The Rockford Writers' Guild:
A national organization, and
publisher of The Rockford Review
Who can join? Membership is open to published and unpublished writers, patrons of the arts, lovers of literature, bookworms, other assorted bibliophiles, quaint lexicographers, and compulsive readers of labels and cereal boxes. Members of all literary tastes are welcome, whether your palate prefers science fiction, poetry, satire, drama, history, or mystery.
Calendar of Meetings and Events
Sep. 20, 2009 Sept. 20, 2009 Charlotte Hackin, "Stay Young To 100". Charlotte is in her
90's and her writings give steps for a healthy mind, healthy body and healthy spirit so you
can live the very best life for the rest of your days. 6685 East State St at 6685 East
State St at 1 PM.
Oct. 18,2009 Diane J. Clikeman-Miller, Multi-faceted writer - award winning poet - once
described as a phenomenon of Winnebago County History, having written and compiled several
local history books - a newspaper columnist since 1996, her weekly column, "Patches of
Life" touches on all aspects of life as Diane sees it. She has self-published 34 books on
poetry, history, compilations of her columns, and life as mother of eight and life in
general. Diane was honored to be included in the "Confluence" book of the 100 authors of
the past century that was put out by the Rockford Public Library and Rockford Literary
Council. Diane has spoken to hundreds of churches and organizations over the years. A
writer with no degree in journalism, she offers advice and encouragement to those who are
wondering how to make their words matter in today's literary world.This event will be held
at the East Branch of the Rockford Library at 6685 East State St at 1 PM.
Nov. 15, 2009 Tim Magner author and creator of Green Sugar Press. His passion is
introducing enviromental science to elementary school readers. He has written "Earl The
Earthworm Digs For His Life", "An Environmental Guide from A to Z" and "N is for Nature!"
This event will be held at the East Branch of the Rockford Library at 6685 East State
Street at 1 PM.
Dec 20, 2009 Dec. 20, 2009 HOLIDAY PARTY AND READINGS
Mar. 21, 2010 Kevin Hughes. Kevin lives in Madison, Wi and is a detective with the Dane
County Sheriffs Office. His stories are loosely based on his experiences and laced with a
strong dose of imagination. In 2008 Kevin published the first of a series about a cop
named Tony Jenkins. Titles include "Casualty Crossing", "Dogging Truth" and "Archer" to be
released to be released in 2010. His first novel was "Just Another Shade of Blue" released
in 2000 under the pen name Charles Porter. This event will be held at the East Branch of
the Rockford Library at 6685 East State St at 1 PM.
April 18, 2010 David Stocker. For the past ten years David has been teaching music,
touring and performing with the ensemble "One Drum". Musical travels have taken him to
Egypt, the West Bank in Palestine, Guatemala and Haiti. He is director/founder of the
Summer Jam and Jazz Camp in Rockford that has mentored more than 100 young area musicians.
David will speak to us from the song writer standpoint. This event will be held at the East
Branch of the Rockford Library at 6685 East State St at 1 PM.
May 16, 2010 Author Rob Dancey and illustrator Mike Olson have produced the children's
book "When The Wild West Came to Town". It is the story of Dancey's great-grandfather,
Oscar Dancey, who at age 14 hooked up with a wild west show and traveled with them for a
time. The author-illustrator compatibility continues to flourish and evolve with ideas for
publishing a series of children's books based on obscure pieces of IL based history. They
"want to have kids excited about history and reading". This event will be held at the East
Branch of the Rockford Library at 6685 East State St at 1 PM.
June 20, 2010. TBA.
July 18, 2010 GALA.
Aug. 15, 2010 No meeting
Activities, Past and Present
Where to Buy The Rockford Review
Write Away Newsletter
The Rockford Review
2009 Ides of March Contest
Publish Your Chapbook
Chapbooks by Members New Listings!
RWG News Briefs
Good news from Wilda Morris, who won third place for Religious Poetry in the 2009 contest
held by Poets and Patrons of Chicago, and honorable mention for her Formal Verse (a sonnet)
and her poem of Social Conscience, and will have a poem in the Fall 2009 issue of A
Prairie Journal and 3 poems in the upcoming issue of Frostwriting.
