Thursday, September 28, 2017

October is Almost Here!

By the end of this coming weekend October will be upon us!
There has definitely been a shift in the air today. Last night I walked out of a meeting at 8:30PM into 82 degrees humid heat! Ugh! Tonight, there's a crisp coolness to the air and a breeze with an 18 degree drop in the temperature compared to last night! The still green leaves on the oaks are rustling as I type this with the kitchen windows open, but I had to close the door as it was too cold sitting here with the breeze coming through the door.


October 14th is the Fall Family Festival/Pumpkin Fest event downtown. I want to thank the Wordsmiths who contacted me about table space for this event in the old Town Hall- Kelly, Sandy, Geri, and Sonia. We'll also have Connie Bombaci from CT with us (courtesy of Shawn Flynn who suggested her in his stead as he was already engaged on the 14th for another event.


For this event, Kelly and I collaborated and created a co-authored book of tales that we titled Disturbing. I've been self publishing Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales and Ghost Stories since 2015. My stories have Miss Peculiar's byline. Kelly has chosen to call herself Miss Spectyr (her choice of spelling). It was fun picking stories, many of them unpublished, for this volume which features the eerie eyes of our linden tree in the front yard gazing back at the reader from the cover. Had to hunt through a gazillion photos on the computer to find this shot- it's creepy...and disturbing!


On October 21st I'll be at Blue Umbrella at 2PM to discuss my somewhat different vampire novel, Out. In Central Europe, vampires have been being outed (involuntarily and then voluntarily) over an eight year or so span. A man whom Irina has had a crush on since childhood has come out as a vampire- but that hasn't swayed how she feels about him any, despite her father being a member of the anti-vampire group the Silver Sword Society. Irina works for Dimitra Chernova, a late night talk show hostess who has a reputation for provoking her guests and putting them on the spot. That's about all I will say here about the book except that it's a romance, a social commentary on intolerance toward certain groups, and a smidge of horror.


Immediately after the author event at Blue Umbrella will be the WhipCity Wordsmith's October meeting. Melissa Volker will be leading a talk on how authors need to engage their audience at read-ins and author events to increase interest in the book and make more sales. I probably could use her advice prior to the meeting, but I'll do my best- and then learn some more from her afterwards for the next event!! Be sure to bring your periodic table element notes so you can write during the meeting!


On October 24th, Kelly, Melissa, and I will be on Bob Plasse's Tuesday morning radio program on WSKB 89.5FM broadcast from Ely Hall at Westfield State University. I have no clue what we'll be talking about but I'm sure some of it will be about books!! If Kathleen Palmer is thrown into the mix it ought to be a crazy morning! I've known Bob since my 13 years working behind the counter at Conner's, Inc at 34 Elm Street.


October 28th is the next edition of Ghost Stories LIVE! at Blue Umbrella, a recurring ghost story telling/performance art event hosted by Russell Atwood and Pugsley, the Fiendish Ghost. This will mark the one year anniversary at Blue Umbrella for this event. I've been fortunate enough to be a cast member since last October. I enjoy writing new ghost stories to read. Russell put together an anthology last year, and I'm hopeful there will be a second anthology this year! Kelly and Melissa have also participated in Ghost Stories LIVE! for which they've also written and read new ghost stories. It's a great event, gaining in popularity.


What else is happening in October? It's the perfect time of year for cemetery crawls (Kelly and I are taphophiles who like to photograph old cemeteries), visiting haunted houses to chase ghosts, dancing with witches, chasing werewolves across the fog-shrouded moors, hunting vampires, and so forth. Whatever it is that you like to do in the fall...even if it's jump into a humongous pile of crisp, brightly colored leaves, and then go back inside to toast your toes before a crackling fire while sipping apple cider or hot chocolate- well, enjoy!

Flawed Periodic Table

Unfortunately I failed to scrutinize the periodic table attached to your homework assignment (preparing for the October writing at the meeting). I just chose a nicely tinted version. Kelly was looking at it last night and realized that it's flawed. However, it's just an example. If you go online and Google Periodic Table there are plenty of them out there to help you choose and element and come up with reasons why you and that element are a close match.


If you didn't receive your advance paperwork for October's writing assignment in the meeting it will be coming via snail mail shortly with the next newsletter.





