Meeting reminder: April 21

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 21, in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library. As always, meetings are free and open to anyone 17 and older.

Registration for the Lakefly Writers Conference ends soon! The keynote speaker is Lori Rader Day. Over 20 workshops to choose from, plus lunch on Saturday, all for only $75. For more information or to register, please visit https://www.lakeflywriters.org

2018 Lakefly Writers Conference: Focus on Genres

If you’re interested in writing for children, be sure to catch Dionne Kelm’s presentation, Children's Books: From Start to Finish. Kelm will share examples from her own work as she discusses the process of writing and publishing a children's book. Topics will include flushing out an idea, creating a mission statement, writing the book, branding your concept, finding a publisher, and marketing your work. 


Everyone has a story, but not everyone can tackle the daunting task of writing a memoir. Are you ready to turn your memories into stories that could possibly help someone else? In Friday’s session Turning Memories into Memoir, Christy Wopat, will talk you through the process of how she turned her grief into narrative non-fiction, taking careful consideration of how her “truth” could affect the people in her life. You’ll learn practical steps to get you on your way to turn your memories into memoir.

Valerie Biel

For fantasy writers, Valerie Biel will present From Stone Circles to Fantasy Fiction: How Archaeology & History Inspire Modern Storytelling. Explore how ancient monuments and the remnants of early civilizations and their history help create intriguing fictional worlds. Biel will guide you through the importance of research into current titles, the historical record, and folk lore & mythology, and discuss how to identify the gaps which make room for fictionalization.

The best stories minister to the writer before the reader even sees them. Carmen Leal, author of eight devotional books, and dozens of inspirational articles, will show you how to Use Your Story To Inspire and Challenge. You'll leave this workshop with a new perspective and fresh energy to write articles and devotions that will inspire and challenge hearts.

If history is your thing, check out Jim Brakken’s workshop, Writing Realistic Historical Fiction. Not all fiction that takes place in the past is historical fiction, but if you’re writing historical fiction, getting basic facts correct is crucial. Brakken will recommend resources for research, talk about using characters’ daily life, attitudes and dialogue to explore the time period, and how to not let history get in the way of our story.

The Lakefly Writers Conference will be held May 11-12 at the Oshkosh Convention Center. Cost is $75 and includes lunch on Saturday. For more information or to register, please visit https://www.lakeflywriters.org/

The event is sponsored by the Oshkosh Public Library in partnership with the Oshkosh Area Writers Club.

2018 Lakefly Writers Conference: Focus on Editing and Publishing

The 2018 Lakefly Writers Conference is offering the following sessions on editing and publishing:

Creating is so often a solitary endeavor that writers may lack the feedback needed to improve their craft. One great solution is to join or create a critique group, but how exactly do you do that, and what should you expect? Join Silvia Acevedo, author of the God Awful series of books and 10-year crit-group whiz, in How to Start (or Join) a Critique Group and Make the Most of Criticism. She will walk us through connecting with other creators, establishing submission guidelines, best practices for insightful critiques, and following through with your new friends.

In Eight Tips to Getting Published, retired teachers Larry and Ann Scheckel will share their experience in maneuvering through the pitfalls and rewards of the book publishing landscape. Having published six books in eight years, they will highlight mistakes made and triumphs achieved as well as pass along eight insightful tips to those who wish to experience the thrill of seeing their name on a book cover and their book on a shelf.

Barry Wightman will lead Ask not what you can do for an Editor ‐ ask what an editor can do for you (and your story). This session gets right to the heart of the matter. What makes a piece of writing publishable and market ready? A fast- paced session sparked with real‐ world examples, the session covers what an editor does: a good editor serves your story.

Phillip Martin

 Philip Martin, director of Great Lakes Literary, will help writers create The Perfect Pitch. You’ve got the attention of an editor/agent for only 5-to-7 minutes. How can you present your book or proposal in an engaging, concise manner that will hopefully land you a book contract? Martin will share his expertise as an editor and publishing consultant to help you craft that perfect pitch. Be sure to sign up for free pitch sessions on Saturday!



