November 2021 WhipCity Wordsmiths Meeting

 Our next meeting is this coming Saturday, November 20th, 2021, from 2PM to 4PM at the Westfield Athenaeum on the corner of Elm and Court Streets in downtown Westfield across from the Green. This meeting will take place in the Whitney Study on the second floor as there will be fiddlers in the Lang Auditorium in the basement near the Committee Meeting Room that our last two meetings have been in- the scheduler felt it would be too noisy for writers and we wouldn't be able to hear one another. So, go up the staircase in the main room on the first floor, turn left and continue into the study which is above the children's library with windows overlooking Court Street. There is a long conference table and about 15-20 seats around it. In the downstairs room we've been sitting around three tables pushed together into a large square. There is only one table in the study. See you there!

November 2021 NaNoWriMo is nearly Half Over

 I have to admit that I've been struggling this year writing my NaNo novel. I'm writing the third book in the Amberton Paranormal Investigation Society series (The Fairlawn Investigation and The Victoria Wayfarer Investigation being the first and second books in the series). The new novel is titled The Lakeside Manor Investigation. I'd previously started writing this novel twice and got nowhere with it. The second attempt was better than the first. This version is creeping along at a snail's pace, for me anyway. I suppose it's because I am still recovering and working my way through the loss of my husband six months ago. I haven't felt much like writing or drawing because dealing with the aftermath of losing someone unexpectedly is confusing, anxiety inducing, and exhausting. 

I will get it finished because I hate to leave things incomplete, but at the near mid-point of NaNoWriMo I don't have my usual confidence that I can pull off a compete novel. 50,000 words of it will be written as I'm close to that goal now but I can't say for sure I have the same level of confidence in myself that I had prior to my world falling to pieces this past May. We'll just have to wait and see how it all goes.

This Hasn't Been An Easy Year

 This hasn't been an easy year for me since the beginning of My when I had emergency abdominal surgery on the 2nd and exactly a week later lost my husband of 37 years suddenly. It totally blew my life out of the water and I've been scrambling and struggling to find the new normal for me amid all the things that need to be done when you lose someone, while you're trying to recover from surgery, while you're trying to continue working full time and carry on. Kelly has been incredibly helpful, keeping the group's facebook updated, posting meeting notices, etc.

I appreciate Heidi's assistance with booking the Athenaeum's Committee Room for our September and October meetings as we resume in-person meetings. 

A few of us have experienced personal losses this year. We've all struggled with to mask-or not to mask, to vaccinate or not to get vaccinated, to get the booster shot or not....choices! We've seen this virus mutate and now affect children who have returned to school. We continue to see people in our communities pass away due to COVID. Yet, many of us have turned out some amazing new books and carried on attending meetings in the Zoom format and now in person. Life goes on.

I, for one, am so appreciative f all my author/writer friends.

This past weekend 18 authors set up tents and tables on the green in downtown Westfield for the Artworks of Westfield sponsored Artoberfest. It started out as a rather blustery, gloomy day with overcast skies and practically no attendance, but once the sun came through about 11:30Am foot traffic picked up and we had a decent attendance. I did mention that the location of the authors left us feeling somewhat isolated from the Elm Street art/music and creative aspects of the event, kind of placing us on a green island surrounded by heavy traffic, making leaving the green to seek nearby facilities and food rather a challenge. All feedback will be reviewed at the next Artworks meeting so if this event happens again next October there will be improvements. This was the first year doing this event separate from Westfield on Weekends' Pumpkinfest. 

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as can attend the October 30th meeting.

Welcome to new WhipCity Wordsmiths who have joined the group the past few months! 

If you need to reach me or Kelly please email us at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com

October Meeting 2021

 The WhipCity Wordsmiths will meet in the basement Committee Room at the Westfield Athenaeum on Saturday, October 30, 2021 from 2PM to 4PM. The Committee Room is accessed by going down the staircase just inside the front entrance (on the left as you enter the building, on the right if you have walked through the library from the back entrance). Go left when you reach the bottom of the staircase!

June 13th Live & In Person Meeting

 Our June meeting will be in person outdoors at my home in Westfield, MA. I have a large shady backyard. Please bring your own chair. The driveway and back walkway are paved, the lawn is sort of flat in the area we'll be using. If the weather is inclement, we'll be inside the house. There are stairs up to the deck that would need to be climbed- one flight. The house is sort of like a raised ranch in the back, but all one level inside. The meeting will run from 2PM-3:30PM-ish. I'll have bottled water available.

