Dawnell H. Griffin - AuthorA household phrase when I was growing up was simply the name, Alice Morrey Bailey. I was told she was a distant relative of mine, and a well known author. One of the things I was adamant about, even before I could read, let alone write, was that I wanted to be an ‘Arthur’ [sic] when I grew up. It is a common phenomena among wanna-be writers. For many years I wrote in a vacuum, with no one to critique my work or give me direction. About five years ago I attended a conference in Provo and learned about SCBWI or the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I also learned about the LUW (League of Utah Writers) and the USPS (Utah State Poetry Society.) One of the highest honors still bestowed by that organization is called the Alice Morrey Bailey award. Sherry Meidell, a wonderful illustrator graciously agreed to lend her name and illustration to the cover of Osenplots, my first attempt to publish. I have often wished that I had attended a conference or two before I began that venture as she has yet to be rewarded for her efforts in my behalf. Attendance at conferences has been helpful in many ways. There are wonderful poets, writers and illustrators in the state of Utah. Many of them, I now call dear friends and am thrilled with their successes great and small. Until we moved to our present location I received valuable help from a small critique group. I have learned there is an active chapter of the LUW where we live now. Anyone who knows anything about Utah Children’s authors is well acquainted with the enormously successful Rick Walton and the books he has written. Carol Lynch Williams writes to another segment of young readers in Utah and is also well known. Both Rick and Carol are generous with their time and encouragement to new (not necessarily young) authors. For a short time I was able to attend The Valley Winds Chapter of the USPS with Karen Keith Gibson, Helen Beaman, Sharon Anderson and others. As mentors, there are none better. Also added to my list of famous cousins are Lee and Ned C. Snell who have been affiliated with USPS for many years and are great writers. My successes are few, but I continue to write, submit and hope. I don’t seem to be able to help myself, so even though my list of successes is small, it is a part of who I am and what better place to toot my own horn than on my own website? 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - Other publications can be viewed under Published Family Histories on the home page. I live in Cache County with my husband, Wade. All of our eight children are grown and living away from home with the exception of one daughter who is expecting her first baby and waiting for her husband to return from Iraq. I have been busy for many years with family, family history and writing. These are the things I enjoy most. I love flowers, front porch swings, back porch swings and ice in my beverages (non-alcoholic). Twice I have traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and loved everything about our adventures except the fact that they do not put ice in anything unless you are willing to promise them your first born child. I like order in my life, but most of the time that is just a funny joke. With as many people as there in our family with kids, in-law children and grandchildren, non-chaotic days are few and far between. My goal is to re-write the four novels I have completed and make them so exquisite that an editor and publisher could not possibly refuse to publish them. . . and to import Mexican food to Ireland. The last time I was there they served pork and beans on a piece of white bread and called it a tortilla. Either way, I could then sing that song . . . “If I had a million dollars . . . I’d be rich.”
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