The library breakfast, poetry readings on Saturday, April 28, was a full day of enjoyment. Deborah Knox, Board Chair of the Baxter County Public Library Foundation invited all the volunteers to breakfast at Big Creek & Country Club. Many wonderful hard working people are involved in creating our library to be the most exciting educational and entertaining place to visit. I am proud to be a member of The Friends of the Library and to be able to teach the children creative writing during the summer programs. This will be my third year. At the breakfast the architectural version of the new library was unveiled. The library on the hill was a beautiful sight.

The library that afternoon presented The Poetry Thing, the fourth annual oral poetry contest from 1-5 pm. I enjoyed listening to all the poetry read by poets from 8 to 90 years of age. I visited with friends from The Baxter County Poets Association and Steve Johnson, who emceed the program for four years. Again it is all the volunteers that have made this a success story. The room was packed. It is difficult to be a judge. I know I was one of the judges for the first yearly contest.

I seen Edna Merritt from the Miniature Museum of Merritt. I wrote an article on Edna and the museum for Grit magazine a few years ago.

REMINDER: Books in Bloom, Sunday, May 6, at Eureka Springs, Arkansas. For more information go to http://www.booksinbloom.org/. The Ozarks Writers League is Saturday, May 19 at the College of the Ozarks, go to http://www.ozarkswritersleague.org/ to check out the speakers Nancy Robinson Masters and Cara Brookins.

Please pick up the May/June issue of The Ozarks Mountaineer magazine. A friend Laurel T. Sheridan wrote Quigley's Castle Rocks! She writes for children's magazines.

I am thankful to God for allowing me another day to dream and write.

AR/SCBWI conference was April 13-14. The two editors, Alexandra Cooper, associate editor at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and Liz Waniewski, an editor for Dial Books for Young readers presented information on what types of books they were looking for, how they should be written, and what to write in a query/cover letter. I will be submitting to each of the editors.

Lin Oliver shared important information on how to write children's books and how she and Stephen Mooser started the SCBWI organization. It took lots of hard work to make it a success story today of 22,000 members from all over the world.

We also had Arkansas author and former Regional Advisor Darcy Pattison presenting programs.
Thanks to our Regional Advisor Carla Killough McClafferty and members for a special conference. It was great seeing old friends and making new ones.

Special thanks to Sandy Fox, former regional advisor who has written for children's magazines, Institute of Children's Literature's books and newsletters and the adult market not only provided me with a ride to the conference, but helped deliver 85 attendees bags in a rain storm.

Several critique groups will be starting up in different Arkansas locations. I have lots of projects I am working on;mostly non-fiction. Plus, I want to read more books. I purchased four at the conference and I am reading my uncle's book, "The Niday House" filled with historical facts of the times 1748-1815. The words I keep repeating to myself is, no matter what: NEVER GIVE UP.

BABY GIRL
1988-2007
Fourteen pounds of pure unconditional love.

Helpful blogs to build writers confidence: Bev Walton-Porter http://elementalmusing.blogspot.com/ and Darcy Pattison http://darcypattison.livejournal.com/
share how writers feel about rejections and naysayers and how to get beyond them to continue reaching our goals. I can't say enough how I appreciate the honesty of these two published authors.

Kathy Z. Price author of The Bourbon Street Musicians is from New York. She will be presenting a workshop at Baxter County Library at Mountain Home, June 16. www.kathyzprice.com/events Watch for updates on my blog and the library's website. Also, I will be teaching for the third year creative writing to children through their summer program.

Books in Bloom is Sunday, May 6 and their website is http://www.booksinbloom.org/ where you will find a list of many well-known authors who will be speaking and selling their books. It will be an exciting day.

Confidence you will find in the words of professional writers who share the rough road of becoming a writer and the fairy-tale like joys of being a published author. Remember, doubts will always be here, they don't go away. We must put them aside while we put on our coats of confidence, hold up our heads and march forward to meet our goals.

HAPPY BLESSED EASTER

Easter Lilies grown in my Mulberry Garden

Children's book authors' websites and blogs: Katy S. Duffield http://www.katyduffield.com/ MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTERS: POLTERGEISTS will be released May 07 from Kidhaven Press and her next book is about the life of Kutaragi, who invented the PlayStation video game console. I found it interesting that Katy's next book is about the inventor Kutaragi as my nephew Nathan Hendrickson is a game designer. He is co-writing a movie and the game for it will follow.

Carla Killough McClafferty http://www.carlamcclafferty.com/ SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING: Marie Curie and Radium and the book THE HEAD BONE'S CONNECTED TO THE NECK BONE. Carla is Arkansas's SCBWI Regional Advisor who keeps us up-to-date with the latest happenings with our state's members.

Darcy Pattison was our first regional advisor and is the author of several books. Her latest is NINETEEN GIRLS AND ME and you will find Darcy at AR/SCBWI Conference April 13-14 and the Arkansas Literary Festival April 20-22. Don't miss Darcy's blog http://darcypattison.livejournal.com/ DARCY PATTERISON'S REVISION NOTES is filled with helpful information and encouragement.

Promoting other writers encourages me to continue and reminds me the results of hard work and I mean hard work does pay off in any profession.