Hi everyone, and a happy almost spring day to you. Hope you're writing or reading every day.

I'm set to attend the Border Queen Festival in Comanche, Oklahoma this coming weekend, March 7. It'll be a fun event with 47 writers signed up. See http:bqbf.blogspot.com for more information. You can meet a lot of great writers and have some fun at the chautauqua and opry.

The following weekend, of course is the Northwest Arkansas Writers Free Conference at Ozarks Electric in Fayetteville, AR It's not too late to register, we have a great lineup. See http://www.nwawriters.org for all information.

My annual spring workshop has been set for April 25 at Ozark Folkways, 4 miles south of Winslow, Arkansas on Highway 71. That's a beautiful time of the year to visit our lovely Ozarks. The new lake and state park only 8 miles farther south is open with its lovely shoreline picnic area, camping spots and fishing.

The workshop is titled: Writing Memoirs and Other Family Stories. Its cost is $25 for the full day, and preregistration is required. Call Connie at 479-634-3791 or email me to register. We'll begin at 9 a.m. and try to wind up by 4 p.m. Lunch will be at Grandma's House or you can paper bag your own. By day's end, you will have plotted out your memoir or story and be ready to go home and write it.

If you decide to stay in the area, there's a bed and breakfast in Chester in a historical old hotel Email me for their telephone number, or if you like to camp, make reservations at the new state park and enjoy some of the outdoor fun down there. Make a weekend of your trip. You'll have a great time.

Think how important it will be to your children and grandchildren when you write your story. So much of the past is lost because no one thinks to write about it in a way that can be preserved. And in this electronic age when we can save information on disks or on the web, there's no excuse for it being lost. If you learn to write in a way that excites the reader, you might also see your writings published. Many small publishers are cropping up to take the place of the floundering huge publishing houses in New York, and they are buying books about nearly every subject. They especially like true stories. And there's always the choice of self publishing, which has become much easier to do using the print on demand system.

I have signed with two separate publishers for books about our Boston Mountains, what they call the range of Ozarks in northwest and north central Arkansas. I'm so excited to be able to work on such projects and tell readers about the history of our Ozarks and the courageous people who settled here.

Take a look at my site at www.authorsden.com/veldabrotherton. I've added some new things you might enjoy. Be sure to email me anytime you want to discuss writing or share your news.

The jonquils are in bloom and we're recovering from the dreadful ice storm that decimated so many of our lovely old trees. There's very little if any damage south of Winslow Mountain, though, and for that we're grateful.

Hope to see you soon at one of the writer's events. Everyone take care and continue to write and study your craft. It's a wonderful business.