Third-Saturday Meeting – July 2018

BREAKING INTO THE BUSINESS
Pocatello Writers Meeting
Marshall Public Library
July 21, 2018 3:30pm-5:30pm

RUSSELL PIKE has offered to share some of his experiences attending a writers’ conference in Provo dedicated to “Jumpstarting Your Career”.

Writing is an incredibly competitive and challenging industry to get started in, and this conference’s seminars were geared to increasing your chances of success breaking into the writing business.

Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy the company of local writers and to hear Russell’s report on publishers’ expectations in this changing day and age. Bring your own experiences as well.

We may have time for one or two short critiques, so if you need feedback on your WIP, put your dibs in.

In the meantime, keep in touch by joining our Facebook Open Forum at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pocatellowriters/.

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Rocky Mountain Writers Festival

The 25th annual Rocky Mountain Writers Festival is coming to Pocatello April 1 thru April 4, 2015. Below is a lineup of venues and featured artists:

Wednesday April 1st, 7pm – PORTNEUF VALLEY BREWING
Krishna Strong (humor, essays)
Bethany Schultz-Hurst (poetry)
Ralph Maughan (environmental memoirs)
Anne Merkley (poetry, essays)
Michael Corrigan (poetry, novels)
Wire Mama (music)
Shane Merkley and Friends (music)

Thursday April 2nd, 7pm – COLLEGE MARKET
Tera Joy Cole (short stories)
Jen Hawkins (poetry, short stories)
Tom Flynn (poetry)
Brandon Hall (journals)
Joshua Mayes (poetry, short stories)

Friday April 3rd, 7pm – WALRUS AND CARPENTER
Will Peterson (bookstore owner)
Ron Watters (outdoor guidebooks)
Susan Peshti-Strobel (poetry)
Star Coulbrooke (poetry)
Rich Howard (biologist, non-fiction)
Sandy Anderson (poetry)
Howard Wilkerson (poetry)
Joan Juskie (poetry)
Richard Chamberlain (novel)

Saturday April 4th, 7pm – OLD TOWN ICE CREAM & CANDY
Leslie Leek (short stories)
Will Petersen (poetry, novelist)
Harald Wyndham (fiction, poetry, music)
Jackie Johnson Maughan (novels, non-fiction)
Wayne Nelson (cowboy poet, music)
Father Bob (storyteller, music)

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Rocky Mountain Writers Festival

Don’t miss the 23rd annual ROCKY MOUNTAIN WRITERS FESTIVAL in Pocatello from Wednesday April 3 thru Saturday April 6, 2013.

Writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and songs will share their work at various venues around Pocatello. Come meet and support area talent. Contact Will Peterson at the Walrus and Carpenter Book Store 233-0821 for more info.

April 3,  7pm  – Portneuf Valley Brewing, 615 S. First Ave     (Pocatello Readers)
April 4,  7pm – Co Ho Coffee House, 904 S. Fourth     (Open Mic – sign up early)
April 5,  7pm   – Main Street Coffee and News, 234 S. Main St     (Idaho & Utah Readers)
April 6,  noon to 6pm – Pushy Peddler, 123 N. Main St     (Book Fair)
April 6,  2pm   – Pushy Peddler, 123 N. Main St     (Tour of the Literary Pavers)
April 6,  7pm   – Old Town Pavillion, 420 N. Main St    (Special Guest & Other Readings)

Note for those of us who want to sign/sell some of our books at the Book Fair in Pocatello on Saturday April 6th noon to 6pm:  This year the book fair will be at the Pushy Peddler near Main and Center St.  I think we need to make arrangements with Paul the owner of the Pushy Peddler, but I can’t find his phone number.  We have to have our books at the fair before noon to setup a display, but I heard somewhere that Paul wants a 30% vendors fee. We need to talk to him to confirm or negotiate that, because in previous years the fair was at ISU and we didn’t need to worry about a fee.

I may not make it this year, so I will leave it up to any of you with books out to follow up on this if you want some exposure for your book.  In any case, check out some of the nightly 7pm readings and the open mic about town.   – Sher

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Two Summer Writers Conferences

Start saving up your money for one or both of these great regional
writers conferences.  Follow the links for featured authors and more
details.

Jackson Hole Writers Conference
June 27-29
Jackson, Wyoming
www.jacksonholewritersconference.com

Sun Valley Writers Conference
August 23-26
Ketchum, Idaho
www.svwc.com

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Christmas Book Fair – Saturday December 8th, 1-4pm

If you want something fun to do this Saturday (12/8), check out this event at Walrus & Carpenter Book Store on Main St in Old Town. Three authors from the Pocatello Literary Renaissance of the 1990’s will sign their new books.  All authors with books published in 2012 are invited to participate.

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Library Book Sale Today!

Whoo hoo!  Time to collect some more books, guys.
Marshall Public Library

9-9pm Oct 11 Thursday
9-6pm Oct 12 Friday
9-6pm Oct 13 Saturday

$2 for hardbacks
$1 for paperbacks
Half price on Saturday

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Idaho Writers League – Annual Writers Conference – Sept 23rd and 24th

This year the Idaho Writers League is holding their annual conference in Pocatello at the Clarion Inn.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

To get program details, costs, and registration form, visit the league’s website at http://www.idahowritersleague.com. They have special fees for partial attendees, with or without meals.

