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RESOLUTIONS FOR WRITERS: HELP FULFILL YOUR WRITING GOALS

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Sun, 01/06/2013 - 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Event address: 
1200 11th St
98225-7015 Bellingham
us

 

 

Are you a writer in need of some New Year's Resolutions? Suffering from writer's block? Following the lead and success of our "Resolutions" day of mini-workshops, this year we are offering "Resolutions for Writers" on Sun., Jan. 6 from noon-5pm in the Readings Gallery. Just like our "Resolutions" day, this will be an inspirational day devoted to starting the year off right in your WRITING life! From noon–5pm, on the hour, we'll feature local writing experts who will present mini-workshops, from forming & feeding writing groups, to blogging, to self-publishing. Come for one workshop or several and bring questions, ideas, and snacks. Participants will receive 10% off recommended Resolutions for Writers-related books, that day only. No tickets or reservations needed.

Schedule of Mini-Workshops:

noon, "Journaling for the Writer" with Cami Ostman & Christina Claassen
Come start the day with a mini-workshop on journaling. We will explore all of the uses of journaling, from record-keeping (details, dates, lexicon, etc.), to creative development, to motivating your writing practice. We will explore various techniques such as "morning pages," timed writing, and illustrated journaling. Bring your notebook/writing implements or laptop/iPad and come ready to test a few methods.

Cami Ostman is the author of Second Wind: One Woman’s Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents and co-editor for Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religion (due out in April, 2013); she is also a co-founder of the Red Wheelbarrow Writers. Christina Claassen is the events coordinator at Village Books. She studied journalism, has been a freelance writer and editor for more than 10 years, and currently enjoys keeping illustrated journals of life and travel.

1pm, "Blogging for Writers" with Lindsey McGuirk, Tele Aadsen, Brendan Clark and Rachel Hanley
Keeping a blog can be a great way to market oneself and flex those writing muscles, but where to begin? Brendan, Rachel, Lindsey, and Tele will give a crash course on how to determine what your blog will contain, some of the best platforms to create a blog, writing blog posts, dos & don'ts of blogging, and spreading the word. Brendan may even juggle if you ask him.

Lindsey McGuirk has been doing online marketing for 5 years. She's worked on author websites for Algonquin Publishing and now handles the blog, e-newsletter, Facebook page and Twitter feed for Village Books and Paper Dreams. She also does freelance online marketing consulting for local businesses. Tele Aadsen (pronounced Tell-ah) is a tree hugging, tofu eating feminist fisherman and author of the blog, Hooked. She spends half the year aboard the F/V Nerka, trolling for salmon (and stories) with her sweetheart, photographer Joel Brady-Power. She is a member of the Red Wheelbarrow Writers and you can follow her work at www.teleaadsen.com. Brendan Clark is the Publishing Director at Village Books. He coordinates the store's Espresso Book Machine and Chuckanut Editions publishing program. You can check out his blog Timestage Embassy, which features book reviews and industry talk. Rachel Hanley has been blogging at rachelannhanley.blogspot.com for almost two years. Her book-loving blog focuses on book reviews, author interviews, and discussion topics of all things books.

2pm, "The Care and Feeding of Writing Groups" with Paul Hanson, Brandon Bryson, and Shannon Laws
Interested in starting your own writing group? Want to join an already established group? Need some inspiration for your current writing group? Join us as we discuss different ways to start, and manage, successful writing groups in all genres. We will also look at Village Books' in-store writing groups and survey your interest.

Paul Hanson is Village Books' Community Outreach Director. He is a publisher and published author, former President of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, past core team member for the Fields End Writers Conference and is presently Conference Coordinator for the Chuckanut Writers Conference. Brandon Bryson is a graduate of WWU's Communications Program and a member of the Village Books Fiction Writing Group.  He enjoys scribbling notes throughout the day, which on occasion magically coalesce into semi-coherent short stories. Shannon Laws is a poet, literary fiction writer and blogger. Her favorite poems from her blog Madrona Grove was released in her first chap book in December 2012, printed on Village Books' Espresso Book Machine. She hosts VB's monthly Poetry Writing Group.

3pm, "Roadmap for Writing Your Novel This Year" with local Authors Laura Kalpakian, Janet Oakley, Jennifer Wilke and Nancy Adair
Join a panel of local novelists who have each approached their writing from different paradigms to publish their work. The panel will include Laura Kalpakian discussing traditional publishing; Janet Oakley discussing self-publishing and self-publicizing; Jennifer Wilke, who has completed her first novel and is shopping for an agent; and Nancy Adair, who is completing final edits on her first novel. The panel will include time for Q & A and a writing challenge to participants.

Janet Oakley is an award- winning author of memoir essays and historical fiction, including Dry Wall in the Time of Grief, which won first place in non-fiction from Surrey Writers and Tree Soldier, which won the 2012 EPIC eBook award for historical fiction and the 2012 grand prize with Chanticleer Book Reviews. Nancy Adair is a spirited traveler and writer who has lived in diplomatic communities on four continents, and has traveled to 65 countries. Now residing in the US, Nancy is pouring herself into her first novel, After Me, the Flood, a fictionalized account of her time in the Congo during the last years of Mobutu's dictatorship. Jennifer Wilke is a writer with a background in screenwriting, and is a produced playwright and screenwriter. The discovery of long-hidden family letters and diaries in her aunt's Ohio attic has inspired her first historical novel, The Color of Prayer. Her blog, THEN now, records the experience of using family history and historical research to write authentic historical fiction. Laura Kalpakian is the author of nine novels, most recently, American Cookery (St. Martin's Press), which was one of 137 novels worldwide nominated for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She began sharing her professional knowledge with students at Western Washington University in 1984 and continues to support other writers as one of the founders of the Red Wheelbarrow Writers community.

4pm, "The Many Paths to Publishing: Self, Small & Traditional" with Paul Hanson, Sarah Martinez & Janet Oakley
Your book is done and it's ready to publish, but which way should you go? Hear from an experienced panel of writers about the advantages and perils of each path.

Paul Hanson is Village Books' Community Outreach Director. He is a publisher and published author, former President of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, past core team member for the Fields End Writers Conference and is presently Conference Coordinator for the Chuckanut Writers Conference. Sarah Martinez is the author of Sex and Death in the American Novel, published in August 2012 by Booktrope. She previously served as Senior Editor for Pink Fish Press and is a member of the Northwest Independent Editor's Guild. She began her career in editing as Editorial Assistant for the literary agent Andrea Hurst. Janet Oakley is an award-winning author of memoir essays and historical fiction, including Dry Wall in the Time of Grief, which won first place in non-fiction from Surrey Writers and Tree Soldier, which won the 2012 EPIC eBook award for historical fiction and the 2012 grand prize with Chanticleer Book Reviews.