Meeting Minutes April 20, 2023

 Attendees: Becky, Eileen, Judith, Michelle and new member Katie Richards

Workshops:

League of Vermont Writers is hosting a seminar in Middlebury on April 22 from 9-3.  Title: “Stay on the Write Side of the Law: Legal Issues Every Writer Should Know”, What every writer needs to know about copyright and defamation laws with guest speaker, Cindy Ellen Hill.  Topics:  copyright protection, defamation, invasion of privacy, and strategies for keeping yourself out of trouble and on the right side of the law. Location: Ilsley Public Library 75 Main Street Middlebury, VT 05753.  Find more information HERE

Resources:

Eileen recommended Reedsy. Lots of info on writing and publishing; connection to agents, editors, designers, and marketers; critique groups (by genre), and much more.  They’re offering an online presentation by author S.J. Watson (best-selling thrillers) on Wednesday, April 26, 3 PM. Topic is “zero drafts” – that is, go for messy first-draft versions and avoid self-editing.

Eileen also recommended Scribophile. "Take writing classes, meet beta readers, and become a better writer in our online writing group  Scribophile is one of the largest and most award-winning online writing communities."  She highly recommended joining a genre group for helpful support and critical feedback. 

Events:

Poems Around Town: We received a total of 24 poems, 22 were posted, 2 were too long, unfortunately. A list of where they were displayed can be found HERE 

Vermont Spring Book, Postcard & Ephemera Fair: Book Fair and Author Open House. Sunday May 7, 10-4. St Albans City Hall, 100 N Main St,Saint Albans,VT. Information HERE Or reach out to The Eloquent Page, bookstore in down town St. Albans. 

Meet the Writers: at the Swanton Library. Saturday June 3 from 10:30 – noon, We’ve got ten local writers signed up! Come chat, check out their books, and share coffee and doughnuts!

Bookstock, Festival of Words: June 23-25.  Find more information HERE.  Becky highly recommends!

Contests:

Don't forget the Edwin M Church Award.  Deadline TBD (tentatively July or August)  Available details HERE

New group member Katie read a portion of the first chapter of her third book. "My Last Hope" Suspense/Romance. Launch party is June 3 from 1-5 at  14th Star's, The Room: 133 North Main Street St. Albans, VT 05478.  Respond to the event page on Facebook HERE  Eileen is working on the second volume of her memoirs. 

The next meeting is Thursday, May 18th at 6 pm at the Swanton Library.  I hope to see everyone there!

Meeting Minutes March 16, 2023

 Attendees: Becky, Ev, Dot Campbel

Events

POETRY SLAM at the Swanton Public Library: Friday, April 1, 5-7 PM. All welcome - read something of your own or a favorite poem by somebody else.

POEMS AROUND TOWN! Deadline for submission is March 20th.  EMAIL to Becky or drop off at The Swanton Public Library.  Becky taught a poetry class at NCSS Academy of Learning in St. Albans this week.  The group came up with ten poems.  She would like to repeat the class.

MEET THE WRITERS: Saturday, June 3 at the Swanton Library, 10:30 - noon, we've got ten participants signed up so far - just let me know if there's anybody you'd specifically like me to invite. (The offer of doughnuts seems to be particularly effective.)

Writing projects/ideas

Dot mentioned that one of her writing projects involved Drabbles - which are short pieces 100 words (exactly) in length. Learn more HERE. If the concept interests you there is an entire literary magazine devoted to them.  Check them out HERE to read and submit. 

Recommendations

Ev shared some of poet Bernadette Mayer's journaling prompts and writing experiment suggestions - for the complete huge go HERE  For more on Bernadette, see these articles from the New Yorker and the NY Times.   She's done some fascinating stuff - you have to love a poet who wrote a book titled Another Smashed Pinecone.

Readings:

Dot and Ev shared the poems they submitted to Poems Around Town. "Crooked" by Dot, "A Ringing in the Ears" by Ev.

Next meeting will be on Thursday, April 20, 6 PM, at the Swanton Library - you can expect a note from me reminding you of this at the very last minute.