Join our Email List

The above email list will get you directly in touch with us and you will receive all of our email updates on writing events, workshops and publishing opportunities in the state, and sometimes outside the state! Or, you can CLICK HERE to go and like our facebook page to stay in touch.

For many years, we supported ourselves with donations, book sales, and a few grants. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to fund our books. Without your support and donations, there would be no Jackpine Writers’ Bloc and no Talking Stick books. Remember, your tax donation is tax deductible. We are a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.

HOME CONTACT ABOUT ARCHIVES MEETING MINUTES

Submit to the Talking Stick Our Services Writers' Tips Events News

August Meeting Minutes 2020

Hello Everyone,

Today we held our August meeting. We will not have a September meeting since it would be on the same weekend as our writers’ workshop with Candace Simar. (More info below.)

PRESENT:

Mike, Jan, Sharon, Dawn, Niomi, Mary.

TALKING STICK 29:

The books are here. We will be mailing them out to all the writers in the book starting this week. We will be mailing ALL of them this year since we are not having a book release party so it will take a little longer than usual. We will then have them on our JWB website with a link to Amazon where they are for sale. That is the best place for people to buy them. We will have a few on hand for locals. We may have them for sale at Book World in Park Rapids later on.

WRITERS’ WORKSHOP:

We are having our virtual Zoom workshop called Go Deeper with Candace Simar on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, from 10 AM to 12 noon. If you wish to attend, email Sharon at sharrick1@wcta.net. There is more information on our website www.jackpinewriters.com. Cost is $30.

This morning Sharon and Ryan tested the Zoom workshop connections and verified how things will work. We will test again on Sunday August 30, 2020 at 1:30. We hope to have quite a few people log on that day so we can test with more people. Since we have never done this before, we want to learn as much about it ahead of time as we can.

NORTHWOODS ARTS COUNCIL:

Since the NAC was not able to have their Book and Art Festival in Hackensack this year, they are promoting their writers and their books on their website, one per week. Talking Stick 29 will be promoted during the week of Sept. 21, 2020.

PRLAAC:

Niomi was not able to attend the August meeting but she did get the minutes from them. LuAnn Hurd-Lof had asked for a write-up about the JWB and our 2020 book for Art Beat, the supplement to the Park Rapids paper. This will be in the paper around Labor Day. Niomi prepared that and sent it in.

WRITING EVENTS:

We are surprised that there have not been more virtual writers’ workshops. We hope there will be more.

Mike did a virtual talk using Google Hangouts for the Chanhassen writers’ group. The talk lasted two hours and he told the 15 listeners about how he got started writing for magazines and eventually got to his very popular books of cabin life in Minnesota. Mike is now working on his fourth book of cabin stories.

Be sure to check out the online writing classes at the Loft in Minneapolis. Sharon loves the poetry classes and just finished one called Night Writing. The Loft has many excellent classes, all of them online at this point.

BOOK STORE:

We have a new book store in Park Rapids. The old Book World is no longer in business but they will use that name for a while. The owners are local and also own Ben Franklin and an antique toy store, both in Park Rapids.

Our last two volumes of Talking Stick are for sale there, along with Mike Lein’s three books and one of Sharon H’s poetry books. The store wants to get more local authors. They also plan to have used books.

We had a great time critiquing each other’s work. Some of us have been taking classes and hope to do more. We are looking forward to the writer’s workshop on Sept. 19 with Candace Simar. Hope to see you there!