Basic Schedule for All Meetings (not including our Christmas fellowship in December)...
- Location... Community Room on basement level LL2 (near the cafeteria) at Norton Audubon Hospital. The building is located just off of Poplar Level Road in Louisville, Kentucky. (For directions, click the Google Maps link on the home page or type "1 Audubon Plaza, Louisville, KY 40217" into your GPS or map program.)
- Day/Date... Saturday, (Whatever date the 2nd Saturday of the month falls on.)
- Doors Open... 5:00 PM
- Meeting Time... 5:15 to 7:00 PM We usually will have our speaker in front of you by 5:30-5:45 PM, or we will try to get started with our exercises or other presentations by then. We like to make sure there is ample time to have Q & A with speakers or to read our exercise results at the end of the meeting. We have the room until 9 PM each month, so we are able to gather for prayer and fellowship with those who choose to stay later.
- Critique Time... 7:30-8:30 PM Following the main meeting, Louisville Christian Writers offers a valuable service to those who wish to stay over and fellowship. That service is our critique gathering. Critiques are the backbone of a good writing fellowship, especially a Christian writing fellowship where "iron sharpens iron" in love and mercy.
We invite you to bring 4 to 5 copies of up to 4 pages (typewritten, double-spaced, and spell-checked) of your manuscript, article, story, or poem. We will divide those in attendance into small critique groups who will read over, and comment on, your submission. Our goal is to help you make your writing easy to understand by readers and, of course, ready for publication if you are seeking such.
Note (IMPORTANT): We are Christians first and then writers, so we try to keep good Christian attitudes while engaging in our critique gatherings. This includes offering critiques that include praise as well as suggestions, and it means our suggestions should be given with kindness. We strive to remember that honesty without compassion is equal to cruelty.
2020 Meetings--Most Recent First
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!
Archives for 2020 begin after our January meeting.
Archives for 2020 begin after our January meeting.
Saturday, February 8th, 2020
"Writer's Exercise with Mary Varga"
For our February meeting, Mary Varga will teach us about memoir writing. She will share her experiences from concept to editing to finishing her book. She says she's planning to teach about writing for God and writing to God. Now that I've read all the way through her book, I can tell you that her concept of writing her story as a devotional worked well for her story. Find the new copy of her book with an additional chapter at this (affiliate) link: https://amzn.to/2H0Bvic (Note: I use affiliate codes to create short links. Though I've made nothing from sales, I'm required to inform people that the link has my info embedded.)
But Mary's not stopping there. This month, we also get a hands-on writer's exercise from her, and I mean that literally. Make sure to dress in comfortable, bendable clothing because Mary will teach us some chair exercises like she teaches to many groups around Louisville. I also suggest dressing in layers since Saturday night will be in the low 20s.
As for other topics, first, we are keeping membership free for one more year.
Next, this coming April is a special event from the Site and Sound Theater. Normally, you must see their productions in person, but they have filmed the story of Jesus to make it a movie, and it will release in April. I can tell you from my experience seeing the live nativity story in Branson that this is worth your time and money to attend. Even if you do not go with LCW, I encourage you to go on either April 7th, 9th, or 11th. Here's a link to the official trailer on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrbpv7LRknE And here is there Fathom Events page for complete info: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/sight-and-sound-jesus
Our highest attending member for 2019 was Mishael Austin Witty. Since we're keeping membership free, we will owe her one year, and we will present her with a gift card.
Finally, the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference (aka KCWC) is already shaping up to be a wonderful conference. Write the Vision with Bob Hostetler will be held at Elizabethtown Community College from June 18th through the 20th, 2020. Best of all, early bird registration is now open. You'll save $50 off the full conference price if you register before March 1st. See https://kychristianwriters.com/register for more information on both registration and scholarships. If you have a teen writer in your life, we will offer the teen track again this year, too. You can use your savings from registering early to pay for your teen since the cost is only $50. :-) And, if you have not yet done so, sign up for the KCWC monthly newsletter and follow the page on Facebook. The most activity is in the group, so request to join and answer the question about attendance that you have either been to a conference or would like to attend one. The group is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/KCWC.Community
"Writer's Exercise with Mary Varga"
For our February meeting, Mary Varga will teach us about memoir writing. She will share her experiences from concept to editing to finishing her book. She says she's planning to teach about writing for God and writing to God. Now that I've read all the way through her book, I can tell you that her concept of writing her story as a devotional worked well for her story. Find the new copy of her book with an additional chapter at this (affiliate) link: https://amzn.to/2H0Bvic (Note: I use affiliate codes to create short links. Though I've made nothing from sales, I'm required to inform people that the link has my info embedded.)
But Mary's not stopping there. This month, we also get a hands-on writer's exercise from her, and I mean that literally. Make sure to dress in comfortable, bendable clothing because Mary will teach us some chair exercises like she teaches to many groups around Louisville. I also suggest dressing in layers since Saturday night will be in the low 20s.
As for other topics, first, we are keeping membership free for one more year.
Next, this coming April is a special event from the Site and Sound Theater. Normally, you must see their productions in person, but they have filmed the story of Jesus to make it a movie, and it will release in April. I can tell you from my experience seeing the live nativity story in Branson that this is worth your time and money to attend. Even if you do not go with LCW, I encourage you to go on either April 7th, 9th, or 11th. Here's a link to the official trailer on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrbpv7LRknE And here is there Fathom Events page for complete info: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/sight-and-sound-jesus
Our highest attending member for 2019 was Mishael Austin Witty. Since we're keeping membership free, we will owe her one year, and we will present her with a gift card.
Finally, the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference (aka KCWC) is already shaping up to be a wonderful conference. Write the Vision with Bob Hostetler will be held at Elizabethtown Community College from June 18th through the 20th, 2020. Best of all, early bird registration is now open. You'll save $50 off the full conference price if you register before March 1st. See https://kychristianwriters.com/register for more information on both registration and scholarships. If you have a teen writer in your life, we will offer the teen track again this year, too. You can use your savings from registering early to pay for your teen since the cost is only $50. :-) And, if you have not yet done so, sign up for the KCWC monthly newsletter and follow the page on Facebook. The most activity is in the group, so request to join and answer the question about attendance that you have either been to a conference or would like to attend one. The group is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/KCWC.Community
Saturday, January 11th, 2019
"2020 Planning Meeting"
Happy New Year, Everyone!
It's that all important time of year where you get to come tell us what you want to see at this year's meetings, on the website, in our Facebook group, on our Facebook page, etc. Maybe you want to see yourself teaching us something this year, and if that's so, please come prepared to tell us what you have to present.
For this meeting, I would like all to prepare to stay for critiques to write your vision/goal sheets. I have uploaded them here (see the links below) in both white and color (so you can print them on your own choice of paper if you like). If you print them, be sure to do both sides, so you'll have your checkup sheet. I will have a few printed copies with me at January's meeting.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great planning session. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or topics you'd like discussed if you will not be able to join us. I'd like everyone represented. Many blessings on your writing and walk with God in 2020!
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Each writer has their own specific ways to find encouragement and keep themselves writing. At LCW, we've had an annual tradition of writing out a goal sheet for the year and then having fellow writers pray with us for our goals.
I've renamed our goal sheets this year to Vision sheets because, well, it's 2020. :-)
Feel free to download and print the sheets for your convenience. I've made them in plain (so you can print them on whatever style of paper you like) and on designed paper. Each is a two-page document, so if you print them as two-sided, you'll have a checkup section for your year. I've also included them in both DocX and PDF, so they'll work for those with Microsoft Office and on most tablets if you want to keep your goal sheet with you.
Now, here are the documents...
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups.docx
Download File
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups--background.docx
Download File
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups.pdf
Download File
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups--background.pdf
Download File
"2020 Planning Meeting"
Happy New Year, Everyone!
It's that all important time of year where you get to come tell us what you want to see at this year's meetings, on the website, in our Facebook group, on our Facebook page, etc. Maybe you want to see yourself teaching us something this year, and if that's so, please come prepared to tell us what you have to present.
For this meeting, I would like all to prepare to stay for critiques to write your vision/goal sheets. I have uploaded them here (see the links below) in both white and color (so you can print them on your own choice of paper if you like). If you print them, be sure to do both sides, so you'll have your checkup sheet. I will have a few printed copies with me at January's meeting.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great planning session. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or topics you'd like discussed if you will not be able to join us. I'd like everyone represented. Many blessings on your writing and walk with God in 2020!
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Each writer has their own specific ways to find encouragement and keep themselves writing. At LCW, we've had an annual tradition of writing out a goal sheet for the year and then having fellow writers pray with us for our goals.
I've renamed our goal sheets this year to Vision sheets because, well, it's 2020. :-)
Feel free to download and print the sheets for your convenience. I've made them in plain (so you can print them on whatever style of paper you like) and on designed paper. Each is a two-page document, so if you print them as two-sided, you'll have a checkup section for your year. I've also included them in both DocX and PDF, so they'll work for those with Microsoft Office and on most tablets if you want to keep your goal sheet with you.
Now, here are the documents...
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups.docx
Download File
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups--background.docx
Download File
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups.pdf
Download File
2020_vision_sheet_with_backside_goal_checkups--background.pdf
Download File
2019 Meetings--Most Recent First
Saturday, December 14th, 2019
"LCW Christmas Dinner & Games "
We ended our year with a fun gathering that included great food, singing, and a nice White Elephant gift exchange. If you join our group and attend meetings this year, you'll be welcomed to participate in our 2020 Christmas gathering.
"LCW Christmas Dinner & Games "
We ended our year with a fun gathering that included great food, singing, and a nice White Elephant gift exchange. If you join our group and attend meetings this year, you'll be welcomed to participate in our 2020 Christmas gathering.
Saturday, November 9th, 2019
"LCW Carols of Christmas "
The time has come to read your stories. By stories, I mean your personal versions of the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. If you never took the time to fully write out your version, we would at least like to hear your idea or your outline just to celebrate the wonderful creativity within our group. The info I shared previously concerning this meeting idea can be found in both the June and July 2019 archive section, and then we have a special presentation as part of our critique time.
Back in January when we made plans for the year, we talked about a group writing project. So, here's your reminder of this fun project to be shared at our November meeting: Everyone should know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol, so how will you write your version of the crotchety old man we know as Mr. Scrooge? Will he still be someone addicted to money, or to something else? And who will play the roles of the 4 ghosts (including his old business partner) who show him the true meaning of Christmas?
Your setting will be the foundation for your story, and this is your chance to create with a time and people of your own choosing. This has been done by many others, and the creative stories have spawned some fun movies. If you'd like to see some, look up "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Ms. Scrooge," "It's Christmas, Carol," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "A Carol Christmas," "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," "A Flintstones Christmas Carol," "Bah, Humduck," and so many more.
Now, have fun, get writing (or editing if you've already done this), and be ready to read.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
We've had some great presentations by Harriet over the past few years, and many of us have been included in her Prayer Warrior Confessions devotional book. Click that link (affiliate short link embedded) to find her at Amazon and check all her books. Her older books rotate through the banner of books by LCW authors at the bottom of our page.
Harriet's first new book, released on November 6th, is Glimpses of God; a winter devotional for women. Come to the meeting to hear all about her journey as she and her co-writer (Shirley Crowder) put the book together. Shirley, like Harriet, grew up as a missionary kid.She has become a faithful writing companion and editor for many of Harriet's books. Their current book is only the first in a planned Glimpses of God series.
