President’s Page
OUR PREVIOUS/MOST RECENT MEETING
Information about our most recent
meetings is available via a link on the “Welcome” page. (To the left)
Visit the “Programs” page (to the left)
to learn about our next meeting and other writer related events.
FROM THE PREZ
If the year could
be condensed into a day then I would say to all of
you, “Good Afternoon.”
It is back to
school time, harvest time and craft fair time. Even though my garden got
started a month late, it is finally producing beans, beets, zucchini, garlic
and potatoes. The onions tapped out this year.
I was hoping to
have a speaker for our September meeting but as of this moment it doesn't look
like she will be available. However, I may have a backup.
Getting back to
craft fairs, I am hoping to partner with as many authors as possible in as many
craft fairs as possible this year. So far I am signed
up for three...there's like eight this year.
Also, we have the
catalog and the Christmas Anthology which are due by the middle of the month.
Also, be mindful of the elections in November. Not just the national election
but also our own Spokane Authors elections.
As always,
looking forward to seeing you all again. I hope you are all in good health and
that everything is write in your world;) See you soon.
Carl/Nathaniel
The
Prez.
FROM THE VEEP
Here it is, almost the end of summer. The cooler weather will allow us to spend
more time hunched over the computer writing the next Great American Novel. Yeah, sure, do you feel it?” Me neither, but the keyboard calls and like
the rest of we writers; we will answer, and clicking will be heard throughout
the neighborhood. Cool days will cause
us to answer the keyboard call. With
cooler weather also comes the call for coffee, tea, or maybe a writer
toddy. Give me time and I’ll think of
one that will enhance our writing… or so we think. Can you tell I’m procrastinating and not
addressing the Christmas Anthology? Yes,
I’ve thought of a title, Santa’s Christmas Shorts. Now, that title should tweak the imagination!
Our goal is to
write or have twenty-four shorts: averaging three to four pages each, or
seventy-two to ninety-six pages. I feel
the goal for us to have a good salable sized anthology would be to have 120 or
so pages. I think that is a nice size
for a seasonal anthology. Our drop-dead
date (DDD) is October 11th.
That should give us time to edit and do the things that need to be done
before it goes to the printer. We need
the book in hand prior to Thanksgiving and book selling and signing
opportunities.
For those of you
who would like to get together and toss around ideas and maybe write a little,
I talked to the County Library on Regal.
We can get a room with a white board and bust out and write about
Christmas and Santa Clause. I know you
have a creative sense of humor, let it be free.
Show the world just how creative we can be.
Bob Manion
The Veep
FROM YOUR EDITOR, WEB-MASTER, TREASURER
So far at least, I seem to be on a
more normal schedule for sending out this issue of the newsletter. Ideally, it’ll go out tomorrow, the last day
of the previous month, or at the latest, Monday the 2nd of
September. Even that is well within the
time frame I try to meet.
It’s
getting busy. We have Arts and Craft
fairs coming up that a lot of us will participate in as we try to sell some
books. We are also trying to put a
catalog together to better promote our members’ books. We are also pushing ahead with the idea of a
Christmas themed anthology that hopefully will be ready for the public in time
for the Christmas shopping season.
If you want to have your books listed
in the catalog, you need to be a paid member for 2024. We’ve also asked that you review your book
blurbs/descriptions and make sure they are short enough to fit within the
catalog format. (A good target would be between
50 and 70 words.) The same goes for
author bios, as we hope to include a short bio and picture of each of the
authors listed in the catalog. We’ve
asked that you provide blurbs, bios, and dues no later than the 21 of September. If bios and blurbs aren’t received, catalog
“staff” will edit as needed to fit the page.
If dues for 2024 aren’t received by that date, no books for that member
will be listed.
As mentioned, we are also working on a
Christmas themed anthology. Our
vice-president talks a little about it in his column. We are basically looking for short stories
ranging in length from 1500 to 3000 words or so. (I don’t think we’d reject something at 1375
words, or something at 3035, but…) Bob
mentions a final submission date of October 11, but it has been suggested we
should set an earlier deadline, perhaps around the middle of September, or to
coincide with the catalog cut off date. If one wants to write a Christmas based short
story, they should be able to do so in that time frame, and we will need time
to edit and format before publishing.
So, in reference to our vice-president’s
column, let’s find that magical writer’s toddy, take a sip, and get those
keyboards clicking.
FROM THE PREZ (Previous)
Our president was unable to provide a message for
this month’s edition.
FROM THE VEEP (Previous)
FEEDBACK
How about Feedback?
You know, that mini conversation you may have
about you or your work with a speaker or with someone who has influenced
you. Is there value there? I would think so. Maybe they saw or heard something that sticks
in their memory, whether good or bad.
Maybe there is something you want to expand or change. How do we know if we don’t listen to
feedback? Sometimes it appears negative
when it wasn’t meant to be negative. How
are you supposed to know if you don’t listen or ask?
“I’m busy! I don’t
have time for feedback.” A few minutes
of listening may reveal a tidbit of information that will help you
improve. We can all use something to
help us improve our work. Let’s take a
few minutes in our meetings to ask others what they think. Talk to the person
sitting beside you. Find out what
interests them and provide a little something about yourself and your
craft. Writers let’s talk to each
other. Offer feedback and remember it
can be positive. It doesn’t have to be
negative. When providing feedback, try to keep it on the positive side. Writers are communicators, so
communicate! Smile! Laugh a little. Be outgoing.
Be yourselves. Have fun! We are fun people.
I challenge you to write a piece like you were the
President of SA or even me der VP. Don’t
shut down, take a bite out of your silence and jump in. The laughter is fine, the grins and smiles
welcome. A step forward is always better
than a step back, except off a platform thing, sort of…
Come on, let’s show our new
members what we really are, smart, happy, full of life and adventure.
Bob Manion
The
Veep
FROM YOUR EDITOR, WEB-MASTER, TREASURER (Previous)
Once again it seems I am waiting until
the last moment to send out our newsletter.
I’m hoping to get it done and out to all of you later tonight or
tomorrow (Monday) morning. I might need
to be more timely and direct when reminding folks
about the submission deadline. It is in fairly bold type on the inside of the front cover, but… And
as I’ve mentioned, it is not a drop-dead deadline, but a target anyone wanting
to have something included in the newsletter should shoot for. Ideally, if you want to have something in the
newsletter that won’t get here by the deadline, just give me a heads up and
I’ll wait for it. (To a point, of
course, as I believe it is important that you all receive the newsletter in
advance of our upcoming meetings.
You might be aware that we are working
on a catalog of books by our members.
Basic things to know about it, are that if you
want to have your books included, you need to be a paid up
Spokane Authors member for the 2024 calendar year. We will have somewhere around forty authors,
and up to 120 books listed. In most
cases, author bios, and book descriptions are a bit long for what we are trying
to list. If you can whittle your author
bio and book descriptions down and send them to me, that would be great. You can always check your member webpage to
see what we currently have. Lastly, if
we do not have an author photo or headshot, we could use that as well.
To see your member webpage, visit our
website www.spokaneauthors.org and check out the
MEMBERS page. If you are not listed, it
is because we show you as not being paid up for the current year.
Dave Mc
Spokane
Authors
Page revised 09/02/2024
DAM
©2005 www.spokaneauthors.org