Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 36
August 6, 2013
On-Line Writing Conferences
Summer is often the time to attend writing conferences. Some of the summer conferences include:
Pacific Northwest Writers Conference
The Willamette Writers Conference
RWA National Conference (Romance Writing)
SCBWI National Conference (Children’s Conference)
Highlights Chautauqua (Writing for Children)
But, did you know there are on-line conferences where you can meet agents, learn about the craft and business of writing, and pitch to editors?
Write On Con takes place August 13-14 and is free. You can find out more about the workshops, and which agents and editors will be participating at Write On Con here.
Another great summer on-line writing conference to know about is the Savvy Authors Summer Symposium.
The on-line conference takes place August 21-25 and is FREE for Premium Savvy Members or pay $30 for a Savvy Membership and attend the conference for free. You can find out all about the Savvy Authors Summer Symposium and what editors will be taking pitches here.
August 1, 2013
Summer News and Events
A little bit of flurry of good news arrived in my email in the last week.
STAINED GLASS SUMMER received this great review from blogger and author, Victoria Simcox. Here is a little snipit of the review:
Mindy Hardwick’s Stained Glass Summer is a sweet, coming of age story with a timeless message, of hope, perseverance, friendship and becoming stronger through hardships.
I found this story very well written and easy to follow. The descriptions of the beautiful San Juan Island made me feel like I was right there watching the story unfold.
You can read the whole review here.
AWP Conference News: I was asked to participate on a panel for the AWP Conference which takes place in Seattle in February 2014. We got the good news this week the panel was accepted. If you’re going to the conference, look for “Getting Your Foot in the Door: Alternatives to Traditional Children’s Book Publishing.”
Registration is now open for AWP here.
Romance Writing New: I have approved the proofs for WINDS OF LOVE and it will be released very soon. WINDS OF LOVE is a short story anthology with all three of my sweet, contemporary short stories, LOVE’S BID, LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT, and LOVE’S STORM together for the first time. I’ll announce on the blog when the book is available!
Also this month is Read a Romance Novel Month and there are lots of great opportunities to win romance book prize packs here.
July 25, 2013
Christmas in July Blog Hop Winner
The winner of the glass ring dish in the CHRISTMAS IN JULY BLOG HOP at my blog is….
JILLYN
Congratulations, Jillyn!
July 23, 2013
Summer Field Trips
Sometimes in order to refresh the writing brain, it’s good to get out of the house for a little field trip–especially in the summer in the Pacific Northwest.
Julia Cameron in her book, THE ARTIST WAY calls them “Artist Dates.” Cameron says, “An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist. In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you pre-plan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your creative self.”
(If you don’t know Julia Cameron’s books, I would highly recommend them. I began my creative journey with these books and I still use many of her ideas–aka..the artist date as well as the morning pages.)
I don’t necessarily plan my artist date trips anymore, and I don’t have artist dates weekly, but I do still enjoy the outing with my creative self.
And last week, I went to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. I’d never been to the Botanical Gardens in Bellevue-although they are smack in the middle of the city and free to visit! And, I hear the Christmas light show is amazing! The Botanical Gardens are filled with walking trails through dense, Pacific Northwest woods. It’s amazing to think the whole place is in the middle of downtown Bellevue–filled with sky rises occupied by businesses such as Expedia and Microsoft!
My favorite part of the Botanical Gardens was the Alpine Ravine Bridge. Here is a picture.
If you live in the Seattle area, I’d highly recommend the Bellevue Botanical Gardens! It’s a great place for an artist date!
July 18, 2013
Christmas in July Blog Hop
It’s Christmas in July! I am participating in a special, Christmas in July blog hop with publisher, Books To Go Now!
The Christmas in July Blog Hop is asking, “What is your Christmas in July wish?” When I wrote my sweet, contemporary Christmas story, LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT, Elizabeth has one wish–to turn her friendship with Bill into something more. But, when Elizabeth is offered a job across the country, these two friends are going to need the help of a little mistletoe to find their holiday romance.
LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT, is a friends to lovers, sweet contemporary romance short story and is available here.
Now, about that Christmas in July Blog Hop!
There are prizes at each blog on the hop as well as two grand prizes on the Christmas in July Blog Hop!