Saturday, September 23, 2017

September 23rd Meeting Notes

Today was the inaugural meeting of the WhipCity Wordsmiths, a group for writers/authors. The meeting was held at 3PM at Blue Umbrella Books in downtown Westfield, an indie bookshop that hosts author events, pop-up shops, and meetings regularly. They are a strong supporter of the arts in Westfield and we're lucky to have Blue Umbrella in our community!


The meeting began with a long distance phone call from Wordsmith/author Mike Walsh from the Northeast Kingdom (northern VT). Mike called to wish me luck with launching the group and to show his support for his fellow Wordsmiths. It was incredibly thoughtful of him to call...and we'll work hard to find a way to connect him via Skype or facebook live or whatever means we can at the October meeting.


Susan moderated the inaugural meeting, reviewing the statement of purpose/mission and welcoming the 16 people in attendance today. A half dozen or so more had contacted Susan or Kelly prior to the meeting to express regrets for not being able to attend- and that is fine. That's what this blog is for, to keep us connected when we can't be together in person.


After reviewing the expectations and other general information, like how the WhipCity Wordsmiths have a valuable resource we can tap into in the non-profit group Artworks of Westfield, Inc. (a group that supports all the arts and culture in Westfield) and a brief discussion about the upcoming Fall Family Festival/Pumpkin Festival (where authors have an opportunity to promote their books and do readings) we went around the table introducing ourselves and giving brief biographies as to who we are and what we've done or hope to accomplish in the field of writing.


We discussed how no one should feel inadequate because they haven't published anything or haven't even really written anything yet. This group is for writers at all levels and is a source that can be tapped for feedback, help, support, encouragement, coping with writer's block, dealing with feelings of frustration and self doubt, for bolstering self confidence, for finding the writer within and channeling it outward into print. Melissa spoke up and told the group that no one should begin a sentence with, "I don't know if this is any good or not," or "I'm not sure I did this right..." There is no right or wrong, there may be good and bad, but put it out there anyway. You cannot move forward as a writer if you take hesitant steps.


Writing is a craft. Very few can pick up a pen and write beautiful and profound things instantly. It's a skill that is honed over time. You have to have the desire to write within you. If you have that desire burning within you then you need to let it out. It may scorch and burn the paper at first, but from the ashes of those first written words there will arise a phoenix in its own good time.


And that is where the support of people who have that same burning passion comes into play. Writing is a rather solitary art form. Most of the time very few people see an article, a chapbook of poetry, a novel, an anthology, a song lyric being written and developed- they only see the finished product, and even then they have to commit to reading the words before they can experience the art of the written word employed in its creation. It's very different from watching an artist paint a picture. It's different from watching a sculptor chisel a form from a block of marble, or a metal sculptor weld pieces of metal together into a new form. The literary arts require a reader to commit to reading a book and react to it cerebrally and viscerally. We'll touch upon how to draw the reader into your work at a future meeting.


Favorite words were brought to the meeting, written on an index card, or written on a card at the meeting if the member was new (there were three new members who joined this afternoon, and one that had joined this morning). The cards were folded and put into Kelly's deadman's hat, jumbled up and then passed around. Wordsmiths were given 5 minutes to write whatever they wanted, including their selected word from the hat in whatever way they wanted.


We went around the table and read what we had written. It was interesting and amazing to hear what can be done in five minutes with a word drawn from a hat. It shouldn't have been so surprising since we have a group loaded with talent, but still, you never know what will come out of a writing prompt! Well done!


Melissa Volker talked a bit about author readings and will expand upon the topic of how to amp up an author reading at the next meeting. She will be next month's moderator.


Ironically the next WhipCity Wordsmiths meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 21st at 3PM, one hour after my author event for the launch of Out, my new vampire novel. But, Melissa has already planted a seed in my brain, so this reading should be better than previous ones.


Sandy Sessler contributed a box of MaMa Cakes mini cupcakes as refreshment at the meeting which was much appreciated! Yummy X 10!!!


Russell Atwood filled us in on Pumpkin Fest, what's happening at Blue Umbrella that day, the next Ghost Stories LIVE! event on Saturday, October 28th in the evening. Russell is also working on a new Ghost Stories LIVE! anthology with new ghost stories contributed by Melissa Violker, Justin Baillargeon, Kelly Buffum, and Susan Buffum.