Next, due to be released later this month or in December, is the book she co-wrote with her husband John R Michael called A Stand for Truth. That book will be a behind-the-scenes look at life during a transitional period at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. It's a tell-all book of truth and grace that needs to be read by all who want to know the effects of what happens when the flesh tries to take the reins from the Holy Spirit.
"LCW Carols of Christmas "
The time has come to read your stories. By stories, I mean your personal versions of the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. If you never took the time to fully write out your version, we would at least like to hear your idea or your outline just to celebrate the wonderful creativity within our group. The info I shared previously concerning this meeting idea can be found in both the June and July 2019 archive section, and then we have a special presentation as part of our critique time.
Back in January when we made plans for the year, we talked about a group writing project. So, here's your reminder of this fun project to be shared at our November meeting: Everyone should know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol, so how will you write your version of the crotchety old man we know as Mr. Scrooge? Will he still be someone addicted to money, or to something else? And who will play the roles of the 4 ghosts (including his old business partner) who show him the true meaning of Christmas?
Your setting will be the foundation for your story, and this is your chance to create with a time and people of your own choosing. This has been done by many others, and the creative stories have spawned some fun movies. If you'd like to see some, look up "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Ms. Scrooge," "It's Christmas, Carol," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "A Carol Christmas," "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," "A Flintstones Christmas Carol," "Bah, Humduck," and so many more.
Now, have fun, get writing (or editing if you've already done this), and be ready to read.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
We've had some great presentations by Harriet over the past few years, and many of us have been included in her Prayer Warrior Confessions devotional book. Click that link (affiliate short link embedded) to find her at Amazon and check all her books. Her older books rotate through the banner of books by LCW authors at the bottom of our page.
Harriet's first new book, released on November 6th, is Glimpses of God; a winter devotional for women. Come to the meeting to hear all about her journey as she and her co-writer (Shirley Crowder) put the book together. Shirley, like Harriet, grew up as a missionary kid.She has become a faithful writing companion and editor for many of Harriet's books. Their current book is only the first in a planned Glimpses of God series.
Next, due to be released later this month or in December, is the book she co-wrote with her husband John R Michael called A Stand for Truth. That book will be a behind-the-scenes look at life during a transitional period at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. It's a tell-all book of truth and grace that needs to be read by all who want to know the effects of what happens when the flesh tries to take the reins from the Holy Spirit.
Saturday, October 12th, 2019
"Cosplay the Writer Way"
For our October meeting, we will deal with character development--in a fun and literal way. In addition to our speaker who will share how she develops her own characters, we invite all attendees to engage in some dress-up fun. Whereas regular cosplay is dressing up as a favorite character from a book, movie, or video game, our version adds a unique twist. If you have written a book or story, you can dress up as one of the characters you have created. Or, if you read a lot from a favorite author, you may dress up as that author. And, if you just cannot think of a specific character you want to dress as, you may choose to dress in any type of costume--such as a costume from your favorite era. You can go all the way back to Bible days if you like. :-)
Our speaker, Lisa Prysock, has done some great presentations at previous meetings, so we anticipate an enjoyable night for everyone. I will now turn the reins over to her and let her share the plans for the meeting in her own words. Look below the meeting schedule for her full bio with website links (including her highly-interactive Facebook page), and for a reminder about our November meeting.
In keeping with the character costume theme for Saturday, October 12th, my topic will be character development, and I will include in my presentation a little on how I develop my own characters. attendees may wear the costume of any FICTIONAL or NON-FICTIONAL, HISTORICAL or CONTEMPORARY, or a book/movie character. Bonus points for accessories/props to go with your costume.
The first thing I'll do is ask each person to summarize in a quick two or three minutes an introduction of their costume and tell us something about their character and why they chose that character. So if it's a character from a particular book they wrote or are writing, there's a brief marketing opportunity for each writer. This is that person's chance to hold up one of their books and show us their beautiful book cover if they happen to own the book representing their character. If you'd like to ask the room to guess your character before you begin your description, we can take a quick moment for that.
I'm planning to bring refreshments...probably a cheese spread or dip and crackers and some grapes. Anyone can sign up to bring a snack to share for this meeting. I'm suggesting finger food theme and sweet tea/bottled waters.
So to summarize:
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Here is Lisa's full bio...
Lisa M. Prysock is an award-winning, bestselling, Christian and inspirational author of 20 novels. She and her husband of more than 20 years reside in Kentucky. They have 5 children, grown.
She writes in the genres of both Historical Christian Romance and Contemporary Christian Romance, including a multi-author Western Christian Romance series, “Whispers in Wyoming.” She is also the author of a devotional. Lisa enjoys sharing her faith in Jesus through her writing.
She has many interests, but a few of these include gardening, cooking, drawing, sewing, crochet, cross stitch, reading, swimming, biking, and walking. She loves dollhouses, cats, horses, butterflies, hats, boots, flip-flops, espadrilles, chocolate, coffee, tea, chocolate, the colors peach and purple, and everything old-fashioned.
She adopted the slogan of “The Old-Fashioned Everything Girl” because of her love for classic, traditional, and old-fashioned everything. When she isn’t writing, she can sometimes be found teaching herself piano and violin, but finds the process “a bit slow and painful.” Lisa enjoys working with the children and youth in her local church creating human videos and plays or programs incorporating her love for inspirational dance. A few of her favorite authors include Jane Austen, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. You’ll find “food, fashion, fun, and faith” in her novels. Sometimes she includes her own illustrations.
She continues the joy and adventure of her writing journey as a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and LCW (Louisville Christian Writers). Lisa’s books are clean and wholesome, inspirational, romantic, and family oriented. She gives a generous portion of the proceeds to missions.
Discover more about this author at www.LisaPrysock.com where you’ll find free recipes, devotionals, author video interviews, book trailers, giveaways, blog posts, and much more, including an invitation to sign up for her free newsletter.
Links to Connect with Lisa:
https://www.facebook.com/LisaMPrysock
https://twitter.com/LPrysock
www.LisaPrysock.com
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00J6MBC64 (Find all of Lisa’s books on Amazon at this link)
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lisa-m-prysock
https://www.facebook.com/groups/500592113747995/ (Lisa’s Facebook reader & friends group)
"Cosplay the Writer Way"
For our October meeting, we will deal with character development--in a fun and literal way. In addition to our speaker who will share how she develops her own characters, we invite all attendees to engage in some dress-up fun. Whereas regular cosplay is dressing up as a favorite character from a book, movie, or video game, our version adds a unique twist. If you have written a book or story, you can dress up as one of the characters you have created. Or, if you read a lot from a favorite author, you may dress up as that author. And, if you just cannot think of a specific character you want to dress as, you may choose to dress in any type of costume--such as a costume from your favorite era. You can go all the way back to Bible days if you like. :-)
Our speaker, Lisa Prysock, has done some great presentations at previous meetings, so we anticipate an enjoyable night for everyone. I will now turn the reins over to her and let her share the plans for the meeting in her own words. Look below the meeting schedule for her full bio with website links (including her highly-interactive Facebook page), and for a reminder about our November meeting.
In keeping with the character costume theme for Saturday, October 12th, my topic will be character development, and I will include in my presentation a little on how I develop my own characters. attendees may wear the costume of any FICTIONAL or NON-FICTIONAL, HISTORICAL or CONTEMPORARY, or a book/movie character. Bonus points for accessories/props to go with your costume.
The first thing I'll do is ask each person to summarize in a quick two or three minutes an introduction of their costume and tell us something about their character and why they chose that character. So if it's a character from a particular book they wrote or are writing, there's a brief marketing opportunity for each writer. This is that person's chance to hold up one of their books and show us their beautiful book cover if they happen to own the book representing their character. If you'd like to ask the room to guess your character before you begin your description, we can take a quick moment for that.
I'm planning to bring refreshments...probably a cheese spread or dip and crackers and some grapes. Anyone can sign up to bring a snack to share for this meeting. I'm suggesting finger food theme and sweet tea/bottled waters.
So to summarize:
- Attendees may wear a fictional/non-fictional contemporary/historical costume. Bonus points for props/accessories.
- Attendees may bring a snack. I'm bringing a dip with crackers and grapes. Can some folks bring sweet tea/unsweetened tea/water?
- I'll bring a Powerpoint presentation on character development with handouts and some secret ballots.
- We'll have some name tags.
- The winner with the most votes for their costume will win a new release paperback from me. I'll be happy to sign it for them.
- Attendees may bring a copy of the book their character is from and will each have a few minutes to share about their costume, their character and why they chose that character, and the cover of the book their character is from.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Here is Lisa's full bio...
Lisa M. Prysock is an award-winning, bestselling, Christian and inspirational author of 20 novels. She and her husband of more than 20 years reside in Kentucky. They have 5 children, grown.
She writes in the genres of both Historical Christian Romance and Contemporary Christian Romance, including a multi-author Western Christian Romance series, “Whispers in Wyoming.” She is also the author of a devotional. Lisa enjoys sharing her faith in Jesus through her writing.
She has many interests, but a few of these include gardening, cooking, drawing, sewing, crochet, cross stitch, reading, swimming, biking, and walking. She loves dollhouses, cats, horses, butterflies, hats, boots, flip-flops, espadrilles, chocolate, coffee, tea, chocolate, the colors peach and purple, and everything old-fashioned.
She adopted the slogan of “The Old-Fashioned Everything Girl” because of her love for classic, traditional, and old-fashioned everything. When she isn’t writing, she can sometimes be found teaching herself piano and violin, but finds the process “a bit slow and painful.” Lisa enjoys working with the children and youth in her local church creating human videos and plays or programs incorporating her love for inspirational dance. A few of her favorite authors include Jane Austen, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. You’ll find “food, fashion, fun, and faith” in her novels. Sometimes she includes her own illustrations.
She continues the joy and adventure of her writing journey as a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and LCW (Louisville Christian Writers). Lisa’s books are clean and wholesome, inspirational, romantic, and family oriented. She gives a generous portion of the proceeds to missions.
Discover more about this author at www.LisaPrysock.com where you’ll find free recipes, devotionals, author video interviews, book trailers, giveaways, blog posts, and much more, including an invitation to sign up for her free newsletter.
Links to Connect with Lisa:
https://www.facebook.com/LisaMPrysock
https://twitter.com/LPrysock
www.LisaPrysock.com
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00J6MBC64 (Find all of Lisa’s books on Amazon at this link)
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lisa-m-prysock
https://www.facebook.com/groups/500592113747995/ (Lisa’s Facebook reader & friends group)
Saturday, September 14th, 2019
"Campfire Stories and Snacks"
All writers are storytellers. Whether real or fiction, a story is simply the telling of a sequence of events. Even real stories can be told with the flare of fiction to create things like tension and suspense. But, a real challenge for writers is to tell a story without thinking too much. Most of us get wrapped up in editing or rewriting, and that slows us down.
So, as we enter the preparation season for the upcoming National Novel Writing Month in November (aka NaNoWriMo), LCW is going to help by inviting you to a campfire storytelling session. After getting our campfire snacks, we will gather around the fire and see if we can tell a story based on what we read when we draw out a flame. Don't worry, no one will get burnt. The fire will simply be a collection of story prompts on flame shaped paper. :-)
If you will be attending this meeting, please bring some kind of snack that fits the camping or campfire theme. Finger sandwiches, little smokies, s'mores, etc. I even have some healthy s'more bars to share.
