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May 18th 2003

Today we held our May meeting at Beagle Books in Park Rapids. Present were: Sharon, Tarah, Beth, Russ, Rosa, and Marian. We had a new writer, Craig. He is a senior at Park Rapids High School. Our next meeting will be June 8 at Beagle Books in Park Rapids from 1:30 till 4 PM.

TALKING STICK:

We discussed the progress on TS12. We have definitely decided to use Morris Publishing. We have pinned down the costs pretty well and we can pay for it ourselves without having to get a grant. We are receiving submissions. We have gotten a nice assortment already, but we would like more!! Especially our local writers need to submit!! The deadline is June 15. We also need some photos.
Sharon went to Bronson Page Books recently. (This is the place in PR where most of our books are stored.) We made a rough count of how many books we had left. Volumes 2 and 5 are all gone. Volumes 4 and 7 are getting low. Sharon has taken a few sets of our books around to local doctor and dentist offices so that they are available for readings.
Volume 1: 6 boxes
Volume 2: none
Volume 3: 200
Volume 4: 75
Volume 5: none
Volume 6: 100
Volume 7: 50
Volume 8: 220
Volume 9: 120
Volume 10: 560
Volume 11: 310
Someone mentioned that the Snyder drug store in town used to carry our books. We need to ask them if they would like to do it again.

WEBSITE:

We would like more of you to send in your photo and bio to our website. Send to: sharrick@wcta.net or eveningstorm@tarahlynn.com
The web site address is: www.jackpinewriters.com designed by Tarah.
At some point, we want to be able to have some of our members’ work on the web site. Perhaps there could be a link from their bio to some of their work. For example, on Sharon’s bio, there is a link to go to her poetry web site which is www.angelfire.com/art/LifeSavors/ designed by Tarah

PLACES TO SUBMIT:

Here is a place for online writing courses: Wristerscollege.com They have 57 online courses that they offer. We don’t know anyone who has tried them yet, but it is worth looking into.
Check out the Fargo Forum or Fargo.com to learn about their annual publication called Life’s Options. They put out a small annual publication and publish some poems. Marion had a poem published there.
realgoodwords is another publication that publishes poems and stories occasionally. Email at realgoodwords@yahoo.com or write to them at Realgoodwords c/o Heidi Holtan, 717 NE 3rd Ave, Grand Rapids MN 55744. Realgoodwords is also a literary program with author interviews and spoken word contributions from writers in MN on KAXE Radio at 89.5 FM in Brainerd, 105.3 FM in Bemidji, and 91.7 FM around Grand Rapids. The show is from 6:30 to 7 PM every Thursday evening. You can also hear the KAXE live audio streaming on the web at kaxe.org.
Lake Superior Writers has a writers’ contest called Sinners & Saints that is open for submissions now. Contact them at Lake Superior Writers, Writers’ Contest 2003, PO Box 3025, Duluth MN 55803 for guidelines. Deadline is July 1, 2003.
Check out Tarahlynn.deviantart.com, This web site shows some of Tarah’s photographs. Deviantart.com also has poetry.

READINGS:

Beth attended the poetry reading in Evansville on April 24. She thought it was great. Some people read their own work, others read work by established poets. Members of the Alexandria Writers Group were there. The Detroit Lakes Steam & Bean, a new coffee house, has expressed interest in a poetry reading by members of our writing group. We thought this would be great. We chose June 14 as a tentative date, perhaps 2:00 in the afternoon. Beth will check this out and we will discuss this further as soon as she has more information.
If any other writers are interested, please let Sharon know as soon as possible. E-mail any questions to sharrick@wcta.net.
We thought we should also check with the Black Moose Cafe or Emily’s Harvest in Park Rapids to see if they would be interested in poetry readings.

OUR WORK:

Several of the writers read their work. Marion read the poem published by Life’s Options. Rosa read her story published in realgoodwords and a story. Russ read a couple of poems from his poetry class and also brought part of his novel. Beth read an essay and Craig read two poems.
We all enjoy the comments and criticism that we get from our fellow writers. We all enjoyed meeting Craig and hope he will attend future meetings also.

Keep up the good work, keep writing, and be sure to send in your submissions for TS12!!!!!