Glen Ebisch will be doing a talk on current women mystery writers at 2PM at Blue Umbrella Books on October 28th. I was at his history of the mystery genre and really learned a lot! If you're able to attend, please do so!


The meeting concluded with some socializing. Some members had to leave, but other stayed and chatted, catching up on what's new.


Overall, the meeting was well attended, and everyone participated and offered something, which is how the group is supposed to work.


Members in attendance today were Susan Buffum, Kelly Buffum, Patty Wright, Sandy Sessler, Joyce Collins, Judith Foard-Giucastro, Guiseppe Giucastro, Lynnmarie May, Melissa Volker and Lex Volker, Lindsay Stenico, Andrew Curran, Glen Ebisch, Susan Foley, Richard Rubin, and Russell Atwood.


New members today include Patty Wright, Richard Rubin, Susan Foley, Judith Foard-Giucastro and her husband Guiseppe Giucastro.


Our thoughts and prayers go out to Wordsmith member Wayne Weatherwax's wife Sally who will be undergoing another surgery and recovery and rehab. We wish her all the best.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

September Meeting Reminder

I am the Queen of the Auxillary Brain- the "brain" being little pieces of paper habitually residing in my pockets with reminders of things I mustn't forget.


There was a sticky note in my pocket when I got home from work this afternoon to remind me to post a reminder about Saturday's first official meeting of the WhipCity Wordsmiths. I am both excited and nervous. I'm not much of a public speaker. I'm a writer. The outline of the meeting I mailed out looks intimidating, but looks can be deceiving. I breeze through things pretty fast, and am not immune to constant interruptions (I work like that every day!). Anyway, I had the note to remind everyone about the meeting at 3PM at Blue Umbrella Books, 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA on Saturday, September 23rd, in my pocket. Too bad I didn't write myself another note not to forget my phone that was charging in the smaller kitchen at work- I went home without it. John (my husband) gave me a lift and on the way we encountered photographer Danny Nason snapping some pics of gorgeous mums at Pignatare's Farm stand on East Mountain Road- where we've been buying our fresh veggies every summer since we moved here in 1989 (from the haunted house in West Side.) So, grabbed my phone and charger, came home and...


...had a brainstorm! I figured it was time for a mother/daughter anthology to happen. I had started putting some ghost stories together, and Kelly has been writing some for Ghost Stories LIVE!. So, together, we've put together an anthology of our ghost and other weird and disturbing stories. I am Miss Peculiar, and she is Miss Spectyr, but we haven't quite agreed on a title for the collection yet, but hope to have it available at the October 14th Fall Family Festival and Pumpkin Carving Event where she and I will be among the local authors offering books for sale, and maybe doing some readings in the former Carson Center/Old Town Hall opposite the green. Judith "Sandy" Sessler and Sonia Ellis, two more of Westfield's fabulous authors will also be at this event with their books. We also are lucky to have CT author Connie Bombaci and her therapy dog, Judea. Connie has a book about her previous dog and talk about what she and Judea do as well as her book. She's an acquaintance of Shawn Flynn's. Shawn graciously connected us so I could offer her a chance to come to Westfield for this event.


Want to know a few curious and interesting facts? Three of the WhipCity Wordsmiths live in the same neighborhood on the same street! Two sets of Wordsmiths are mother and daughter. Two Wordsmiths are sisters. Four Wordsmiths are involved or have been involved with Ghost Stories LIVE!, a recurring event at Blue Umbrella Books that will next take place on October 28th. Four Wordsmiths are members of Artworks of Westfield, Inc. One Wordsmith is President of Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum. One Wordsmith has just started college at another Wordsmith's alma mater. All together, members of WhipCity Wordsmiths have written over 100 books!


I'm sure I could come up with even more facts, but it's getting late- the tree frogs are singing their lullaby with a cricket chorus as backup, with the occasional trill of a mockingbird and the rhythmic hooting of a great horned owl. The greenwood at night is alive with the sounds of natural music!


What was my point here? Oh, right! See you all (as many of you as can make it), plus visitors, observers, and maybe a drop-in author- who knows- on Saturday!


Hey! Don't forget to bring your favorite word on the card that was in your last newsletter mailing! (Bring your imagination too, tuck it in your back pocket on your way out the door!)

Sunday, September 17, 2017

FAKE NEWS!

