MINUTES - January 16, 2015
MINUTES - December 19, 2014
In attendance: Sally Parrott, Jenny Sparks, Karen Harris,
Mike Owens, Pat Clark, Mary-Jac O’Daniel, and new member Michelle Davenport
Status updates: Pat
Clark has begun writing the sequel to his first book (which is only ½
finished), Mike Owens has received feedback from an agent on his novel All Burned Up—A Love Story; Sally
Parrott spent her Christmas Vacation critiquing a 422-page manuscript; all are
finished with or finishing up their stories for the Anthology.
New Business:
·
New Year’s Resolutions
Many people make New Year’s resolutions for
their life, some particularly geared towards their writing
accomplishments. But how about this year
committing to an act of kindness towards another author. Some suggestions:
Ø
Buy a debut author’s book.
Ø
Write a good review on Amazon, Goodreads or any
of the sites where readers hang out.
Ø
Write an email to an author explaining what you
think she did brilliantly in their last book.
Ø
Post a positive review form a professional
outlet about a book that’s not yours on your own fb page.
·
Anthology Proceeds to Project Light
We received an email from an EB neighbor
informing us that another EB neighbor is President of Project Light a literacy
project founded by her father and headquartered in Norfolk VA. They are dedicated to fighting illiteracy.
The email suggested we donate the profits from the Anthology to this very
worthy foundation. All agreed. The website for more information is www.projectLight.org.
·
We have the capability to use the large screen
TV in the main room to Skype with a presenter or video. Any ideas of people we can contact to skype
in with us should be sent to the BOD. One suggestion was to contact Ruth Cardini
in Newport who made a lot of money with her self-published romance.
·
Ideas for meeting topics include Mind Mapping
and Dialogue. Both will be addressed in
upcoming meetings.. The board is ALWAYS
focused on helping members improve their writing skills. Any and all ideas for meeting topics should
be sent to the board and/or posted on facebook.
Old Business:
·
Anthology—we have our first submission! Thanks to Mike Owens! Pat submitted also. Waiting for the influx of submissions
deadline is January 31, 2015. Submission guidelines are on the website www.eastbeachwritersguild.blogspot.com
Upcoming meetings:
·
February 20th—Mind Mapping and Storyboarding for
Beginners
·
March 20th—Dialogue—Everyone should
be paying attention to Dialogue in books they are currently reading and be
prepared to bring good (and bad) examples to the March meeting.
·
April 17th—Quarterly Critique
·
May 15th--Guerilla Marketing with
Maggie Kerrington
·
June 19th—Skype with a published
author (we hope!)
Starter
Sentence:
·
January’s starter sentence is…”There were no
footprints leading off the front porch, just a mysterious black and gold box
lying in the 6 inches of fresh snow. “
·
February Starter Sentence from Pat: “The young couple sat quietly, barely
breathing and hidden by the darkness, as the four swimmers emerged from the
bay.”
·
Up next is Mike (order again Mike, Jenny, Karen,
Paige, Joni, Will, Gina, Sally, Mary-Jac, Pat)
Today’s Program: Critique session with 3 submissions (Pat,
Mike and Sally)
MINUTES - December 19, 2014
Called to order at 9:10 am
Writing Accomplishments
- Mike Owens has a new website www.MikeOwens42.com
Announcements -
- EBWG story was in the EB Peninsula Magazine. They need more articles. If you are interested, contact Joni at joni.giordano@n2pub.com.
- The East Ocean View Civic League also has a magazine and they like human interest stories. Contact John Greene at President@EOVCL.org
- We still need a volunteer to lead our organization efforts in the EB Bayfront Club library. Please consider. We all pitch in.
- We went around the group and talked a little about the children's books we brought to donate and why we chose those books.
- Submit your anthology stories soon...the deadline is January 31st!
- There is a writers conference at Christopher Newport Univ. is coming up - see their website for more information.
- The Chesapeake Romance Writers conference is March 14.
- The Mysteries by the Sea conference is March 20 - will have a retired FBI agent and Policeman speak on Self-Defense.
Future Meetings: January - First Quarter Critique, February
- Storyboarding for Beginners - Sally Parrot, March - Marketing
Meeting
Starter Sentence for December was "Tis the Season" (many
great stories were read and were emailed out).
Starter Sentence for January is "There were no
footprints leading off the front porch, just a mysterious black and gold box
lying in the six inches of fresh snow."
Then, we all read a passage from our favorite book of 2014.
Great food and fellowship - Thanks to all and Happy Holidays!
