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. 

February Meeting

The February meeting of the WhipCity Wordsmiths has been scheduled for Saturday, February 29th at Blue Umbrella Boks, 2 Main Street, Westfield at 3PM to approximately 5PM. Bring a piece of your work to share- past, present or in progress.

Articulture 2020

Artworks of Westfield has announced that the 2020 edition of Articulture will be held Friday, May 1st and Saturday May 2nd at a new, larger venue in Westfield- Amelia Park. Artists and musicians will be in the empty ice rink which is large enough to accommodate 60+ artists. Authors will be in the two adjoining conference rooms with the diving wall between them opened up so we'll all be together in one location this year. This will be like an author's fair with space for 24 authors. I have 12 tables reserved for WhipCity Wordsmith authors. Richard Wayne Horton has been working to fill the remaining 12 tables and has them nearly all spoken for. He is tapping into the Easthampton/Northampton/Greenfield pool of authors and publishers he is more familiar with. It will be good for the Wordsmiths to rub elbows with other area local authors to expand our contacts and network. I have six of our tables booked already by Wordsmiths who responded to an initial posting I put on the facebook page. If you're interested in having a table, I will need to hear from you soon!

Artworks has been growing with every annual show. This year we are trialing the larger venue in order to bring more people to Westfield to expose them to local art, literature, and music. Westfield used to have WestFest back in the late 80's early 90's. I remember taking Kelly to that event held at Stanley Park in the playing fields. It drew thousands of people. We're working our way, year by year, to building Articulture into that kind of community event.

January 2020

The year did not start out well for me. I've been dealing with several health issues, and then fell victim to an upper respiratory virus that rampaged through the medical office where I work. Needless to say, the month is nearly over and I haven't set any meeting dates yet. I apologize for this.

I have Andrew's book to beta read. I've met with Huyen to talk about the stories she's writing. I've been working on a novel I wrote nearly 20 years ago for a good friend for her birthday, but never gave it to her because it had turned into a massive epic that overwhelmed me. From time to time I dug it out and read it, and finally found sort of its natural end point nearly 170,000 words in. I lopped off the other 230,000 words and have periodically worked on edits. There are a lot of continuity issues because I would just sit down and write when I had time and never had an outline or jotted down notes, so time shifts crazily and unrealistically throughout the novel which actually takes place over a span of a year and 21 months, not 7 as it at first seemed. I cleaned it up some more, had a mock-up printed, and have just gone through it again working on the continuity issues and the revisions to bring it into the 2020s...it was woefully dated it was written so long ago! I'll be fixing up the manuscript into February while recovering from everything that hit me at once this month.

Blue Umbrella's financial stability is still questionable, although there are events scheduled. I need to go down there and schedule out next meeting. Hopefully we'll be able to meet in the coming month and get back on track. I'll post the next meeting date here, on our facebook page, and send an email which should cover about everyone. I'm hoping I'll be able to get out of the house this Saturday to get a meeting date scheduled.

Meanwhile, keeping writing!

On the Instability of our Home Base

Since the founding of this group we have called Blue Umbrella Books our home base and held all our meetings and author events at that location. As you must all be aware by now, the book shop is in a dire financial crisis and may have to vacate the premises in the near future. If the shop goes under it won't be the first business to do so in downtown Westfield, or anywhere else in this city. (I just heard that Kelly's on route 20 is closing. The site will be utilized for the expansion of the Shortstop Bar & Grill/Planet Fitness complex according to plans I've heard about in the past.

Therefore, I'm looking for suggestions for alternate meeting sites for the group. If you have any suggestions you may message me, post them on the group's facebook page, or comment on the blog. Thanks!

When the Dog Bites by Glen Ebisch

I just bought Glen Ebisch's new mystery novel featuring lawyer Madison Revere, When the Dog Bites. I'm almost finished reading it and have been enjoying this novel which features new characters in the town of Shore Side, New Jersey where his Pastor Clarissa Abbot mysteries Ocean Blues and Seaside Secrets are set. If you haven't read any of Glen's books, start here. Pick up When the Dog Bites and give it a read!

December 28- Meeting Day!

As usual, I am late in posting a reminder, but today is our December meeting date. 3PM, Blue Umbrella Books. Holiday time is always hectic!