My home address is on the members only facebook page. Email me if you are a Wordsmith and want to attend but do not know my address in Westfield. Email me at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com My driveway can accommodate maybe 7 cars. There is plenty of on street parking in front.

We will talk about the recent WhipCity Wordsmiths Authors on the Green Book Show, our first loosening of pandemic restrictions outdoors event that was held May 23rd. Bring your ideas for a fall event and I will present them to Artworks of Westfield who co-hosted the book show. Maybe we can do something similar in the fall.

Also, bring something you're currently working on and we'll do brief readings, discuss new books recently released, new projects, and get back to the topic of motivation.

Hope to see you at the meeting. Masks are a personal choice- I'm the only person living in my home but I do work in a medical office, where I d wear a mask still, although my exposure to patients is low as I am a business office person, although my work station is in the open where patients pass by. I am also immune compromised due to medication I'm on and an auto-immune system disease. As far as masks go, wear one if you are not comfortable being around others without it. Hopefully it'll be a nice day and we'll be outside. Also, if we need to be indoors, I have two cats, so if you're allergic to cats it could be a problem for you.

Any questions-email me at the email address already provided in this post!

WhipCity Wordsmiths Book Show on the Green

 The WhipCity Wordsmiths Book Show on the Green will take place from 11Am to 3PM on the green in the center of Westfield (across from Blue Umbrella Books at 2 Main Street. Set up time for participating authors begins at 10AM. We have until 4PM to clean and clear the Green.

There are 21 authors signed up for this event. Four of these authors are also publishers. A sound system has been offered and accepted and will be available outside of the Gazebo for authors wishing to do Open Mic readings during the run of the vent, thanks to the generosity of Paul Richmond, author, Beat Poet Laureate, and publisher (Human Error Publishing). Another Beat Poet Laureate, Richard Wayne Horton will be sharing the inside of the gazebo with Paul at this event.

Familiar faces at literary events in Westfield will be Susan Buffum, Kelly Buffum, Katherine Anderson, Melissa Volker, Ryan McCarthy, Judith Foard-Giucastro, Glen Ebisch, Ayden Rogalski, Rhonda Boulette, Tom Deady, and Robert W. Thompson. Joining in the event will be new WhipCity Wordsmiths and published authors Grace Kuhn, Jeff Vanoudenhoven, Tenzi Moscato, Luis Manuel Torres, and Mimi Caban. And there'll be more new faces and offerings from Kinga Martin, Wallace Johnson, Elizabeth Macduffie, Richard Wayne Horton, and Paul Richmond.

The range of genres run from children's books to YA, middle grade, manga, mystery, paranormal, literary romance/suspense, horror, dark fantasy, short stories, poetry, lyrical prose, self help, faith, mysticism, history, and ghost stories.

Silver Street Media will have materials available at the WhipCity Wordsmiths table on how they can help new authors and existing authors format, design, publish and distribute their work.

Artworks of Westfield, the sponsor of this show in conjunction with the WhipCity Wordsmiths will also have a table at the event. Artworks is a driving force in the community working to bring the cultural arts to the attention of residents by hosting music, art, literary events, and working on art projects such as the Heroes Are Everywhere mural and the new larger scale mural project along the river, Westfield is Fantastic. Membership information will be available at the table and attendees can donate to help fund the new mural and other Artworks projects planned for 2021 and those we're looking ahead to organizing and hosting in 2022.

Support the the rich history of the Literary Arts in western MA by coming out to show your support of local authors, writers, and poets on May 23rd on the Green in Westfield!

April Meeting Postponed until May 1st

 The April meeting originally scheduled for April 24th has been rescheduled to May 1st. If you have sent your current email to whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com to be included on the master list of Wordsmiths then you have already received your invitation to the Zoom meeting and the new email with the revised meeting date.

One of the topics to be discussed is Motivation. Since COVID struck and the world practically shut down, it's been difficult for many writers to focus on writing with so much else on their minds. Others of us have spent the downtime churning out new novels and finishing projects that have been languishing. Where does motivation come from and how can you spark something that feels dead and reignite your desire to write and create? We'll explore this during the meeting.

If you want to join the meeting and didn't receive an invite then please send us your email address so you can be included! It's as simple as that!