Got your attention? Hi all. I have been out of the loop for a few weeks working on so many different projects ... life is fun but man oh man it can be fast!

Anyway, I am settling back into a routine of tempered normalcy. For some background about me for the folks new to the group and for the rest of the folks who don't know much about me, I serve as the President of the Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum (that's a library!). Did you know the Athenaeum is NOT a public library? Well, it is public in access of course but it is not entirely publicly funded. The city does provide some funding but the library is not a city department ... confusing yes? An endowment provides a large chunk of the operating budget. The Friends group raises funds to support the many FREE programs and services offered by the Athenaeum. No Friends? No Museum Pass Program, no Rosetta Stone Language program, no Children's & Adult Summer Reading programs, no Adobe Creative Cloud SaaS program, no books for the Boys & Girls Reading Clubs ... you get the message. The Friends recently contributed $40,000 to the library renovation project. The group is very important to the health of the Athenaeum and I feel very strongly about the importance of libraries so ... I contribute lots of time and energy.

I am also involved in the ArtWorks of Westfield Inc. organization. We want to bring more arts and culture to the city. We are young and steadily finding our way. There is so much artistic talent in and around this city ... you are all examples of the mountains of creativity in the area. ArtWorks is a work in progress that will be a smashing success (think Easthampton City Arts) once we ramp up and gain some operational traction. Good things happening in Westfield.

I work full time as a business development analyst and manage an investment portfolio that one day will allow me to retire and focus on the fun stuff in life.

Back to FAKE NEWS! The Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum group is sponsoring a special speaking engagement called Sniffing Out Fake News! on Thursday September 28th at 6:30pm in the Lang Auditorium at the Athenaeum. Dr. Kyle Moody, Assistant Professor in Communications Media, Fitchburg State University is the featured speaker. He has been doing these talks for several months in eastern and central MA, mostly at public libraries.

Admission is FREE, thanks to The Friends, but seating is limited so registration is recommended. If I don't see you at our inaugural WhipCity Wordsmith gathering, perhaps I'll see you at Sniffing Out Fake News!




Sunday, September 10, 2017

Revisions Can Be Daunting, but They're Necessary

In late May 2015, I self-published my 2014 Nano novel, Medea, which was an extended version of a Halloween story I'd written for Kelly when she was in middle school. Since she had grown up and was graduated from college and already in the work force by 2014, I grew the story up to her new age level- so it went from middle grades/high school level to young adult/new adult/adult level.


Of course I'd known nothing about self publishing when I tackled the project. CreateSpace offered two free copies of your Nano novel in 2014, and extended the deadline of the offer to the end of May 2015. For years my family had been pressuring me to publish something. So, I jumped onto CreateSpace and created the novel- and it totally sucked the first time around. To be honest, even with Kelly's help, it wasn't much better the second time around after cover color revisions so the reader could actually see my name (I hadn't realized I had color options for backgrounds and fonts-duh!) Kelly had put headers in and page numbers, but the interior was sloppy- the text not justified so it was all over the place down the sides of the pages. The spacing was too close, the chapter headers were bold and size 14 which was acceptable, but started at the top of the page, which according to Writer's Digest judges is a no-no. Chapters must start about halfway down the page- or so I was told when my self-published novel submissions were critiqued. I did a lot of things wrong, but the judges enjoyed the stories-and that year (2015) that was all that mattered to me, that W.D. judges liked the stories. I could fix all the cover issues and interior layout issues they found fault with- but I would have thrown in the towel if they'd hated the stories!


Medea was published under a pseudonym. It's languished in the background for two and a third years. All my other books- both novels and story collections- have all gotten more interesting covers with text you can see and read easily and some have new images on the covers because now I am taking some of my own photographs and using them instead of using stock images CreateSpace offers. All of these books have also had interior layout revisions- and believe me, I've studied a lot of book interiors to figure out what looks best. I was also chastised for not having an author photo by W.D.- I was like, who the hell wants to look at me? They're supposed to read the story, but evidently readers have some curiosity about what the author looks like. I took a hundred selfies and use the one I like best- so I will be eternally fifty-seven- end of story there.


I have grown in leaps and bounds as a self-published author. Whereas it used to take me days to put a book together, now it takes me at most, two hours, depending on how pokey the CreateSpace website is on any particular day. I have the entire interior text file ready to upload, the back cover text written, and the image I want to use chosen. I simply plug it all in in the correct places, and then fiddle with the background, box, and font colors until I'm happy and the book looks appealing to me, like something I would snag off the shelf and dive into.


