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April 19th 2009

Today we held our April 2009 meeting for Jackpine Writers’ Bloc. The next meeting will be on Sunday, May 17, 2009, at Bella Caffe in Park Rapids MN.

Present: Mike, John, Tarah, Sharon, Vern, Jodi, Sandi, Deb.

TALKING STICK 18
The book is progressing. We had the Editorial Board meeting on March 15. We chose all the submissions to go into the book and we chose the top ones to go to the judges. John T won second in poetry. Judy M won second in Fiction. Jodi B won honorable mention in fiction. One of the first place winners is from Two Harbors. The other two top winners–one is from Mound and one from Austin.

OUR SUCCESSES
Sharon got her Dust & Fire book with her poem So Many Pieces published in it. Jodi got second place in the Angel Horses with a Mission contest and it will be published in an anthology. Mike had a story published in Musky Hunter.

WRITING EVENTS
Vern attended an Author’s Conference at Grand View near Brainerd. Will Weaver and Mary Casanova were among the speakers. Vern said it was a very good event.

BOOK RELEASE PARTY
We have our book release party for Talking Stick 18 planned for Saturday September 26, 2009, at Northwoods Bank Community Room in Park Rapids MN. We will have a board meeting soon to decide the time and other details for the event.

WRITING SOFTWARE
Scott is still working on my notes from the last meeting regarding the writing software. Perhaps we will have it done by the next meeting.

FILM FESTIVAL WEEKEND
The second annual film festival weekend was held this weekend in Park Rapids. Vern is attending some of the movies. A local girl, Rachel Morgan, had her film shown. Scott hopes to do a script writing workshop next year on the same weekend as the film festival.

MISCELLANEOUS
Mike told us about Internet-based Writing courses. He took some from a junior college, Normandale Community College, in the cities. These on-line learning courses were very good. They are called Ed To Go.

Tarah told us about Pandora. This is an online website where you can get free music. Neat!

Vern brought us copies of poetry by John Updike. These were in the New Yorker, written shortly before John Updike’s death.

A few of the attendees read what they were working on. All in all, it was a very good meeting. Hope to see you next time!