Dramatic Dialogue: Steps to Great Conversation Dialogue
http://creativejuicesbooks.com Watch your he said, she said.

North Central Children’s Writers & Illustrators meeting Saturday was a success. As we learn we are having fun and making friends. We critiqued, asked questions and added helpful comments. Each member has knowledge to share. I love it!

Handouts we glanced over, asked questions and again made comments.
1. What to look for when critiquing.
2. Read & dismantle the type of book you want to write.
3. When Is Your Narrator? Picking the Right Tense/Be the Story. By Timothy King http://www.printfriendly.com/bethestory.com
4. Writers and Illustrators Guidelines (How to read The Children’s Writers Market Book.)
5. Writing or/and creating a “rebus” for Highlights For Children magazine.
6. Old copies of the SCBWI Bulletin.

Resources for Authors & Artist: Most have enewsletters to subscribe to.
· The Horn Book: Publication about books for children and young adults. http://www.hbook.com
· The Children’s Book Council http://www.cbcbooks.org
· The Institute of Children’s Literature http://www.institutechildrenslit.com
· Elizabeth Kennedy – http://about.com/childrenbooks
· Publishers Weekly Children’s enewsletter http://www.publishersweekly.com

Deer in the Woodland Garden: I was excited to learn and see a young buck and his doe spending time in my garden trimming and mowing/grazing for the past week. Took not-so-clear photos.

Yesterday morning the young buck returned with a second doe. I took more photos; closer and clear. I'll show them at another time. They have changed their dirty winter gray to a lovely shade of golden tan.

NC Children's Writers & Illustrator meet this Saturday July 24, 1-3 p.m., at Lakeview City Hall across from Beaman Reality. It will be another informative time of sharing, writing and critique.
You are welcome to come and visit with us. If you enjoyed yourself while learning what we are about, you are welcome to return and join in.

Mike McArthy will be conducting a book signing and discussion on the Ozarks mills, including visual presentation, on July 22nd at 5:00 pm, in Harrison, Arkansas at the Boone County Library. Address: Boone County Library - 221 W Stephenson, Harrison, AR. 72601, Ph 870-741-
The Historic Ozarks Mills book includes more than 25 old water powered gristmills with histories, locations, stories, folklore, map, and lots of full color photos. These historic sites still exist and you can visit them by book or in person. Take the old mills tour! The Ozarks have some of the best examples of old mills remaining in the country and many happen to be in some of the most beautiful places the USA has to offer (intro below). Collector's edition still available, each is numbered, signed and dated, with only 500 in existence. Get yours before they're history! Mike McArthy of Photozarks will be featured in an upcoming PBS program, which will include the historic Ozarks mills, later this year. Airing dates will be announced in coming weeks. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, go to www.photozarks.com, find out more about the Historic Ozarks Mills book and the Ozarks beauty in print. Cards, art prints, mills books, photo-shoots, custom projects, presentations, cover & stock photography, all with the Ozarks beauty as the subject. Contact info is below.

Best Photo Awards
~ 2007 * 2008 * 2009 ~ *Featured contributor to "Missouri Life" and "The Ozarks Mountaineer" magazines.
*Ozarks Writers League (OWL) & Ozarks Society member.
Photozarks ~ The Ozarks beauty in printMike McArthyPh (636) 399-2715www.photozarks.com

Photo (c) Mary Nida Smith
Sunday evening-Tuesday morning
forever thunder and cloudburst
gully washers and flooding.
Prayers bring dry land
followed with prayers of rain.
We just can't get it right.

Helpful information for writers/Beware

USING SONG LYRICS
Http://www.writing-world.com/dawn/lyrics

Pod/self-publishing
WRITERS BEWARE: EPUBLISHERS
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/electronic
Click on links
Also, on this website if you do an in-depth research you will
Save yourself a lot of heartaches and headaches. All this information
and other excellent websites such as your favorite authors can lead you be
more knowledgeable in submitting to agents and editors.

There are no quick fixes; if there was - doctors and lawyers wouldn’t have to study or do internship to learn their craft. If they were able to take short-cuts, do you think it would make them qualified to present the best in their profession and would other professional except them?

