Val Dumond, publisher, writer, editor, and author
Val Dumond

Author

Publisher

Editor

Consultant

Grammar For Grownups
A manual for people who have to use language in the real world.

Links and Resources

Wednesdays With Writers
If you are a business woman or you do business with women, keep up with what's going on at the Women's Resource Directory! Lots of networking opportunities. For writers: plan to attend the Wednesdays With Writers events on the fourth Wednesday of each month.

Seattle Free Lances
Seattle Free Lances is the Northwest's oldest ongoing writers' group. Since 1921, professional freelancers have met monthly to have dinner, to talk about the business of writing, to hear featured speakers, and to enjoy each other's company. Visit their website and see what SFL is doing.

Pacific Northwest Writers Association
The Pacific Northwest Writers Association monthly newsletter, NW Ink, is scheduled to re-appear this month. In it, Val writes about grammar for writers under the title "Tools of the Trade." If you have a question about grammar, this is the place to raise your hand and ask away! Send questions to: Val@valdumond.com.

Check out the PNWA web site for details of the upcoming holiday potluck party, and info about next summer's 2006 annual conference, where you'll have the opportunity to meet agents, editors, and publishers, and to rub shoulders with successful authors.

www.LorraineFeather.com
More awards and successes for Lorraine Feather, who appeared in Seattle at Jazz Alley in October. She sings like morning coffee (bubbly, full of energy and meaning) and writes awesome lyrics - not only for songs, but for videos too. One of them, "A Very Minty Christmas," was released this month and has become the #1 kids' video in the country and the #1-selling VHS title overall. (Check out ToysRus for a mint-colored stuffed pony that sings her words, "That's What I Love About Christmas," as well as "Nothin' Says Christmas Like a Pair of Socks," voiced by Mark Watters.)

But wait, there's more. Lorraine's CD, "Dooji Wooji," has just been named one of the best vocal releases of the year by the International Association for Jazz Education! Read about it online at: All About Jazz.

Click onto her very creative Web site and settle back to enjoy uniquely original poetry as well as entertaining illustrations. If you look at nothing else, discover Miss English - a woman after my own heart!

Frederick J. Wheelehan, Gardener, landscaper, and plantsmith. Spring! Flowers! Green stuff! Sunshine! Outdoors! Trees! Fruit on trees! Rippling water in birdbath or backyard stream! Beautiful Deck! You gotta take a look at this website if you have a yard to live in and look fantastic. Plus - this landscaper takes beautiful pictures - and he writes very well (read some of his archive notes).

Brent Hartinger This guy can write - and not just the easy stuff. Brent Hartinger has chosen to write books for young adults as his audience. Geography Club (HarperCollins 2003) became his first bestseller and now there's a screenplay in the works. His latest is Dreamquest, and it's a beauty. Brent writes his novels, screenplays, teaches, and lectures - and boy, is he busy!

Randall Platt Randall Beth Platt is the kind of writer you've always wanted to become. She rises early - I mean early - and writes away until it's time to play handball. Then she does the nitty-gritty stuff of authorship before going off on a modeling gig. Her books run the gamut from raw western humor (the Fe-As-Ko books) to subtle beauty. She has two books on sensitive subjects for young adults: Honor Bright and The Likes of Me.

RATIFY THE ERA: It's time women were included in the U.S. Constitution. Ratification from only three states are needed to make that happen. Get the skinny on Val's first blog: eraupdate.blogspot.com, and follow up with the Florida Equal Rights Alliance website. Get involved! Make it happen!

Miscellaneous Links

www.northwestauthors.org

www.powells.com - Powells Books in Portland, OR

www.loc.gov/nls/catalogs/braille - National Library Service for the Blind

www.womensresourcedirectory.com polyglot.lss.wisc.edu - U of Wisconsin

wwww.abanet.org/careercounsel/profile/judges/holidayg.html - American Bar Assoc

www.librarything.com

Grammar for Grownups Links

www.loc.gov/nls/bbr/ - Books in braille, including Grammar for Grownups

www.ci.edmonds.wa.us - Write on the Sound

Just Words Links

www.uwrf.edu/falcon-features