Posts Tagged ‘writing’

Volunteer Writers Needed for “Reflections Program”

September 7th, 2010 by admin

This invitation to make a difference in the lives of terminally ill patients and their loved ones comes from Jo Ann Schultz, Volunteer Coordinator at AseraCare Hospice…

AseraCare Hospice is seeking volunteers for our Reflections Program. The mission of the Reflections Program is to interview and document life stories of patients who are terminally ill. Our patients and their families are given the opportunity through volunteer support to reflect on their lives and find great meaning in their memories!

Reflections volunteers are required to complete an orientation, training and other requirements to complete the application process. Please contact Jo Ann Schultz, AseraCare Hospice Volunteer Coordinator at 414-607-1782 or email at jo.schultz@aseracare.com for more information

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Everything I Need to Know…I Learned from Kids’ Camps

August 16th, 2010 by admin

It’s the highlight of summer: young people who like to write come together for a week of sparking their creativity, playing at the page and sharing their work, all under the dedicated mentorship of some of our fine RedBird-RedOak Writers (Robert Vaughan, Pam Parker, Kris Jaeger, Susa Silvermarie, Laurel Poston, Alison Polivka and Kim Suhr).

As you might expect, the kids had a thing or two to teach us:

Taking writing risks yields great writing rewards
Ideas can come from some pretty unlikely places (a crazy hat, a marshmallow, a barred owl feather)
When we step out of our comfort zone, we find all kinds of fun writing surprises
The thought of sharing writing with peers is more scary than actually doing it (and once you’ve done it, it becomes addictive)
Writing is more fun when it’s done with others

Many thanks to our 79 campers for their enthusiastic participation and to their writing coaches who gave them a week to remember.

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Atwood Writes Like King (?)

July 18th, 2010 by admin

Just uploaded an excerpt of my prose at the I Write Like website to learn that I (supposedly) write like Stephen King (ah, that I could sell/publish like him as well!) It sounds like the King comparison is a common one: according to the Huffington Post Margaret Atwood uploaded some of her own writing to find out that SHE writes like King, too! (Apparently, she doesn’t write like herself — even though she’s among the authors to which her writing was compared.) How ’bout this: upload some of your writing to the IWL site and see if YOU write like Margaret Atwood!

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Thanks for a Great Year!

July 1st, 2010 by admin

July 1st marks the one-year anniversary of the date that Redbird Studio founder, Judy Bridges, and I signed on the dotted line to make two great organizations from one. Judy would continue to teach Shut Up & Write! (and write her book by the same title), and facilitate writers’ retreats and events, while I took the helm in administrating Roundtable groups and workshop offerings at the studio.

At the time, I was excited (and a little nervous) but had no idea what a great year was in store for RedBird-RedOak and the writers who come through our doors.

In addition to our stellar Roundtable groups led by Robert Vaughan, Jeannee Sacken and myself, we offered a host of new opportunities to support writers:

Write ’til You’re Blue in the Face (my writing exercise group)
Saturday Sessions (an extended Roundtable-style group to accommodate longer pieces, led by Pam Parker)
Roundtable “West” (my facilitated writers’ group for those in Oconomowoc and the far west ‘burbs)
Open Studio Writing (a twice-monthly drop-in)
RedBird-RedOak On the Road (quarterly readings presented by Roundtable participants at Fixx Coffee House)
Special Topics (self- and e-publishing with Karen McQuestion, writing picture books with Katy J Vopal, and a panel on getting published co-hosted with Judy Bridges and Redbird Studio)

Phew!

It has been a pleasure to carry on and expand this special place for writers. I am deeply grateful for Judy’s support and the many dedicated writers, Roundtable leaders and teachers who share their talents with our unique writing community.

With much gratitude and excitement about the year to come,

Kim

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Fixx on Fire!

June 4th, 2010 by admin

With over 40 in the audience, RedBird-RedOak Roundtable Writers lit up the place (Fixx Coffee House, that is!) with flash fiction, humorous fiction, novel excerpts, creative nonfiction and memoir.

It was great to welcome Katy J Vopal’s Creative Writing students as well as some folks who just happened to be in the cafe and got hooked on listening to our writers. Special thanks to the other RedBird-RedOak writers who were not reading but joined us to support their comrades-in-ink. Finally, a giant THANK YOU to Fixx owner, Shari Franz, and her intrepid helper, Julia, for their hospitality.


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Writers Read: Showcase Reading @ Fixx Coffee House, 6/3, 7pm

June 2nd, 2010 by admin

Join us for some writer-ly camaraderie and to listen to some fabulous writing presented by our current Writers’ Roundtable participants:

Robert Vaughan, Carol Wobig, Sheila Julson, Susan Maciolek, Judy Cornfield, Jeanette Michalets, Jack Douthitt, Lois Patton, Tom Biel, and Sheila Hanrahan

See you at FIXX!

