Meeting Highlights - May 10, 2012

Attending members: Cathy, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Lorraine, Luneil

Judy read a thank you letter from the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network. MHW donated money in memory of Paul's father who recently passed.

Jackie asked if members would be willing to donate a basket of books for a silent auction raffle benefiting the Claus family. Emory received a liver transplant from her father last month. Twenty-five dollars was taken from the treasury and members threw in enough additional funds to purchase a second raffle basket. The event will be in Lowell on June 2, 2012 and all are invited to attend. Jackie will be doing facepainting. She also suggested MHW donate a basket of books to a children's hospital annually.

Judy used MHW funds to purchase the Writer's Guide to 2012. Any member can borrow the book for a month at a time. It includes tips, advice, and, info on agents and publishers, etc. Luneil will take it home this month.

Joan showed members the latest issue of the local Family Flyer. Her poem The Legion was included in the May edition. Congrats Joan! The Family Flyer is a monthly publication which has a readership of over 113,000 people.

Lorraine reported she sent her story Marty the Moose to three publishers. She heard back from one who said they had just published a story on a moose. Lorraine then read her short story The Rhubarb Patch and accompanied recipe for Rhubarb Bar Cookies.

Luneil read her poem Doxie Dog which goes with her recipe for Cheese Hot Dog Wraps.

Judy shared her poem Very, Very, Slushy and recipe for Very Berry Slushie complete with her own computer graphics.

Jackie and Judy reported on the Indiana Writers' Consortium PoPP (Power of Poetry Project) Awards Assembly that was held at Taft Middle school in April. Elementary students from 4 area schools participated. Winning poems and illustrations were published in this year's PoPP publication. Certificates and medals were handed out and place winners also received a gift card.

Jackie reported she sent a poem into the Words for Riley poetry contest for Riley Children's Hospital. Winners will be notified by May 31. Jackie also sent in a poem to Chicken Soup and reminded members she posted their current needs on the "events and contests" page on the blog. Finally, Jackie announced she was awarded an honorable mention in the Oregon Poetry Association Spring Poetry Contest. She then read her winning haiku Quietly Encased.

Cathy read Five More, One Mores which is a short story about her granddaughter Zoe who was refusing to finish her cereal. Members brainstormed ideas for a related recipe. The group hopes to have at least 20 recipes with stories or poems that can be included in our first publication.

Next Meeting: June 14, 2012

JSH

April Minutes

April 12, 2012

Members in attendance:  Pam, Bernardo, Luneil, Joan, Lorraine

Pam is no longer working at Chapel Lawn. She has a part-time job working at 1st Methodist Church in Valparaiso as a Communication Director. Pam will be able to use her writing skills with a newsletter she is going to publish for the church. Also her business is taking off; she just made a big sale with her party packs. Chapel Lawn is going to let us to continue to use their facilities for our monthly meeting,  She also gave us a handout on Writing & Illustrating and The Los Angeles Review is open to submissions for Issue 12. The deadline is April 30, 2012 .  www.losangelesreview.org. 

Lorraine is working on a story titled the Rhubarb Patch.  She plans to have the story finished to read by the next meeting and also bring a rhubarb dish for us to enjoy.

Luneil entered a piece in The Riley Writing Contest.  She also read her poem Doxie Dog and the recipe that goes with it.

Bernardo read some more of The Adventures of Red & Fred to the Sea.  His adventure series will be in seven parts.

Joan also entered several pieces in the The Riley Writing Contest. 

Next Meeting: Thursday May 11, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.


LM

March Highlights

March 8, 2012

Members present:  Cathy, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Lorraine, Pam
Guests:  Bernardo and Damian

Magic Hour Writers welcomed guest speaker Shannon Anderson from Rensselaer, Indiana. A former first grade teacher, Shannon is now an elementary school literacy coach, coordinates the high ability program, and teaches Spanish for elementary educators. Shannon has a short story titled A Deed a Day in Chicken Soup for the Soul - Find Your Happiness. She also will have a how-to article "Through the Hoop" published in Highlights Magazine for Children in August 2012.

Shannon suggested writers carry around an idea book at all times. Include anything and everything in your idea book, even a catchy title. She spoke about her road to publication, how to get critiques from those in the field, and making/maintaining contacts. She discussed writing grants, joining SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), attending conferences, starting your own website, and taking online courses. Shannon's presentation was full of information and inspiration! Her website is http://www.shannonisteaching.com/.

Bernado shared his poem Coqui Coqui about a frog found on the island of Puerto Rico. Bernardo included a recipe for Mantecaditos (Puerto Rican Little Butter Cookies).