The writers conference will start off at 9am Friday morning with some good motivational speakers. You will be able to choose among several workshops to attend throughout the rest of Friday and Saturday. This is a great chance to meet a visiting publisher and other experts, as well as chat with fellow writers of all genres over luncheon and the banquet.

They mentioned having a bookstore, if you want to bring your published books to sell.  If you need more info about that, or have questions beyond the website info, contact the IWL Pocatello Chapter coordinators: LaDean Messenger at 237-9289, email ladeanm@cableone.net or Alice Dunn at 238-7547, email delphicden@aol.com.

A good turnout will look good for the writing community in Pocatello.

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What’s Coming Up March 19 + Recap Feb 19

Hi Fellow Writers,

March Madness is not just for basketball fans. In the next week, there are so many deliciously literary things going on in Pocatello that — if you’re like me — you’ll have to pick and choose what to attend. Before I get into the meeting info, here’s a sampling of some worthwhile activities.

Rocky Mountain Writers Festival

This annual literary celebration starts tomorrow, March 9 and runs through this Sunday. Check their schedule here. Also, if you’re free and interested, join us this Friday afternoon at 4pm in the Bengal Cafe at the Idaho State University Student Union to sit at the Minnie Howard Writers table (you can sell your books, or simply just show your support).

Bitch Magazine Founder – Keynote Speech Friday March 11

This does conflict with the speaker for the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Festival. However, Andi Zeisler is the founder of Bitch Magazine, one of the coolest feminist magazines out there, and this is a great opportunity to get to know her, and her magazine. (Note that this is part of a whole Gender Conference at ISU, see schedule here.)

Temple Grandin Talk, March 9

Temple is not only a professor and one of the leading faces of autism; she’s also a writer. Even if you can’t get in to see her talk, you might be interested in the book signing afterwards.

If you missed our Feb 19 meeting, Donna Jordahl led a discussion about great hooks and great endings. Thanks to Donna for lending us her time, energy and talents! We also heard from Sherrie Goff and Andrea in the second hour for readings — thanks for sharing, both of you.

So what’s coming up next? Since I’ll be out of town for the next meeting, Larry Ferro has graciously agreed to lead our next meeting. Here’s what he has planned:

Jocelyn asked me to lead the next meeting as she will be spring breaking.  For this meeting, I’d like to focus on characters.  I know we all have favorite characters, protaganist in our stories so I’d like each of us to bring some quitessential passage from your story (a paragraph or a page) that describes your character best and read it to us.

I’ll try to find some examples of my favorite passages that describe characters and I’d ask you to do the same.

In the second hour, we’ll have readings. If you would like to read, just leave a comment to this post (see this page for a refresher on how readings work).

And of course, as always, you can visit our website, Minnie Howard Writers, Pocatello, to see what we’ve done in the past.

Happy writing!

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What’s Coming Up February 19

Hi Fellow Writers,

Quick note to let you know what’s coming up on our fast-approaching meeting this Saturday, February 19, from 4-6pm at the Marshall Public Library.

Donna Jordahl has offered to lead a discussion about great hooks and great endings. Be ready to bring your own examples, and even do a little practice during the first hour.

Second hour, we’ll have readings, as always. So far, Andrea and Sherrie have signed up to read, so we still have one more slot. Interested? Leave a comment on this post.

BTW, I got confirmation we have a table at the Rocky Mountain Writers Festival here in Pocatello. Interested in joining us at the table? Let me know.

New to the group and wondering how things work in our meetings? Check out our new About page.

Look forward to seeing you this Saturday!

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What’s Coming Up November 20

Hi Fellow Writers,

With the cold front coming in and November upon us, there’s never been a better time to pick up that pencil — or laptop — to create the story of your dreams. Especially since November is National Novel Writing Month. Need that extra boost to start your novel? Check out their website to learn more.

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll mention it again — Idaho Magazine has a fiction contest. Deadline is January 31, so what are you waiting for?

Also, interested in being part of Critique Group? Basically, it works like this — everyone takes turns critiquing each others’ written work, usually a chapter at a time (or whatever the group deems appropriate). Groups like this often get formed around certain genre, but ultimately, as long as you like to read each others’ work, it can work just fine too. If you’re interested, leave a comment to let us know.

So what’s coming up November 20? We have Cheryl Lyda, who self-published, coming to talk about the writing process. What is your writing process? What has worked for you in the past? I hope you’ll come and share your own ideas, and be ready to discuss.

As always, we have three 15-minute slots available for reading your work. Just be sure to bring in around 10 copies to share. Larry, you didn’t finish last time, perhaps you’d like to sign up this time around to continue?

Look forward to seeing everyone on November 20, 4-6pm at Marshall Public Library! And, as always, happy writing.

UPDATE: Almost forgot — thank you to Alice Kane for providing the DVD for our last meeting! Sorry for the delay in mentioning you, Alice!

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