If you cannot join us for this month's meeting, I'll put a couple writing prompts below, and you can exercise your writing muscles and then share your stories in our Facebook group. I will also share links to a couple blogs with more writing prompts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Here are some fun ideas to get some words on paper...
"Campfire Stories and Snacks"
All writers are storytellers. Whether real or fiction, a story is simply the telling of a sequence of events. Even real stories can be told with the flare of fiction to create things like tension and suspense. But, a real challenge for writers is to tell a story without thinking too much. Most of us get wrapped up in editing or rewriting, and that slows us down.
So, as we enter the preparation season for the upcoming National Novel Writing Month in November (aka NaNoWriMo), LCW is going to help by inviting you to a campfire storytelling session. After getting our campfire snacks, we will gather around the fire and see if we can tell a story based on what we read when we draw out a flame. Don't worry, no one will get burnt. The fire will simply be a collection of story prompts on flame shaped paper. :-)
If you will be attending this meeting, please bring some kind of snack that fits the camping or campfire theme. Finger sandwiches, little smokies, s'mores, etc. I even have some healthy s'more bars to share.
If you cannot join us for this month's meeting, I'll put a couple writing prompts below, and you can exercise your writing muscles and then share your stories in our Facebook group. I will also share links to a couple blogs with more writing prompts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Here are some fun ideas to get some words on paper...
- A to Z stories: Start each sentence with a letter of the alphabet and see if that inspires the rest of the words in the sentences. If you don't want 26 sentences, try using just the letters in your name.
- Columns: A = Subject (a person by name, a person by career--fireman, doctor, politician, etc.); B = immediate location (a room in a house, a bench in a park, etc.); C = Big Location (country, city, tourist destination, hotel, etc.); and, D = Action (verbs that your subject can do). Make a list of 5 to 10 items for each column and then randomly choose one item from each column so you end up with something like a fireman in the lounge at a beach hotel and he's running in place.
- Use dice: Roll some dice and write based on the rolls. All the same number means write a story about a big winner; a straight of 3 or more means use Scripture. The numbers on the dice are your chapters and verses and you pick the book; a full house (requires an odd number of 5 or more dice) means a story or devotion about family; other rolls can inspire different ideas for you.
- Blog: 365 Creative Writing Prompts from ThinkWritten.com
- Blog: Writing prompt posts from the Inspired Prompt blog
Saturday, August 10th, 2019
"By the Words of Our Testimonies"
Rev 12:11a (AMP) And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.
Last year, Alan Murray asked us to create testimonies about our salvation stories and about whatever parts of our lives we'd like to share, and send them to him. This year, and at this next meeting, we are going to share these testimonies with each other. As Christians and as writers, we have a few reasons for wanting these testimonies.
In the welcome section below, I have included some resources for writing your testimony. I hope you enjoy putting this project together, and if you're in our private Facebook group, you are invited to share it there whether or not you make it to the meeting.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
The Scripture above from Revelations 12:11 is only part of the story. Read the full chapter to see how it is the word of testimony of those called of God that defeats the enemy of our souls. And here is another encouragement for you...
2 Tim 1:8a & 9 (AMP) So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord....for He delivered us and saved us and called us with a holy calling [a calling that leads to a consecrated life—a life set apart—a life of purpose], not because of our works [or because of any personal merit—we could do nothing to earn this], but because of His own purpose and grace [His amazing, undeserved favor] which was granted to us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].
If you'll do a search for "How to Write Your Testimony," you'll be amazed at the resources available. Here are just a few of them.
Finally, the idea for the topic of this meeting came about because of a story one of our members read to us at our last meeting. Laquita Havens read something from an exercise titled, "I am from..." and it was amazing. Everyone decided they'd like to write something similar. Before finding the above resources, I found another great resource for writers that includes a template for both the "I am from..." story and another "I am..." story. I wrote two of them with different results and had a great time doing it. There are pages and pages of free resources at the site called Freeology.com and here are some direct links...Have fun as you prepare your testimonies, and we look forward to hearing them at the meeting.
"By the Words of Our Testimonies"
Rev 12:11a (AMP) And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony.
Last year, Alan Murray asked us to create testimonies about our salvation stories and about whatever parts of our lives we'd like to share, and send them to him. This year, and at this next meeting, we are going to share these testimonies with each other. As Christians and as writers, we have a few reasons for wanting these testimonies.
- They give us important topics for articles, blog posts, and speaking.
- Sharing them helps each of our members with the confidence we need to share our testimonies.
- Hearing from our sisters and brothers helps us get to know each other a little better.
- Learning how others got saved helps us learn different ways to reach out to the lost who cross the paths of our lives.
In the welcome section below, I have included some resources for writing your testimony. I hope you enjoy putting this project together, and if you're in our private Facebook group, you are invited to share it there whether or not you make it to the meeting.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
The Scripture above from Revelations 12:11 is only part of the story. Read the full chapter to see how it is the word of testimony of those called of God that defeats the enemy of our souls. And here is another encouragement for you...
2 Tim 1:8a & 9 (AMP) So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord....for He delivered us and saved us and called us with a holy calling [a calling that leads to a consecrated life—a life set apart—a life of purpose], not because of our works [or because of any personal merit—we could do nothing to earn this], but because of His own purpose and grace [His amazing, undeserved favor] which was granted to us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].
If you'll do a search for "How to Write Your Testimony," you'll be amazed at the resources available. Here are just a few of them.
- The Testimony Worksheet (PDF) by EternityImpact.com
- How to Share Your Testimony (PDF) by the CS Lewis Institute
- 10 Tips That Will Help You Write an Amazing Testimony About Jesus
- And, Celebrate Recovery also has a great page of instruction for sharing a testimony when it includes struggles like addiction... https://www.celebraterecoverycb.com/writing-your-testimony.html
- A great PDF I downloaded (but cannot upload here due to copyright restrictions) is called "How to Write Your Testimony" by Shelley Jarl. To get that one, you'll need to sign up to view the members area at the Faithful Bloggers website. It's worth it for the abundance of resources for Christian writers, though.
Finally, the idea for the topic of this meeting came about because of a story one of our members read to us at our last meeting. Laquita Havens read something from an exercise titled, "I am from..." and it was amazing. Everyone decided they'd like to write something similar. Before finding the above resources, I found another great resource for writers that includes a template for both the "I am from..." story and another "I am..." story. I wrote two of them with different results and had a great time doing it. There are pages and pages of free resources at the site called Freeology.com and here are some direct links...Have fun as you prepare your testimonies, and we look forward to hearing them at the meeting.
Saturday, July 13th, 2019
How to "How To"
How do you do a "how to" article or blog post? Have you already written something like this, or would you like to one day? Maybe you're primarily a reader of this type of writing, so you'd like to hear how your fellows writers do it. Each of these scenarios is on the list for our July meeting. Your assignment for this meeting is to bring (and prepare to share) any or all of the following...
We will discuss together what makes a great "how to" article and how we can improve our own if we write them. One member talked about bringing a presentation to demonstrate her "how to" article, so if you'd like to do the same, we encourage you to do so.
Note: This is all the information for this coming meeting, but I am leaving the portion from last month about the "Christmas Carol" assignment, so be sure to read it and get ideas for our November meeting and the presentation you will do then.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Back in January when we made plans for the year, we talked about a group writing project. So, here's your first reminder to get started on this fun project to be shared at our November meeting. The June critique session will be a good place to have your idea, outline, first draft, etc., looked at and read. We expect writers to come out of our November meeting having been taking on many creative journeys and maybe even with submittable pieces.
So, everyone should know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As a brief summary, a crotchety old man thinks only of himself and his money until 4 ghosts (including his old business partner) show him how his miserly behaviors negatively affect others in his life. The worst effects happen to the one person (a sickly child) whom he wishes to affect more positively. He (Scrooge) goes from bitter to better as his life from beginning to end is paraded before him.
Now, your writing assignment is to create your own story along this line. Your setting will be the foundation for your story, and this is your chance to create with a time and people of your own choosing. This has been done by many others, and the creative stories have spawned some fun movies. If you'd like to see some, look up "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Ms. Scrooge," "It's Christmas, Carol," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "A Carol Christmas," "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," "A Flintstones Christmas Carol," "Bah, Humduck," and so many more.
Some ideas to consider may include:
And then there are plenty of ideas for fan-fiction tales like:
Now, go write and--most of all--have fun!
How to "How To"
How do you do a "how to" article or blog post? Have you already written something like this, or would you like to one day? Maybe you're primarily a reader of this type of writing, so you'd like to hear how your fellows writers do it. Each of these scenarios is on the list for our July meeting. Your assignment for this meeting is to bring (and prepare to share) any or all of the following...
- A "how to" article or blog post you have written and published
- A "how to" article you would like to publish on a blog or in a magazine
- A "how to" article outline or idea you may need help completing
- A "how to" article you've read and want to share with others
We will discuss together what makes a great "how to" article and how we can improve our own if we write them. One member talked about bringing a presentation to demonstrate her "how to" article, so if you'd like to do the same, we encourage you to do so.
Note: This is all the information for this coming meeting, but I am leaving the portion from last month about the "Christmas Carol" assignment, so be sure to read it and get ideas for our November meeting and the presentation you will do then.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Back in January when we made plans for the year, we talked about a group writing project. So, here's your first reminder to get started on this fun project to be shared at our November meeting. The June critique session will be a good place to have your idea, outline, first draft, etc., looked at and read. We expect writers to come out of our November meeting having been taking on many creative journeys and maybe even with submittable pieces.
So, everyone should know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As a brief summary, a crotchety old man thinks only of himself and his money until 4 ghosts (including his old business partner) show him how his miserly behaviors negatively affect others in his life. The worst effects happen to the one person (a sickly child) whom he wishes to affect more positively. He (Scrooge) goes from bitter to better as his life from beginning to end is paraded before him.
Now, your writing assignment is to create your own story along this line. Your setting will be the foundation for your story, and this is your chance to create with a time and people of your own choosing. This has been done by many others, and the creative stories have spawned some fun movies. If you'd like to see some, look up "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Ms. Scrooge," "It's Christmas, Carol," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "A Carol Christmas," "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," "A Flintstones Christmas Carol," "Bah, Humduck," and so many more.
Some ideas to consider may include:
- A millennial Christmas Carol set in modern times
- A western Christmas Carol with cowboys (and maybe Indians)
- A futuristic Christmas Carol (on earth) or...
- A futuristic Christmas Carol in outer space
- A zombie Christmas Carol (past or future)
- A valley girl Christmas Carol
- A soldier's Christmas Carol
- A doctor/nurse/beautician/or other career-type Christmas Carol
- A martian or alien Christmas Carol
- A baby/child/foster kid/orphan etc., Christmas Carol
- An Amish Christmas Carol
- Other eras or countries for settings
- or even A reverse Christmas Carol where Scrooge starts nice and changes (but maybe it's all just a dream since everyone really likes happy endings) LOL
And then there are plenty of ideas for fan-fiction tales like:
- A Star Trek Christmas Carol
- A Cars Christmas Carol
- A Toy Story Christmas Carol
- An ER/Chicago Hope/Chicago Med/etc. Christmas Carol
- An Adam Twelve/Chicago PD/Hawaii 5-0 (old or new)/etc. Christmas Carol
- A Scooby Doo Christmas Carol
- A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Christmas Carol
- A Big Bang Theory Christmas Carol
- A M.A.S.H. Christmas Carol
- A Hobbit Christmas Carol
- A Heidi Christmas Carol
- A Gidget Christmas Carol
- A Sound of Music Christmas Carol
- And so many more ideas based on shows you like and watch or books you've read.
