room with a promising first draft of our own.

My mother rejoined us in the next class on short stories. While I often write short, I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much because nothing seemed new, interesting, or particularly inspiring. However, I think this was my daughters second favorite, so you just never know what or who will inspire.

Next, we took a lunch break. And of course, we ate Jambalaya!

Afterwards, the keynote speaker, R.L. Stine, regaled us all with funny tales and humorous notes. Did you know he got his start writing jokes? He also shared some interesting news - including upcoming books and movies! This was easily our favorite part of the day. 

Unfortunately, the conference organizers opened his following autograph session up for FREE to the public. So, we waited in line for nearly two hours behind people who HAD NOT paid to be there. We were one of the last ones to get his signature as he had to leave for another presentation.

While I applaud the library hosting the event for trying to bring FREE programs to their community, this should not have happened at the same time as, or even ahead of, those who PAID to be there - very tacky!

Our next session, hosted by Pamela Kopfler, was on writing the cozy mystery. She gave a brief explanation of the difference between regular mysteries and cozies. The remainder of the class was spent in a collaborative effort from the entire group on outlining a cozy mystery. I found this EXTREMELY interesting, because even though everyone present wanted something different (so many opinions and desires) it also offered a rare chance at collaboration that you don't usually get in a 45-60 minute session. I think we all left with a better understanding of what would and would NOT work in a cozy. We also left armed with a basic plot we could make our own.

While there were several more sessions available for the day. We chose to leave after this one as all three of us were getting tired, and we had a five hour drive yet to get home.

Overall, this is a good conference, and was a great first experience for my daughter who truly seemed to enjoy it.

What about you? Do you remember your first conference? Have you shared the experience with family members?