The Wannabe’s Journal
For
October 2011
We held our October Meeting last Friday, the 21st at UD’s River Campus cafeteria which has turned out to be a wonderful setting for our famed group of artists. We continue to grow in numbers at our monthly meetings in part due to the inspirational surroundings of the glassed in room which is sheltered from the outside world by the wooded area behind the big building.
We caught up with the activities of our many members:
Ginger E.
She is working on a book for her sister that portrays the Life of Mary. She has also created a Children’s Book entitled:” The Bear Cave” She created the book as a gift to her grandchildren.
Martha:
She has been deeply involved in PEO (Philanthropic Education Organization) and many of her church’s volunteer activities.
Don P:
He shared his experiences of participating in another writers group that meets regularly at The Greens. Each member of the group can write a story, up to 20 pages in length and each member of the group(all 12 of them) must read the story and offer feedback at their meeting which is held once a month. Don indicates that he has learned a great deal about his individual style as a result of participating in this group. Sounds like it is similar to taking a creative writing class as Sinclair where you write a number of short stories and receive feedback from your classmates. Great exercise.
Bob O’:
Has been reading “A Death in the Family” by James Agee. He also participated in the Family Rosary Event that was recently held at UD’s Arena.
Don H:
Taking a class through the LLI program from the famous Dayton novelist, Martha Moody, who is teaching a class: Writing a Fictional Novel? Martha has also been a member of the staff at the Antioch Writers Workshop. Martha has written three novels: Her newest novel is Sometimes Mine. Her second novel is The Office of Desire and her first novel is Best Friends. After pursuing a career in medicine as an internist and had a private practice for a number of years before she took up her writing passion full time.
Don voiced encouragement for those individuals who have not submitted a poem or short story to him for inclusion in the anthology of Christmas Stories that the group is assembling …we are currently assembling and formatting the collection of 12 different stories and poems for the publication, we have recently received a new story since our meeting. I know there are more people who could contribute a story or poem for this project. We are planning on submitting the book…title unknown yet, to Createspace so we can sell the book to interested parties this holiday season.
Where did the expression “The greatest thing since sliced bread” originates from?
How many people keep a personal journal? I know that I do. I keep one as something that I will pass on to one of my grandchildren as a part of our family history. As Don explained to us…Write it down and let it sit. He sounds like a great cook.
Linda:
She has been bitten by the writing bug. Next month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I think she is trying to get a head start on her novel of life in a small mining town in southeastern Ohio. She has conducted a lot of research over the last few years, even entering a mine. She found out a great deal by visiting the small towns in the area where her parents were raised. The use of nicknames was common place.
As a matter of fact I noticed that Ms. Moody recommends on her website that writers should compose two paragraphs a day. The NaNoWriMo has as an objective for those who participate to write a novel in one month. Thus if you take a 50, 000 word novel and divide it by the number of days in November that means you will write about 1700 words a day. If you use Word and format about 250 words a page then you will create 7 pages of text a day.
Jude:
Here are the two remaining sessions in the writing series that are held at the Dayton Public Library (downtown). You can find additional information on the library site or by calling the library.
463-2665
October 24th Main Library
Trudy Krishner
Writing Children's and Young Adult Books
6:30-8:30
November 7th Main Library
NANoWriMo
National Novel Writing Month
5-8
Writing Party
Here is a link on Inner Journals from one of Jude’s friends: Jackee Holder's free e book.
https://jackeeholder.sharefile.com/?cmd=d&id=73fc3939b682494b
She also shared with us that she is signing up to participate in a Writer Seminar in Prague. It is a wonderful city in Eastern Europe where Communism ruled less than 40 years ago. Visiting the Castle on the hill, walking across the St. Charles Bridge and watching the clock tower are just some of the many attractions she will see.
She also discussed Kathy Reich who is a native of Chicago and works as a forensic anthropologist, an academic, and bestselling writer of mystery novels. She appeared in a number of TV episodes of the popular series “Bones” which her career inspired.
