The district members met at South Park in Lawrence on Friday, July 24th, from 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
District two members of Kansas Authors Club enjoyed seeing each other, critiquing each other’s read around items, and socializing. Those present were Joann Williams, Mark Scheel, Perry Shepard, Cheryl Heidi, Lee Goldstein, Mike Hartnett, and Diane Palka. The district members met at South Park in Lawrence on Friday, July 24th, from 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. D2 Meeting, Saturday, August 11th from noon to three p.m., at The Oriental Bistro, 1511 W. 23rd., Lawrence, KS.
ReadAround: bring your best writing, your fun stuff, your sulky, silky, silly, and profound! We’ll eat, share readings, discuss the upcoming day retreat in September at Cheryl Heide’s lovely country setting, and sign up for the State Convention that is in Salina October 5th, 6th, and 7th. https://kansasauthorsclub.weebly.com/2018-kac-convention.html Our next meeting will be Saturday, May 12, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. in one of the lower-level meeting rooms at the Lawrence Public Library (Vermont St., between 7th and 8th streets.)
I will do a short presentation on “Endings”; how do you want the reader to feel after reading the first chapter of your book? The last chapter? A poem or short story? I will distribute some papers with the bottom portion folder over. You’ll read each piece with the apparent ending. Then you’ll unfold the paper and read the last sentence that changes the mood of the piece. If you have any “endings” that you think work well, please share them during the read-around afterwards. Some news: Nominations for the 2018 KAC Awards of Merit are now open. You will find information about the awards on pp. 47-48 in the 2018 Yearbook. The three awards are Award of Service, Achievement, and Special Accomplishment. The deadline for nominations is July 1, 2018. You may tear the page from your yearbook and send it. Best wishes to Andy who will not be joining us anymore because he has taken a job in South Dakota. Congrats to District 2 Members who were published in the 2018 Yearbook: Maryann Barry, Edna Bell-Pearson, Cathy Callen, Brian Daldorph, Wendy Devilbiss, Jean Grant, Michael Graves, Monica Graves, Hazel Hart, Tom Mach, Debra Irsik, Vicki Julian, Carol Katsantoness, Betty Laird, Norm Ledgin, Ronda Miller, Peg Nichols, Marilyn Page, Kevin Rabas, Mark Scheel, Tyler Robert Sheldon, Perry Shepherd, and Tracy Million Simmons. (Note: District 2 had more members published in the yearbook than any other District!) I hope you all come to the meeting and read aloud what was published in the Yearbook. More congrats to District 2 members, Brian Daldorph and Ronda Miller, who read some of their work at the recent 2018 Poetry Fair at The Lawrence Art Center. You were excellent! I leave you with this quote from the famous sports writer, Red Smith: “Writing is the easiest thing in the world. Just sit down in front of a typewriter and open a vein.” D2 President Mike Hartnett Dear D2 Members,
Our April meeting will be Saturday, April 14, at The Oriental Bistro (1511 W. 23rd St., Lawrence). Those who want to eat lunch will meet at noon. The meeting will start about 12:45. The featured speakers will be John and Shannon Musgrave. John is a VietNam veteran who was seriously wounded in the war. If you watched any of Ken Burns’ documentary, VietNam, you’ll recognize John; he appeared in the series more often than anyone else. He is a wonderful poet, the author of Notes to the Man Who Shot Me: Vietnam War Poems. (His editor for the book was a D2 member, Brian Daldorph, who teaches writing classes at KU.) Shannon is also an accomplished poet; I’ve never known a husband and wife who were both poets. If you’ve written anything recently that you’d like to share, please bring it for a read-around. Kudos to Brian Daldorph for reading powerful excerpts from his new book, Ice Age, at a very crowded Raven Bookstore recently, and to our VP, Perry Shephard, who organized an excellent presentation of members’ poetry combined with paintings inspired by the individual poems at Aimee’s Coffee Show last Friday. Hope to see you all on the 14th! Mike Hartnett P.S. Have any ideas/suggestions for topics/speakers for future meetings? Email me at [email protected]. District 2 Kansas Authors Club Meeting
