Happy August, ladies and gents!

Those of you paying close attention will notice I'm a day late awarding this book prize. Sorry 'bout that. But never fear, the cut-off date was exactly as promised, with everyone who had registered by the end of August 7 entered to win.

The prize? A book, of course. If you're our lucky winner, your prize will be waiting for you at our registration desk in October.

As usual, I relied on a trusty random number generator to pick the winner, who is...

Hayley Lavik!

Congratulations, Hayley!

And BJ? You don't even want to know how close you were this time. Maybe next time!

More soon!

I'm ba-ack! Did you miss me? I was offline for a couple of weeks of holidays. Now that I'm home, the weather is finally starting to hint at being summer-like here at SiWC Central, and for the first time this year, I'm writing a blog post on the patio under a clear blue sky. Lovely!

Registration has been going swimmingly. August 7 will mark two months since we opened our doors, so I'm going to celebrate, because I can, with a book draw. I'll pull a random name or two from the list of everyone who's registered by the end of day on August 7. If you're already on the list, you're in. The sooner your register, the more chances you'll get to have a free book added to your registration package.

Finally for today, I'm so pleased to be able to introduce you to terrific agent Elizabeth Wales, who'll be joining us for SiWC this year.

Elizabeth Wales of Wales Literary Agency, Inc. represents writers of narrative nonfiction and quality mainstream fiction.

Happy fall, everyone! Mother Nature has cooperated by providing a very West Coast fall day to kick things off. Nothing like a few gray skies to make the possibility of a prize seem even better...

Thanks to everyone who got their registrations in during the summer. We appreciate it!

Just remember that if you haven't had a chance to register yet, early bird prices are still in effect for another week, until the end of the month. Sign up soon!

If you were organized to register in the spring (gasp! - you people are amazing) or in the summer (hey, not too shabby either. It's hard to be productive in the summer!), you were automatically entered in our end-of-summer book draw.

The winner was decided by a random number generator, so blame it, not me, if you didn't win. (I'm talking to you especially, BJ Muntain! :-) )

And the winner is.... *drum roll*.... Kate Rose of Oregon! Congrats, Kate! We'll have a book prize waiting for you at the registration desk at the conference.

If it wasn't you this time, don't despair. I think maybe, just maybe there's one more of these contests up my sleeve between now and the conference. Keep an eye on the blog for details.

About time we did another draw, don't you think?

According to my calendar, this Thursday marks the first day of fall in this part of the world, so it's time to celebrate the end of summer.

Everyone who has registered for SiWC by the end of the day (23:59:59) on Wednesday will be entered in a draw for a wonderful book prize to celebrate your organizational skills in completing your registration for a fall conference before fall begins. If you're planning to register before early bird registration ends on the 30th, why not do it now and get in the draw?

All you non-procrastinators who registered before our last draw are automatically in this one, too. Your early registration gets you in for the second time in a row. It pays to be organized!

It's PRIZE DAY, ladies and gentlemen! I love prizes!

I dutifully put all the June-August registrations in a hat (aka a random number generator), to select a winner in the anti-procrastination draw.

What is this prize, you ask? What else, for writers? Books, of course! Beautiful books. Because if there's one thing every writer I know needs, it's more books in the TBR pile. The winner will be able to pick up her prize at our registration desk in October.

(Are you tired of waiting? Should I just tell you who the winner is?)

Congratulations to Elisabeth Hoekstra of Victoria, BC. Check your email, Elisabeth.

And thanks to all who got their registrations in early. You never know when I'll do another one of these (and I will), so don't delay. Register today!

Have you been spotting hints about our Saturday Night Owl event at various places SiWC board members and I pop up around the web? We’re being pretty subtle, I must admit, but keep watching. I think I might just offer a prize to the first person who puts the clues together and solves the mystery. Yes, I think I will. Keep watching and see if you can figure it out before I tell you one of these days… if you think you have it, email me at kathychung at siwc dot ca. I'll post the winning entry - if there is one - here on the blog.

In conference news, we’ve added a title for Jack Whyte’s previously “TBD” master class. If you’ve been waiting to see what he was going to teach before you registered, now’s your chance. In “Le Mot Just”, he’ll delve into the subtle but important idea of rhythm and flow in your use of language. Word choice isn’t just about accuracy, but about the feel and sound of your prose, and that’s a huge part of what creates that unique voice agents and publishers are always on the lookout for. Come explore how to make your prose sing exactly the sort of song you want it to. This class is limited to 20 participants. Space remains, but don’t wait too long!

Another good news story to share! Attendee and former writing contest winner Stasia Kehoe sent us this: “Hi there. Just thought it might be fun to let you know that my book, AUDITION, which won the SIWC Writing for Young People prize as a short story in 2008, will be published as a verse novel by Viking in Spring 2012.” Congratulations, Stasia! We love hearing good news stories from our attendees, so keep them coming.