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For our January Meeting, Friday, January 30th at 9 am - (Bayfront
Club) we will have a business meeting as usual and then the critique
group will offer their critiques of submitted pieces. Feel free to bring
your own beverage - we usually have some morning treats provided. I will
be unable to make the meeting, if someone doesn't mind taking light
notes???????????
If you would like to submit a piece to be critiqued...
All members are welcome to submit but, please - NO MORE THAN 5
pages. Submit 5 pages in manuscript format (which is double-spaced, Times New
Roman 12 pt font, 1 inch margins) to EBWG2013@aol.com prior to January 12!
The first five submissions (submitted per these
guidelines) will be forwarded to the Critique Committee.
MINUTES - JULY 18, 2014
We began our July 18th meeting thanking Mike Owens for the
wonderful presentation during our first EBWG public event. We had 15
people in attendance. It was fun and informative.
The Survey: We had 13 responses and a majority agreed to have writing requirements for Active Membership. We decided the requirements would include: You must submit 1 item to the Critique Group within a club year starting in September and ending in August.
You must submit at least one paragraph
using the Starter Sentence, for posting on the blog...also during the club
year.
If you are not interested in fulfilling the above requirements, you are welcome to be considered an Associate Member. You will receive basic emails about our meetings, unless you wish to "unsubscribe".
Starter Sentences: Each month we will have a Starter
Sentence "Host / Hostess". This person will submit a starter
sentence for the following month and at that club meeting will read their
paragraph for the sentence. All other paragraphs will be submitted for
the blog page. If your story could be expanded and you feel it has
possibilities for further writing...do NOT submit it to the blog. The
blog submissions are not covered by any other copyright than that of
"Artist's Domain".
Start considering your submission ideas for the East Beach
Anthology. This is an idea that we'd like to get going and could be a
helpful fundraiser for our chosen charity.
Storyboarding: Gina has found a You Tube video about
storyboarding for writing. Go to YouTube and search Mary Carroll Moore -
Storyboarding for Writers.
The Suffolk Cozy Book Event is 9-7, the 2nd Sat. in November.
The Bayfront Club Library has benefited from numerous days of volunteerism by members of EBWG. New shelf labels were ordered and things are starting to really look professional. But, we are inundated with continuous donations, so it's an on-going project. Thank you, Randi Klein, for organizing this wonderful progress.
EB Published Author's Night: In conjunction with the EB
Forum committee, we're helping sponsor an EB Published Author's Night. Of
course, Sally Parrott and Mike Owens will be representing our group. And
other published authors in the neighborhood are participating. The date
is October 5th. More details to follow soon.
We will NOT have a meeting in September. Instead, we are
encouraging all of our members to attend some portion of the upcoming Hampton
Roads Writers Conference, September 18-20th in Virginia Beach. For more
information: hamptonroadswriters.org/2014conference.php
October will be a discussion of what we've learned at the
conference and also a quarterly critique session.
November - we are hoping to have another interview / discussion
with a published author (in-person or Skype).
December - a holiday party and celebration of the year's
accomplishments. Time and place TBD. Books will be donated to Toys
for Tots.
January - Quarterly Critique.
Mike Owens read his paragraph starting with his
sentence..."I didn't know a cat could jump that high." See
others on the blog.
August starter sentence: (Courtesy of Jenny Sparks) "The
biggest secret of my life was on the 10 o' clock news".
3 Submissions were critiqued: Mike Owens, Pat Clark and Gina
Buzby.
NEXT Meeting: Sally Parrott
will present : "Show Don't Tell"! Please attend.
Friday, August 15th 9 am - BYOB - we'll bring munchies.
Gina Buzby, Secretary
East Beach Writers Guildebwg2013@aol.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/157077141163770/
MINUTES - APRIL 18, 2014
The
meeting was called to order at 9:15 am.
Sally
had handouts for the 6th Annual Writers Conference at westin town center in
Virginia Beach. It is September 18-20.
For
more information, visit hamptonroadswriters.org
We
went around the room and gave our updates on respective writing efforts.
Pat Clark mentioned a great app for helping with storytelling, "Index
Card" for writers. Sally announced she would be moderating a
panel at an upcoming conference in Maryland, "Malice Domestic".
Then, we discussed books we were reading. Several of us are in the same
book club and were reading "Secret Keeper", "The Invention of
Wings" and a book by David Baldacci were all mentioned.
New
Business: We had decided to organize the libray in the clubhouse. An
organizing day will be scheduled and an email will be sent out.
June's
starter sentence is, "I was lying in a pool of blood..."