Joan read her latest poem The Legion which included a recipe for Flag Cake. She shared a second poem entitled Veggies.

Jackie read a poem about worms and a related recipe for dirt pudding. Jackie also brought in a box of Cherrios which included one of the winning books from the Spoonful of Stories contest many members submitted to last year.

Next MHW meeting:  Thursday, April 12.
JSH

Poetry Contest

Words for Riley Poetry Contest

Meeting Notes- February 9, 2012

Members Present:  Cathy, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Luneil, Pam

Guest: Bernardo Gonzalez

Members agreed to donate $35.00 to Indiana Writers' Consortium's (IWC) 2012 PoPP (Power of Poetry Project) which is an annual children's poetry contest. Jackie and Judy are both on the PoPP committee. It was decided that dues will also be used to buy a writer's publication each year and reimburse gas expenses to guest speakers.

The PoPP awards assembly will be held Friday, April 20, 2012 at Taft Middle School in Crown Point at 6 p.m.

Luneil received a rejection letter from Highlights Magazine for Children. She had submitted one of her short stories which features young Lottie Nora. Luneil then read Lottie Nora and the Wal-Mart Speedway Incident.

Pam is currently working on Mystery at Mayfield Manor. She read the first few pages at Write-On Hoosiers the week before. Pam handed out brochures from Dignity Memorial. Chapel Lawn counselors will provide a free safety program to any interested groups. Two different presentions are available. The target audiences are school children and seniors.

Joan brought in her Dyer Local Town Calendar to show Jackie's photos to the group. Joan read her latest poem Myrtle the Turtle which was accompanied by a recipe for pretzel turtles. She is encouraging the group to keep working on the cookbook project. Joan plans to come up with something for vegetables. Luneil has an idea for crescent dogs.

Members discussed getting an ISBN # and promoting/selling the cookbook through the new IWC website. We plan to utilize local artists and consider doing a book signing at Albanese Candy Factory and local craft fairs. Profits would go in a "writer's seminar fund" to offset registration costs.

Jackie went over the current membership list and asked for any corrections. Jackie then read Leopard Frog, a picture & poem from 2010.

Judy passed out her poem In the Pet Shop Window and shared her recipe for Hedgehogs. (No worries, the recipe does not call for real hedgehogs :).

Bernardo read his first draft of Red and Fred, complete with illustrations. He had started this short story years before for his daughter. She is the one who encouraged him to work further on it.

Cathy read How to Save a Spider from Drowning in Your Toilet Bowl and Grandpa's Weird Sense of Humor.

Members should work on short stories or poems and related recipes and bring to the next meeting Thursday, March 8th. See you then!

JSH

Meeting Notes - January 26, 2012

Cathy, Jackie, Joan, Judy, Pam

Guest: Debra

Members introduced themselves and welcomed Debra. Debra is a special education teacher's aid in Hammond. Debra had a short story published in Stark/Tinkham in 2010 - A Purdue Calumet publication.

Judy passed out 2012 membership cards and bookmarks to each member present. We have a new logo!

Pam is working on a modern day fantasy.

Cathy put together a recipe for her My Life by A. Banana poem. Cathy and Joan would like us to all come up with a poem or short story and related recipe and discuss putting together a MHW publication this year.

Judy read Ryleigh Emma - Supper Sleuth, The Case of the Missing Chocolate Heart. Jackie suggested she include a detective's checklist within the story.

Members discussed having a discounted membership fee for students. It was determined that the annual student membership fee will be $10.

Judy will look into purchasing the 2012 edition of a publishers magazine this year. Since we have the 2011 edition of Children's Writer's Market, MHW will purchase the Children's Writer's Market every other year from now on.

Jackie passed out a sheet on Story Building. She will e-mail it to the other members. She talked about the "call for submissions" on sports poems. Information about this contest is on the blog in the upcoming events and contests page. She then read her latest poem and handed out an activity sheet she plans to submit with it. Jackie shared her recent rejection letters from Highlights, Illumination Arts, US Kids, and Tanglewood Press. Jackie did receive hand written notes of encouragement with two though.

Debra read her short story The Juniper Leaf and then discussed her book "101 Reasons for Time Out in Preschool and Kindergarten" and the process she went through to self publish it in 2003. It is now also an electronic pdf file and on sale for 99¢.

JSH

Make up meeting - this Thursday

Magic Hour Writers will be meeting Thursday, January 26th at 6:30 at Chapel Lawn.

Hope to see you there!

I just added to contests to the  Upcoming Events page - Check them out and submit!