20th Annual South Coast Writer's Conference - Gold Beach, Oregon

It was a four day, Valentine's Day weekend, with a no student Friday the 13th followed by President's Day.  It could have been a perfect weekend to spend with my husband of 31 years, but we both had plans, 1,000 miles apart.  While he gathered his Choir students and flew to Spokane for the all Northwest Music Festival, I was headed only an hour from home, to the 20th annual South Coast Writer's Conference.  With a few miles of extra driving just to take advantage of the incredibly warm weather and gorgeous beaches between my home and 50 miles north of Gold Beach near the Bandon Cheese and Ice Cream at Facerock Creamery

http://www.bandon.com/webfront/directory/memberdetails.php?directory_member_id=934&directory_category_id=433&directory_department_id=36

 and Old Town Bandon and the best divinity and fudge ever at the Big Wheel 

http://www.bandon.com/webfront/directory/memberdetails.php?directory_member_id=66&directory_category_id=322&directory_department_id=

Lighthouse from the Art friendly fishing Docks at Bandon

finding a valentine message on the beach

at face rock beach

 Prehistoric Gardens between Gold Beach and Bandon

 One of my favorite places is an actual wave crashing beach inside this cave

 The seaside hot tubs at my motel were dark and steamy and only me by the time the keynote address finished and I made it back.  What an indulgence.

 The view from my room, they have a lot better views in the more expensive cabins but I knew I'd mostly be out of the room, and this was only $49.00

 Here is the High School track and football field where the conference was held.  For lunch I just ambled down to walk the track.

 Book sales and conversations were plentiful after the workshops Saturday evening.

 and then I escaped just in time to catch the sunset off the jetty

 Yes th conference is great and a wonderful place to learn from other people in the book world, and the workshops I took, flu of them for an hour and a half each, were all interesting and helpful, and the contacts I've made will be good to follow up on, but this conference is over until next year around Valentine's Day.  It is inexpensive, fun, professional and worthwhile if you ever get a chance to participate

http://www.socc.edu/scwriters

here is the post from my other blog about how I learned to overcome writer's block

http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-universal-in-small-private.html

Of Colors and Lullabies and Dreams

One of my goals this summer was to finally publish two of the picture books I have been working on since my sons were babies. Well, as you know, now my sons are in their 20's and I am a grandmother.  The summer will be winding down with this next weekend and Labor Day brings school around here.

So I struggled through the learning curve and figured out what I ended to do with formatting and took a big breath and decided that I love these two story/poems and the pictures I created, and even if some people don't love them, I need to be brave enough to give them a chance.

I am introducing these books here, because I need to stop keeping them a secret,

Rainbows Around Us: A Celebration of Color

Authored by Dixie Dawn Miller Goode

List Price: $15.00

8.5" x 8.5" (21.59 x 21.59 cm)

Full Color on White paper

62 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1500991944 (CreateSpace-Assigned)

ISBN-10: 1500991945

BISAC: Juvenile Nonfiction / Art / General

This book includes photographs and words to help children celebrate the beauty of the world around them. It is designed to be read aloud to a young child just learning their colors, and read by older children as they gain independence. There are a few brief definitions of more complex color theories including, shade and tint and monochrome pictures.

CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/4973800

Rainbows Around Us Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N54953G

Moonrise: A Love Song For My Babies

Authored by Dixie Dawn Miller Goode

List Price: $12.00

8.5" x 8.5" (21.59 x 21.59 cm)

Full Color on White paper

26 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1501000201 (CreateSpace-Assigned)

ISBN-10: 1501000209

BISAC: Juvenile Fiction / Bedtime & Dreams

A lullaby and finger paintings for my sons, and granddaughter, and the children you love.

CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/4974953

Moonrise Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N5FQK9M

an introduction to My Love Song to my Babies

Moonrise

back cover

front cover

seagull

Tonight, my love, the moon shall rise

the sandman come to dust your eyes.

His sand has heard the dream gull's cries

beside a sea 'neath silver skies.

The pillow cool beneath your head,

all star lit is your feather bed 

which glides the moonbeams like a

sled, above towns which glitter blue and red.

and my second picture book is an introduction to Colors and a celebration of their beauty

 to be read aloud 

and then read independently and studied.