As a part of the Christmas in July Blog Hop, I am giving away this fabulous glass ring dish. (Ring not included)
All you have to do is tell me your Christmas in July wish! Be sure to leave your email address in the comments so I can contact you if you win. One comment per person, please. At my blog, the blog hop prize is only for U.S. entries–sorry! All comments must be left between July 19 and July 22 to be entered in the Hop.
And…..the two GRAND PRIZES are…..
Grand Prize: (1) $100 Amazon Gift Card
Grand Prize (1) $25 Amazon Gift Card
All comments on each blog during the Christmas in July Hop will be entered for the Grand Prize drawing. One comment per person per blog. Finalists will be announced by July 29. Only comments made between July 19 and July 22 will be included in the drawing. The Grand Prize is open to U.S. and International.
You can find all the blogs participating in the Christmas in July Blog Hop here.
Good luck!
July 15, 2013
Mentoring the Young Writer
I’ve always been a big fan of mentoring the young writer. When I was a seventh grade teacher, my Mom and I facilitated an after-school young author’s club. Once a week, I set the chairs in a circle and Mom arrived with writing ideas and snacks. We spent two hours, writing and talking about writing. In the spring, I took the young writers to the Skagit Valley Young Author’s Conference. It was at this conference, listening to local children’s authors, that I began to clue into the fact I wanted to be a writer much more than I wanted to be a full-time classroom teacher. (Although I never regret having my classroom teaching experience and holding a teaching certification as those skills and credentials have proven to be invaluable to my life as a writer).
Now that I am a published writer, I often receive emails from local high school and college students who are looking to meet with a local writer and find out more about the career of writing. Usually, it’s a one-time meeting where I bring some of my published articles, acceptance letters, contracts, and books and we talk about what it takes to be a writer–discipline to do the work, as well as flexibility and the ability to adapt to change is the most common thing I say in the interview!
Recently, on one of the blogs I read–Romancing the Genres--I learned about another mentoring opportunity. Youth WRITE
Youth WRITE matches young writers (ages 5-17) with adult writing mentors. You can find out more about how to be a writing mentor here.
I am currently mentoring a young lady, age 8. We have been emailing about character and where to find ideas. She sends me a bit of her writing (a poem or a small story) about once a week, and I make comments and suggestions. I also send her things to do like character questions, or a listing of places which publish young people.
Here is a guest post from a writing mentee in the program, Brooke, talking about why she applied to have a writing mentor.
If you are looking for a fun and easy way to connect with young writers, I’d recommend the Youth WRITE Now program!
July 10, 2013
Cover Art Reveal
I’m very happy to share my latest cover with you! My three sweet, contemporary romance stories in the Sailor Series, (LOVE’S STORMS, LOVE’S BID, and LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT) are going to be published as a collection–WINDS OF LOVE.
Here is the cover. Gorgeous!
July 9, 2013
Glass Float Finds
Each summer, there is a festival in my area called, Fresh Paint: Artists at Work. This is a great weekend where local artists display not only their work, but also demonstrate their art. This year, the festival takes place on August 17 and 18.
As a part of the Fresh Paint event, there is also a free glass float find on Jetty Island. Glass floats are made in the Schack Hot Glass Shop and then hidden on Jetty Island for people to find. I have volunteered for a couple years to hide the floats. The floats have to be hidden in the sand or driftwood. They can not be hidden in the grass. Some volunteers get very creative and hide them at the shoreline edge. This can be very tricky with the tide!
To read a little bit more about the History of the Glass Float finds go here.
Here is a great video of the Fresh Paint: Artists at Work Float Find!
This year’s event takes place on Saturday, August 17. See you at the hunt!
A Book So Fathomless Blog Birthday Giveaway
I’m participating in A Book So Fathomless Blog Birthday and giving away one ebook copy of STAINED GLASS SUMMER and WEAVING MAGIC.
The giveaway runs until July 31, and you can enter to win using the Raffle Copter below:
July 6, 2013
INDIE-pendence Day Blog Hop Winner
Congratulations to Sara Stinson! Sara is the winner of the INDIE-pendence Day Blog Hop. Sara won a $10 Gift Certificate to Musa Publishing!