WRITERS SERIES: Thoughts on Memorial Day

 The next topic for writers who wish to contribute to the The Westfield News' Writers Series is Thoughts on Memorial Day. Word count is 600 words, but can be a little longer or shorter. If a photo is available to accompany the article please include it. Also include a brief author bio and photo is able. Contributions can be emailed to lori.szepelak@icloud.com. The deadline for this topic is May 14th.

All writers who wish to contribute are encouraged to do so. The Westfield News has given the WhipCity Wordsmiths a fabulous opportunity to show our talent to the community, and put our names and faces out there. (The WhipCity Wordsmiths are hosting a Book Show on the Green in downtown Westfield on Sunday, May 23rd21, from 11AM to 3PM. The permit is already in hand. Twenty-one authors (four of whom are also publishers) are onboard for this event sponsored by Artworks of Westfield. The community is getting excited about one of the first outdoor events of this size since the loosening of come SOVID restrictions.

It's possible we may have an opportunity this fall for another show or similar event, or event that combines artists and authors. Discussions are continuing during strategic planning meetings with Artworks. 

The Writers Series is free publicity and a chance to promote yourself and show off your talent, and it gives you a writing credit for your resume!

Come on writers! Do what you do best and write!

REMINDERS: Writers Series Deadline!

 The deadline for this first new topic in the Westfield News Writers Series, Lesson or Lessons Learned During the Pandemic  is Friday, April 9th. Length is 600 words max. If you are writing and submitting a piece please include a brief author bio and photo, or a photo t accompany your piece if one is available. Submissions should be emailed to Lori Szepelak at lori.szepelak@icloud.com  

Writing for this series is unpaid, but there are benefits for the authors/writers who participate in that you get newspaper writing credit you can use on your resume, your name is out there in the public, your bio can promote your books and may lead to sales, it keeps your writing muscle flexed. I've been enjoying writing short pieces, something I am definitely not good at! I've developed a new skill with my writing!

Thank you to all the Wordsmiths who have contributed pieces to the Westfield News for the various Writers Series topics since last fall. It's an honor to be asked to work with the local newspaper to help entertain the community as we receive vaccines, or wait to receive them and look forward to what the future brings.

Exclusive Mug Available for Members

 I revamped the original WhipCity Wordsmiths mug, giving it a face lift for 2021. It is available from Susan for $10 and comes with the updated business card fridge magnet and a WhipCity Wordsmiths postcard. The mug is only available to members. Contact Susan at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com for information on purchasing ne. Money collected will go toward assisting authors with table fees at future events, signage at events in which the group participates, and supporting young authors such as awards for a future young writers contest that has been discussed with Artworks of Westfield. I'll see if I can post a picture of the mug in a future post- it is white with a blue overlay wraparound design with the name of the group, the year it was established, our email address, and Authors/Writers printed on it.

New Topics for Writers Series

WRITERS SERIES UPDATE:  I received an email from Lori in regards t future Topics fr the ongoing Writers Series in the Westfield News. She had met with Hope Tremblay and these are the subjects for the next three series. The first is “What lesson or lessons have you learned during the past year of the pandemic?” The deadline for this topic is April 9^th. The second topic is “Thoughts n Memorial Day.” The deadline for this theme is May 14^th. The third topic will be “What is the most memorable graduation ceremony in your life? It could be your own, a family member’s, or witnessing a family member or other person close to you reach a milestone.” The deadline for this topic is TBD, but will most likely be in early June. I’ll post the date when they have it scheduled. Again, we as a group are very fortunate to have our local newspaper reach out to us to participate in this ongoing series aimed at providing the community some relief and distraction from the ongoing uncertainty in regards to COVID and now the frustration of trying to find a vaccine appointment here in western MA and get it scheduled. Although we aren’t aid for writing these pieces there are other rewards for participating in that in-person author events are still on the horizon as restrictions loosen up so it’s an opportunity to keep your name out there. It has given those of us who have contributed so far recognition as authors and writers in the community, as well as gotten our faces out there so that we’re being recognized and associated with what we do. It’s also put the WhipCity Wordsmiths group out there in the community and drawn some new members. What other community has a relationship with their local newspaper like we have and their support? I’ve never been one to write in the 600 word range. I’m more comfortable writing fiction. However, I’ve taken the challenge several times now and was thrilled to find that I can write short articles. It’s helped me flex my writing muscle in a new direction. If you haven’t taken the challenge of writing a piece for the Writers Series I strongly encourage you to challenge yourself. I am incredibly proud of this group and how we’ve grown and established ourselves locally as representatives of the amazing number and variety of talented writers and authors here in western Massachusetts and beyond (we have members in CT, NY, MO, VA, and VT also.) Thank you to ll of you who have contributed so far, and I’m looking forward to your thoughts, insights, and stories as the Writers Series continues throughout this year. 