Presenting  

Rainbows Around Us

on kindle and paperback

                                           

back cover

front cover

Complimentary Colors

Rainbows

Red

 If I could tell you about Red

I would sing to you of fire

Sweet like cherries

Burning like cinnamon

Smelling like a rose in the sun

Again, thank you for reading, and have a wonderful Autumn

Spring into a good book, with links

Duffy Barkley Is Not a Dog
Duffy Barkley: Seek Well
Double Time On the oregon Trail

Today I went to Substitute teach at a grade school as I usually do, but I didn't know that one of the classrooms was reading one of my books.  as I walked toward the breakfast crowd, I found myself surrounded, and by now I expect hugs and questions, like, "who are you subbing for?" but I didn't expect

"We are reading your Oregon Trial book!" 

"I love your book."

"I like the way that you move back and forth through time"

"One boy doesn't like it,"

YES!

'One boy doesn't like it ?   One! 

In a class of over 30??

WIN!

 Several Times lately, I have had people ask me for links to the connections where my books and I can be found, So I decided that I need to do another post with some links.  As usual I wanted to sprinkle my blog with pictures, because I am a Words & Pictures kind of person.  I wonder, if my major role in life isn't to observe how beautiful things seem to me, and then record those observations in my writing, my photographs and my paintings.  I love being alive in this wonderful world, even though I have to play around in fantasy and try to create a world of my own, at the same time I am loving this one.

Dixie Goode

Amazon Author Page link:  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004458ES2

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard 

Twitter link: http://twitter.com/#!/pandorasecho

Twitter # 2;  http://twitter.com/#!/DuffyBarkley 

Author Blog:  http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/

Blog # 2:      http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/

Book Genre:  Fantasy/Young Adult

365 Project (pictures) http://365project.org/pandorasecho/profile

Redgage (pictures and links)  

http://www.redgage.com/#rf:/profile:innercontainer:dashboard.user

createspace Duffy Barkley Paperback book 1  https://www.createspace.com/3450238

"             "    " "            "        "            book 2  https://www.createspace.com/3649425

The Double Time On The Oregon Trail links

kindle book

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Time-Oregon-Trail-ebook/dp/B008G3JZB8/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341109826&sr=1-5

paperback on Createspace

https://www.createspace.com/3923513

paperback on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Time-Oregon-Trail-1/dp/1478160926/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341504499&sr=1-3&keywords=double+time+on+the+oregon+trail

 and of course you should be able to ask your local librarian or bookstore to get any of my books

So have a happy spring, and if you do read something I wrote, even if you are the one who hates it, Thank you - and BTW Book Reviews are my favorite treat to discover online.

Happy Valentine's Day

 Life has been going quickly past this school year.  I have not written as much as I would like but then again, I have not been completely away from my stories either and my real life competes with the fantasies I try to put down in book form.

 It has truly been a beautiful winter here, which is not really a good thing over the long run.  Days in the redwood coast in January and February were not supposed to be near 70 and sunny, but even though it threatens dry wells and fiery summers, I have been enjoying it and getting into the trees and to the beach

 I also went up to Eugene with my husband and while he was involved in a music festival I explored the old cemetery. Not sure why but there is an attraction to old, decaying places like decrepit barns and mossy tombstones

 Spring weather should be rainy and it finally has come but not enough yet even though my house got 10 inches of rain in 8 day.  the river spot we love should be at flood stage this time of year, 29 feet and is often over that in January, but was only 8 feet before the rain started last week, and even now only got to 19 feet before dropping back to about 13 now

 Valentine's Day is fortunately not just for couples.  I never see my music teacher husband on Valentine's day as he is in the next town up delivering Valen-tunes - but there are many people I love and so Valentine's day is a reminder that every day, my life is blessed by a multitude of good people

It is a full moon valentine's day but the rain is blessing us heavily and therefore I can't see it, so instead here is a simple painting I did my freshman year of college.

Now enough avoiding the novel. Going to open that document and figure out why Duffy Barkley is marooned on an Island and refusing to move forward