November 2023 Event

2023 MEETING DATES RESET

 ALL LISTED MEETING DATES ARE SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAYS FROM 2:00PM TO 4:00PM AND ARE HELD IN THE BASEMENT COMMITTEE ROOM AT THE WESTFIELD ATHENAEUM. THE COMMITTEE ROOM IS REACHED VIA THE FRONT ENTRANCE LOBBY. THERE IS A STAIRCASE ON THE LEFT. GO DOWN THE STAIRS, GO FORWARD, TURN LEFT INTO THE COMMITTEE ROOM. IF YOU NEED AN ELEVATOR PLEASE ASK FOR ASSISTANCE AT THE FRONT DESK AND THEY WILL HELP YOU. THE LIBRARY IS LOCATED IN WESTFIELD, MA ON THE CORNER OF ELM STREET AND COURT STREET DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE TOWN GREEN. THERE IS PARKING IN THE BACK.

MEETINGS DATES FOR APRIL THROUGH AUGUST 2023 ARE:

APRIL 29TH

MAY 20TH

JUNE 24TH

JULY 22ND

AUGUST 19TH

THE FIRST THREE DATES DIFFER FROM WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE WHIPCITY WORDSMITHS MEMBERS PAGE. KELLY AND I DISCOVERED SCHEDULING CONFLICTS SO WE HAD TO RESCHEDULE APRIL-JUNE.

ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE EMAIL US AT whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com

THE WHIPCITY WORDSMITHS IS A SOCIAL AND SUPPORT GROUP FOR ALL WRITERS. WE DO NOT WRITE TO PROMPTS. WE DO READ FROM OUR WORK AND OFFER ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE WHEN ASKED. WE ARE A RELAXED AND FRIENDLY GROUP OF LOCAL AUTHORS AND WRITERS WHO WELCOME WRITERS AT ALL LEVELS OF THE CRAFT. THE GROUP WAS ESTABLISHED IN JUNE OF 2017 AND WILL BE CELEBRATING IT'S 6TH YEAR IN 2023. 

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER TO ATTEND A MEETING TO SEE WHAT THIS GROUP IS ALL ABOUT. WE WELCOME GUESTS AND VISITORS BUT WE ASK THAT VISITORS NOT BE DISRUPTIVE OR THEY WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE. THESE ARE NOT FORMAL MEETINGS BT RATHER CASUAL GATHERINGS OF WRITERS/AUTHORS TO SHARE WRITING INSIGHTS, INFORMATION ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUTHORS TO SHOW THEIR BOOKS AT AREA EVENTS, SELF-PUBLISHING INSIGHTS, AND SO FORTH.

KELLY AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT FUTURE MEETINGS!

KEEP WRITING!

About Artoberfest

 The date of Artworks of Westfield's Artoberfest has been changed to Saturday, October 22nd. I do not have a lot of information about the event but at the last board meeting I did express the authors concerns from last year's event when we felt so isolated on the green island surrounded by whizzing traffic and visited by maybe a quarter of the community members who browsed the art and watched the performances on stage while we watched the clouds and visited with one another on the Green. I also let them know that we don't want to be in one overwhelming cluster but interspersed among the artists so people aren't  overwhelmed and distracted by so many books in one place. Literature needs to be digested in small bites-especially in this short attention span society we live in.

Anyway-I am looking to sign up authors for the event that I am hoping will be a much better experience this year than it was last year for us. I'm not sure how many authors I'll be allowed so please contact me at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com ASAP (it's already the end of August!! How did that happen???) so I can add you to the list I've started.

I'll try to post more info in regards to the event as soon as it's available to me!

Don't forget to read the notice of date changes for the October-December 2022 WhipCity Wordsmiths' meetings in the previous post!

Where did summer go???

REVISED MEETING DATES SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2022

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!

Due to the change in date for Artoberfest in October from the 8th to the 22nd the meeting date had to be changed since many Wordsmiths participate in this event in Westfield. Also, I had been contacted by a Wordsmith who is available only every other Saturday and every Saturday I had chosen happened to fall on a workday for him. Therefore, I changed the last two meeting dates of the year to make them available to other Wordsmiths who have jobs. I just go by my availability when scheduling meetings, but I do not have to be at any particular meeting in order for the meeting to take place as five years into our group meetings and familiarity with one another I firmly believe the group members will do well even if I wasn't present. Kelly can run a meeting also if I'm unable to attend.

