Meet our Idaho stars. I knew them when...

​Three of my writing friends from the Treasure Valley will be speaking on a debut author panel at the "Writing With the Stars" conference this Saturday, September 11th at Boise State University. I first met Sarah Tregay during the Boise writing conference in 2006. She has faithfully attended a writing group and conferences since then. Now she's sold her first novel to Katherine Tegen Books/Harper Collins. I also met Amy Allgeyer Cook through our SCBWI writing conferences. She won a contest through a small press, marketed and prepared for the debut of her novel this summer, and then took matters into her own hands to release her novel, The Iron Bodkin. I met Laura Bingham when we were both tutors for Heredity at Ricks College in 1992. A couple of years ago she walked into our writing group with a fantasy manuscript and a determination to be published. She since has worked like crazy to market her YA fantasy, Alvor, complete more manuscripts, and acquire an agent. She's a writing and marketing maniac. During a writing class at BYU, my fabulous instructor, Ann Cannon, told us that if you have talent, determination, and discipline you will be published. That's what has made these three authors our Idaho stars. Talent, determination, and discipline.