Skip to main content

Mesquite Festival of Books

I'll be presenting two workshops, visiting one of the elementary schools and signing books at the Mesquite Festival of Books. I'm really looking forward to speaking with children and adults not only about my books but why I love to write.

I'm not sure which elementary school I'll be visiting during the day on Friday December 14th. But I can't wait to meet the teachers and kids.

Here is a bit more information, however note updates keep coming in.



4 pm    Opening of Festival
                        “The Song of Dr. Seuss” by the Virgin Valley Honor Choir
                                                                          Directed by Jenny Bennett

4:30     Introduction of Authors

5 pm    Keynote Speaker “Changing Lives, Oe Story at a Times” David Farland
David Farland is the New York Times best selling author of 50 books and this year’s winner of the Hollywood Book Festival for “Best Book of the Year,: along with International Book Award for “Best Young Adult Novel of the Year.”
He is a past writing Professor at BYU where he mentored such international bestsellers as Stephanie Meyer (Twilight series), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time) and Dan Wells ( I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER). He is currently the lead judge for the L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest, the world’s largest science fiction and fantasy writing contest.
                                Dave has also worked a s a videogame deisnge and scripter and a as a screenwriter.

6 pm    Workshops
            Library             Lisa Mangum               Building Better Characters/ Killer Openings
            Art Room         VS Grenier                   Creating Characters--4 to 6 graders
            Music Room    Julie Wright                 Writing Romance—young adults
            Classroom        Betty Haines                Getting started to write—1 to 4 graders
            Backstage                                            Reading time for pre-school children

6:30     Workshops
            Art Room         Roo Arledge                Kanga reads--children             
            Music Room    Charles Loomis                        Writing adventures--teenagers

7 pm    Workshops     
            Library             JoAnn Arnold              Using Your Imagination—all ages
Music room     Karen Hoover              How to Become an Idea Factory--pre-teen and teens
Art room          David W. Smith                       Writing about Disney--children                       

7:30     Workshops
            Library             Michael McGreer         Getting You Work Published--adults
            Music Room    Terry Donnelly                        Writing with Details—age 8 through teens
            Art Room         Shane Williams                        Writing Funny Poems—ages 5 to 7
            Backstage                                            Reading time for preschool children

 8 pm   Festival adjourns until morning


Saturday, December 15, 2012

10 am Introduction of Authors
11 am  Elmo Dance—Mesquite Toes Tap Team directed by Vickie Eckman

11:15   Speaker—Lisa Magnum
            Best-selling author and associate editor of Deseret Book Company

12:15   Annie Dance by Mesquite Toes

12:20   Speaker—Russell Estlack
            Best-selling author, Pulitzer Prize nominee for SHATTERED Lives SHATTERED Dreams
1:30     Workshops
            Library             JoAnn Arnold              Imagination--anf age
            Music Room    Judy Leinberger                       Writing Fiction Based on Real Experiences—any age
            Art Room         Traci McDonald           Plotting a Story--teens
            Classroom        Betty Haines                Getting Started to Write—1 to 4 grades
            Backstage                                            Reading time for young children

2 pm    Workshops
            Art Room         Roo Arledge                Kanga reads--young children
            Library             Shane Williams                        7 Rs of Writing Funny Poems—Ages 8-11
            Music Room    Michelle Jeffries          The Power of Persistence--teens

2:30     Workshops
            Library             Marsha Ward               Encouraging Family Literacy--adults
            Music Room    Amy Jarecki                How I Wrote a Native American Novel—any age
            Art Room         Donald Hendon                       Writing Non-fiction—older teens to adults
            Classroom        Julie Wright                 Reaching Your Potential--any age
            Backstage                                            Reading time for young children

3:30     Speaker—David W. Smith
Top-selling author of Disney mystery series—Hidden Mickey, owner of Synergy Publishing, Speaker of the Year for USPA, Senior Editor of TennisOne.com

4:30     Workshops
Library              Karen Hoover                        An Author’s  Life                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             --any age
            Music Room    Mercedes Yardley        Writing for a Magazine—any age
            Art Room         VS Grenier                   Using Your Five Senses—teenagers
            Classroom        Betty Haines                Getting Started to Write—5th -8th grades
            Backstage                                            Reading time for children

5:15     Closing Remarks          David Farland will lead final comments by authors


Hope to see you there!

Popular posts from this blog

Interview Friday with J.D. Holiday

J.D. Holiday is the author and illustrator of two children’s books: Janoose the Goose, picture book and a chapter book for six to eight year olds, THE GREAT SNOWBALL ESCAPADE. A chapbook of her short stories called, Trespasses was published in 1994 and she has had short stories printed in literary magazines and numerous articles about writing and publishing published.  She is a member of both The Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators, (SCBWI) and Small Publishers of North America, (SPAN.)  J.D. Holiday lives in the Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania. VS : I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. It is so exciting because you are my first World of Ink Tour Guest. It’s been a fun couple of days and the tour is only getting started. Okay, so I know your children are grown and out of the house, but I’m sure you’ve had to balance your writing life around them at one time or another. I know being a parent and writer can be hard and I find ...

I'm a Guest Blogger on The Children's and Teens' Book Connection

Picking the Right Words for a Picture Book by VS Grenier First, let me say there are four types of picture books. Story Books: Most of us grew up on this traditional picture book. This type of picture book is by far the most popular and is usually fiction based. You will have a series of events with strong character development. Story books tend to have more text on each page vs. other types of picture books. Concept Books: This type of picture book helps to promote a child’s understanding. You see this type of picture book for toddlers or as a “My First” book series. These books can be fiction or nonfiction and have very few words. The illustrations tend to be the focus. Novelty Books: A great example of this type of book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This picture book relies on some short of gimmick to tell the book’s story. Modern Picture Books: This type of picture book is a lot like the story picture book, but uses both the illustrations and ...