March 21st Meeting Notes

 On a beautiful Sunday afternoon (March 21st) 13 WhipCity Wordsmiths met to catch up on projects in the works and new publications, discuss future topics for the Writers Series in the Westfield Newspaper, and discuss the bane of all writers Revisions, Rewrites, and Redrafting and what the difference is between those three things.

This is what I had prepared for the meeting, but I kind of skimmed through it after having some internet connection issues:

Revisions, Rewrites, and Redrafting in a Nutshell

Many people whom authors and writers speak to at events probably think something along the line of, "Well, good for you. You wrote a book. You got it published and you're making money. Sounds pretty easy."

To anyone who does not write it does sound easy to write a book. Anyone can do it, right? Sure they can. However, to everyone who does write, hearing comments like that may make youwant to A. cry, B. launch into a lecture on just how easy it is NOT!, or C. commit an uncharacteristic act of violence upon another person.

Here is what these people who make this sort of comment don't know or understand. They hold a finished product int heir hand or read it on an ereader device or their phone. Hopefully they enjoy spending time between the pages of the book you've painstakingly crafted- and will subsequently take the time to post a positive, encouraging review when they finish reading it. (We can discuss Book Reviews and Rejections at another time.) The key point of this paragraph is the phrase "painstakingly crafted."  This phrase, of course, refers to all the work you put into your writing project after and sometimes during the course of writing it.

A lot of non-writers bandy about words like proofreading and editing making it seem as if that's all an author has to do to his or her work before sending it off to be published. Proofreading and editing is like detailing a car before it's driven off the lot- this is the last thing you do- the final polish and wax before your send it on its way.

In between writing and the last three steps f proofreading, final edits, and submission there is a middle ground that is the most difficult to navigate for many authors. There are three places in this rugged terrain you could visit- deciding which one it will be is often grueling and wrenching. The names of these places are Revision, Rewrite and Redrafting.

How are they different? There are a number of good articles on the subject on the internet. I chose an article by Janice Hardy to post on our facebook page. Here's a nutshell version_

Revision is when you've written your book, or whatever you may have written. We'll use book here, but it could be anything else also. You're happy with it, but not ecstatic. The story is all there and it reads all right, but it could be better. You are only changing the text, not the story or the subject. You're looking to make sure that you've conveyed the right amount of description, dialogue, etc. The story flows the way you want it to. Basically revision work consists of you built a story and it works fine, but now you fine tune it and make it run smooth. This is where editing comes into play. You have the material and now you're ironing out any minor flaws and removing any imperfections. Smooth flow is the goal.

Once revisions are made, it still pays to have a fresh pair of eyes ( a beta reader or a trusted friend who is not afraid to step on your toes or bruise your ego) read the finished product. An author is so familiar with their own work at this point that they can become blind to simple things like a missing letter in a word, a wrong word, a missing word, or a basic grammar error, verb tense mistake, etc. Fresh eyes catch the little flaws that might still exist even with a text review process n your computer. When anything that is caught that way is fixed, take a breather, and then go back and read it one last time. If you're happy with it, then your readers will be happy with it.

Rewriting is more involved that revision because here the story you wrote isn't what you wanted it to be, so it's going to morph throughout the rewrite process as you rework whole paragraphs, cut out chapters, move segments around, write additional scenes or chapters, rewrite whole sections, or even the whole book so that when you're finished the second time around you have the book you intended to write. This is daunting, yes, and it will be tedious. No doubt about it. You may want to hurl the manuscript into the fireplace, crawl into bed and pull the covers over your head. Just don't light the fire or suffocate yourself under the covers. I doesn't mean you have to rewrite everything. This is the salvage yard of the writing process. You take what you wrote, it's solid framework, and rework scenes, banish characters who aren't working for you to advance the story or add the color you thought they would. You can reset character motivation here and character goals, fix character arcs, and basically set your derailed story back on track. Once you get everything in the story working the way you intended it to you'll experience a level of happiness and satisfaction that is rewarding in and of itself. The most difficult part of being a writer is being your own harshest critic.