The Lakefly Writers Conference will be held May 11-12 at the Oshkosh Convention Center. Cost is $75 and includes lunch on Saturday. For more information or to register, please visit https://www.lakeflywriters.org/ 

The event is sponsored by the Oshkosh Public Library in partnership with the Oshkosh Area Writers Club.

2018 Lakefly Writers Conference: Focus on Mystery/Murder

The 2018 Lakefly Writers Conference has some great offerings for mystery/murder writers:



On Friday, May 11, Coroner Corner will feature Winnebago County Coroner Barry Busby and Deputy Conorer Cheryl Brehmer. Busby and Brehmer will talk about body identification, notification of family, and working with the police and the district attorney. Audience questions are welcomed. Please note, the content of this program may include graphic language so this workshop might not be appropriate for everyone.


Mystery writer Lori Rader-Day will kick off Saturday morning with the keynote. Rader-Day is the author of the Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning novel Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour, winner of the Anthony Award for Best First Novel. Her third novel, The Day I Died, was an Indie Next Pick and is a finalist for the Chicago Writers Association’s Book of the Year. Rader-Day's short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Good Housekeeping, and others. Her next novel, Under a Dark Sky, will be published by Harper Collins in August. Find her at loriraderday.com.

Get a behind-the-scenes view of criminal cases from the defensive side of the courtroom with Writing Defense. This panel discussion will feature private defense attorneys Jerome Buting, Kathleen Stilling and Ryan Ulrich, who will answer your questions related to jury selection, defense strategy, preparing a witness for trial and whatever else you want to know to make your legal thriller come to life!

Back by popular demand, Det. Jeremy Wilson will round out the crime/murder workshops. Wilson is currently assigned to the Investigative Services Bureau of the Oshkosh Police Department, where he works as a Detective. Since joining the Oshkosh Police Department, Jeremy has served as a patrol officer, field training officer, worked undercover and as a forensic phone analyst. Det. Wilson has previously spoken at the conference about blood splatter, crime scene collection and digital forensics – we can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this year!

Lastly, Laura Jean Baker will talk about her collaboration with her lawyer-husband Ryan Ulrich that lead to her memoir, Motherhood Affidavits, and how she interwove her husband's real-life cases into stories of her own.

The Lakefly Writers Conference will be held May 11-12, 2018, at the Oshkosh Convention Center. Cost is $75 and includes lunch on Saturday. For more information or to register, please go to https://www.lakeflywriters.org/

The event is sponsored by the Oshkosh Public Library in partnership with the Oshkosh Area Writers Club.

Wisconsin Spring Writing Contests

There are several writing contests this spring for Wisconsin residents. Enter one today!

The deadline for the Lakefly Writing Contests is March 30. Must be a Wisconsin resident or attending the Lakefly Writers Conference, May 11-12, Oshkosh. Four categories, including one contest just for teens. No entry fee; cash prizes. Submission rules at: https://www.lakeflywriters.org/contests

Lake Superior Writers are accepting submissions for their 2018 writing contests. Deadline is April 1. Four categories; the theme is “rescue. For submission rules, visit https://lakesuperiorwriters.org

The Peninsula Pulse and partners are accepting literary and photograph submissions for the Hal Prize. Deadline is May 1. Visit http://thehalprize.com for details.

The Jade Ring Contest is open for contest entries until May 10th. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Writers Association in collaboration with Creative Wisconsin. Four categories. Entry fee WWA members: $15.00; non-members: $20.00. For submission guidelines, visit https://wiwrite.org/contests/

Meeting reminder - March 17

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 17, in the lower level meeting room of the Oshkosh Public Library.

As always, meetings are free and open to anyone 17 and older. 

Also, a reminder that the Lakefly Writing Contest deadline is March 30. No entry fee; cash prizes. Details here > https://www.lakeflywriters.org/contests

Meeting Reminder - March 3

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 3, in the lower level meeting room of the Oshkosh Public Library.

