The Ozark Creative Writers conference will be held October 8-10, 2009 in Eureka Springs at the BestWestern Inn of the Ozarks.
Participants can enter eighteen themed contest categories for the cost of the conference if they register by August 28.
Speakers will include Susan Stoltz of Women Out West Magazine; agent Doug Grad, Editor. Tor-Forge; Pat LoBrutto and Jennifer DiCamillo.
Doug Grad and Pat LoBrutto will be available for 5-minute appointments. These spaces are limited so early registration is recommended.
For complete conference information, go to the website.
Ozark Creative Writers member Kelly Henkins reminds writers who may be thinking about attending the conference that the October 8-10 date falls on one of the busiest tour weekends of the season for Eureka Springs and recommends early hotel booking.
June 30, 2009 | Tags: Arkansas writers, Eureka Springs, October 2009, Ozark Creative Writers, writers conference | Category: Dated Announcements | Leave a comment
Tim McGinn, member of the NW Arkansas Writers’ Guild, has re-launched his blog dedicated to the discussion of science fiction.
Called Timboscifi’s Blog, the site is billed as “a place to talk about Science Fiction.” Current content features Spook Country by William Gibson and “The Pure Product” by John Kessel.
Both a reader and writer of science-fiction, McGinn teaches creative writing at the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.
June 16, 2009 | Category: Publishing News | Comments (1)
Business consultant Steven Spradling will speak about Identity Theft at the next meeting of the Whodunits reading group:
Saturday, July 11, 12 noon at AQ Chicken on College Avenue in Fayetteville.
June 10, 2009 | Category: Dated Announcements | Leave a comment

Joe Tangari, member of the NW Arkansas Writers Guild, and senior contributor to Pitchfork Media, has launched his own site devoted to music and musicians in the news: XENOPHILIA.
Xenophilia’s first article is about Nigerian entertainer Femi Kuti’s conflict with Lagos authorities in connection with his club.
Site content includes links to news items and audio clips representative of music from around the world.
Check it out!
June 3, 2009 | Category: Publications | Leave a comment
“It’s In Our Nature - Stories Of Our Natural Heritage” readings by LifeWriters of Arkansas will take place Saturday, May 30, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, 118 West Johnson Avenue in Springdale.
In observance of the “Nature” theme of Arkansas Heritage Month, and to emphasize the value of preserving personal experiences, memoir writers will read original stories about their encounters with the natural world.
The free event is open to the public and light refreshments will be provided.
LifeWriting Programs are coordinated by June B. Jefferson. She can be contacted at 479-790-2588 or by email.
Check out the Arkansas Heritage website.
May 28, 2009 | Category: Dated Announcements | Leave a comment
Charlaine Harris of Magnolia, Arkansas has published 26 novels in about 30 years, but it’s her most recent nine that have brought her big time success.
Harris’s latest book in the “Dead and Gone” Sookie Stackhouse vampire mystery romance novels hit the Number One spot on the NY Times hardcover fiction best-seller list this week.
One of her Sookie novels, Dead Until Dark, was adapted as the HBO series True Blood. The new season begins on June 14 with an adaptation of Harris’s novel Living Dead in Dallas.
Sookie Stackhouse is a telepathic human barmaid who narrates the novels about vampires, shape-shifters, fairies and witches in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana.
Related Links:
NY Times; free registration required)
Shelfari
Charlene Harris official website
May 26, 2009 | Tags: Arkansas author, Charlaine Harris, HBO True Blood, vampires | Category: Publications | Comments (2)
Laura Parker Castoro was one of dozens of Arkansas writers and celebrities who participated in the 2009 Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock April 16-19.
Here’s a memento of her contribution to the festivities, a workshop titled “A Little More Sex.”

”Here are a few pictures from the workshop I gave at the 2009 Arkansas Literary Festival workshop. My husband laughed when he saw them. He has always said I’m a very animated speaker. The pictures do not lie. Facial expressions are one thing. But it turned out to be very difficult to get a picture in which at least one of my hands wasn’t blurred. Reminded me of that line about shutting someone up by tying their hands. I guess I may qualify! We had a good time. It isn’t every day you get to spend an hour in front of 37 strangers talking about C-O-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N. Maybe the hand gestures were an attempt to distract from the subject. Who me???”
You can find out what else the irrepressible Laura Castoro is getting up to at her website.
Learn what you missed if you didn’t attend the 2009 Arkansas Literary Festival at the official Festival site.
May 21, 2009 | Category: Workshops | Leave a comment
Come to the Garden Party in Eureka Springs for writers and readers. Books in Bloom is held at the Crescent Hotel and in the front gardens on Sunday, May 3 from noon to 5. Check out the web site: www.booksinbloom.org for authors, events, schedule.
April 28, 2009 | Category: Dated Announcements | Leave a comment
Arkansas authors will be on hand to sign and sell books at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in Bentonville, Arkansas on May 8 and 9.
Sponsored by the Back Yonder Company, Inc. of Bella Vista, the Arkansas Authors’ Showcase will feature authors from Crossett, Monticello, Paragould, Hot Springs, and other Arkansas towns.
According to organizer Jody Parsons,
“This is one of the most exciting efforts I have put together. I intended to limit the event to Benton County, but then I decided to include any author published or self-published in Arkansas.”
Highlight of the two-day meeting will be 30-minute readings and talks by each of the attending authors.
Local high school writers’ groups have been invited to come, meet the authors, and ask questions.
For more information go to www.arkansasauthors.com, or call (479) 876-2624.
April 23, 2009 | Tags: Arkansas Authors' Showcase, Bentonville writers, readings | Category: Dated Announcements | Leave a comment
The Arkansas Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators(SCBWI) Spring Conference is set for May 15-16, 2009 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Ark.
On the slate to speak are Martha Mihalick, associate editor at Greenwillow Books; Jennifer Rofe, associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency; Anastasia Suen, author, consultant and writingteacher; Darcy Pattison, author and writing teacher, and Melanie Siegel, illustrator.
The conference brochure is now available online at
http://www.arkansasscbwi.org/conference.html
April 22, 2009 | Category: Dated Announcements | Leave a comment