March 10, 2018 Lawrence Public Library Members Present: Andrew Mitchell, Vicki Julian, Joann Williams, Lee Goldstein, Mike Hartnett, Perry Shepard, Lynn Burlingham, Diane Palka, Maryann Berry, Cheryl Heide Presentations The featured presenter at the March meeting, via Skype, was Lois Winston. Lois has published a number of novels, including romantic/comedy and mystery/comedy novels. She has a degree in graphic design and illustration and had a successful career as a needlework designer when she switched to writing. Her writing began with a recurring dream which she ultimately wrote down and which became her second book. Ten years after she started writing she began publishing her work. She now does self publishing. When she writes, she never plans out a book. She has an idea, how it will start and how it will end. Her characters tell her what to write. She has a highly successful series featuring the character Anastasia Pollack. To promote books she recommends setting up a blog, making guest appearances, attending conferences and presenting at libraries. Exercise Mike asked members to complete the sentence “I write because....” and share with other members. Business Meeting Approval of the Minutes: Treasurer's Report: Old Business: *Painted Words. Perry provided information about the collaborative exhibit that will take place on March 30th, from 6:00 until 8:00 at Aimee's Coffee House in Lawrence. This is a collaboration between KAC and the South Mass Art Guild. 15 artists have interpreted the work of 12 poets. New Business: *Future meeting ideas. With the availability of Skype at the library, there are many opportunities to feature other presenters. Mike asked for suggestions of other topics or authors that members would like to learn more about. *Kansas Authors Club State Contest. Rules and guidelines are available for the contest. Announcements:
Reaona Hemmingway is the coordinator for the KAC Yearbook. Any questions should be directed to her. The meeting was adjourned. Next Meeting: The April KAC District 2 meeting will take place at the Oriental Bistro. The speaker will be John Rustgrave, a veteran of the Vietnam war who was featured in the Ken Burns series on Vietnam. Brian Daldorph read several poignant poems from his upcoming book Ice Age, about his father's Alzheimers, at our D2 meeting in Lawrence, Saturday, September 16th. He also spoke at length about his experiences in taking poetry to inmates the past 17 years. Brian's intuitive intellect and love of humanity is a gift to all who are within its presence. Please enjoy this previously written article about Brian, his interests, how he became involved with poetry in prisons, and his numerous other activities. https://www.jocolibrary.org/we-recommend/read-local/meet-author-brian-j-daldorph D2 Meeting: Saturday, June 3rd, 1:30 to 4 p.m. Reminder! We have a D2 meeting this Saturday, June 3rd. Also, three D2 members are reading at The Raven this Thursday evening: Mike Graves, Cathy Callen and Jean Grant. The reading is from 7 to 8 p.m., and proves to be a fantastic one! District Members, We have an exciting meeting in June. I look forward to seeing you Saturday. Please read the following carefully to maximize what Dr. Richards will be instructing. It may be time to invest in a laptop! D2 Meeting: Saturday, June 3rd, 1:30 to 4 p.m., Central Library, 9875 W 87th St., Overland Park, Ks. This meeting with be held in the Logan Room. Dr. Nancy Richard presents: Writing Habits, Scrivener Software, and Learning Your Writing Strengths Writing is a process that has both skill and art combined into the result. Each writer has unique talents and often unique methods that they employ. Scrivener is software designed to help the writer write. It is extremely flexible. The June KAC meeting will employ a presentation of Scrivener – the binder, editor, and inspector and ways to organize research material. At the same time we use small group interactive writing challenges - so writers appreciate their writing habits and determine their creative strengths. Attendees with a laptop are encouraged to download a trial copy of Scrivener beforehand. There is not time at the meeting itself. This program is open to the public and you are invited to bring friends who may be interested. BIO: Dr. Nancy Richard has an academic background in higher education and the field of cognitive learning. While living many years overseas, she worked in business consulting, human development programs, grant and research writing, and finally as a community college professor in Kansas. Novel writing since retirement, she likes to share with other writers the productivity gains she has made with Scrivener software. BIO: Dr. Nancy Richard has an academic background in higher education and the field of cognitive learning. While living many years overseas, she worked in business consulting, human development programs, grant and research writing, and finally as a community college professor in Kansas. Novel writing since retirement, she likes to share with other writers the productivity gains she has made with Scrivener software. |
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