Writer’s Digest - 9 Ways to Get Started & Stay Motivated

Writer’s Digest - 9 Ways to Get Started & Stay Motivated

Spinning World: My world is spinning. When it stops, where will I be? This is of great interest to me.

Twin Lakes Writers meet Saturday,July 10. For time & place go to http://www.twinlakeswriters.org/ I founded this group in the Spring of 1998. I was the president, newsletter editor and whatever, to make it work. I took some time off after the conference I organized, to refocus and work on my career. Last month I was elected to be their president. I feel a little shaky, for now I am the president of two groups. I started the North Central Children's Writers and Illustrators June, 2010.

Don't forget the all day workshop in Springfield, Missouri July 31. http://www.owaic.org/

Baxter County Library, Mountain Home, AR needs your help removing and re-tagging books and videos for the move to the new library by July 31. If you can help, please go to the library and say, I am here to help. As a board member of the Friends of the Library - We thank you!

Writing is a constant involvement: Not only in your area, but with other groups where you can learn invaluable insight to your field/genre of creative writing and illustrating. Most of all write everyday.
The second meeting of the North Central Children’s Writers and Illustrators was a great success. Each time new members join they bring fascinating talent to share. You can see our group picture grow at http://nccwi.org . Nicole, my granddaughter took the photo and she did a great job. Our next meeting is July 24, for on the 31st several members and I will be attending the OZARK WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS FOR CHILDREN (OWAIC) July 31, at The Library Station 2535 N. Expressway Springfield, MO.

The Twin Lakes Writers meet the 10th http://www.twinlakeswriters.org

The new poem of the month is “itch” on David L Harrison’s blog http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com . I submitted one for this month, please join us.
I submitted my kudos to the OWL newsletter, the deadline July 8th.
The Ozarks Mountaineer magazine published my two photos with comments
in the July/August issue.

For a free blog, go to http://blogger.com
For a free website, http://webs.com and it come with a free blog.
Bull Shoals Chamber of Commerce uses webs.com
Both offer a lot of different useful benefits.

Happy Blessed 4th of July! God has blessed us.

David L. Harrison: I thank David for allowing be to be a guest poet on his blog and to the those who commented. It was a honor.

North Central Children's Writers & Illustrators meet Saturday 26 1-3 p.m., at Lakeview City Hall. September we move into the new library in Mountain Home. To find Lakeview traveling from Mountain Home on 5N, turn left at Midway on 178, continue to Lakeview turn left across from Beaman Realty to the Police Dept and City Hall. Bring your manuscripts; book dummies you have created; illustrations and published books to display. You will learn how to critique your own manuscript(Standard Manuscript Format) and illustrators will comment on imaginary. Quote by illustrator Rob Shepperson: " I believe authors should write stories without clobbering the narrative with description that be shown more efficiently visually." Rob was a guest on David's blog 6/4/010. Our website created by Cherie Neal can be found at http://nccwi.org

GUEST POET: I will be the guest poet Wednesday, June 25 on children's author David L. Harrison's blog. http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/ I hope you enjoy my poem, WINDOWS.

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quiet." - Richard Bach
Are you interested in just writing or getting published?

Wild Gardener that's me. The Woodland Garden is getting wilder by the day. I haven't been able to keep up with the weeding. But, I love it! Did a little watering today for it is so dry. Checked on my cecropia silk moth cocoon. Instead of laying flat against the wild cherry trunk, it is outward, verily clinging to the bark. It is almost ready to enter the big world. It has been about nine months. There is lots of information on the Internet on these huge beautiful collectible creatures. I only want to collect photos.

I took a photo of my first annual/common cicada clinging to a small sassafras tree. It was alive and had emerged from its shell of a body. Also, I talked to one of the garden turtles as I took its photos. See why I love my garden?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the special dads.I had the best dad in the world.
He loved to laugh
He went to heaven as a
young man leaving his family with
many treasured memories.
I miss him everyday.

WRITING, ARTS, WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES: The next six months is going to be very busy. I am always afraid to look beyond today - this hour; it is scary! Oh, well here it goes.
Last Saturday I was elected to be the new president of the Twin Lakes Writers. This is a group I founded Spring of 1998. I was the president and started a newsletter which I was the editor. March 2004 I organized the first all day writers conference. My speakers, my dear friends Max McCoy, Ellen Gray Massey and Vicki Cox made it a big success. I am thankful to the members and two ex-presidents, Robert Harper and Nancy Thacher-Cery who enabled the group to grow while I took some time to reflect, rest and work on my career. The Twin Lakes Writers will be having their meetings this Fall at the new library in Mountain Home.