We all agreed that the Saturday radio program “This American Life” which Jude has been asked to participate in next year is quite an honor for one of our group….Congrats, Congrats.
I would also recommend listening to the Cincinnati NPR station at 1 PM for the program The Story.
There was a great article in the DDN recently about a new book by Katrina Kittle. The book is entitled: “Reasons to be Happy”. The book is about young adults trying to cope with the pressures of self-esteem. The article was published in the DDN’s on October 12th in the Friends and Family section of the paper. The title of the article was: “Novel for young girls tackles topic of self esteem”.
Rosie:
Is taking a class in “In Design CS-5” which includes formatting, photo enhancing and creating PDF documents for publishing. The class is an undergraduate course for the semester and very demanding. For those who might not want to leave the couch but still learn how to use Adobe in Design and Photoshop should consider using an on line service at Lynda.com. Here is the link:
The best part your first month is free and you can cancel out at any time.
She filled us all in on Poetry Corner which is an activity which is sponsored at the Art Gallery at Town and Country Shopping Plaza.
Do you know how to create a HaiKu poem? Maybe we can see a sample of one for the next meeting.
Painting the Essence of France is scheduled for April 20-26th of 2012 will be held at the breathtaking Domain Du Haut Chateau which is located in southern France. This small town in the heart of Champagne country of France is close to Midi-Pyrénées region where many of the Tour de France races are staged. The small town settings would inspire any type of artist. I visited the area in the summer of 2006 and fell in love with the French countryside charm. You are only 2-3 hours by high speed train from Paris.
There is a Booking Presentation at the Town and Country Fine Arts Center on November 16th from 6 to 8 PM.
Don Q:
Again talked about the article that appears in Jane Freidman’s newsletter that was referenced in the Wannabe Meeting invitation earlier this month. The article discussed the fact that Blog material and electronic articles can be copyright protected. She referenced a company which our Blog post is using to protect the intellectual property that is posted in our monthly Journal. Here is a link to her article again:
http://janefriedman.com/. The full article is available at
http://janefriedman.com/2011/10/19/idea-theft/
More recently she published an article outlining some software products that can be productive tools for new writers:
1. Caliber (free)
Caliber is free and open source software that converts e-book files from one format into another. It has multiple uses, but it's a popular tool with avid e-book readers and e-book authors/publishers. Caliber can convert to and from a huge number of formats, and it supports all the major e-book formats. Its conversion engine can rescale font sizes and help ensure the output file is readable. It can automatically detect/create book structure, and insert the book metadata at the start of the book.
2. Sigil (free)
Sigil is a "what you see is what you get" free EPUB format editor. Simply put: Sigil makes creating e-books easy for anyone who knows how to use word-processing software. Sigil runs on both Mac and Windows. Tip: You can use Sigil to create your e-book in the most standard format in the publishing industry—EPUB—then use Caliber to convert from EPUB to MOBI (the format that Kindle uses).
3. Scrivener ($45)
this software will cost you, but its well worth the investment if you're a serious and productive writer. For $45, you get a piece of software that: (1) offers advanced organizational and outlining tools (2) gives you complete control over document formatting (3) includes tools for writing nonfiction (APA, MLA, Latex supported) and (4) includes tools for writing scripts. Also, you can print or export your documents in many different formats, including Microsoft Word, Final Draft, EPUB, and Kindle. It's award-winning software, and if you're not sure it's for you, and then goes for the 30-day free trial, no obligation. Right now, it's only for Mac users, though they do have a Windows beta version.
Readings This Month
There were a number of readings on Friday but no one supplied me with a copy of their story so I am unable to share them with you … the audience.
Don P read a new short story entitled: I Dare You.
Don H read a story entitled “The Five Toy Dogs”
Bob O’Connor read a couple an articles which were very humorous. Letters about a Soldier and letter to the Advice Columnists’ seeks an answer to a broken car.
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
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