Shhhhh.....

I know a secret.

Getting to crunch time with the Surrey International Writers' Conference, and lately there's not time for much but head down -- push forward. We've been working on the contest lately, and now I've heard back from all the judges and the results are in...

But I'm not telling.

Friday night, October 19th, all will be revealed. Four winners of four categories. $1000 each. At least one honourable mention in each category, $150 each. And everyone gets published in the SiWC 2007 Anthology.

A pretty exciting night, October 19th. Will you be there?

Tomorrow the 'Teacher Appreciation Travelling Road Show' starts up again with our Chocolate & Chat events at Chapters. James McCann and I are going to brave the wilds between Surrey and Langley and visit the Chapters stores there. (Last week when we did a trial run, we got lost for more than an hour -- but less than two -- trying to find the Langley story.) This time we have Google directions AND a map book to help us out. We'd love to see you -- we have chocolate and books to spare, AND Chapters is showing their appreciation of teachers by offering a 20% discount.

A quick look at two more of the amazing line-up of presenters this year. For those for whom non-fiction is their thing, we have a couple of great choices. Conference favourite Elizabeth Lyon is returning this year. In addition to being the author of five great books about writing, Elizabeth has been an independant editor for many years. [And speaking of secrets, as one of the judges for the Non-fiction Writing Contest, she knows a secret or two herself!] This year at the conference, Elizabeth will offer a workshop on the subject of giving your fictional story an Extreme Make-over -- but she's also a great resource for selling a non-fiction manuscript.

Another star on the non-fiction scene is Daniel Wood. One of Canada's best known magazine writers, Daniel has also produced fourteen books over the years. He'll tell you everything you need to know about how to make freelance writing a career -- and he should know, he's done it himself!

If you'd like to learn more about either of these two amazing writer-teachers, check out the conference website at http://www.siwc.ca/

And you'd better book your spot fast. The conference has sold out for the last two years running.

~kc