Wow! I didn't attend Quills Conference because I've been putting my writing money elsewhere (Cozy Mysteries), but my husband and I attended the awards banquet to cheer on our friends. I submitted ten poems in two categories: Light Verse and Sonnet. I really need to work on narrative poems for next year! Anyway, I was surprised and very pleased to win five awards! Two of my poems tied for first honorable mention in light verse, and another won first place. Last year I won for a rhyming poem about a cat named Trnado. This year, I won for one about monster-ish trees. It was also a poem with a lot of rhymes in it. I loved writing both poems, too! And to add icing to the cake, I won a second honorable mention for a sonnet and first place for another. I'm still a little in awe, even though I have the certificates to prove it. It just goes to prove you never know what you can accomplish until you try. And even if you think your work may not be serious enough for a contest, submit anyway.

Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. is out! It's a collection of Cosmic Horror. I have three poems in the anthology. I got my contributor's copy. It's a nice size!

Quills Conference is next month, but I won't be attending. I can't justify the expense this year. Then again, I haven't been doing much writing, either. I need to focus on getting more projects done! I did submit several poems to the League's writing contest, the Woolley Awards.

The Pre-Quill Conference is officially April 23, but most of the presentations will be virtual. That means you have all of April to watch! I'm doing a presentation on "Having Fun with Poetic Forms." I talk about why poetry helps you as a writeer and then I go over three poetric forms.

Even though sales were slow at LTUE, I had a lot of fun chatting with old friends and making new ones.

I was also on three panels. One was about poetry with Daniel Cureton, M. Todd gallowglass and Dan Wells. Three amazing men. It was so much fun!

I sold three poems, Shadowborn, Insatiate, and Feeding A Dark Muse, to Dead Stars and Stone Arches, an anthology put out by Timberghost Press. It'll come out in April of 2022.

I also had "Tornado" accepted in the Best Poetry and Prose of 2022 Anthology put out by the League of Utah Writers.

Fyrecon was great! I appreciate everyone who attended my presentations, and I appreciate the presentations I went to. Especially Wulf Moon's Masterclass!

They're considering if they want to stay virtual for next year or not. Attendees came from three countries and 31 states. I have fun doing the presentations and learned so much!

Now to finish NaNo and do some editing!

https://fyrecon.com/ Fyrecon is November 18-21 and it's VIRTUAL. I'll be doing three presentations:

Using Music In Your Fiction

Having Fun with Poetry

Setting Up Your LIterary Estate

I got busy and submitted 14 poems to two magazines and an anthology. Hopefully, I'll sell one.

I thought I had two strong poems that I submitted for the Woolley Awards (Leauge of Utah Writers). Neither of them won anything. I did get a second place and a third honorable mention in poetry, light verse and a third place and a third honorable mention for word play. The poem that took second place was a fun rhyming poem I didn't think would do well. You never know what will appeal to editors or judges.

Quills is this week! I'm doing two presentations, "Setting Up your Literary Estate" Friday at 10:00 AM and "Using 'Yes, and...' for Story Development" Saturday at 2:00 PM. I'm also doing a reading and a signing. Please say hi if you're attending!

June and July were crazy. I submitted a number of poems, with no sales. However, two of the editors did send me personal comments. One said one of my poems made it to her top list. The other said one of my poems made her laugh and she appreciated it. That's encouraging. After Quills on August 12-14, I'll hopefully have some more to package and send out. So far, I've received rejections from seven of the nine submissions I've sent out. I got one magazine sale this year, plus three anthologies that came from 2020 submissions. But hey, positive feedback is a good thing. It means I came close! I'm doing two presentations at the Quills Conference, one reading and one signing. It's my first in-person conference since February 2020. If you're in Utah, check it out! There are some amazing speakers and lots of opportunities to pitch! Some of the events are virtual, too.

August 12-14, 2021 is the League of Utah Writers annual Quills Conference. It will be held at the University Park Marriott in Salt Lake City. I'll be giving two presentations. One will be on setting up your literary estate and one will be on using the improv game "Yes, and..." to help come up with story ideas and plot twists.

I'm looking forward to it. There are always amazing presentations and workshops.

April 17, 2021 is The League of Utah Writers Pre-Quill Conference.

I'll be doing a presentation on Using Music in Your Fiction. Cost is low and it's virtual, which means you can actually use the app for more than the one day!