Now, go write and--most of all--have fun!
Saturday, June 8th, 2019
Please Critique Me
As a parody lover, I just couldn't resist the title line, so let's follow it with the rest of the song, and you can try to guess what original song I'm doing the parody from.
Please critique me; Let me know...
How to make my story glow.
Find the strengths and weaknesses there-in,
Critique me and let me write again.
Now, from the title and parody, you should have figured out that our next meeting will be a pure critique session. You may bring anything you are working on (3 to 5 copies of up to 4, typewritten, double-spaced, and spell-checked pages), or you may come without your own piece and instead help to critique the works of others. However, I encourage all attendees to show up with something for others to view and critique as that is a great strength of a face-to-face writer's group. Note: If you add line numbers to your pages, it makes it easier for all readers to view where suggestions and corrections are made. See https://www.howtogeek.com/170789/how-to-number-lines-in-the-margins-in-word-2013/ for a great article on adding line numbers to Word documents or https://dottech.org/152448/how-to-add-line-numbers-to-openoffice-documents-guide/ for adding line numbers to Open Office documents.
Some ideas for attendance to this meeting:
We will gather in groups of 3 to 4 writers to make sure there is plenty of time for each person to have his or her work read and critiqued. As this will be a casual gathering, we are encouraging each member and guest to bring a snack or finger-food to share potluck style. Ideas may include chips and dip, cheese and crackers, mini sandwiches, etc.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Back in January when we made plans for the year, we talked about a group writing project. So, here's your first reminder to get started on this fun project to be shared at our November meeting. The June critique session will be a good place to have your idea, outline, first draft, etc., looked at and read. We expect writers to come out of our November meeting having been taking on many creative journeys and maybe even with submittable pieces.
So, everyone should know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As a brief summary, a crotchety old man thinks only of himself and his money until 4 ghosts (including his old business partner) show him how his miserly behaviors negatively affect others in his life. The worst effects happen to the one person (a sickly child) whom he wishes to affect more positively. He (Scrooge) goes from bitter to better as his life from beginning to end is paraded before him.
Now, your writing assignment is to create your own story along this line. Your setting will be the foundation for your story, and this is your chance to create with a time and people of your own choosing. This has been done by many others, and the creative stories have spawned some fun movies. If you'd like to see some, look up "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Ms. Scrooge," "It's Christmas, Carol," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "A Carol Christmas," "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," "A Flintstones Christmas Carol," "Bah, Humduck," and so many more.
Some ideas to consider may include:
And then there are plenty of ideas for fan-fiction tales like:
Now, go write and--most of all--have fun!
Please Critique Me
As a parody lover, I just couldn't resist the title line, so let's follow it with the rest of the song, and you can try to guess what original song I'm doing the parody from.
Please critique me; Let me know...
How to make my story glow.
Find the strengths and weaknesses there-in,
Critique me and let me write again.
Now, from the title and parody, you should have figured out that our next meeting will be a pure critique session. You may bring anything you are working on (3 to 5 copies of up to 4, typewritten, double-spaced, and spell-checked pages), or you may come without your own piece and instead help to critique the works of others. However, I encourage all attendees to show up with something for others to view and critique as that is a great strength of a face-to-face writer's group. Note: If you add line numbers to your pages, it makes it easier for all readers to view where suggestions and corrections are made. See https://www.howtogeek.com/170789/how-to-number-lines-in-the-margins-in-word-2013/ for a great article on adding line numbers to Word documents or https://dottech.org/152448/how-to-add-line-numbers-to-openoffice-documents-guide/ for adding line numbers to Open Office documents.
Some ideas for attendance to this meeting:
- Bring the beginnings of your November "A Christmas Carol" story assignment. (See below for details.)
- Bring something you'd like to send to Chicken Soup for the Soul.
- Bring a print-out of an upcoming or recently-published blog post.
- Bring something you want to submit to a magazine or contest.
- Bring an item you plan to share with an editor or agent at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference in June.
- Bring a poem or journal entry just to share.
We will gather in groups of 3 to 4 writers to make sure there is plenty of time for each person to have his or her work read and critiqued. As this will be a casual gathering, we are encouraging each member and guest to bring a snack or finger-food to share potluck style. Ideas may include chips and dip, cheese and crackers, mini sandwiches, etc.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Back in January when we made plans for the year, we talked about a group writing project. So, here's your first reminder to get started on this fun project to be shared at our November meeting. The June critique session will be a good place to have your idea, outline, first draft, etc., looked at and read. We expect writers to come out of our November meeting having been taking on many creative journeys and maybe even with submittable pieces.
So, everyone should know the basic storyline of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As a brief summary, a crotchety old man thinks only of himself and his money until 4 ghosts (including his old business partner) show him how his miserly behaviors negatively affect others in his life. The worst effects happen to the one person (a sickly child) whom he wishes to affect more positively. He (Scrooge) goes from bitter to better as his life from beginning to end is paraded before him.
Now, your writing assignment is to create your own story along this line. Your setting will be the foundation for your story, and this is your chance to create with a time and people of your own choosing. This has been done by many others, and the creative stories have spawned some fun movies. If you'd like to see some, look up "A Diva's Christmas Carol," "Ms. Scrooge," "It's Christmas, Carol," "Mickey's Christmas Carol," "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "A Carol Christmas," "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," "A Flintstones Christmas Carol," "Bah, Humduck," and so many more.
Some ideas to consider may include:
- A millennial Christmas Carol set in modern times
- A western Christmas Carol with cowboys (and maybe Indians)
- A futuristic Christmas Carol (on earth) or...
- A futuristic Christmas Carol in outer space
- A zombie Christmas Carol (past or future)
- A valley girl Christmas Carol
- A soldier's Christmas Carol
- A doctor/nurse/beautician/or other career-type Christmas Carol
- A martian or alien Christmas Carol
- A baby/child/foster kid/orphan etc., Christmas Carol
- An Amish Christmas Carol
- Other eras or countries for settings
- or even A reverse Christmas Carol where Scrooge starts nice and changes (but maybe it's all just a dream since everyone really likes happy endings) LOL
And then there are plenty of ideas for fan-fiction tales like:
- A Star Trek Christmas Carol
- A Cars Christmas Carol
- A Toy Story Christmas Carol
- An ER/Chicago Hope/Chicago Med/etc. Christmas Carol
- An Adam Twelve/Chicago PD/Hawaii 5-0 (old or new)/etc. Christmas Carol
- A Scooby Doo Christmas Carol
- A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Christmas Carol
- A Big Bang Theory Christmas Carol
- A M.A.S.H. Christmas Carol
- A Hobbit Christmas Carol
- A Heidi Christmas Carol
- A Gidget Christmas Carol
- A Sound of Music Christmas Carol
- And so many more ideas based on shows you like and watch or books you've read.
Now, go write and--most of all--have fun!
Saturday, May 11th, 2019
Scrapbook Testimonies
Hello Writers. Crystal here with a fun project to tell you about. Get your crafty brain ready for a creative gathering this coming weekend.
If you are a Christian, you have been saved. Saved from original sin; saved from a sinful lifestyle; and saved from spending your eternity without Almighty God. In addition, even during your walk with Christ, you have likely been saved from any number of behaviors or events that needed a deliverance only Jesus could give. Those events, no matter how small, are the testimonies that give the world hope. As Christian writers, it is our job to bring hope to a world desperately seeking some Good News, aka "The Gospel."
For our May meeting, we will have a professional scrapbooker to help each of us make a page (just the beginning of a full book) with a testimony and decor. What a pleasant and creative way to bring your testimonies to life. I will add pictures of our planned project down below the meeting agenda section, and I've highlighted in Debbie's note some suggested craft items you can bring with you. You are also welcome to bring other items, such as cutouts from magazines or old greeting cards, stickers, etc., if you like. Now, without further ado, please allow me to introduce my friend and craft artist, Debbie Kinberger...
Hello,
Looking forward to sharing this project of life and faith with you all. It is truly a blessing to be invited to share what the Lord has been moving me to explore using my love of scrapbooking and journaling to bring forth evidence of His faithfulness for myself and future generations to come.
In our time together, you will be provided an 8 1/2 X 11 book with 10 pages and some fun embellishments to help you tell your story; such as stamps, scriptures, copies of a couple hymns, index cards for journaling, etc.
I would encourage you to be thinking of a witness statement of your own to record as evidence of God's work in your life. If you have a photo to support your journaling that would be great. Magazine pics can also be used. It is your book...let your imagination soar.
Supplies that you can bring if you have them....scissors, journaling pen, a ruler, and a tape runner or glue stick.
Attached (below) are a few examples from my own journal.
Looking forward to our time together.
That's all I can think of at the moment.
Thanks and blessings
Debbie Kinberger
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Our 2019 year is starting well with great planning and great writing so far. Our February meeting yielded some wonderful stories about hearts and repair. One writer added humor with a parody of a famous poem. In March, we enjoyed an exercise of imagination as we wrote to and about toys. In April, we shared how hymns affect our walks with The Lord.
For May, we welcome the instructor from the LaGrange Kentucky Cowboy Church's Scrappin' and Moreclasses. You can follow the activities on their public Facebook group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/296322920383672/ and even consider going to hang out with the scrappers there sometime. And here are some images of Debbie's completed project pages:
Scrapbook Testimonies
Hello Writers. Crystal here with a fun project to tell you about. Get your crafty brain ready for a creative gathering this coming weekend.
If you are a Christian, you have been saved. Saved from original sin; saved from a sinful lifestyle; and saved from spending your eternity without Almighty God. In addition, even during your walk with Christ, you have likely been saved from any number of behaviors or events that needed a deliverance only Jesus could give. Those events, no matter how small, are the testimonies that give the world hope. As Christian writers, it is our job to bring hope to a world desperately seeking some Good News, aka "The Gospel."
For our May meeting, we will have a professional scrapbooker to help each of us make a page (just the beginning of a full book) with a testimony and decor. What a pleasant and creative way to bring your testimonies to life. I will add pictures of our planned project down below the meeting agenda section, and I've highlighted in Debbie's note some suggested craft items you can bring with you. You are also welcome to bring other items, such as cutouts from magazines or old greeting cards, stickers, etc., if you like. Now, without further ado, please allow me to introduce my friend and craft artist, Debbie Kinberger...
Hello,
Looking forward to sharing this project of life and faith with you all. It is truly a blessing to be invited to share what the Lord has been moving me to explore using my love of scrapbooking and journaling to bring forth evidence of His faithfulness for myself and future generations to come.
In our time together, you will be provided an 8 1/2 X 11 book with 10 pages and some fun embellishments to help you tell your story; such as stamps, scriptures, copies of a couple hymns, index cards for journaling, etc.
I would encourage you to be thinking of a witness statement of your own to record as evidence of God's work in your life. If you have a photo to support your journaling that would be great. Magazine pics can also be used. It is your book...let your imagination soar.
Supplies that you can bring if you have them....scissors, journaling pen, a ruler, and a tape runner or glue stick.
