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.