Then,
we began our quarterly critique session including submissions from Randi, Pat
and Mike. The current critique group volunteers are: Gina, Randi, Sally,
Jenny, Mike and Pat. Thank you to the submitting members and to the
critique group! It was a very helpful session.
Mike
recommended a book titled, The Art of Fiction by John Gardner.
Meeting
was adjourned.
Secretary
East
Beach Writers Guild
ebwg2013@aol.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/157077141163770/
ebwg2013@aol.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/157077141163770/
EBWG met on Friday, March 21st at the Bayfront Clubhouse.
The meeting started at 9:05 AM
Sally Parrot, President - welcomed new member Steve Conner. There were seven members present.
We gave our updates on our individual writing efforts.
Starter Sentences should now be sent directly to Randi to put on our blog site. Please WRITE, SUBMIT AND READ THE OTHERS :)
Sally recommended a great tip: Put together a storyboard of your novel / book on a cardboard tri-fold like those used for science fairs. Randi mentioned the East Beach Art Fair and the possibility of EBWG setting up a tent. But, the group agreed to consider it another time.
Randi then started the "Skype" session with New York Author, Sheila Buff. Shelia explained a great deal about editing and the process of submitting a manuscript to a publisher. She also discussed with us the subjects of design, critiques, self-publishing and different professional organizations. And she took our questions.
April 18th will be our next meeting - at 9 AM at the clubhouse. This is a critique session. The process is below.Please note we need you to sign up to be a part of the new "Critique Group".
Future Meetings...
May 16 - Michael Owens will speak to us on character development
June 20 - Sally Parrot will speak to us on "Show Don't Tell".
July will be another critique session.
Randi mentioned she has formatted business cards and can add your name to a special EBWG business card if you would like one. Just email her at rgklein@verizon.net if you would like some.
Next month's Starter Sentence is..."The story behind the coffee mug is..." Submit to Randi at rgklein@verizon.net
Gina Buzby
Secretary
EBWG
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Critique Process
1. Please let Gina know at ginabuz@aol.com or ebwg2013@aol.com if you would like to be a part of the Critique Group. This group will agree to critique submissions within previously used (form is attached) guidelines. You will be responsible for critiquing the works prior to the next meeting.
2. All members are welcome to submit but, please - NO MORE THAN 5 pages. Submit 5 pages in manuscript format (which is double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt font, 1 inch margins) to EBWG2013@aol.com prior to April 10th!
3. The first five, correct, submissions received will be forwarded to the Critique Group.
Gina Buzby
Secretary
East Beach Writers Guild
ebwg2013@aol.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/157077141163770/
ebwg2013@aol.com
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/157077141163770/
MINUTES - FEBRUARY 21, 2014
East Beach Writers Guild
Monthly Meeting
Feb. 21, 2014
Sally, MJ, Randi, Pat, Michael, Gina and Maria present
Sally started by mentioning Michael's release! Free Will. Several of us
discussed social media aspects of promoting. Free reads in Goodreads.
Monthly Meeting
Feb. 21, 2014
Sally, MJ, Randi, Pat, Michael, Gina and Maria present
Sally started by mentioning Michael's release! Free Will. Several of us
discussed social media aspects of promoting. Free reads in Goodreads.
Michael - brought Christopher Newport University and Hampton
Roads Writers Conference brochures. Sally - tomorrows Hampton Roads Writers
workshop on "Createspace". Round the table reports - individuals. Visit Classic and
Cozy.com (24 authors) blogs.
Announcements: Could meet in Stravitz Gallery in Va Beach for a special meeting if the group would like?
Reading Bingo reminder
Upcoming Meetings:
March 21
April 18
May 16
Starter Sentences - send them in if you haven't brought them! "It was a long cold winter..."
April - "The story behind the coffee mug..."
Maria Hudgins - our speaker...
Published 5 Dotsy Lamb mysteries and two archaeological novels.
ARC - advanced reader copy - Death in an Ivory Tower
Five Star publishing
advice:know your genre
know your reader - accept it.
Cozy mysteries - mostly older women readers some men but they are writers
How to write Killer Mysteries - see Author: Wheat - 4 arc system - crisis
conferences - network!
write what you like to read - can google for specifics
always goes to a place she likes to write about - travel mystery writer
outlines - bulleted list
Likes Barnes and Noble...shelf life is short there though. "Somewhere in between
milk and yogurt." uses 5 star and worldwide for paperbacks...kindle is good but
lots of competition.
We've added Maria to our group at her request! Thank you for a very informative presentation!
More soon about March 21st...keep it on your calendar!
Gina Buzby
Secretary
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