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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
December 31, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 7
From the President:
Happy New Year (almost)! I hope everyone has survived the holiday with their sanity intact, if not their waistline! As we start the new year, think about all you’ve accomplished in this past year in your writing and give yourself recognition for it. This is what you enjoy, what you want to do, and you worked hard to incorporate it into your busy life. Also, look forward and make some tangible goals for this new year that you have control over and can accomplish. In addition to goals, see if there’s an aspect of your writing life in general that you’d like to improve upon and take the steps to see it through, whether it’s waking up a half hour earlier to get in some writing, or putting in more effort in branding your author profile in social media. Let’s blow this new year out of the water, everyone!
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events/Opportunities:
Our next monthly meeting is this THURSDAY, January 2nd, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. Our Guest Speaker will be Patrick Haggerty. He will be presenting “Introduction to Scrivener.” Learn about this effective writing tool and ditch your Word processing software for good! Scrivener can be difficult for beginners to dive into, so Mr. Haggerty will show us how to get started and share tips. Scrivener has a free trial download if you’d like to take a preview before the class so you can come armed with questions: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/index.php. Patrick Haggerty is the President of the Gulf Coast Chapter of Romance Writers of America.
Are you a writer? A poet? Sense wants to hear from you! Sense, a local magazine, welcomes short fiction, essays, humor and poetry submissions. Submit your edgy, eclectic work to [email protected] and it could be published in the next issue of Sense!
For an upcoming project, State of the Re:Union is partnering with the multimedia platform Cowbird and the interactive documentary Hollow to explore rural America. More Americans are leaving rural areas for cities, but behind that movement, there’s a whole collection of individual experiences. “We want to gather those stories: of people who left their hometowns, but also of people who have stayed or returned. To do this, we’re inviting people across the country to share their stories through writing, images, or sound–or all three. We’ll collect these stories on Cowbird’s website. Cowbird is designed for anyone to join and participate: it’s easy to upload images, text, and sound. For those who don’t have access to online platforms, we have other options for submitting stories. This isn’t a huge commitment. Written stories are short: just 50-250 words. We’re asking you to choose one of these prompts: What’s THE ONE THING about your town… that made you stay? That made you leave? That made you… return? Through the diverse stories of people in America’s hollers, backwoods, and ranches, we hope to paint a larger picture. Participants could find their town featured in SOTRU’s 2014 season. This project is officially launching in January. But before then, we’re reaching out to a few people to get it rolling. We think you might be able to help us.” For more information, go to NPR’s State of the Re:Union website: http://stateofthereunion.com
Member News:
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
December 3, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 6
From the President:
Argh! I’d typed out a whole inspirational post on post NaNo and hit publish, and WordPress reverted to November’s post? Anyway, I’ll try to recreate it, but you know how that goes. Congratulations to all who participated and/or finished NaNoWriMo this year. That is a huge accomplishment that will pay dividends down the road as you learned more about yourself as a writer. Also, we’re entering the busy holiday season now, so try to stay sane! Happy Holidays!
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events:
Our next monthly meeting is this THURSDAY, December 5th, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. Our Guest Speaker will be Linda Busby Parker. She will be presenting “Emotions and Tension in Creating Fiction.” In both a short story or a novel, conflict must be introduced early—very early. The conflict can be within the character, between characters, inherent in a particular situation, or within the environment; or conflict could be embedded in all of these things. In this discussion, we’ll look specifically at how the writer creates tension via emotions.
About Ms. Parker:
-author of SEVEN LAURELS, a novel, which won the James Jones First Novel Award and the Langum Prize for Historical Fiction.
-served as a Tennessee Williams Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers Conference and a Fellow in Fiction at Bread Loaf.
–served as a book reviewer for the San Diego Union Tribune and the Mobile Press Register.
–Some of her pieces on the craft of writing have been published in WRITER’S DIGEST and in THE WRITER.
–Her short stories have appeared in CONFLUENCE, BIG MUDDY, ORACLE, and LITERARY MOBILE.
