TS32 Book Release Party and Workshop!

May Meeting Minutes 2023

Hello Everyone, Today we held our May meeting.

PRESENT: Sharon, Ryan, Marlys, Erin, Dawn, Jan.

TALKING STICK PROGRESS:

     All submissions have been chosen. Tarah is working on the cover and design. Sharon is working on the proofing and editing. All letters have gone out. All winners have been contacted.

     When thinking of a subtitle for the book, we thought of Turn in the Road. Then we thought Bend in the Road sounded more like what you would normally say. Then we thought: Twist in the Road, because we used the Creative Twists this year.

     Writers really seemed to like the creative twists. It would be nice to do it again next year, probably with only ONE list of words instead of two.

WORKSHOP AND BOOK RELEASE PARTY:

     We are looking at Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. We will have a poetry workshop by Sharon Chmielarz from 9 to noon. Sharon H needs to get busy and contact her soon and get a flyer ready to send out.

     We have already been in contact with Jack Pines Resort. We will start talking to them about lunch, etc.

HACKENSACK:

     This is coming up Saturday August 12, 2023, from 9 to 3. Would Dawn and Niomi like to do this again?

      We passed out a handout for the Poetry Safari. They plan to do this again at Hackensack like they did last year. You can send in several of your poems and they may choose to place them on easels at various places throughout the event. This year’s subject is Celebrating animals and their environments where they live and thrive—

     Sharon H got in last year. John Thornberg got in two poems for the Poetry Safari last year.

WRITING EVENTS:

     No PRLAAC minutes this time. Mike was able to attend the PRLAAC meeting and he will bring the minutes to the next meeting as he was not able to attend this month.

     Poetry Slam in Bemidji at Fozzie’s. This is on June 15.

     Ryan attended the MN Book Awards in St. Paul on May 2. He was not the top winner but enjoyed attending. Sorry, Ryan.

     Northwoods Writers will be held at Bemidji State University again from June 20-25. This is always a great event. They will be having the evening reading series again this year.

We read things we had been working on while the others critiqued. Hope to see you all next time!

April Meeting Minutes 2023

Hello Everyone, today we held our April meeting.

PRESENT: Ryan, Sharon, Mike, Erin, Marlys, Jan.

TALKING STICK:

     Our submissions are all in and copied and we are reading now. We ended up getting quite a few of the creative twists and writers seemed to really like it. The Editorial Board will be held soon.

     Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, is set for our book release party and a poetry workshop at Jack Pines Resort near Osage, MN.

MISCELLANEOUS:

     Sharon received some questions from Doug, a member of the board of Lake Superior Writers. They were asking about our group, what keeps us going, how we are organized, etc. They were going to meet for lunch but a snowstorm messed that up. They have gone back and forth with emails and answered their questions.

     Mike has been selling his hard cover books—not as many as his regular ones, but he is glad he got them. Ryan is having good luck with selling his books, both hard cover and paperback.

     Erin got an individual artist’s grant and gets to work with a mentor for 6 weeks. Wonderful!

    WRITING EVENTS:

     Mike attended Rosemount Writers. He had a whole table this year and that seemed better than half a table. He said that this year was better attended than last year. Lots of book sellers, lots of classes.

     PRLAAC—no one was able to attend this month’s meeting. We would like it if they would always have the event on Zoom so it is easier for one of us to attend. Mike reported from the previous month. Mike told them about the Creative Twist idea. Mike had filled out a survey for PRLAAC and won some money which he donated to JWB. Thanks, Mike!

     Dawn and Marlys went to a storytelling slam in Bemidji and enjoyed it immensely.

     There is a storytelling workshop on May 2 with Ann Marie Newman put on by www.watermarkartcenter.org. Visit the website for more information.

     Erin attended a Zoom meeting called “Let’s Get Weird” put on by Northwoods Writers. She also took a class from Frizzlit, learning about Emily Dickinson.

     Ryan is doing a Zoom meeting “For the Love of Writing,” pairing writers with high school kids for mentoring.

     Ryan also did a Zoom “Meet the Finalists Panel” with Friends of St Paul Public Library. Ryan is a finalist in the MN Book Awards.

     Good places to sell books: Nevis Sights and Bites, and the Dorset Art Fair.

BOOKS TO CHECK OUT:

The Fire She Fights by Tracy Moore.

GOOD SAYINGS:

Constraints breed creativity.

Life is a Gift; Love is the Point.

Fear and excitement present the same physical reaction in the body. When you are afraid of doing something, tell yourself you are just excited.

We all read things we were working on and others critiqued. We all had a good time and hated to go out into the latest snow. We are all so ready for spring. Hope to see you all next time!

March Meeting Minutes 2023

Today we held our March meeting.

PRESENT:

Sharon, Ryan, Marlys, Erin, Jan.

TALKING STICK:

We have received submissions from 130 writers. We got quite a few for the Creative Twists. They are all being copied and we will have our Editorial Board meeting in April. We have our judges and the instructor all chosen. Our book release party and workshop will be held on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 at Jack Pines Resort near Osage MN.

WRITING EVENTS:

     Ryan has had good success selling his young adult book Maxwell Cooper and the Legend of Inini-Makwa by Simon Hargreaves. The book is a finalist for the Midwest Book Awards. Winners will be announced in May. Hooray, Ryan!

     Spring Fling is April 15th at the Akeley Community Center  at 210 Pleasant Ave in Akeley MN from 11 to 4—Chili Cookoff, Ryan will be there selling his books from 10 to 4. He is working on sequels. There will be Arts and Crafts vendors at this event. 507-215-3038.

     Poetry Slam at Fozzie’s in Bemidji MN at 7 PM on April 20, 2023. Information 218-444-7570 or www.watermarkartcenter.org.

     March 23-25, 2023 (Thursday-Saturday) UND Writers Conference, a literary festival on the prairie. 54th UND Writers Conference, in person and online. www.undwritersconference.org. Six featured speakers. This year’s theme is “The Healing Arts.”

     Missouri Review, the 2023 Perkoff Prize opened January 13. deadline is April 2, 2023. The Perkoff Prize is a tri-genre contest that awards $1000 and publication each to writers of the best story, set of poems, and essay that engage in evocative ways with health and medicine as judged by the editors. https://missourireview.com.

Most of us brought things to read and others critiqued. This was one of those days where none of us wanted to leave and we spent a lot of time talking about getting published, word choice, books, writing events, etc. Hope to see you all next time!