The Authorized Version

A writer’s community is an important part of her life. We all need like-minded people to support us, encourage us, weep with us in hard times and celebrate with our successes. When I started out in this business more than 30 years ago my community experiences were limited to a once-yearly writers’ conference and a once-a-month meeting of local writers. Plus an occasional postal letter (written on real paper with a real postage stamp— remember those days?).

Now the world is at my fingertips and I belong to lots of writers’ groups, including several international ones. I visit almost daily with writers in England, South Africa, Canada and Australia. But one still needs real human contact, so writers’ conferences are still important.

I was especially blessed last weekend to participate in the Idahop Writers’ Conference here in Boise for many reasons: It was a great conference with excellent teaching, I got to visit with old friends and make new ones, and they honoured me with their Writer of The Year Award, named the Robin, for Robin Lee Hatcher who was the first recipient.

It made me think of my first such award at the Mount Hermon Writers’ Conference in 1983. My daddy hugged me and said, "Now you can quit working so hard."

I replied, "Oh, no, Daddy. Now I have to work even harder to be try to be worthy of it."

Thank you, Idahope, my friends and my writing community. I will try to be worthy of it.

With Ray Ellis, Idahope President

and Becky Carey Lyles, Vice President:

Gift of Gardening hat and basket

for the Rose Garden Fashionista:

The fun of giving books for the door prize

drawings is meeting the winners:

With my friend Peter Leavell who just won the

Jerry Jenkins first novel award for his Civil War

historical novel— with an amazing advance check!

Jeff Gerke of Marcher Lord Press taught great

classes on"Show, Don't Tell" and

"The First 50 Pages"

Our panel on "Flexibility in the Changing Market"

And that all-important lunch break!