This Fall the North Central Children's Writers & Illustrators will be meeting in October at the new library. Author's Day at the library is December 5th.

The Ozark Regional Arts Council will soon be in their new conference room in the new Veda Sheid Community Development Center at ASU/Mountain Home.

June 26 1-3 pm NC Children's Writers & Illustrators meet at Lakeview City Hall. More information will be place on this blog. Lots of excitement with the creative arts.

FLAG DAY JUNE 14, 2010

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:First Annual Book Blogger Convention
at the BEA on Beyond Her Book blog...Barbara Vey -- June 11th, 2010
http://publishersweekly.com

Maurice Sendak, children's author & illustrator of many books; the most famous is "Where the Wild Things Are." Today is his birthday.

RICH DAVIS is more than an illustrator for children’s books. The kids at schools and libraries love him and after Saturday June 5th Rich will find he is loved by writers groups. My friend Cherie, Laurel and I attended his program sponsored by the Ozark Writers and Illustrators for Children (OWAIC http://www.owaic.org/), at Library Center 4653 S. Campbell, Springfield, Missouri. Rich’s website is http://www.richdavis.freewebspace.com/

After that meeting we attended the Ozarks Romance Writers to hear guest speaker, Allen Young share how to write travel articles and more. Unknown to us “teen book mania” was taking place in the teen department at that same time. Teen novel authors; Arkansas author Jenny B. Jones, three Missouri authors; Holly Schindler, Brian Katcher and Brent Crawford.

I came home bursting with go power. Lonnie will have a piece published in a children’s magazine in December, Cherie had a tween novel manuscript critiqued where she received good feed back. Also, when she starts writing her non-fiction book Allen Young volunteered to read it. He thought her book was great idea.

I was encouraged to return to illustrating and to submit to more than one place.
First I have some writing assignments to get caught up on. Writing for the adult markets sometimes gets in the way of submitting my children’s manuscripts. I will have to work harder. But, I did submit my May poem on David’s blog today. Check it out at http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/
Later this afternoon I will attend the meeting of the Ozarks Regional Arts Council.

I did some gardening in The Woodland Garden last week and this week.
Sometimes, I think I do exploring and photo taking than gardening. I took odd
cloud photos, sunsets over Bull Shoals Lake and deer in our neighborhood. Also, I have been trying to catch-up with the church album. But, I keep taking pictures. I love to do too many things; because I love life.

Photos that you delete because you messed-up. Stop throwing away creative materials. Use them to play around with in your photo shop. This will help you to learn to develop a creative eye for what works and what doesn't. I'll let you all ponder on this statement while I get caught-up. I always have so much to share and I don't know where to start. I know the beginning. The photos are begonia heart shaped seeds and a shadow interfered. I did succeed with a photo without a shadow.

Ozark Writers and Illustrators For Children is a non-profit
group in Springfield, Missouri. We produce novels, nonfiction, articles,
and short stories. We discuss markets, trends, publicity, queries, and
all aspects of our craft. We meet the first Saturday of every month
at the Library Station, 2535 N Kansas Expressway in Springfield
from 9-11 a.m. A critique session follows at approximately 11:30.
Rich Davis, speaker for June 5th:
Rich Davis is a children's book illustrator with 9 books. He is a free lance illustrator, drawing instructor, drawing game inventor and speaks at public schools and libraries.
Rich:I am excited to meet all you creative folks and to enjoy some time encouraging one another. I have noticed writers "think" in pictures just like artists...the way we say it is the only difference. So it is very very easy and enjoyable to track with creative ideas and language. This will be fun!
There is a $10.00 donation request to help cover Mr. Davis' expenses. Mr. Davis has marketed a wonderful game, Pick and Draw, that will be given to everyone that pays the $10.00.
Coffee and snacks will be provided. We will meet in the Story Room at The Library Station 9:00 to 11:00. A critique session will follow.
For more information go to http://www.owaic.org/