These are the REVISED MEETING DATES for the remainder of 2022:

September 10th

October 1st

November 12th

December 10th

I thank Becky Blackburn, our contact at the Westfield Athenaeum for her quick response to my email and how swiftly she revised the schedule on her end to make the revisions happen. She is amazing.

See you on September 10th at 2PM in the Committee Room for our next meeting!

August 2022 Meeting

Just a quick reminder that the WhipCity Wordsmiths will be meeting in the basement Committe Room at the Westfield Athenaeum (in the front entrance lobby facing into the library turn left and go down the staircase, go forward and then turn left to enter the Committee Room) on Saturday, August 13th, 2022 at 2PM to 4PM. 

Kelly and I are so pleased that the group continues to grow with the addition of new members!

Please bring something to read- it can be something you've written in the past or a piece from what you are currently working on, or even a memorable bit of wordsmithing by one of your favorite authors that still moves you when you read it today!

We welcome writers and authors at all levels of the craft and pride ourselves on being a true social and support group for all writers where we each bring our own unique personalities and characters to meetings as we share our writing styles and enjoy the pleasure of camaraderie among fellow wordsmiths.

Kelly and I hope you're enjoying what is turning out to be a scorcher of a summer!

July Meeting 2022

 The July WhipCity Wordsmiths meeting will be on Saturday, the 16th from 2PM to 4PM in the basement Committee Meeting Room at the Westfield Athenaeum on the corner of Elm and Court Streets in downtown Westfield (across from the green. Attendance is not mandatory. Summer is here so if you're on the boat, on vacation, or simply on some much need rest and relaxation time that's perfectly acceptable and wonderful! If you'd like to gather with fellow authors/writers/poets for some social time and to perhaps share something you've written feel free to drop by.

Our last two meetings have been very nice with several of our many poets sharing their work, and Jeff Vanouvenhove sharing a short piece from a new book he's currently working on. Robert Thompson read from his first novel written for an adult audience. Its theme is reincarnation. Very interesting! The simple joy of sitting and chatting with other writers cannot be beat. No one understands a writer better than another writer.

If you can make it to the meeting please come. The Athenaeum is a wonderful and very welcoming place. To reach the Committee Room enter via the front entrance and veer left down the staircase, go forward and then left into the committee room. From the rear entrance walk straight through the main floor toward the front entrance. Go down a few steps into the foyer area, then turn right and descend the staircase, go forward and then left into the Committee Room.

We celebrated our fifth anniversary as a writer's social and support group this past June! We have over a hundred members although many of them are quiet members. Over 70 of us are on the groups members only facebook page where we share writing insights and news about our work, and sometimes funny jokes about writers and so forth! There is also a public WhipCity Wordsmiths facebook page.

Have a safe and happy summer!  Susan

MEETING NOTES FROM MARCH 19, 2022

 

WhipCity Wordsmiths Meeting Minutes 3/19/2022

     The WhipCity Wordsmiths resumed in-person meetings on Saturday, March 19^th, 2022 at the Westfield Athenaeum. The meeting was held in the lower level Committee Room and was attended by Susan, Kelly, Glen, Jeff, Joe Vass, Lynnmarie, Kathy, Rhonda, Melissa, Lex, Heidi, James Homan.

     Susan updated the group on the upcoming Artworks sponsored Articulture event on May 7^th, 2022 at Amelia Park Arena on South Broad Street, Westfield, MA from 10AM to 5PM. Susan was allotted 24 tables to fill with authors, poets, and publishers. There is a $35 table fee which includes a 1-year Artworks membership which allows authors to participate in any upcoming 2022 events where authors can promote and sell their books without having to pay any additional fees. The fee is collected by going to the Artworks of Westfield website and clicking on the New Member box and paying the $35 fee. Cheryl Crowe has a list that Susan updates so she knows what authors, etc are participating and can keep track of who’s paid and who hasn’t. The other payment option is to mail a check to Cheryl Crowe, 40 New Broadway, Westfield, MA 01085 and note Articulture-Author on the note line of the check. There are 2 table spaces remaining if anyone is interested. Email Susan at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com. The Elm Street Butcher Block will be a food vendor at this event. Food is also available at the Big Y’s ready-made section directly across the street from the venue. The authors will be located just inside the venue off the main lobby in two large conference rooms that will have the retractable partition opened to create one huge space. Tables and chairs are provided, but authors can bring their own chairs if they’ll be more comfortable. The rooms have large windows looking out onto the lobby and the ice rink and concourse where the art portion of the event will be held. All authors will have great visibility this year.