Attached (below) are a few examples from my own journal.
Looking forward to our time together.
That's all I can think of at the moment.
Thanks and blessings
Debbie Kinberger
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Our 2019 year is starting well with great planning and great writing so far. Our February meeting yielded some wonderful stories about hearts and repair. One writer added humor with a parody of a famous poem. In March, we enjoyed an exercise of imagination as we wrote to and about toys. In April, we shared how hymns affect our walks with The Lord.
For May, we welcome the instructor from the LaGrange Kentucky Cowboy Church's Scrappin' and Moreclasses. You can follow the activities on their public Facebook group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/296322920383672/ and even consider going to hang out with the scrappers there sometime. And here are some images of Debbie's completed project pages:
Saturday, April 13th, 2019
Hymn Stories
Do you have a favorite hymn? Something that makes you remember God's Amazing Grace, or that reminds you there is Somebody Bigger Than You And I? Maybe it's the memory of your mother singing about the Blessed Assurance of God's love or humming of her sacred times In The Garden of prayer. Whether it's a grown-up inspiration that encourages you to Trust and Obey because you can still say It Is Well With My Soul; an all-ages encouragement to read the B-I-B-L-E and march Onward Christian Soldiers with your fellow servants in Christ as We're Marching to Zion; or the Joy, Joy, Joy of remembering to not hide This Little Light of Mine under a bushel, we should all have at least one song that brings a flood of Precious Memories.
Because it is "National Poetry Month," folks at our online meeting in January decided that hymns were a nice way to celebrate—even for those who don't write poetry. Our writing exercise this month will be to write a devotion, article, poem, or story focused around hymns or your favorite hymn. You can also write your own hymn if you like. This works just as well for those who enjoy contemporary music more than traditional hymns. Or maybe you want to do like I've done in the opening paragraph and write a story using the titles of your favorite Christian hymns and songs. If it's about a hymn and you write it, you've done the job.
Read more below for meeting details and how to share this writing exercise with your fellow LCW members.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Our 2019 year is starting well with great planning and great writing so far. Our February meeting yielded some wonderful stories about hearts and repair. One writer added humor with a parody of a famous poem. In March, we enjoyed an exercise of imagination as we wrote to and about toys.
For our April meeting, we've already gotten notes from some who will be out of town or who won't make it because of Thunder Over Louisville, so this exercise will work for everyone—even if you cannot make it to the physical meeting. Whenever and whatever you write, please consider submitting it to our private Facebook group or sending it by email so Crystal can share it with the group. Also, because of Thunder, we will end the meeting without our usual critique session so folks can either get to a viewing spot or get across bridges before they close the roads downtown at 8:30PM.
Hymn Stories
Do you have a favorite hymn? Something that makes you remember God's Amazing Grace, or that reminds you there is Somebody Bigger Than You And I? Maybe it's the memory of your mother singing about the Blessed Assurance of God's love or humming of her sacred times In The Garden of prayer. Whether it's a grown-up inspiration that encourages you to Trust and Obey because you can still say It Is Well With My Soul; an all-ages encouragement to read the B-I-B-L-E and march Onward Christian Soldiers with your fellow servants in Christ as We're Marching to Zion; or the Joy, Joy, Joy of remembering to not hide This Little Light of Mine under a bushel, we should all have at least one song that brings a flood of Precious Memories.
Because it is "National Poetry Month," folks at our online meeting in January decided that hymns were a nice way to celebrate—even for those who don't write poetry. Our writing exercise this month will be to write a devotion, article, poem, or story focused around hymns or your favorite hymn. You can also write your own hymn if you like. This works just as well for those who enjoy contemporary music more than traditional hymns. Or maybe you want to do like I've done in the opening paragraph and write a story using the titles of your favorite Christian hymns and songs. If it's about a hymn and you write it, you've done the job.
Read more below for meeting details and how to share this writing exercise with your fellow LCW members.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Our 2019 year is starting well with great planning and great writing so far. Our February meeting yielded some wonderful stories about hearts and repair. One writer added humor with a parody of a famous poem. In March, we enjoyed an exercise of imagination as we wrote to and about toys.
For our April meeting, we've already gotten notes from some who will be out of town or who won't make it because of Thunder Over Louisville, so this exercise will work for everyone—even if you cannot make it to the physical meeting. Whenever and whatever you write, please consider submitting it to our private Facebook group or sending it by email so Crystal can share it with the group. Also, because of Thunder, we will end the meeting without our usual critique session so folks can either get to a viewing spot or get across bridges before they close the roads downtown at 8:30PM.
Saturday, March 9th, 2019
An LCW Toy Story
Our March meeting will bring us a little good will along with our fun and writing. Each attendee should bring a stuffed animal or toy to the meeting and prepare to play with it. We will then write our pieces either to, or about, the toys. Here's how it will work...
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
An LCW Toy Story
Our March meeting will bring us a little good will along with our fun and writing. Each attendee should bring a stuffed animal or toy to the meeting and prepare to play with it. We will then write our pieces either to, or about, the toys. Here's how it will work...
- We can write to or about the toy we bring.
- We can put all our toys or animals on a shelf and pick a different toy to write to or about.
- We can bring a toy or animal we plan to bring back home, or we can buy a toy for the meeting and donate it to the children's ward of the hospital.
- We can bring our own PLUS one for donation.
Reminder for the coming year: 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
Saturday, February 9th, 2019
BROKEN HEART REPAIR—CONFLICT CHALLENGE
Our February meeting is only the beginning of an active year of writing for our local group. Despite the icy roads and dangerous driving conditions, we gathered a small group of our writers into an online meeting filled with great ideas and plans for the coming year. 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
Since February is known for Valentine's Day, our first writing challenge of 2019 will be to fix hearts broken by conflict. We will start with a bowl of paper hearts. Writers will draw out a heart with any of 30 conflicts written on it, and they will need to write the details of how the conflict plays out plus create a plot to resolve the situation. Each participant can use the prompt for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, devotion, or whatever type of writing works best for that writer. P.S. We are putting pieces of candy in the bowl, too. :-)
Join us for this fun meeting and to learn about the other fun gatherings we have put together for your writing year.
BROKEN HEART REPAIR—CONFLICT CHALLENGE
Our February meeting is only the beginning of an active year of writing for our local group. Despite the icy roads and dangerous driving conditions, we gathered a small group of our writers into an online meeting filled with great ideas and plans for the coming year. 2019 membership is free, but there will be attendance prizes at the end of the year. At least one of those prizes will be free membership for 2020.
Since February is known for Valentine's Day, our first writing challenge of 2019 will be to fix hearts broken by conflict. We will start with a bowl of paper hearts. Writers will draw out a heart with any of 30 conflicts written on it, and they will need to write the details of how the conflict plays out plus create a plot to resolve the situation. Each participant can use the prompt for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, devotion, or whatever type of writing works best for that writer. P.S. We are putting pieces of candy in the bowl, too. :-)
Join us for this fun meeting and to learn about the other fun gatherings we have put together for your writing year.
2018 Meetings--Most Recent First
Saturday, November 10th, 2018
He Said, She Said with Gregg Bridgeman
Our November meeting will be a treat for all in attendance. If you were at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and were unable to join Gregg's class there, you get a do-over at LCW this month. Gregg has been teaching this class around the country, and many have commented about the helpfulness of the content and about how much they enjoyed the teacher.
Gregg Bridgeman is a military-trained interrogator and a student of language and culture who speaks passably in a few foreign tongues. He has also edited more than 100 Christian works. Our upcoming class uses many examples to demonstrate the difference between “really good” and “not-so-good” dialogue, then gets very specific about the differences between the way men and women communicate, all supported by scriptural references starting with Genesis 5:2. The class concludes with practical techniques authors can employ to make their dialogue more realistic and really pop. Students will also take home a list of nearly 600 ways to say the word “said” without ever actually saying the word “said.”
A little more about Gregg...
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.
He Said, She Said with Gregg Bridgeman
Our November meeting will be a treat for all in attendance. If you were at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference and were unable to join Gregg's class there, you get a do-over at LCW this month. Gregg has been teaching this class around the country, and many have commented about the helpfulness of the content and about how much they enjoyed the teacher.
Gregg Bridgeman is a military-trained interrogator and a student of language and culture who speaks passably in a few foreign tongues. He has also edited more than 100 Christian works. Our upcoming class uses many examples to demonstrate the difference between “really good” and “not-so-good” dialogue, then gets very specific about the differences between the way men and women communicate, all supported by scriptural references starting with Genesis 5:2. The class concludes with practical techniques authors can employ to make their dialogue more realistic and really pop. Students will also take home a list of nearly 600 ways to say the word “said” without ever actually saying the word “said.”
A little more about Gregg...
Gregg Bridgeman is the Editor-in-Chief at Olivia Kimbrell Press. He is husband to best-selling Christian author Hallee Bridgeman and parent to three. He continues to proudly serve in the US Armed Forces and has done so in either an active or reserve capacity for more than twenty years as an airborne and air assault qualified paratrooper, earning a Bronze Star for his service. Most importantly, he was ordained in October of 2001 after surrendering his life to Christ decades earlier.
Saturday, October 13th, 2018
PrepTober aka NaNoPrepMo
How to Prepare for Binge Writing Challenges like NaNoWriMo...
Even if You Don't Write Fiction
Our October meeting reminds us that National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. This month, our member, Kelly Duncan, will bring us some important preparation tools that can apply to any writing project but are especially helpful for those wanting to tackle the daunting task of coming up with 50,000 words and a completed story in the 30 days of November.
Kelly has done extensive research as she looked for tools and hacks to assist writers who want to get the big projects done. Whether you are a plotter (preparing perfect outlines and character arcs before you begin a project), a pantser (writing by the seat of your pants--or jumping off the writing cliff without an outline life jacket), or a plantser (a mix of the two), you will find information and tools to help you get from idea to completed manuscript with fewer bumps along the way.
Join us on Saturday the 13th for a fun gathering of Christians who write and who struggle like all writers to fill pages with good content. There will be handouts and maybe even a few snacks.
For those who are unfamiliar with the event known as "NaNoWriMo," see the "Monthly Gathering" section below the meeting times for more information and a few helpful links.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
What is NaNoWriMo?
That question has actually been asked by a number of NaNo moderators on this year's regional forums. Many have confused the effort of binge writing a novel with the annual event known as "National Novel Writing Month," aka "NaNoWriMo." And just for fun, here are the multiple-choice answers from one of the newsletters sent by https://nanowrimo.org/...
NaNoWriMo is:
In addition to NaNo, there are multiple binge-writing challenges out there. One of these includes "National Poetry Writing Month aka NaPoWriMo" where you write a poem a day for 30 days in April. Another, created by Jeff Goins, is "My 500 Words" where you write at least 500 words every day for 31 days. The latter is great for nonfiction and includes accountability groups like the Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/my500words/ which is closed but you can request to join if you want the inspiration and writing prompts. And, for whatever binge contest you decide to engage, here's a great site of questions and prompts to inspire you along the way... https://triplecrit.com/31-days-of-nanoprepmo/
If you just want to challenge yourself, you'll find lots of resources out there for writers, but many of them are laden with modern language that can be uncomfortable for most Christians. Many of the regional forums on the NaNo site, and many of the videos and Twitter feeds out there for NaNo and for prep month, are filled with words that would be bleeped on network television, so be aware of that as you shop around. I tried to leave off those that have severe language, and you can be sure you won't hear that in the teaching at our LCW meeting, so please join us for instruction and inspiration--especially if you plan to participate in NaNoWriMo 2018.
