On November 6, Pat, Dixie and I enjoyed reading excerpts from Voices from the Snake River Plain to a standing-room-only crowd in Twin Falls, Idaho. A heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who helped celebrate the launch of our new book. If you missed the event, copies are still available at the Magic Valley Arts Council, 132 Main Avenue South, Twin Falls, Idaho. They are also available at the Log Cabin Literary Center, 801 S. Capitol Boulevard in Boise, Idaho.

I have a friend who laughs every time I say, “What happened to summer?” But that’s exactly how I feel now as I wind up September. Between freezing corn, canning peaches, making chokecherry jelly, and getting ready for the annual Idaho Writer’s League conference where I’m going to talk about marketing platforms, I’m wondering how I will have time to show up at the 15th annual thousand springs festival in Hagerman this weekend.  But you’ll see me there, along with the writers of The Other Bunch. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello. I can’t think of a nicer way to say goodbye to summer.

The 2007 Willamette Writers’ conference in Portland, Oregon, was worth the time and the money. Many questions I have about my current work-in-progress were answered. Now all I have to do is get busy and do some major revisions! I capped off the conference with a trip to Long Beach, WA, with my son and three grandsons. We walked on the beach, fed the seagulls, ate fresh crab, and applauded as Dante and Kennedy took turns riding a pony. On our way back to Vancouver, we drove through Oysterville, WA, a great historical town founded in 1854 once known as the hub of oyster farming. Quaint, it is absolutely charming. I know I will be back to visit. Think H. P. Lovecraft or Stephen King, and Oysterville gives you the perfect setting for a great little story.

In case you think I’ve been slacking since I’ve been home, check out this new site, The Other Bunch. If you have any questions or comments about writing or the writing life, stop by and say “Hi!”

Bill Johnson at the Willamette Writers’ Conference.

June and July have been busy months at our house. The Murder in the Grove conference was great, as was Margie Lawson’s workshop. She gave lots of tips on how to edit for visceral impact. June kept me busy outside and the garden is awesome. We’ve enjoyed fresh peas, lettuce, broccoli, new potatoes, strawberries, and yesterday I picked my first tomato. Yum. The corn is almost ready, and hopefully all those blossoms on the cucumbers mean I’ll have loads of cukes before long.

Grandsons Dmitri, Dante and Kennedy spent most of July here at our mini farm, and besides keeping me company, they accomplished a lot of firsts. Dante and Kennedy got to see/touch a real milk snake, not to be confused with the poisonous coral snake, at the Herrett Center on the College of Southern Idaho Campus, and all three boys learned to drive/ride on an ATV. Dmitri also learned how to drive the riding lawnmower clear to the mailbox and back. We had a good visit and it was sad to see them leave, but I will see them again this week when I fly to Portland to attend the 2007 Willamette Writers Conference. I’m looking forward to meeting Bill Johnson, author of A Story is a Promise, as well as a full lineup of great writers.

A month or so ago, my friend Pat Marcantonio and I went to see the movie, Evening based on the book by Susan Minot. It was so well done I kept thinking about it for weeks, and finally broke down and read the book. I liked the movie better than I liked the book, but there is a great quote at the beginning of the book that I can relate to since there never seems to be enough hours in the day.

“I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.” William Faulkner.

Magic Valley columnist, Bonnie Dodge, will present her workshop, Writing the
Personal Column at the Idaho Writers’ League’s state conference to be held
September 29 & 30 in Boise, Idaho. In her workshop, Dodge will cover topics
such as why write a column, what kind of column do you want to write,
marketing your column, getting ideas for your column, structuring your
column and how to write for your market or audience. Dodge has been writing
her column, Life in this Magic Valley for AG Weekly, a Lee Agri-Media
publication with a circulation of 14,000 farms and homes in Idaho,
Washington, Oregon, Montana, Nevada and Utah since May, 2001.