     Susan spoke about her difficulty writing since the death of her husband, but how at the end of February she had a dream that sparked a new novel and she has been writing since March 1^st. The new book will be the fifth in a series of romance/suspense/crime novels set at or near bodies of water (Whisper Lake, Bolt’s Landing, Camden Lake and Dalton Cove are the first four books). She hopes to finish writing the book and to have it ready for Articulture. If not, she’ll have promotional materials in regards to the new book.

    Heidi Parker Colonna spoke about the response she’s been receiving to her recently published book Dear Gretchen, Letters to My Dog. She has downscaled her teaching. She is excited to have found an illustrator through SCVWI for her new middle grade book. People do judge a book by its cover. Heidi is now a full-time writer!

    Glen Ebisch spoke about his new series, a lighthearted-humorous series about a reluctant detective who looks like Superman but lives a quiet, reserved life running an inn and doing some acting. The Pretend Detective is the first in the Max Moran Fireside Inn Mysteries. We all wished Glen luck with the new series.

     Jeff Vanouvenhove has completed the fifth novel in his Dark Series. He mentioned that he has a side story that he can develop into a tie-in as a bonus story in the future. He also said that he has a dedicated time to write. Hs next project will most likely be a psychological/suspense/thriller.

    Joe Vass has been writing poetry for over 50 years. He has a 500 page manuscript full of vignettes, stories from his own family history and personal experiences that he’s been working on for close to a decade. He has done rewrites and the manuscript is getting closer to being more what he intended it to be. He was encouraged to keep writing, keep tinkering and editing, and that we hope to read his book in the future.

    Kelly is currently writing a short story. Her busy life hasn’t allowed her much time for writing lately, but she does maintain the groups facebook page and the author book gallery so if anyone publishes a new book please send her information so she can add the cover image with a link to ia sales page at whipcitywordsmiths@gmail.com

    Lynnmarie is writing 10-minute plays. She gave a copies of a holiday themed 10-minute play to Susan and Kelly for critiquing and feedback.

    Susan is working on a novel and art commissions as well as working on Articulture through Artworks where she was appointed secretary at the February strategic planning meeting and luncheon.

    Kathy has been writing new poetry. She has a notebook with about 80-something poems from which she is planning to select the best for a chapbook. Planning a book is new to her so she will meet in the near future with Susan to look over the poems and plan a bok. She read her lovely poem Spring to the group.

    Rhonda spoke about how the death of her husband devastated her and she came close to self-destruction via alcohol and drugs, but fortunately help arrived in the nick of time. It has been a long haul for her through rehab and recovering but she is working hard to get her life back on track. She is considering a book about all she has been through since last June and was encouraged to do so by the group. Readers are drawn to books about other people’s tragedies and how they’ve brought themselves back from the brink. It would be a tragic love story as well as a personal road to recovery story.

   James spoke about his books plus the new speculative fiction/sci-fi/satire novel that he’s writing. He described characters and the plot of the book and some scenarios in the book and made us laugh. He has a sharp sense of humor and a keen insight into the LGBTQ community. We wished him luck completing his book and hope to be able to read it soon.

   Melissa is in a creative respite. Lex mentioned that his mother needs a She Shed, a dedicated space to express her creativity in. She writes beautifully and shouldn’t let that talent wither away.

   A special visitor to the meeting today was Clinton who was celebrating his 13^th birthday. Susan met Clinton and his mother at Articulture 2019 when he came up to her table to speak with her. He was ten years old back then and a fan of Dav Pilkey, author of the Captain Underpants series. Clinton faces learning challenges and mentioned how Dav Pilkey was dyslexic and his teacher used to make him sit out in the hallway as he was disruptive in class, but still he managed to grow up to write and illustrate books for kids. Clinton said he’d like to do that when he’s older. He and his mother visited Susan at her home where he talked and told stories and drew pictures as he talked. Susan has been his mentor. They have twin werewolf plush, hers named Bonkers, his named Bruce. Clinton’s mother asked Susan to draw an axolotyl (amphibian) for him for his birthday. It’s important to encourage and foster creativity in children and to continue to do so through their adolescence. Susan will continue to be Clinton’s friend and mentor for many years to come and hopes one day to place his book(-s) on her WhipCity Wordsmiths bookcase.

  The April meeting is set for Saturday April 16^th from 2PM to 4PM in the Committee Room at the Westfield Athenaeum.

  The meeting was adjourned at 3:55PM.