The most tedious part of the whole process remains the revisions. Ugh! I have some editing and proofreading help still living at home in Kelly, but I tackled the Medea mess on my own. It took four days to slog through the currently 195 page book. At 55,000+ words it just makes it to the novel classification level. Flipping through the book I grabbed as my proofreading/editing copy, the pages are literally awash in blue Flair markings and scribbles. When doing a revision I want to do it right the first time through and not have to go back to fix things like continuity errors, grammar goof ups, and punctuation issues (always a thorn in my side!)


I thought everything was fine when I uploaded the file for the revised book in June of 2015. WRONG! I have been through the self-publishing self-educational mill and I'll be recycling all earlier versions of the book. It's going to be self-published under my real name and have a new title when it's finally finished. Victoria Bell is no more. She's retired from writing. I'm carrying on.


The big lessons I've learned is that no matter how many times you've read your story, manuscript, novel, etc. you need to step back, put it aside, and then read it again because there are imps at work screwing with your hard work. Your eyes get tired. Your brain sees what you think you wrote, not what you actually did write. Read your work with fresh eyes and a rested brain and be prepared to groan and roll your eyes a hundred thousand times. Have a pen in hand with a full ink reservoir. Suck it up and get the revisions done. You'll be a better person for doing it- and a much better writer, too.


Envision yourself as a writing warrior. The blue pen is your sword. Wield it judiciously, not foolishly. Misspelled words, grammar errors, punctuation issues, continuity mix-ups- these are your enemies who will challenge your power as a writer. Strike them down with the Sword of Revision! The words remaining on the battlefield are your story, your victory. Your name on the cover is your banner- you are the champion of what you have written. You can be proud of your win.


No one likes going into battle with their own manuscript, but if you can't afford an editor and or proofreader, it's a necessary fight because if your book doesn't look good, it reflects negatively on you because it's your name on the cover and no one else's.


When you're done, high fives to you all around! (That's where the camaraderie of your writing peers comes in because your friends and family who do not write will never understand what it is like to be a writer, but other writers will completely understand and support you.)

Monday, September 4, 2017

It's WhipCity Wordsmiths Launch Month!

Well- here it is four days into September, and nineteen days until group launch day! I'm both excited and nervous as I never in a gazillion years thought I'd be starting a writer's group. We have a great group of writers and authors with a wide variety of experience and backgrounds. It ought to make for interesting meetings!


I'm looking forward to the 23rd of September. If anyone reading this post is interested in becoming a member, please feel free to attend the meeting and complete your membership application then. People interested in joining, but who are on the fence about it, are also welcome to come and observe, and participate if you decide this group is for you.


 If you're looking for a structured group that writes to prompts and then sits around critiquing one another's work...well, there will be just a little bit of that going on. If that's all you want to do, there are plenty of groups like that in the area because western MA is rich in writers and always has been. We'll do some writing, but we'll also do some mentoring, and have discussions about publishing- traditional routes and self publishing, agents- whether or not you need one, how to improve your manuscript so it looks as professional and polished as possible before you self publish or send it off for consideration, thinking outside the box, and a whole lot more. There will also be a chance to socialize with other writers and authors for mutual support and camaraderie. You can hook up with a beta reader who will give you feedback on your work before you proceed to self publish it or send it off into the publishing world. We'll share info about upcoming events where authors have a chance to showcase their work and meet and greet the public. We'll note any upcoming contests that might be worth entering also. Exposure is a keyword not only for well known authors but especially for local authors.


 WhipCity Wordsmiths is much more than a sit around the table and write to prompts group. We're a network of people with a passion for writing and the written word in all its myriad forms. All members are expected to participate and bring something to the table at meetings. It's a member driven group- not a follow the leader group. You are each a unique, talented person with something to offer, windows to throw open in the minds of your fellow writers. We will all grow in our craft like beautiful flowers blooming and blossoming in the fertile soil of our collective imaginations!


Not only are we Wordsmiths, but we are local writers and authors who support local authors and writers at all levels in their craft.


We are the flint that will spark ideas and ignite creative fires!


See you on the 23rd of September at Blue Umbrella Books, 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA at 3PM.