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Writers’ Good Reads

May 12th, 2010 by admin

Writers are among the most discriminating readers there are, and RedBird-RedOak writers are no exception.  At the Spring Showcase, Boswell Books had a table of books recommended by some of our Roundtable participants. In case you missed them, here’s a sampling…

Every writer has a stack that looks like this on the bedside table. Something tells me that mine's pretty tame compared to some others'!

Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood)
On Writing (Stephen King)
The Half-Known World (Robert Boswell)
The Go-Between (LP Hartley)
The Given Day (Dennis Lehane)
The Woman in the Dunes (Kobo Abe)
A Box of Matches (Nicholson Baker)
Last Night at the Lobster (Stuart O’Nan)
The Island of Lost Maps (Miles Harvey)
Red Glass or Indigo Notebook (both by Laura Resau)
Shark Girl (Kelly Bingham)
A Curse Dark as Gold (Elizabeth C. Bunce)
A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (ed: Czeslaw Milosz)
Good Poems for Hard Times (Garrison Keillor)

What’s on your bedside table? Feel free to leave a title and mini-review in  a comment.

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Self-Publishing Workshop a Hit: “One of the best seminars I’ve been to in a long time…”

April 19th, 2010 by admin

The reviews are in: Self-Publishing: Not Just for Vanity Anymore with Karen McQuestion was a Saturday afternoon well-spent! Here’s what the participants are saying…

Karen’s energy, enthusiasm and careful, detailed preparations of handouts [made the workshop valuable] — TONS of valuable information! ~Pam Parker


Karen shares advice about the importance of book cover design. "It's your baby; it deserves the best possible chance to catch people's attention and convey what the book is about."

Karen McQuestion delivered practical advice based on her real-world experience — and inspired everyone in the room. ~Mary Jo Thome


Karen shares a copy of her self-published "Celia and the Fairies," produced using CreateSpace, to make it easy to walk us through the nuts-n-bolts of using a print-on-demand service.

I thought it was just great — tons of information. She is easy and enjoyable to listen to. ~Carol Wobig


Our engaged and enthusiastic audience. We made them promise to keep us abreast of their self-publishing journey as they move forward.

It was superb. I found it extremely helpful for where I am at in publishing. Thanks for all your knowledge, Karen! ~Dawn Ross


Karen is enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Her success is OUR success! Her handouts were concise and wonderful. ~Robert Vaughan


Thank you, Karen, for your generous sharing of time and expertise with us!



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Is This the Year to See Your Work in Print?

March 23rd, 2010 by admin

It will be for Karen McQuestion who recently signed a contract for her novel, A Scattered Life, with AmazonEncore, the traditional publishing division of Amazon. It’s significant to note the word “traditional” in the previous sentence because Karen has already enjoyed a large readership (plus a movie option) on the self-published e-book. On June 22, 2010, the physical book will be released.

Please note: This class is nearly at capacity. Call today to secure your spot! 414-881-7276.

Wondering how she did it? Wondering how you might use her experiences to grow a readership of your own? Mark your calendar:

Self-Publishing:
Not Just for Vanity Anymore
with Karen McQuestion
Saturday, April 17
1 pm – 4 pm
$40

Even if you think self-publishing isn’t for you, you’ll gain much from participating in this workshop. Download our Registration Form and send in your check to hold your space.

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To Blog or Not To Blog…

March 8th, 2010 by admin

…that was the question in a recent thread of emails among some of my writer friends. Conclusions ranged from gotta-have-’em to nah-it’s-just-navel-gazing.

Here are a few paraphrased reactions from editors, agents and writing coaches at the UWM Spring Writers’ Conference 2010

  • I’ve found 2 recent nonfiction book projects through people’s blogs and tweets. I approached them [underline mine] to ask if they wanted to write a book about their area of expertise. (Was that a collective gasp I heard from the roomful of working/aspiring writers?)
  • In nonfiction writing, the authority of the writer and his/her platform (e.g. professional contacts/online following) are king. Publishers can “work around” an individual who isn’t the strongest writer. (Was that another gasp from folks who are working on the craft?) For fiction writing, skill and craft are still of the highest priority; platform is less important.
  • If you don’t have an online presence, you may as well “not exist” to most people. It is very effective to use blogs, Twitter and Facebook as tools for building relationships with potential clients/readers rather than using blogs as an “online business card,” a showcase for your own writing, or, worse, a “look at me” site. (People get tired of that very quickly.)
  • Readers need to get something out of visiting your blog or following you on Facebook/Twitter. Posts need to have “added value:” free information, inspiration, fresh content, free stuff, etc. (One blogger held a raffle for a Flip camera for anyone who subscribed to his blog, newsletter, etc. and increased his subscribers by a huge number.)

Yeah, but when am I supposed to do all this blogging/tweeting? asked the tech-overloaded/time-deprived roomful of writers. Writing coach, Rochelle Melander, gave us great advice: turn it off when you’re writing, turn it off at least one day a week, block out the time you’re going to allot for this aspect of your business (yes, business) and then stop. Which reminds me, I’m almost out of my allotted time for this….

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