Well, of the first submissions, one poem was accepted. Two poems and a short story were rejected, but I got a comment that they liked several things in the short story. :)

I've got three poems (two that didn't make it and one other) plus the same short story out to other markets.

Two more poems are ready to send out.

I submitted three poems to Space and TIme Magazine and had one accepted! It's in the Spring 2021 (#140) issue out now!

In August, I have poems coming out in two more anthologies. "If Not Now, When?" and one that is yet to be named.

No idea when "Beer Battered Shrimp" or "Secret Lunar Wars" will come out, but I'm hopeful I'll hear something soon!

My poem, "Pioneering the Final Frontier," will be in the anthology "If Not Now, When?" from the Infinite Monkeys!

My poem, "Cereal Killer," will be in the 2021 League of Utah Writers anthology coming out in August!

I sold "Danara's Coven" (short story), "Frankenbear" (poem) and "Wasatch Witches" (poem) to the anthology "Wasatch Witches: A Collection of Utah Horror" coming out in April from "Fear Knocks."

And for my last convention of the year, I did three presentations at Fyrecon (fyrecon.com) One wa on setting up your literary estate, one was on using the improv game "Yes, and..." in plotting your story (participation requested), and the other was on using music in your fiction. Thank you to everyone who attended and participated!

Attending the Virtual World Fantasy Convention?

I'll be on "Poetic Fantasy" October 30 at 1:00 PM and "Disabled Protagonists in Fantastical Fiction" at 8:00 PM. (Note: the poetry panel was amazing. The disabilities one was cancelled because the other panelist had to drop out.)

I have poetry in following anthologies:

"Semper Fi: The Marine Wife" is in "The Function of Freedom" from The League of Utah Writers.

"Sleeping Alone: The Wife Left Behind" and "Living with an Ultimate Sacrifice" in "Chasing Tomorrow," from The League of Utah Writers.

"Mirrors Never Lie" and "Rotten Moonshine" in "They Walk Among Us: A Collection of Utah Horror"

You can find them on my Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..

Quills was awesome! I must admit, I like the virtual presentations. I can watch them all month. And I did enjoy the live workshops from my computer at home. I was able to attend six of them over the course of four days. I even had the great privilege of chatting on zoom with a friend of mine, Linda D. Addison. She was a guest at Quills and is a Stoker Award winning writer and poet. If you haven't read her poetry, you should!

Speaking of poetry, three of my poems won awards at this year's LUW Writing Contest.

"Daydreaming" came in third place and "Cereal Killer" came in second in the category of Poetry, Light Verse and "Sleeping Alone: The Wife Left Behind: came in second in the category of Poetry, Love and Loss. I am honored and excited that my poetry did so well. There are so many amazing writers in the League. They're a great group.

Fyrecon (fyrecon.com) is a local writing conference that is also virtual. There's a Fyrelite on October 3 where you can take a Master Class from some amazing professionals. And, since it's virtual, you can attend from anywhere in the world. The regular conference is November 12-14, 2020. Fyrecon is definitely worth a look!

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Both Quills and World Fantasy will be virtual this year. I have no doubt they will have plenty of amazing presentations and workshops. However, I will miss meeting old friends and making new acquaintances. It does mean I don't need my "seeing eye husband." It will save money, but I do enjoy his company at these events.

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With COVID-19 and the "Stay Safe, Stay Home" orders, a lot of people are out of work, helping their kids with online schooling, and struggling to make ends meet. To add to the chaos, Utah had an earthquake on March 18th. Idaho had one on March 31st. Nevada had one on May 15.

As many have said, these are unprecedented times. (See my blog of March 30.) I haven't been writing like I should, but I have been working on poetry. I submitted three to the League of Utah Writers 85th Anniversary anthology. (Two of the three made it.)

I submitted seven to the LUW writing contest this week. I'll find out how they did in August at the Quills Conference.

I still have a lot of work to do on the short stories and novels on my short list. I also have some editing in

I want to have a short story ready for an anthology this summer, and another for one this fall. I am editing one story for the first anthology and have an idea for a story for the second. I don't think I can get one done for a third anthology, as I don't really have an idea of what to write for it. But that's okay. I can't submit to everything. Both anthologies accept poetry, so I need to write some poems, too.

I'm still trying to deal with my anxiety. The aftershocks have calmed down, after two 4.2 quakes 36 hours apart (more or less). I only wrote 16 new poems for NaPoWriMo, but I edited several, so it wasn't too bad. I did write a couple in March.

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