ANWA Northwest Retreat

Sometimes I just don't have the motivation to write. I think every writer hits that wall sometimes. One of the best remedies is to attend a writer's conference. This past week I attended the NW ANWA (American Night Writers Association) retreat. It was just what I needed.

ANWA is a group of LDS women writers. So getting together is not only motivational but spiritually refreshing. Our keynote speaker was Carla Kelly, the writer of many historical romances and novels. She gave wonderful advice including, be the writer you want to be, and my favorite - when asked what you do say, "I'm a writer". Carla has two Rita Awards for Best Regency of the Year from Romance Writers of America; a Whitney award; two Spur Awards for Best Short Story of the Year from Western Writers of America; a career achievement award from Romantic Times; and goodwill from readers. Her words inspired courage and the desire to keep writing.

I also attended a wonderful class on deep POV and was totally thrilled to hear Michelle Moore, chief publicist at Deseret Book/Shadow Mountain, talk about marketing. With my new YA fantasy, The Awakening, coming out in December, I knew I needed to start planning, and her ideas fit my needs. Another class, self-publishing with Liz Adair really helped me see the amount of effort that goes into trying to put a book out there. She also helped me realize that I needed to copyright my novel. 

The companionship of my sister writers was inspiring and needed. So, if you are feeling down about your writing, go to a conference and bask in the support.

There are a couple of conferences coming up-

Kanab, UT writer's conference on Oct 24-25.

and coming Feb. 19-21, 2015, the national ANWA conference in Phoenix, AR