PrepTober aka NaNoPrepMo
How to Prepare for Binge Writing Challenges like NaNoWriMo...
Even if You Don't Write Fiction
Our October meeting reminds us that National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. This month, our member, Kelly Duncan, will bring us some important preparation tools that can apply to any writing project but are especially helpful for those wanting to tackle the daunting task of coming up with 50,000 words and a completed story in the 30 days of November.
Kelly has done extensive research as she looked for tools and hacks to assist writers who want to get the big projects done. Whether you are a plotter (preparing perfect outlines and character arcs before you begin a project), a pantser (writing by the seat of your pants--or jumping off the writing cliff without an outline life jacket), or a plantser (a mix of the two), you will find information and tools to help you get from idea to completed manuscript with fewer bumps along the way.
Join us on Saturday the 13th for a fun gathering of Christians who write and who struggle like all writers to fill pages with good content. There will be handouts and maybe even a few snacks.
For those who are unfamiliar with the event known as "NaNoWriMo," see the "Monthly Gathering" section below the meeting times for more information and a few helpful links.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
What is NaNoWriMo?
That question has actually been asked by a number of NaNo moderators on this year's regional forums. Many have confused the effort of binge writing a novel with the annual event known as "National Novel Writing Month," aka "NaNoWriMo." And just for fun, here are the multiple-choice answers from one of the newsletters sent by https://nanowrimo.org/...
NaNoWriMo is:
- A. A tiny writing motor with an output of 50,000 words in thirty days.
- B. A rare, shiny form of Wrimo.
- C. An annual writing challenge.
In addition to NaNo, there are multiple binge-writing challenges out there. One of these includes "National Poetry Writing Month aka NaPoWriMo" where you write a poem a day for 30 days in April. Another, created by Jeff Goins, is "My 500 Words" where you write at least 500 words every day for 31 days. The latter is great for nonfiction and includes accountability groups like the Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/my500words/ which is closed but you can request to join if you want the inspiration and writing prompts. And, for whatever binge contest you decide to engage, here's a great site of questions and prompts to inspire you along the way... https://triplecrit.com/31-days-of-nanoprepmo/
If you just want to challenge yourself, you'll find lots of resources out there for writers, but many of them are laden with modern language that can be uncomfortable for most Christians. Many of the regional forums on the NaNo site, and many of the videos and Twitter feeds out there for NaNo and for prep month, are filled with words that would be bleeped on network television, so be aware of that as you shop around. I tried to leave off those that have severe language, and you can be sure you won't hear that in the teaching at our LCW meeting, so please join us for instruction and inspiration--especially if you plan to participate in NaNoWriMo 2018.
Saturday, September 8th, 2018
"Art and Musicality in Picture Books with Jean Matthew Hall"
Our September meeting will be a real treat in that we get a repeat of one of the classes from the June 2018 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Our speaker, Jean Matthew Hall, is both a board volunteer and a presenter from the conference, and her class, Art and Musicality in Picture Books, was well-received. For the overstretched conferees who could not fit her class into your busy schedule, and for all those unable to make it to the conference, here's your chance to find out what you missed. Here's what Jean told me when can expect from the class...
In this workshop, Jean will define some poetic and literary devices and emphasize through hands-on practice how they turn stories into symphonies. The principles Jean explains are highly applicable to picture books, but they can also help transform any writing from blah to BAM!
See the "Monthly Gathering" below the meeting times for more about our speaker.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
From Jean's bio...
Jean Matthew Hall lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary. Her premiere picture book is due to be released by Little Lamb Books in early 2019, to be followed by three more books in this Four-Seasons series.
Jean is a member of the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), Word Weavers International, and Kentucky Christian Writers. She is also an AWSA Protégé. You can visit Jean at any of the following links...
Direct Links to Connect with and follow Jean:
"Art and Musicality in Picture Books with Jean Matthew Hall"
Our September meeting will be a real treat in that we get a repeat of one of the classes from the June 2018 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Our speaker, Jean Matthew Hall, is both a board volunteer and a presenter from the conference, and her class, Art and Musicality in Picture Books, was well-received. For the overstretched conferees who could not fit her class into your busy schedule, and for all those unable to make it to the conference, here's your chance to find out what you missed. Here's what Jean told me when can expect from the class...
In this workshop, Jean will define some poetic and literary devices and emphasize through hands-on practice how they turn stories into symphonies. The principles Jean explains are highly applicable to picture books, but they can also help transform any writing from blah to BAM!
See the "Monthly Gathering" below the meeting times for more about our speaker.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
From Jean's bio...
Jean Matthew Hall lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She is represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary. Her premiere picture book is due to be released by Little Lamb Books in early 2019, to be followed by three more books in this Four-Seasons series.
Jean is a member of the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), Word Weavers International, and Kentucky Christian Writers. She is also an AWSA Protégé. You can visit Jean at any of the following links...
Direct Links to Connect with and follow Jean:
Saturday, August 11th, 2018
"Learn from Writing Mistakes--But Keep Going Forward"
Our August meeting will bring us another member/speaker, Lisa M Prysock. Lisa spoke last year on creating historical fiction, and she decided to become a member of our group. Since then, she has been busy churning out new works in adventurous areas beyond the historical but still within the family-friendly and inspirational topics she loves. We can be sure that Lisa will have some great stories to share about this time of growth and branching out as she has learned how to keep going forward.
If you are a writer that has felt like giving up because of your mistakes or uncertainties, join us for this meeting to find encouragement and inspiration to let those things work as stepping stones toward becoming the writer God has called you to become. Read more about Lisa in her bio below, and be sure to check her Amazon page where you can follow her as an author and be notified when she makes new publications available for purchase in print and/or Kindle format. Subscribe to her newsletter for free devotions, recipes, reader & writer resources, and to find out about her new releases.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Directly from Lisa's own bio...
Lisa M. Prysock is an award-winning, bestselling, Christian and inspirational author of 14 novels. She was born in Minnesota; raised in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio as a child; and as an adult, has lived in Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio again, and Florida, before settling in beautiful, rural Kentucky near many horse farms in the countryside bordering Louisville. She and her husband of more than 20 years chose to make their home in Kentucky where the rich heritage, scenic area, local culture and history, along with her faith, are a constant source of inspiration for many of Lisa’s books. Together, they have five children, grown.
Lisa writes in the genres of both Historical Christian Romance and Contemporary Christian Romance novels, including a multi-author Western Christian Romance series, “Whispers in Wyoming.” She is also the author of a devotional. She enjoys sharing her faith in Jesus through her writing.
She has many interests, but a few of these include gardening, cooking, sketching, painting, arts and crafts, sewing, crochet, cross stitch, scrapbooking, reading, singing, dancing, swimming, biking, and walking. She loves dollhouses, cats, horses, butterflies, hats, boots, flip-flops, espadrilles, chocolate, coffee, tea, chocolate, the colors peach and purple, and everything old-fashioned. She adopted the slogan of “The Old-Fashioned Everything Girl” because of her love for classic, traditional, and old-fashioned everything. When she isn’t writing, she can sometimes be found teaching herself piano and violin, but humorously finds the process “a bit slow and painful.” Lisa enjoys working with the children and youth in her local church creating human videos and plays or programs incorporating her love for inspirational dance. A few of her favorite authors include Jane Austen, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. You’ll find “food, fashion, fun, and faith” in Lisa’s novels. Sometimes she includes her own illustrations in her books.
She continues the joy and adventure of her writing journey as a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and LCW (Louisville Christian Writers). Lisa’s books are clean and wholesome, inspirational, romantic, and family oriented. She gives a generous portion of the proceeds to missions.
You can find out more about this author at www.LisaPrysock.com where you’ll find free recipes, devotionals, author video interviews and book trailers, giveaways, blog posts, and much more, including an invitation to sign up for her free newsletter.
Links to Connect with Lisa:
"Learn from Writing Mistakes--But Keep Going Forward"
Our August meeting will bring us another member/speaker, Lisa M Prysock. Lisa spoke last year on creating historical fiction, and she decided to become a member of our group. Since then, she has been busy churning out new works in adventurous areas beyond the historical but still within the family-friendly and inspirational topics she loves. We can be sure that Lisa will have some great stories to share about this time of growth and branching out as she has learned how to keep going forward.
If you are a writer that has felt like giving up because of your mistakes or uncertainties, join us for this meeting to find encouragement and inspiration to let those things work as stepping stones toward becoming the writer God has called you to become. Read more about Lisa in her bio below, and be sure to check her Amazon page where you can follow her as an author and be notified when she makes new publications available for purchase in print and/or Kindle format. Subscribe to her newsletter for free devotions, recipes, reader & writer resources, and to find out about her new releases.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Directly from Lisa's own bio...
Lisa M. Prysock is an award-winning, bestselling, Christian and inspirational author of 14 novels. She was born in Minnesota; raised in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio as a child; and as an adult, has lived in Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio again, and Florida, before settling in beautiful, rural Kentucky near many horse farms in the countryside bordering Louisville. She and her husband of more than 20 years chose to make their home in Kentucky where the rich heritage, scenic area, local culture and history, along with her faith, are a constant source of inspiration for many of Lisa’s books. Together, they have five children, grown.
Lisa writes in the genres of both Historical Christian Romance and Contemporary Christian Romance novels, including a multi-author Western Christian Romance series, “Whispers in Wyoming.” She is also the author of a devotional. She enjoys sharing her faith in Jesus through her writing.
She has many interests, but a few of these include gardening, cooking, sketching, painting, arts and crafts, sewing, crochet, cross stitch, scrapbooking, reading, singing, dancing, swimming, biking, and walking. She loves dollhouses, cats, horses, butterflies, hats, boots, flip-flops, espadrilles, chocolate, coffee, tea, chocolate, the colors peach and purple, and everything old-fashioned. She adopted the slogan of “The Old-Fashioned Everything Girl” because of her love for classic, traditional, and old-fashioned everything. When she isn’t writing, she can sometimes be found teaching herself piano and violin, but humorously finds the process “a bit slow and painful.” Lisa enjoys working with the children and youth in her local church creating human videos and plays or programs incorporating her love for inspirational dance. A few of her favorite authors include Jane Austen, Lucy Maude Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. You’ll find “food, fashion, fun, and faith” in Lisa’s novels. Sometimes she includes her own illustrations in her books.
She continues the joy and adventure of her writing journey as a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and LCW (Louisville Christian Writers). Lisa’s books are clean and wholesome, inspirational, romantic, and family oriented. She gives a generous portion of the proceeds to missions.
You can find out more about this author at www.LisaPrysock.com where you’ll find free recipes, devotionals, author video interviews and book trailers, giveaways, blog posts, and much more, including an invitation to sign up for her free newsletter.
Links to Connect with Lisa:
Saturday, July 14th, 2018
"Staying the Course"
Our July meeting will take us back to a presenter from outside the group, and I urge folks to join us for this one. We will be hosting John and Anne Hardin from Staying the Course Ministries.
The Hardins have a passion to inspire believers to grow spiritually as they walk in faith and service to an awesome God. From this passion, they have developed a ministry with multiple facets of both instruction and encouragement. When you visit the website (by clicking on the name above), look at the menu of links to find a variety of teaching portals, devotional stories, things to do for both kids and adults, and enough content to keep you busy for hours--maybe days.
