Mark Ferguson, former owner of the Buckstaff Observatory property in Oshkosh, would like to compile a history on the facility and is seeking area writers, who may be interested in helping out. He will be our guest speaker at the Feb. 5 meeting to discuss the project.
The Observatory is currently in the news because it is being dismantled and moved to Illinois. You can read about it here.
Tom Cannon’s story "Mornings with AJ & Jen" (the story of two morning deejays taken hostage) was accepted for publication by “On the Premises” magazine. The story and short author bio will appear in March, Issue 13.
As an aside, the story was initially on hold until Tom made some recommended change. In accepting the story upon second review, co-publisher Tarl Kudrick noted:
“You are, by far, the easiest guest writer we've worked with to date. You cleared up all of our concerns in one rewrite. I wish I was better at picking writers like you out of the rejection pile, as opposed to writers who aren't good enough to fix their story's problems, or who fight us over every suggested comma. If you ever need a reference to convince some other editor that you're easy to work with, just ask.”
To paraphrase Stephen King in “On Writing,” the only hard rule in writing is to do whatever your editor asks.
Congrats to member Judi Scherkenbach for landing a weekly guest column, "Reflections," in the Omro Herald. The column is a casual inspirational column, similar to one she wrote for 10 years while living out west.
Oshkosh resident Ron Akin is putting together a book about the history of the Oshkosh breweries. He wants to add some "personality" to the book, and not just a lot of names, dates and pictures and he is looking for your stories about the breweries. Something that might be amusing, or interesting for people to read about. What were the working conditions like, the camaraderie, the funny stories about beer brewing, the worker relationships that grew?
If you have a story to share, please contact Ron at rkakin@sbcglobal.net
Spring Writers Festival
Fri.-Sun., Mar. 4-6, 2011
Day 1: 5:30-9pm; Day 2: 8am-4:30pm; Day 3: 8:30am-1:30pm
UW-Milwaukee
Fee: $269
http://www4.uwm.edu/sce/conference.cfm?id=561
Keynote speakers are David Rhodes (Driftless), Kao Kalia Yang (The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir), and Jane Hamilton (A Map of the World).
Workshops include:
Outlining for Creative People: Lori Tharps
Characterization: David Rhodes
Anthologies and the Publishing Writer: Amy Lou Jenkins
Writing From Life: Karen McQuestion
Marketing Summaries: 150 Words That Sell Your Book: Kelly Wimmer
Poetry & Memory: John Koethe
Fifty Tips for Freelancing: Ron Kovach
The Agent-Author Relationship: Sheree Bykofsky
Writing a Children's Picture Book: JoAnn Early Macken
Dialogue: Letting Your Characters Tell the Story: Ann Wertz Garvin
Making Room for Writing in Your Life: Mary-Jeane Smoller-Phillips
