VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Do You Want to be an Author or a Writer Heritage Writers Guild, the Southern Utah Chapter of the League of Utah Writers is sponsoring a Writing Boot Camp on May 18, 2013, from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm. ~Keynote Speaker~ Jack Remick is a poet, short story writer and  novelist. In 2012, Coffeetown Press published the first two volumes of Jack’s California Quartet series , The Deification and Valley Boy . The final two volumes will be released in 2013: The Book of Changes and Trio of Lost Souls . Blood, A Novel was published by Camel Press, an imprint of Coffeetown Press, in 2011. You can find Jack Remick online at http://bobandjackswritingblog.com/  or http://jackremick.com Workshop 1: The Three S’s Story—Archetypes and core story: Myth base and story arc.                 Stories are told with action and image                 Archetypes: Dressing the Archetype— Time, Place. Structure—Scene and Narration                 Narration compresses time      

Welcome to the HWG Fall 2012 Writer's Conference in St. George, Utah. (Me giving the welcome speech to all attendees.) Wow, is all I can say about my weekend long writing conference on October 12-13, 2012. I was not only busy as the HWG President in welcoming our attendees to our first ever writing conference, but also helped David Smith (HWG Conference Chair & Author of the Hidden Mickey series) with overseeing the details of the conference as well as presenting a workshop of my own about how to bring and use your 5 sense in your writing. I would love to say when you host a writing conference that things don't get crazy until the day of the conference, but as you all might have guessed already...it starts weeks before, if not months. However, one of the highlights of the craziness going on around me was picking up our Friday night Keynote Speaker Johnny Tan. He not only flew out from Texas, but is also a dear friend I have known for a few years now. We have never m

2012 HWG Fall Conference Hello Writers! As the president for this year’s HWG Fall Conference for writers, I want to encourage all of you to join us at this exciting event! Regardless of your level of writing experience—from the published author to the uninitiated, never-before-published authors!—this conference has something significant for every participant! On this page you will find a short description of our speakers and their topics for your information and planning! This year, because of the diversity of topics, the number of speakers I was able to procure, and trying to fit everything in during the two days of the event, we have break-out sessions during each day’s programming. I think we have prepared the sessions in such a way that everyone will be able to attend speakers who will be most helpful and informative. Don’t forget that our “Early Bird” registration takes place prior to August 20th, 2012. Take advantage of the significant savings as wel

I have been asked this question more than once during my writing career. At first, I gave the standard answer I learned from my instructor at the ICL…YES! The question you maybe be wondering is has my opinion changed since then…NO. Entering writing contests (Free or Fee Based) is always a good thing. However, you want to make sure the contest you are entering is with a known company or group. I only say this because you want to make sure you’re not paying money or sending your manuscript somewhere no one has ever heard of and to never see again. With that said, I have entered all kinds of contests. Some have been through the Institute of Children’s Literature, Writer’s Digest, League of Utah Writers, Preditors & Editors, Mom’s Choice and other unknown local and national smaller groups and companies.  Winning is always nice, of course, but that isn’t why I enter contests. I do it to hence my writing and submission techniques, to hone my talents and learn from my mistakes