At our meeting, John and Anne will tell us where Christian writers can join hand-in-hand with them in their passion to help all believers to stay the course and find a deeper walk with Christ. Some of our members have already submitted devotional offerings you can find on the site when you visit. Join us to learn how to add your content to this ever-growing and inspirational site. See below for the ministry mission statement and a few more links to their online presence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
On the website linked above, you can find a nice "Welcome Letter" from the ministry. Click the highlighted link to go directly to that page. Also, from the website, here is their mission statement...
“It is the calling of Staying the Course Ministries to guide you to a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ enabling you to stay the course through all stages of life and finish your race well.”
Here are some other locations to find Staying the Course Ministries in cyberspace...
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stayingthecourseministries
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/stcjourney
On Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/johnhardin31586/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staying_the_course/
Join us on Saturday, July 14th, 2018 for inspiration on staying your own course for Jesus Christ, helping others stay the course through your writing, and learning about a brand-new conference concept coming to you in 2019.
"Staying the Course"
Our July meeting will take us back to a presenter from outside the group, and I urge folks to join us for this one. We will be hosting John and Anne Hardin from Staying the Course Ministries.
The Hardins have a passion to inspire believers to grow spiritually as they walk in faith and service to an awesome God. From this passion, they have developed a ministry with multiple facets of both instruction and encouragement. When you visit the website (by clicking on the name above), look at the menu of links to find a variety of teaching portals, devotional stories, things to do for both kids and adults, and enough content to keep you busy for hours--maybe days.
At our meeting, John and Anne will tell us where Christian writers can join hand-in-hand with them in their passion to help all believers to stay the course and find a deeper walk with Christ. Some of our members have already submitted devotional offerings you can find on the site when you visit. Join us to learn how to add your content to this ever-growing and inspirational site. See below for the ministry mission statement and a few more links to their online presence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
On the website linked above, you can find a nice "Welcome Letter" from the ministry. Click the highlighted link to go directly to that page. Also, from the website, here is their mission statement...
“It is the calling of Staying the Course Ministries to guide you to a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ enabling you to stay the course through all stages of life and finish your race well.”
Here are some other locations to find Staying the Course Ministries in cyberspace...
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stayingthecourseministries
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/stcjourney
On Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/johnhardin31586/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staying_the_course/
Join us on Saturday, July 14th, 2018 for inspiration on staying your own course for Jesus Christ, helping others stay the course through your writing, and learning about a brand-new conference concept coming to you in 2019.
Saturday, June 9th, 2018
"Telling the Story; How to Capture Your Reader's Attention and Keep It"
Our June meeting continues our change of schedule to the earlier time (5:15 PM) and our year of leadership variety. Our leader this month will be a new LCW member and a Christian writing friend from the Lexington area. Pamela R Cropper-Vice is also a member of the 3rd Letter Writers group and has contributed a number of times to the group blog.
For our meeting, Pam will begin by telling us the beginning of a story. From there, she will segue into examples of attention capturing openings. That will lead to her handing out papers with a variety of different writing prompts for a timed writing exercise. When the time is up, we will share what we have put together from our prompts, and we will comment (in love) on each others' writing.
Join us for another chance to stretch your writing muscles and to find out what kind of story Pam will tell us. I'm excited to find out what she will be sharing. In the meantime, see below for links to Pam's individual posts on the 3rd Letter site.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Pam has written some interesting posts for her local writer's group in Lexington. Here are links to the individual posts she shared...
Join us on Saturday, June 9th, 2018 for a chance to tell your own story from the prompts in the exercise.
"Telling the Story; How to Capture Your Reader's Attention and Keep It"
Our June meeting continues our change of schedule to the earlier time (5:15 PM) and our year of leadership variety. Our leader this month will be a new LCW member and a Christian writing friend from the Lexington area. Pamela R Cropper-Vice is also a member of the 3rd Letter Writers group and has contributed a number of times to the group blog.
For our meeting, Pam will begin by telling us the beginning of a story. From there, she will segue into examples of attention capturing openings. That will lead to her handing out papers with a variety of different writing prompts for a timed writing exercise. When the time is up, we will share what we have put together from our prompts, and we will comment (in love) on each others' writing.
Join us for another chance to stretch your writing muscles and to find out what kind of story Pam will tell us. I'm excited to find out what she will be sharing. In the meantime, see below for links to Pam's individual posts on the 3rd Letter site.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Pam has written some interesting posts for her local writer's group in Lexington. Here are links to the individual posts she shared...
- A Total Eclipse of Belief: https://3rdletterwriters.wordpress.com/2017/08/21/a-total-eclipse-of-belief/
- Just Dreaming: https://3rdletterwriters.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/just-dreaming/
- Undercover Angel: https://3rdletterwriters.wordpress.com/2017/11/03/undercover-angel/
Join us on Saturday, June 9th, 2018 for a chance to tell your own story from the prompts in the exercise.
Saturday, May 12th, 2018
"Come Write With Us"
Our May meeting continues our change of schedule to the earlier time and our year of leadership variety. This month, Alan D. Murray (your LCW secretary), will guide us through some actual writing. Last time he led a meeting for us, David (the D between Alan and Murray), I (Crystal) was out of town. I came back to find a bunch of very happy writers who told me that he did a great job and I had a lot to live up to. That means it's likely going to be a fun meeting with some good interaction. Come prepared with your writing tools (laptop, tablet, paper tablet, pen, pencil, etc.) and your creative thinking caps.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
The one clue that hubby gave about the writing exercises for our May meeting is that we will need to come up with working titles. So, that's your heads-up in case you have an old manuscript idea that has fallen through the cracks. Maybe this meeting can be a chance to bring it back to life.
Join us on Saturday, May 12th, 2018 for a fun evening of ideas and prose. And, before I close this announcement, I want to throw in another reminder to consider the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in June of this year. The early-bird discount is over, but the full price of $249 is still a good deal for a conference that includes two days of classes plus meals, great fellowship with other Christian writers, morning worship and music services, and all right here nearby. If you're an author, prices of table space and advertising are also very good. Visit the site for more information.
"Come Write With Us"
Our May meeting continues our change of schedule to the earlier time and our year of leadership variety. This month, Alan D. Murray (your LCW secretary), will guide us through some actual writing. Last time he led a meeting for us, David (the D between Alan and Murray), I (Crystal) was out of town. I came back to find a bunch of very happy writers who told me that he did a great job and I had a lot to live up to. That means it's likely going to be a fun meeting with some good interaction. Come prepared with your writing tools (laptop, tablet, paper tablet, pen, pencil, etc.) and your creative thinking caps.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
The one clue that hubby gave about the writing exercises for our May meeting is that we will need to come up with working titles. So, that's your heads-up in case you have an old manuscript idea that has fallen through the cracks. Maybe this meeting can be a chance to bring it back to life.
Join us on Saturday, May 12th, 2018 for a fun evening of ideas and prose. And, before I close this announcement, I want to throw in another reminder to consider the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in June of this year. The early-bird discount is over, but the full price of $249 is still a good deal for a conference that includes two days of classes plus meals, great fellowship with other Christian writers, morning worship and music services, and all right here nearby. If you're an author, prices of table space and advertising are also very good. Visit the site for more information.
Saturday, April 14th, 2018
"The Benefits of Rhythm and Rhyme"
Our April meeting continues our change of schedule to an earlier time and our year of leadership variety. This month, yours truly (your LCW president and often-last-minute webmaster), will share what I know best...poetry. April is my favorite month of the year because it's the month I celebrate my wedding anniversary and it's also the annual celebration of "National Poetry Month." See below for more about my planned teaching.
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LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
I (Crystal Murray) have always been attracted to poetry in the form of restricted rhyme (think "Doctor Seuss") and later to haiku. I can write a poem or a couple lines of rhyme pretty easily, but I also try to learn about other forms and styles of poetry. Still, this month I will lean on rhythm and rhyme to teach how connecting your own ideas and stories to them can work as a mnemonic (memory device) for blurbs and back cover material. And, while I haven't tried it personally, I can't help but imagine that using a rhyme for an elevator pitch might get an editor's attention and maybe even help your story idea stick a little longer.
Join us on Saturday, April 14th, 2018 for a fun evening of rhythm and rhyme. Bring the back-cover blurb from one of your own books, or from your favorite book, and we will practice putting it into some short lines of rhyme. If you don't want to write your own, test me to see how quickly I can put some rhymes together for your choice of subject. See ya there!
"The Benefits of Rhythm and Rhyme"
Our April meeting continues our change of schedule to an earlier time and our year of leadership variety. This month, yours truly (your LCW president and often-last-minute webmaster), will share what I know best...poetry. April is my favorite month of the year because it's the month I celebrate my wedding anniversary and it's also the annual celebration of "National Poetry Month." See below for more about my planned teaching.
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LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
I (Crystal Murray) have always been attracted to poetry in the form of restricted rhyme (think "Doctor Seuss") and later to haiku. I can write a poem or a couple lines of rhyme pretty easily, but I also try to learn about other forms and styles of poetry. Still, this month I will lean on rhythm and rhyme to teach how connecting your own ideas and stories to them can work as a mnemonic (memory device) for blurbs and back cover material. And, while I haven't tried it personally, I can't help but imagine that using a rhyme for an elevator pitch might get an editor's attention and maybe even help your story idea stick a little longer.
Join us on Saturday, April 14th, 2018 for a fun evening of rhythm and rhyme. Bring the back-cover blurb from one of your own books, or from your favorite book, and we will practice putting it into some short lines of rhyme. If you don't want to write your own, test me to see how quickly I can put some rhymes together for your choice of subject. See ya there!
Saturday, March 10th, 2018
"Meeting with Harriet Michael"
Our March meeting continues our change of schedule to an earlier time and our year of leadership variety. This month, the meeting will be lead by our Vice-President (and yummy snack-bringer) Harriet Michael. See Harriet'sAmazon author page for all her books, and look below for a list of her books with individual links.
Harriet will lead the meeting, and she will also be talking to us about point-of-view, specifically "deep point-of-view" in writing. She will use the book "Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View" by Jill Elizabeth Nelson as her main source. While this topic is geared toward fiction writers, Harriet says the principles are quite applicable to nonfiction writers, too. As a multi-published author with several books (and more to come) as well as a freelance writer with over 200 pieces published in various magazines, we can learn much from the principles that guide Harriet in her writing life. She will also be teaching a class at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in June of this year.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Now, a little bit more about this month's meeting leader...
Harriet has been a valued member of Louisville Christian Writers since her first time in attendance. She is always helpful and desires to help our other writers improve both writing and marketing skills. And if you want an example of how to organize and track your submissions, Harriet is the one to watch.
In Harriet's last communication to me, she shared some good news about her publishing future, especially with her co-author (and childhood friend) Shirley Crowder. She said, "I just signed a contract with a small traditional press, Pix-N-Pens, to co-write 5 more books which will be released over the next three years." Read the story of this announcement on her blog: http://whathehasdoneformysoul.blogspot.com/2018/02/5-book-contract.html
You can also find blogged reprints of many of her published articles at her "What He Has Done for my Soul" blog at Blogspot. In addition, you can find her older books at Lulu and her current books at Amazon. Click on the links that follow...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few more notes...
