This summer lover is looking forward to a break in this too - hot weather. And with that in mind, I thought you all might like to know some of my Fall plans.

First of all, my semi - annual workshop held at Ozark Folkways has been set for October 30. A bit later than usual, but we’re all so busy it was difficult to find a Saturday that wasn’t filled. At the workshop, which many of you have attended at least once, we’ll work on story telling from experiences versus story telling from our imagination, and how they can be integrated. Won’t that be fun?

As you sign up for the workshop, if you have specific areas of writing you would like to learn more about, you might include that in your registration so I can be prepared to help you with all the information available, not just what’s in my head. Registration continues to be $25 even though other costs are rising. This is quite a bargain when you look around at the cost of other workshops and one - day conferences. We begin at 9 a.m. and finish at 4:00.

Call Becky at 479 - 634 - 3791 or contact her on Facebook at the Ozark Folkways site or contact me at 479 - 634 - 3151 or on Facebook at Velda Brotherton. We’ll be glad to answer any of your questions and get you registered. Only taking the first 20 to keep the class small enough to give individual attention to each attendee. Those who register will receive a flyer through email with more information on time, schedule, etc.

Promotion on both new books is going great. The Boston Mountains: Lost in the Ozarks is proving very popular as are the recipes in Arkansas Meals and Memories: Lift Your Eyes to the Mountains. Mother’s Cheesy Squash received lots of praise and gave me an empty dish at our writer’s summer picnic last month. Someone remarked that the Zucchini Pancakes were scrumptious.

If you have a group or know of one that would like me to give a presentation on researching and interviewing for nonfiction writing, let me know. I’m easy. And I do have the experience.

Next on the agenda is a fiction novel which is going to an editor in New York next week and a creative nonfiction biography of Maud Duncan, who once served two terms as the mayor of our small town back in the 1920s and presided over a petticoat government. In those days most women didn’t do the things Maud did. She was one of the first women pharmacists in Arkansas and took over her husband’s newspaper, the Winslow American, after he passed away during WW I. Old American Publishing is interested in this book.

Lastly, I’m scheduled to appear at Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. in May, 2011. I will speak on finding the right small publisher for your writing and innovative promoting of your book after it’s published.

You can check Facebook on my fan page or my website for my speaking schedule for the remainder of this year. Have a great rest - of - summer.