Heart of the West Conference

I just returned from Park City, Utah where I attended the 2009 Heart of the West Conference. What a wonderful experience. If you’re a writer, there’s one thing I know for sure – you need support. The best way to get that support is by mingling with other writers. Getting together with all your old writing friends and making new ones is worth every dime it cost to attend the conference. The location was The Lodge at Deer Valley, Park City, UT with its awesome panorama of fall colors. We even woke up to a light snow on Sunday morning. The mountain air, clear and crisp, can be so inspiring that one could spend a week there and do nothing but write.

The chance to see all the Utah RWA members and meet the terrific agents and editors was and is always the highlight of my yearly membership with RWA. The speakers were inspiring, especially our very own Melissa Mayhue and Raeanne Thayne. Funny how they both said they were not speakers, but writers. Well, they kept my attention and we all know they’re great writers. Along with these two NY Times bestselling authors we had the opportunity to meet and hear Elizabeth Lane, Jo Leigh (read her Ms. Match, which was hot-review below), Nichole Jordan and Rachel Gibson. The entire weekend was wonderful, not to mention the pile of free books that we received.

The conference ended with a book signing. I was excited to be able to participate with my 2009 release, The Quartering Act. I also had the privilege to have my display of books by author Phyllis Campbell who has a new release titled, Spanish Eyes, http://www.phyllismariecampbell.com/ .

Once again, thank you to all the Utah RWA committee that put such a wonderful conference together.

A Book Review: Ms. Match by Jo Leigh

I seem to go through dry spells and can’t find time to read and when I do – look out. I remember how fantastic it is to get lost in another world and meet all kinds of characters, so I start reading one book after another. Now, I have to discipline my mind so that I make sure I get back to writing. One late night during the conference, I decided to read a little before turning out the lights. I picked out a thin book from that huge pile received as a free gift at the conference, crawled into that huge bed with the fireplace roaring (not really – those gas fireplaces are very quiet), leaned into mounds of pillows and started reading Jo Leigh’s Ms Match. It’s a fast read and hot.

Her story reminded me of Cinderella, excepted the heroine was the ugly one and all her sisters were beautiful, which made for an interesting read. Her story was a quick read and I finished it around 1AM. Her plot and believable characters kept me turning pages until I had read the entire story, http://www.joleigh.com/ .