POETRY WORKSHOPS AT THE ROCKTON CENTRE BRANCH, ROCKFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY
Co-sponsored by the library and Rockford Writers' Guild
No charge. 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 5: Organizing Poetry for Publication - led by Wilda Morris. This
workshop will deal with how to organize your poetry to track submissions to contests,
journals and anthologies and find and keep track of relevant markets, and/or with decisions
regarding publishing in book form (depending on the interests of those participating in the
workshop).
The library is located at 3112 N Rockton Ave, Rockford, IL 61101-1061.
ALSO FROM WILDA MORRIS:Poetry Challenge for November has been posted on my blog at
wildamorris.blogspot.com
Roxe Anne Peacock is working on a Civil War blog and we also are still working with her
agent on our Civil War cookbook. Here is the blog site: civilwarcooking.blogspot.com
FROM EUNICE FISHER:
The RWG members who remember me might like to know that I'm one of the authors who will be
reading on Saturday, September 12, at the third annual all-day authors' event at
Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. The event, celebrating local authors, is called
Deep Carnivale; it is sponsored by a local organization called the Artists and Writers
Group. In addition, I will have a Vendor's table, where I will have my book for sale
("Christian AND Lesbian: A Life in Progress," published by RWG Press), and where I will
also be providing information about the Pet Portraits I draw (see www.pet-drawings.com).
Thanksgiving to Christmas: A Patchwork of Stories, a new holiday anthology featuring five
RWG members, can be purchased at a 25% discount from Editor and RWG member, Dixon Hearne. Discount price, $8.96/ea. plus shipping cost. Shipping cost determined by number of copies
in an order. Available for shipping now. Please direct orders and questions to Dixon Hearne
at dixonh@socal.rr.com. Members will soon be able to find a Paypal order link on Dixon's
website - www.dixonhearne.com
Webmaster's Message: How Novel is Twitter?
Way back in May, I set out to write a Twitter novel.
That’s right – an entire novel comprised 140 character updates or “tweets.”
The results were mixed. On one hand, I liked the 140 character limit. One of the most
common criticisms writers face is what to write and what to leave out. The 144 character
limit forces you to ask the dreaded question – what do I really need to say here, no
matter how good the sentence already sounds.
On the other hand, while Twitter is a good place to write a novel, it’s not a good
place to read one. New “followers” would have to cycle back pages upon pages just to
read my first chapter, and then have to read through literally hundreds of tweets just to
get caught up. Eventually I started an e-mail newsletter with prose chapters to make for easier reading.
I also added an archive so people could easily follow from the start.
As for Twitter itself, my feelings are equally ambiguous. On one hand, it’s a great way to
keep up with your favorite writers. Neil Gaiman. Joe Hill. Jill Thompson. Jon Favreau.
These are just a few of the writers and directors who post Tweets on Twitter. There’s also
a lot of great bloggers posting excellent tips for writers on Twitter, like Hope Clark,
Bookgal and WritingSpirit to name a few.
But for all this worth, I’ve never actually spoken to anyone through Twitter. The closest I
came was a spammer who was trying to sell me followers (yes, you can actually buy
followers.) And speaking of spam, there’s plenty of it – usually of the explicit kind.
Every time I’m notified of a new follower, I have to check to see if it’s a new reader or
(sigh) someone posting links to yet another dirty YouTube video. So far, for a social
network, Twitter is failing the social part in my book.
Obviously, my experience will be different since I’m using Twitter to pen a novel, not
connect with people. But thus far there are plenty of pros and cons either way. Writers
leery of Twitter’s poppy staying power should at least give a glance to the many resources
Twitter offers to bestsellers and aspiring authors alike. But writers should also think
twice before building their whole platform around Twitter’s vapid collection of 140 letters
and spaces – for what is here today can easily be gone tomorrow.
Contact Information
The Rockford Writers' Guild
P.O. Box 858
Rockford, IL 61105
President, Treasurer - David Ross.
Vice President, Programs Coordinator -Pat Bryan.
Vice President, Special Events - Mary Lamphere
Publicity Director, Secretary - Kelly Epperson
Membership Director - Mary Lou Yankaitis
Webmaster - Richard Pulfer
Write Away Editor - Beka Kojetin
The Rockford Review Editor - Rosangela Taylor
Would you like your book to be reviewed by The Rockford Review?
You can submit your recently released book for review consideration. The review of your
book may be published in The Rockford Review, Summer/Fall Edition or Winter/Spring Edition
if you are a member of the RWG. If you are not a member, submissions are accepted only for
the Winter/Spring Editions.
Please, contact the editor for The Rockford Review for more details.
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