Redrafting is essentially lighting a fuse and blowing up all your hard work because on some vital level it just does not work. Then, you restart from ground zero. You had a great idea but there was some sort of fatal flaw that caused your first draft to keel over and give up the ghost.

Don't sweat it. It happens. Every writer has those projects that died and are gathering dust in a file cabinet or on a shelf. 

This is when you have to step away, blow off steam, let the frustration work itself out, yank your pen out of the wall you stabbed it into in anger when you realized your story had betrayed you. This is when you walk away and rethink the project.

Your original idea was exciting, awesome, novel, but like an ice skater on rough ice your execution of all the elements failed and you've fallen flat.

Pick yourself up and move to smoother ground- a blank page or a blank monitor screen. Find the heart of what you were writing about and then find another direction to work the story from. It might take several attempts, it might take months or even years, but when it finally all clicks you'll know it. It will be well worth all the blood, sweat, and tears you've invested into the work.

In conclusion- after writing and reading what you've written and noting all the pitfalls, you need to make an effort to do more than edit and patch. You need to decide if you should revise what you've written because it's a good story as it is but could be better, rewrite the story because sections of it aren't supporting the rest of the story, or redraft because the idea is okay but nothing is working here . When finished with that, then you do the final proofreading and edits-polishing your work, putting its best face forward.

Working through all the daunting steps between writing a rough draft to submitting a polish manuscript with the goal of publication is not a quick and easy process. No one ever writes a publication ready book right out of the gate. Any writer who writes a book and self publishes it without going through one of the three processes mentioned above is not a real author and leaves oneself open to harsh criticism and possibly ridicule. That is not the path to gaining a readership following or to sell books. Unfortunately there are a lot of these types of writers out there self publishing their raw work, flooding the marketplace with what is basically dreck, not quality writing.

Take the time to revise, rewrite or redraft. It's a key part of the writing process that should not be skipped over if you want to be taken as an authentic author.

The next meeting will be Saturday April 24th from 2-4PM. You can pop into or out of the meeting at anytime if you have other things to do or places to be. It's not disruptive to join or exit a Zoom meeting.

I'll run some theme and topic ideas past Lori and Hope as to future Writers Series topics and post what we decide upon here in the near future.

Again, if you are not receiving invites to the Zoom meetings please email your current and best email address to Susan & Kelly at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com and we'll forward it t Heidi who sends out the invites. If you have any other questions or concerns please feel free to email us also.

May 23rd 2021 Authors on the Green Event

 The WhipCity Wordsmiths met on March 21st. The Artworks sponsored Authors On the Green event is moving forward with the WhipCity Wordsmiths as hosts and participants in the event. We chose the 11AM-3PM hours. Now Artworks will meet with the Park & Rec for the permissions necessary and hopefuly get a green light to take over the green on May 23rd for this event. Stay tuned for further details as they are hammered out. There is NO FEE for a space in this event. If you're interested in participating contact Susan at whipcitywordsmths@gmail.com with your contact information and interest so you can be added to the list and kept advised as the event date draws nearer.

May Literary Event?

 Artworks of Westfield is willing to help us host a Literary Arts Event on the green in downtown Westfield on a Saturday or Sunday in May. Author table and tents will be spaced 10' apart. The green is quite spacious. I just need to gauge the level of interest and whether or not anyone would be interested in participating as Artworks needs to make arrangements to book the Green for the event. I'm leaning toward a Sunday 11AM to 2-3PM? It would be easier than a busy Saturday to get things transported across the street from various parking areas as there'd be less traffic. What are your thoughts? I need to get an answer back to Artworks by March 31st. Please respond to whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com as I will collect responses there as well as on our facebook page. Tanks authors!

Think SPRING!

 Just a reminder that if you are writing a piece for the Westfield News Writers Series on the theme of SPRING the deadline is March 12TH! I had erroneously noted the deadline as March 14th previously. You can write a poem, a piece of prose, or a piece on any Spring-related topic of your choice. Approximately 600 word length. Please include a mini author bio, a photo of yourself if available, and a photo related to your piece if one is available. Submissions can be emailed to lori.szepelak@icloud.com

March 2021 ZOOM Meeting Set

 The March 2021 Zoom meeting date and times have been set. The meeting will be Sunday March 21st from 2PM-4PM. You can come at any time and leave at any time during the meeting according to your schedule. I am going to be setting alternating monthly meetings on Saturdays and Sundays, so for instance, April's meeting will be on Saturday. Some Wordsmiths are unable to attend Saturday meetings, some cannot attend Sunday meetings, weekday meetings are difficult for me as I am tired after working at a busy medical office all day.

