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Show Page 12 The Ogden Valley news Volume XV Issue XVII August 15, 2008 Ogden to Host 2008 League of Utah Writers Roundup The League of Utah Writers (LUW) is a non-profit organization dedicated to offering friendship, education, and encouragement to Utah writers. LUW has 400 members in 13 chapters located across the state. Each year The LUW Roundup is held in a different Utah city, with this year’s event being held in Ogden on September 12 and 13 at the Ogden Marriott in Ogden. The event is being hosted by Ogden’s Blue Quill Chapter under the direction of President Drienie Hattingh and LUW President Elect Natalie Pace. Agents, editors, speakers, and class presenters will travel from all over America to participate. “We’ve managed to corner quite a few agents, and they are really looking forward to the conference,” Hattingh remarked. “Some are coming earlier or staying later to enjoy our ‘neck of the woods.’” Agents attending include Bill Contardi from the acclaimed Brandt and Hochman Agency, and sought after L.A. agent Kevan Lyon from the Dijkstra Agency, also known as “The Best Agency in the West!” Also, renowned L.A. agent Felicia Eth from Felicia Eth Literary Representation. Acquisition editors from Cedar Fort Publications, Covenant Communications, and Deseret Book will also participate. The LUW planning committee states, “Things are going smoothly, even though there have been a lot of after-midnight emails. We want this roundup to be the best ever. It’s been a lot of fun planning everything—from the great meals and venue, right down to the unique keynote dinner center pieces. We cannot wait to welcome writers, agents, editors, publishers, and speakers from across the U.S.” Hattingh adds, “I get goose bumps just thinking about autumn, writing, and hanging out with like-minded people—writers!” Writers will also have the opportunity to meet with agents and editors and pitch their books at one-on-one meetings for $25. Best selling author Stan Trollip will be the Saturday night keynote speaker. Stan and friend, Michael Sears, co-authored A Carrion Death, through Harper Collins. They use the pen name of Michael Stanley. Their book is published in North America, England, Italy, France, and South Africa in four languages. LUW Roundup agents, editors, speakers, and class presenters include: Stanley Trollip, Suspense Writer: Stanley was born and educated in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 1970, Stanley attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he received a PhD in Educational Psychology. He co-authored three editions of a widely used book, Multimedia for Learning: Methods and Development (Allyn and Bacon). Stan and co-author Michael Sears undertook several flying safaris to Botswana and Zimbabwe. They love to buzz a dirt airstrip to shoo elephants off. Adventures on these trips include tracking lions at night, fighting bush fires in Botswana, being charged by an elephant, and having their plane’s door pop open over the Kalahari, scattering navigation maps over the desert. These times fed their love for the bush and Botswana. Tami D. Cowden, Writer of Many Genres: Award-winning writer Tami Cowden has presented programs at many writing conferences and retreats across the country and taught online writing classes. Tami is the coauthor of The Complete Writers Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes, a guide to literary archetypes. Her first novel, Cruising for Love, winner of RWA’s Golden Heart, was released by Avalon Books. She has also published more than two dozen mystery and romance short stories. James Dashner, Children’s & YA Writer: James was born and raised in a small town in Georgia, surrounded by a creepy forest that provided many ideas for stories later on in life. His love of books and writing made him dream of being an author someday, and he still can’t believe how fortunate he is to have his wish come true. Though previously published, his most recent novel is his first to be nationally released. Sharon Mignery, Romance Writer: Sharon has written books for Silhouette Intimate Moments, Zebra, and most recently for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense (another imprint of Harlequin). The Good Neighbor will be out in November 2008. Sharon’s books have won several awards including the Golden Heart, the National Readers Choice Award, and the CRW Keeper Award. Wendy Toliver, YA Writer: Ogden Valley writer Wendy Toliver’s debut novel, The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, hit bookstores December 2007 and is presently in its second printing. Her second young adult novel, Miss Match, is scheduled to come out fall of 2008. She’s also written and co-written several nonfiction books, including The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Inspirational Quotes. She is a copywriter for Hachette Book Group USA (Warner Books) as well as a freelance editor and article writer. Patricia Wiles, Children’s Writer: Patricia’s middle-grade novel series, The Kevin Kirk Chronicles, has been recognized for its realistic depiction of Mormon life in the southern U.S. by the Association for Mormon Letters. Her first children picture book will be released in 2009. Patricia is the Assistant Regional Advisor for the Midsouth (Kentucky and Tennessee) region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and is editor of the region’s newsletter, Borderlines. Her essays have aired on public radio and have been published in Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and The Writer’s Handbook. She also has earned awards from the Kentucky Press Association for her work as a newspaper reporter and columnist. Bill Contardi, Agent: For ten years Bill worked as an editor for NAL, Berkeley, Popular Library, and Avon Books. He was director of literary affairs at United Artists and then vice-president of literary affairs at Warner Bros. In their NY offices, he was charged with bringing in books for the studios to develop for feature films. For 11 years Bill was a dramatic rights agent for books to film and television at William Morris in NY. Since 2002, he has been a literary agent with Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents representing authors and selling their work to publishers. In addition to building a list of new writers at Brandt & Hochman, Bill also continues to represent the dramatic rights of literary properties for some Brandt & Hochman clients and for a few other agencies as well. He is open to all kinds of books, fiction and nonfiction (except for science fiction, fantasy, children’s picture books, middle grade fiction, and self-help). Felicia Eth, Agent: Felicia, from Felicia Eth Literary Representation is an independent literary agent operating out of Palo Alto, California for the last 15 years. Ms. Eth launched Felicia Eth Literary Representation building upon her prior nine years of experience as an agent in NY with Writers House, Inc. Given her west coast location and her east coast knowledge and connections, Ms. Eth sees herself as pri- marily representing authors based out west to NY publishing houses. Her list is relatively small by NY standards, and consists primarily of adult non-fiction best typified as provocative and intelligent on eclectic subjects including psychology, health, women’s and social issues, narrative nonfiction, and travel. Kevan Lyon, Agent: Kevan has been with the Dijkstra Agency since 2004. She handles women’s fiction, with an emphasis on commercial women’s fiction and all genres of romantic fiction. Her particular interest is historical fiction of all types. She is also interested in non-fiction representing authors in the areas of memoir, environment, parenting, and current events. Kevan holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and comes to the agency with 17 years of experience on the retail and distribution side of the publishing business. Her background on the buying and retail side of publishing affords her unique insight into what types of books will sell and how to market them. Her authors in women’s fiction span a broad range of genres from more literary, commercial projects to all genres of romance including historical, contemporary, suspense, and paranormal. Louise Knot Ahern, Author Coach: Louise spent 8 years as a newspaper reporter and 3 years in non-profit public relations before launching her own author coaching service, The Working Writer Communications. After reading and writing thousands of press releases and news articles, she knows what does and does not grab the media’s attention. Elizabeth Lyon, Independent Book Editor: Elizabeth, owner of Editing International, works as a writing teacher and as an independent book editor, and has over 20 years of experience. She is the author of six books for writers on all aspects of craft and marketing. Elizabeth Lyon lives in Springfield, Oregon. The League of Utah Writers Roundup will be held September 12-13 at the Ogden Marriott, with a special room rate of $89. LUW member price for the conference is only $98, and includes meals and workshops. Registration cost after August 15 is $128. Non-member Price, $160. The fee to join LUW is $34. Visit luwrite.com to learn more about this amazing writer’s event that you won’t want to miss. |