As always, meetings are free and open to anyone 17 and older. 

2018 Lakefly Writing Contests

There is still time to enter the 2018 Lakefly Writing Contests! Categories for adults are flash fiction, short story and poetry. New this is year a short story contest just for teens.

No entry fee; cash prizes. Sorry, Wisconsin residents only! 

For submission rules, visit www.lakeflywriters.org/contests

Meeting Reminder - Feb. 3

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in the lower level conference room at the Oshkosh Public Library. As always, meetings are free and open to the public!

Meeting reminder - Jan. 20

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library. 

As always, meetings are free and open to the public.

Horror Writers Association - Wisconsin chapter

Do you write horror or dark fiction? Wisconsin writer Dave Rank is interested in forming a Wisconsin Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. He needs a minimum of five members willing to be a paying member of the HWA. If you are interested, please email Dave at davejrank @ ameritech.net (remove the spaces around the @ symbol in the email address). 

Lakefly Writing Contests

The Lakefly Writers Conference is accepting submissions for their annual writing contests. 

The categories are: flash fiction, short story, and poetry. Also, new this year, is a short contest for those 18 years old and younger.

No entry fee and cash prizes! Complete contest rules and submission guidelines are at https://www.lakeflywriters.org/contests.

Meeting reminder - Jan. 6

Just a reminder that the Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 6 in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library. For those who attended the white elephant gift exchange, we look forward to your writing about the gift you received!

Meeting reminder - Dec. 16 Holiday Party

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16 in the lower level conference room at the Oshkosh Public Library. This is our annual holiday party so we won't be doing writing critiques. 

Please bring a wrapped White Elephant gift (something in new/good condition that you already own but never use). The White Elephant gift will be used as a writing prompt for the receiver, if that helps you decide what to bring.

Donuts will be provided but others are welcome to bring a snack to share are well. We'll also like to taking a group photo on the second floor where there are Christmas trees for a back-drop.

Meeting reminder - Dec. 2

Yikes! My email contact list has disappeared. This would have been my email, had I been able to send it:

Just a reminder that the Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library.

Our annual holiday party will be held at the following meeting, Dec. 16. Please bring a wrapped gift (something you already own but never use) for our white elephant gift exchange. The person who receives your gift will use it as the basis of a writing prompt, if that helps you decide what to bring.

Lastly, the Thank Goodness NaNoWriMo is Over party will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30 in the First Floor Reading Room of the Oshkosh Public Library. Finished or not, enjoy some snacks and share your stories.

Congrats Joyce!

Club member Joyce Frohn has been busy! She recently had several pieces published in Page and Spine, including the nonfiction articles  “You Have a Press Pass, Now What,” “How I Fight the Imposter Syndrome,” and “Headliner Writers Headline.”

She also published “Orange Table in the Corner” in Spaceport and Spidersilk, and a short story, “A Most Moral War” in the anthology Love ‘em, Shoot ‘em.

Night of Writing Dangerously - Nov. 18

As part of our NaNoWriMo events, The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will host The Night of Writing Dangerously, Saturday, Nov. 18, from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Oshkosh Public Library. 

The library will be closed to the public but someone will meet you at the door. Refreshments will be provided. 

An excellent opportunity to catch up on your word count and commiserate with other writers!

Meeting reminder - Nov. 18

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library. The downtown businesses will be hosting a Grinchmas event so you may want to leave early to allow time for traffic, parking.

Congrats to Louis!

Thrilled to announce member Louis Clark has won the 2017 Midwest Booksellers Association Prize for Poetry, for his book, "How to be an Indian in the 21st Century," published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. 

Upcoming events

The Oshkosh Area Writers Club will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library.

For those participating in the long-form fiction writing group, the next meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, Nov.  6, in the lower level conference room of the Oshkosh Public Library.

Lastly, for those brave enough to take on National Novel Writing Month, we have an event at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 in the first floor Reading Room of the Oshkosh Public Library.

All events are free and open to the public.