IMPORTANT!! Please send your current email address to Susan and Kelly at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com so your email can be forwarded to Heidi who is our meeting coordinator who sends out the Zoom meeting invitation with link. This is especially important if you are a long time member of the group but have never completed the application on which we have colected email addresses to keep in touch with members, or are a new member and have not yet completed your application form or provided an email address. Yu, of course, cannot receive an invitation to the meeting if we do not have an email on record for you.

Thanks! See you on the 21st of this month!

Westfield News Writers Series: Spring!

 The Writers Series will continue throughout 2021. Our next topic/theme has been chosen and submissions are being accepted until March 14th. You can write on any spring theme that catches your fancy. Submissions should be approximately 600 words. If you are submitting please include a short author biography, a photo of yourself if available, and a picture to accompany your piece if you have one and the permission necessary to use it. Your submissions can be emailed directly with Lori at lori.szepelak@icloud.com. Let's see how many of us can Think Spring! Any questions please contact me at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com

St Patrick's Day Writers Series

 The WhipCity Wordsmiths have been working with the Westfield News writing short 600 word pieces on various topics and themes to keep our local community together during the pandemic. The upcoming topic /theme is Saint Patrick's Day. Three Wordsmiths submitted a piece to the newspaper through series coordinator Lori Szepelak. Robert W Thompson's piece will appear on Monday, March 15th. Heidi Colonna Parker's submission for the series will appear in the Tuesday, March 16th edition. Susan Buffum's piece on Shamrocks will appear on Wednesday, March 17th.  You can view the Writers Series by finding Westfield News in a search on your browser. Thanks to the Wordsmiths who submitted for this series!

New Email Adress for the Group

This is noted in the previous post in two places, but I wanted to put a separate post up so it doesn't go overlooked. Kelly and I agreed it was time for the group to have its own email address so we don't lose communications from members among the myriad other emails we receive. She and I both monitor our new email which makes this a supremely more efficient means of contacting us. To contact the WhipCity Wordsmiths from now on please send email to whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com  Thank you!

One Year Into COVID

 I have been negligent posting on our blog. I apologize to everyone who has not migrated over to our private facebook page WhipCity Wordsmiths. The group held it's first Zoom meeting yesterday, Saturday the 27th after a year of keeping in touch with one another on the social media page. I want to thank Heidi Parker Colonna for setting us up for the Zoom meetings this year as our inability to meet in person continues during the ongoing pandemic.

We had 15 members in attendance yesterday, and Gerald brought it to my attention that he is among the members not on facebook and he has missed us. So, I promise that from here on I will make my best effort to keep everyone updated on what's going on in the group. Kelly, meanwhile, has diligently updated author and member bios and maintained the Book Gallery page adding our new books with links to a retail site so I'm grateful for all she continues to do for the WhipCity Wordsmiths.

Our first meeting yesterday was a brief one hour while we tried out the Zoom format and it went pretty well. I updated the group on a number of ongoing things such as projects Artworks of Westfield has on the slate with the hope of social distancing restrictions letting up as more and more people receive vaccines and gatherings once again become doable. Articulture, the event where many of us have done meet & greets with the community over the past few years, was cancelled in 2020, however the funding remains in place for this event, so Artworks is looking at outdoor location possibilities. The issues here in Westfield remain limited downtown parking that is not convenient to any possible venues, the high cost of other locations such as Stanley Park with their new pavilion. I don't think anyone's approached Westfield State College yet. They have multiple commuter parking lots and had a large quadrangle when I went there. 

Other Artworks events on the agenda are to resume the Art Walks on the sidewalks of downtown Westfield which have traditionally been a blend of artists showing and selling their work and authors doing likewise. We also would like to bring back the Poetry Open Mic nights but need to find an open air venue until groups can gather again in shops and enclosed spaces. I've also brought a Literary Fest to the table  during this strategic planning session. This could be held on the front lawn of the Church of Atonement where Articulture was held for a two of so years. I'd like to see that in September or early October- I am not a hot weather and humidity person.