–an adjunct professor in the Department of English at the University of South Alabama and serves as a mentor in The Writer’s Loft, Middle Tennessee State University (Department of English continuing education).
–currently working on two novels: JOURNEY TO A FIFTH SEASON (Literary Fiction) and OLIVER’S SONG (Commercial Fiction).
Great opportunity for Jim Henson fans! From October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013, The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap of the Penguin Young Readers Group will be accepting writing submissions to find the author for a new novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. This author search is open to all professional and aspiring professional writers. More info: http://www.darkcrystal.com/authorquest/
The Heather Graham’s Eighth Annual Writers for New Orleans Workshop will be held at Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 13 – 15, 2013 with agent pitches and workshops. For more info, visit: http://www.writersforneworleans.com/
Member News:
Congratulations to member Stephanie Lawton! Today is the release date for her new book “Shelf Life,” a New Adult book! For more info, visit her post today: http://stephanielawton.com/2013/12/03/book-birthday-shelf-life-is-here/
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
MWG Needs:
Be sure to support our new officers!
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
November 6, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 5
From the President:
It’s November, which means it’s NaNoWriMo time. I’m not participating this year, but for those who are, I wish you very nimble fingers and a nimble and creative muse! I hope you’ve been able to reach your goals each day, but if not, do not despair, you can catch up by degrees. Don’t look at how much you have still to write in order to be caught up, just write a little more than the goal (1667) each day to whittle down the deficit and soon you won’t be that far behind. You could then catch up with an extra sprint!
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events:
Our next monthly meeting is THURSDAY, November 7th, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. We will be doing our ever popular Speed Critique! For those wishing to participate, bring one (1) page printed, Times New Roman, 12 pt, double-spaced with 1-inch margins of your WIP and we will set the room up like speed dating. Except in this scenario, you will exchange your page with your partner and you’ll have five minutes to read each other’s page and give constructive feedback! When the timer’s up, you’ll switch partners! It’s a great way to see if the mood and tone is coming across like you hoped, or if it grabs a reader enough.
The Third Annual Tracy Hurley Memorial Writing Contest
- Short story contest open to all students grades 6-12th in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
- Entries must be between 500-2500 words, and will be rated based on plot structure, grammar/spelling, and originality.
- Include your name, grade, school, and story in the body of an e-mail to [email protected]
- Deadline is midnight, on Saturday, November 16, 2013.
- Winners will be announced and awarded their prizes on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 6pm in the meeting room of the West Regional Library.
- Two categories for judging: Middle School and High School.
- First, second, and third place winners in both categories.
- Prizes include cash ($25 first place, $15 second place, and $10 third place) and on-line publication for winners in both categories.
Great opportunity for Jim Henson fans! From October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013, The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap of the Penguin Young Readers Group will be accepting writing submissions to find the author for a new novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. This author search is open to all professional and aspiring professional writers. More info: http://www.darkcrystal.com/authorquest/
The Heather Graham’s Eighth Annual Writers for New Orleans Workshop will be held at Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 13 – 15, 2013 with agent pitches and workshops. For more info, visit: http://www.writersforneworleans.com/
Member News:
Marilyn Johnston has an essay on Dauphin Island in the Mississippi Gulf Coast tourism booklet scheduled for release in November. Congratulations!
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
MWG Needs:
Be sure to support our new officers!
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
October 2, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 4
From the President:
Wow this month went by fast! Have you all been hard at work on the goals you set last month? I know it helped push me to complete mine in time. In the back of my head, knowing I’d committed to this in front of y’all made me get it done. How about you? It’s not too late to reach the goal you set!
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events:
Our next monthly meeting is THURSDAY, October 3th, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. We will be learning some techniques about how to plot your novel and prepare to right 50,000 words in 30 days. This is intended for those that are curious on how to plot and push away the inner editor and write fast, and for those intending to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November!
The Third Annual Tracy Hurley Memorial Writing Contest
- Short story contest open to all students grades 6-12th in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
- Entries must be between 500-2500 words, and will be rated based on plot structure, grammar/spelling, and originality.