Also, back in November the WhipCity Wordsmiths worked with the Westfield News on two Writers Series with the themes of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hope Murray Tremblay and Lori Szepelak have reached out to the Wordsmiths again and would like to continue the Writers Series throughout 2021. Our first two topics for this year are Saint Patrick's Day with a deadline of March 4th and Spring with a deadline of March 14th. You can write on an St Paddy's Day topic of your choosing (I just submitted one on Shamrocks) and the same goes for spring. Length is 600 words give or take a dozen. Lori also asks for a brief author bio, an author photo if one is available and a photo that can accompany your submission piece if available. All submissions should be emailed to Lori at lori.szepelak@icloud.com

The Writers Series is a great way to have a little fun with writing and get your name and info out into the community. It's a nice little writing credit also for your resume. Lori accepts fact, fiction, and poetry, but would also be open to experimental writing as long as it's on topic. There's been a great response from the community. The purpose of the series from the beginning has been to keep us connected as a community and a people doing our best to get through a pandemic without losing our sense of community and humanity.

I'm looking for feedback from everyone as to the best day for our March meeting. Traditionally we've gathered on a Saturday afternoon from 3-5PM at Blue Umbrella Books in downtown Westfield. Since we're meeting from the comfort and convenience of our homes we have a little more flexibility and no worries about finding a nearby parking space! Saturday and Sunday work best for me as I work full time in a stressful setting (multi-practitioner medical office). I'm usually available all afternoon and from 7PM-10PM on both weekend days. So, send me your preferences of date and time to whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com which is our new email address. Both Kelly and I monitor this email daily and respond as quickly as we can (usually at lunch time or shortly after we get home from work in the evening).

Other news is that while we may not have been able to meet in person and promote the group very much during the past year we continue to draw new members at a steady pace and now number 97 members, 72 of which are in the facebook group. Not everyone is active, but our core group continues to bring up topics and discuss writing on the page, and yesterday during our Zoom meeting we had a nice blend of regular attendees, people we have not seen due to distance and lack of technological know-how who have nonetheless been strong supporters of the group and in contact with me via Messenger and email since day one, and those we only occasionally see and have missed interacting with, in addition to a great representation of our new members. I hope hat our first two-hour meeting next month will draw more members into joining us. No ne has to speak, but everyone is welcome to sit and listen. As we have always stressed, this group is for writers and authors of all ages, at all levels of their craft from I haven't written a thing yet but I want to write, to local and regional authors who have managed to get their work out there and recognized and won a few awards for their efforts. We love to hear their success stories and how they accomplished their goals. But, we also like to help and encourage new writers and give them our support as they begin their writing journeys. We welcome all kinds of writers from poets, to journalists, to genealogists, to genre writers, YA (young adult) writers. MG (Middle Grade) writers, to newspaper reporters, bloggers, greeting card verse writers, non-fiction writers, researchers, book reviewers- if it involves the written word we have members who can offer advice and support. One of our mottos is For those with a love of the written word," however, we should also stress the other one more, "No one really knows a writer like another writer."

The remainder of the meeting was given over to members who had a chance to catch up on what's been happening during the past year in their writing lives so we're all updated and on the same page again, and to meet and greet our new members who attended and hear from them what they're working on or hope to accomplish in the year ahead. Along the way some encouragement was doled out, Heidi and Susan discovered we're beta reading for the same non-fiction writer and both enjoying her work (a good sign for Nancy!), and lots of new projects are in the works for 2021 after a productive year mainly in seclusion for many of us in 2020 ( a perk of the pandemic- lots of time to write!)

Watch here for the March 2021 meeting date and time! If you did not receive an email from Heidi with the Zoom meeting info that means I did not have your email address to forward to her. So, if you want to be invited to the next meeting please email me your email address so I can update the list for Heidi. You can send it to whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com  

Also, any writer who has been accepted to the group has the ability to post on this blog as that comes with membership. This is our blog for Wordsmiths. Our group on facebook is private and also just for members to post on. Feel free to utilize our spaces to post thoughts, ideas, suggestions, pieces of your writing you'd like feedback on or simply to share (please label TO SHARE or FEEDBACK WANTED), if you're looking for a beta reader of your work or work in progress (feedback is given), etc.

We are a community of writers, authors, and aspiring writers/authors who gather to talk about writing and to support one another along our individual paths. At present we have writers ages 13 to 80-something.