- Include your name, grade, school, and story in the body of an e-mail to [email protected]
- Deadline is midnight, on Saturday, November 16, 2013.
- Winners will be announced and awarded their prizes on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 6pm in the meeting room of the West Regional Library.
- Two categories for judging: Middle School and High School.
- First, second, and third place winners in both categories.
- Prizes include cash ($25 first place, $15 second place, and $10 third place) and on-line publication for winners in both categories.
Great opportunity for Jim Henson fans! From October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013, The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap of the Penguin Young Readers Group will be accepting writing submissions to find the author for a new novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. This author search is open to all professional and aspiring professional writers. More info: http://www.darkcrystal.com/authorquest/
Southern Breeze region of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators will be having a conference Oct. 12, 2013, at Spain Park High School, Birmingham, AL. “Every session, every speaker, every moment is designed to help you improve your work. You’ll meet editors and agents from industry-leading agencies and publishing houses—and the friendliest, most supportive colleagues you could ever hope to find.” More info: https://southern-breeze.net
Winston Groom will be at Page & Palette promoting his new release, The Aviators, October 30th at 6:00 p.m. Click here for event details. (Limited number of tickets available)
Member News:
Congrats to member Joyce Scarbrough! Her novel SYMMETRY has been contracted for republication by The Wild Rose Press. She also just signed a three-book deal with Buzz Books USA to publish her YA novel PENANCE and two more books in the series. The first one may be out as early as next June! Way to go Joyce, I know you’ve been working hard!
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
MWG Needs:
Be sure to support our new officers!
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
September 3, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 3
From the President:
I hope everyone has had a safe, healthy and productive summer! Remember that this Thursday will be our first meeting of the new term!
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events:
Our next monthly meeting is THURSDAY, September 5th, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. Former book editor for the Mobile Press Register will be talking about his latest release Southern Bound.
Great opportunity for Jim Henson fans! From October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013, The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap of the Penguin Young Readers Group will be accepting writing submissions to find the author for a new novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. This author search is open to all professional and aspiring professional writers. More info: http://www.darkcrystal.com/authorquest/
Southern Breeze region of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators will be having a conference Oct. 12, 2013, at Spain Park High School, Birmingham, AL. “Every session, every speaker, every moment is designed to help you improve your work. You’ll meet editors and agents from industry-leading agencies and publishing houses—and the friendliest, most supportive colleagues you could ever hope to find.” More info: https://southern-breeze.net
A new literary journal, The Tallgrass Literary Review, has a call for submissions. Please note that this is not an endorsement; please do your due diligence in researching this opportunity. The first issue will be published this October, and they are sponsoring a short story contest. First place wins $500, second place $300, and third place $100. The deadline is September 30th, 2013. All the details can be found at their website www.tallgrasspublishing.org.
Member News:
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
MWG Needs:
Be sure to support our new officers!
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
July 2, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 2
From the President:
Boy it’s getting hot out there, isn’t it? Anyway, thanks for the suggestions for next year, and while you’re at it, if there are any topics you’d like us to focus on for our monthly meetings, let us know as we’ll be meeting shortly to plan out next year.
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events:
The next MWG Open Mic is Thursday, July 18th, at Serda’s Coffee on Royal Street. No pre-registration is required, but we suggest arriving between 5:30-5:50 to sign-up to read. We’ll do as many readings (ten minutes or less) as possible between 6-8pm. You do not need to be a member to read. This event continues year round.
MWG’s first monthly Drink-N-Scrawl for the summer will be Saturday, July 13th at the Blue Gill Restaurant for all local writing groups. Food/drinks are up to individuals to purchase but the networking is free.
Our next monthly meeting is THURSDAY, September 5th, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. Topic is TBA.
Great opportunity for Jim Henson fans! From October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013, The Jim Henson Company and Grosset & Dunlap of the Penguin Young Readers Group will be accepting writing submissions to find the author for a new novel set in the world of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. This author search is open to all professional and aspiring professional writers. More info: http://www.darkcrystal.com/authorquest/
Looking for contests, publication opportunities and other author events? Check out this link: http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/19/opportunities-for-writers-july-and-august-2013/ for a list. Also, this was sent to us recently by the Inland Empire branch of the California Writers Club. they are hosting a writing contest open to anyone, with cash prizes. The categories are fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and the deadline is August 15. The theme–which must be touched upon but need not be written to–is “The truest wisdom.” More info: http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/iecwc/
Also, I’d like to give a plug to two websites that I’ve found extremely helpful in honing my craft: www.critiquecircle.com (to get critiques) and savvyauthors.com (tons of great stuff on there from online workshops at reasonable prices to pitch opportunities)
Member News:
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
MWG Needs:
Be sure to support our new officers!
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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The Write Stuff
The Official Newsletter of Mobile Writers Guild
June 4, 2013
Volume 4 Issue 1
From the President:
*stepping into Carrie’s shoes* Yikes! Big shoes to fill! Hello fellow writers, I’m excited to start my term as your president and I want to begin by hoping this finds everyone well and to let you know I’m here if you have any ideas or suggestions to make our group even more awesome. We are so lucky to have such a vibrant and supportive local group! Carrie has been such a wonderful president the last two years and I seriously hope I can be as good to y’all and the group as a whole. The new board will be meeting shortly to plan next year’s events and we’re very excited.
Some things I was thinking about (and I’ll continue to mull things over during our summer break) that I wanted to get your feedback on:
- Monthly/yearly goals — how would you feel about having a board tally at the meetings where you can commit (completely optional) to a writing goal for the next month. Maybe also have one set for May (end of our year). Each month, we can see who’s met them. Maybe have prizes?
- Also, if you have a writing tip to share, send it in, I’d like to include tips from members in each newsletter
-Angela Trigg w/a Angela Quarles
2013-2014 MWG President
Upcoming Events:
The next MWG Open Mic is Thursday, June 20th, at Serda’s Coffee on Royal Street. No pre-registration is required, but we suggest arriving between 5:30-5:50 to sign-up to read. We’ll do as many readings (ten minutes or less) as possible between 6-8pm. You do not need to be a member to read. This event continues year round.
MWG’s first monthly Drink-N-Scrawl for the summer will be this Saturday, June 8 at the Blue Gill Restaurant for all local writing groups. Food/drinks are up to individuals to purchase but the networking is free. Dates for these Saturday afternoon socials are:
- June 8 RSVP on Facebook (if you want)
- July 13 RSVP
- August 10 RSVP
Our next monthly meeting is THURSDAY, September 5th, in the first floor meeting room of the West Regional Library from 6-7:30pm. Topic is TBA.
SOLA WRITERS PRESENTS: ~All Day Self-Editing Workshop~ Instructor: Liz Pelletier (Editor/Co-Owner of Entangled Publishing). www.SOLAWriters.com
When: June 22, 2013 (Saturday)
Where: Andrea’s Restaurant – 3100 19th Street, Metairie, Louisiana 70002 (10 min. from New Orleans)
Time: 8:30am – 4:00pm (4:00pm – 5:00pm Pitches) (incl. breakfast & lunch)
Late Registration from June 1st thru June 10th – $95/Sola Members / $100 Non-Sola Members. Class and Pitches are limited – so sign up early! Registration also includes a Light Breakfast and Lunch
Have you completed a rough draft of your book but have no idea how to tackle your edits? Have your submission efforts netted a full request from an editor or agent only to end in rejection after they’ve reviewed your manuscript? Do you want to learn how to edit like a professional editor? Then you are a prime candidate for this Self-Editing Workshop.
Member News:
Continue to send in your writing news and author events to [email protected] so we can share your milestones with the community.
MWG Needs:
Be sure to support our new officers!
Where to find us:
www.mobilewritersguild.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Mobile-Writers-Guild/132422949536?ref=hnav
On Twitter: @MobileWriters
Email: [email protected]
Remember that comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome—both online and at the meetings. Thanks for your continued support!
Filed under: Monthly Newsletter
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