Back in September of 2017, Alan David gave us an assignment to write about our walk with Jesus Christ. He suggested we give our testimony of making the decision to follow the Lord and whatever else we might want to include. He would like copies of what you come up with when you do get these completed. He hopes to compile and print them for each contributor. If you would like yours critiqued before you turn it in, be sure and stay for our critique session.
"Meeting with Harriet Michael"
Our March meeting continues our change of schedule to an earlier time and our year of leadership variety. This month, the meeting will be lead by our Vice-President (and yummy snack-bringer) Harriet Michael. See Harriet'sAmazon author page for all her books, and look below for a list of her books with individual links.
Harriet will lead the meeting, and she will also be talking to us about point-of-view, specifically "deep point-of-view" in writing. She will use the book "Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View" by Jill Elizabeth Nelson as her main source. While this topic is geared toward fiction writers, Harriet says the principles are quite applicable to nonfiction writers, too. As a multi-published author with several books (and more to come) as well as a freelance writer with over 200 pieces published in various magazines, we can learn much from the principles that guide Harriet in her writing life. She will also be teaching a class at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in June of this year.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Now, a little bit more about this month's meeting leader...
Harriet has been a valued member of Louisville Christian Writers since her first time in attendance. She is always helpful and desires to help our other writers improve both writing and marketing skills. And if you want an example of how to organize and track your submissions, Harriet is the one to watch.
In Harriet's last communication to me, she shared some good news about her publishing future, especially with her co-author (and childhood friend) Shirley Crowder. She said, "I just signed a contract with a small traditional press, Pix-N-Pens, to co-write 5 more books which will be released over the next three years." Read the story of this announcement on her blog: http://whathehasdoneformysoul.blogspot.com/2018/02/5-book-contract.html
You can also find blogged reprints of many of her published articles at her "What He Has Done for my Soul" blog at Blogspot. In addition, you can find her older books at Lulu and her current books at Amazon. Click on the links that follow...
- Prayer Warrior's Guide--Part 1 (Lulu Ebook)
- Prayer Warrior's Guide--Part 2 (Lulu Ebook)
- Prayer Warrior's Guide--Part 3 (Lulu Ebook)
- Prayer Warrior's Guide--Part 3 (Kindle Ebook)
- Prayer: It's Not About You (Kindle Link but Available in Paperback, too)
- The Whisper of the Palms (A novel available in Kindle and Paperback)
- Glimpses of Prayer: A Devotional (Kindle and Paperback Editions)
- Glimpses of The Savior: 30 Meditations for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year (in paperback by various sellers)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few more notes...
Back in September of 2017, Alan David gave us an assignment to write about our walk with Jesus Christ. He suggested we give our testimony of making the decision to follow the Lord and whatever else we might want to include. He would like copies of what you come up with when you do get these completed. He hopes to compile and print them for each contributor. If you would like yours critiqued before you turn it in, be sure and stay for our critique session.
Saturday, February 10th, 2018
"Meeting with Hallee Bridgeman"
Our February meeting will bring a change of schedule to an earlier time, and it will start a year of leadership variety. Our monthly meetings will be led by different members of our group to give each member the opportunity to stretch and grow. Interaction with other writers, and being in charge of either speaking or bringing in some type of training or speaker, will be a great opportunity for each leader, and it will give attendees some surprises and variety as they attend.
Our next meeting will be led by Hallee Bridgeman of Olivia Kimbrell Press, and we are so excited. This award-winning author and speaker is a fount of information and encouragement who is requested to speak all over the world. In previous meetings, Hallee has taught us how she writes a book in six weeks (writing in layers), biblical dietary advice, and she has contributed an abundance of publishing information with her husband (who runs the Olivia Kimbrell Press publishing company) by her side. In 2019, Hallee will be the coordinator for the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Now, a little bit more about this month's meeting leader...
Along with being a wife, mother, and homemaker, Hallee is a prolific writer. In addition to her 20+ novels, a simple search of her name will lead you to novellas, short stories, devotions, and an active blog with writing advice, author interviews, and so much more. It would be easy to believe her if she said she barely sleeps. Here are links to some of the places you can find Hallee and her writing online (all links open in a new tab/window)...
"Meeting with Hallee Bridgeman"
Our February meeting will bring a change of schedule to an earlier time, and it will start a year of leadership variety. Our monthly meetings will be led by different members of our group to give each member the opportunity to stretch and grow. Interaction with other writers, and being in charge of either speaking or bringing in some type of training or speaker, will be a great opportunity for each leader, and it will give attendees some surprises and variety as they attend.
Our next meeting will be led by Hallee Bridgeman of Olivia Kimbrell Press, and we are so excited. This award-winning author and speaker is a fount of information and encouragement who is requested to speak all over the world. In previous meetings, Hallee has taught us how she writes a book in six weeks (writing in layers), biblical dietary advice, and she has contributed an abundance of publishing information with her husband (who runs the Olivia Kimbrell Press publishing company) by her side. In 2019, Hallee will be the coordinator for the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Now, a little bit more about this month's meeting leader...
Along with being a wife, mother, and homemaker, Hallee is a prolific writer. In addition to her 20+ novels, a simple search of her name will lead you to novellas, short stories, devotions, and an active blog with writing advice, author interviews, and so much more. It would be easy to believe her if she said she barely sleeps. Here are links to some of the places you can find Hallee and her writing online (all links open in a new tab/window)...
- Hallee's author page on Facebook
- Hallee at Goodreads
- Hallee on Twitter
- Her profile on LinkedIn
- Hallee's Old Blog (Hallee the Homemaker) and...
- A Seekerville guest article on Book Cover Design Principles
2017 Meetings--Most Recent First
Saturday, November 11th, 2017
"Songwriting, Part II"
For our November meeting, we will bring in Trapier Michael to present "Songwriting, Part II." Trapier is the son of our Vice President, Harriet Michael, and is a prolific songwriter, mostly country in his writing style. He is a gifted musician who has been writing songs since he was 11 years old.
Trapier is also a master of the hook (the part of the song, usually the refrain, that makes it stick in a person's head). It will be a fun evening where he will bring his guitar and entertain us with some of his music as well as explain how he writes his songs.
You can read more about Trapier's method of songwriting at www.tkmo.co/songwriting
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
A little more info on songwriting...
First, check the archives for September 2017, and look at the links I provided for songwriters and lyricists. Then, check below for some more usable links.
1. The first link I'll give is... speedsongwriting.com/ which has information on writing a song quickly. You can provide an email address to receive a free PDF with all kinds of great songwriting information. You will then receive emails offering you more products that may be of interest to songwriters.
2. Songwriting Without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice (Kindle Edition) is a unique book by Pat Pattison using sensory detail to inspire lyrics.
3. www.christiansongwriting.com/information/ is a social network for Christian songwriters that also includes an annual contest. The submissions must have both lyrics and music, but the submission fee is only $35 and there are some impressive prizes.
4. Never Look at the Empty Seats: A Memoir (Kindle Edition) is a book by Charlie Daniels that not only showcases his life as a songwriter but also shares the role God has played in his life as a performing artist and in his home life as well.
5. Top 10 Best Songwriting Books is a blog post from the Songwriting.net website. Lots of great info (and another big contest) at this site.
6. From my Scribd article The Poetry of Poetry, here are a few notes about rhythm and meter...
RHYTHM: In ancient Greece, they referred to rhythm as the long and short syllables of words. These long and short syllables correspond to quarter notes and half notes in our written music today. For example, if you take the word syllable and break it up, (syl-la-ble), it has three syllables in it.
IAMB: An iamb or iambus is a "metrical foot" used in various types of poetry (including lyrics). The foot consists of a short syllable followed by a long syllable (as in i-amb). One syllable is accented and the next is not as in "a-bove" where "bove" is accented. It sounds like "Da-DUM."
METER: Meter refers to how the feet are put together to form lines of poetry or lyrics. The combinations of long and short syllables give poetry a lyrical feel.
STANZA: In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In songs, we call these verses and choruses. In Italian, the term stanza means, "stopping place."
Note: Read the entire article for even more poetic knowledge and fun.
7. And last, an interesting Christian songwriting website (http://worshipofheaven.com) has as its mission to use songs for ministry by encouraging songwriters and lyricists to contribute copyright-free material. They encourage songwriters to tithe on their written works to get out the Word of God through worship materials that do not require royalty payment. In reading their legal terms, users are entitled to charge for recordings made from these uncopyrighted songs, but the ownership never changes. For songs you feel need to reach audiences to stir their hearts toward The Lord, prayerfully consider this place as an offering of your intuitive works, but please read their Legal Framework page to make sure you want to let go of works you submit according to their guidelines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few more notes...
In September, Alan David gave us an assignment to write about our walk with Jesus Christ. He suggested we give our testimony of making the decision to follow the Lord and whatever else we might want to include.
"Songwriting, Part II"
For our November meeting, we will bring in Trapier Michael to present "Songwriting, Part II." Trapier is the son of our Vice President, Harriet Michael, and is a prolific songwriter, mostly country in his writing style. He is a gifted musician who has been writing songs since he was 11 years old.
Trapier is also a master of the hook (the part of the song, usually the refrain, that makes it stick in a person's head). It will be a fun evening where he will bring his guitar and entertain us with some of his music as well as explain how he writes his songs.
You can read more about Trapier's method of songwriting at www.tkmo.co/songwriting
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
A little more info on songwriting...
First, check the archives for September 2017, and look at the links I provided for songwriters and lyricists. Then, check below for some more usable links.
1. The first link I'll give is... speedsongwriting.com/ which has information on writing a song quickly. You can provide an email address to receive a free PDF with all kinds of great songwriting information. You will then receive emails offering you more products that may be of interest to songwriters.
2. Songwriting Without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice (Kindle Edition) is a unique book by Pat Pattison using sensory detail to inspire lyrics.
3. www.christiansongwriting.com/information/ is a social network for Christian songwriters that also includes an annual contest. The submissions must have both lyrics and music, but the submission fee is only $35 and there are some impressive prizes.
4. Never Look at the Empty Seats: A Memoir (Kindle Edition) is a book by Charlie Daniels that not only showcases his life as a songwriter but also shares the role God has played in his life as a performing artist and in his home life as well.
5. Top 10 Best Songwriting Books is a blog post from the Songwriting.net website. Lots of great info (and another big contest) at this site.
6. From my Scribd article The Poetry of Poetry, here are a few notes about rhythm and meter...
RHYTHM: In ancient Greece, they referred to rhythm as the long and short syllables of words. These long and short syllables correspond to quarter notes and half notes in our written music today. For example, if you take the word syllable and break it up, (syl-la-ble), it has three syllables in it.
IAMB: An iamb or iambus is a "metrical foot" used in various types of poetry (including lyrics). The foot consists of a short syllable followed by a long syllable (as in i-amb). One syllable is accented and the next is not as in "a-bove" where "bove" is accented. It sounds like "Da-DUM."
METER: Meter refers to how the feet are put together to form lines of poetry or lyrics. The combinations of long and short syllables give poetry a lyrical feel.
STANZA: In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In songs, we call these verses and choruses. In Italian, the term stanza means, "stopping place."
Note: Read the entire article for even more poetic knowledge and fun.
7. And last, an interesting Christian songwriting website (http://worshipofheaven.com) has as its mission to use songs for ministry by encouraging songwriters and lyricists to contribute copyright-free material. They encourage songwriters to tithe on their written works to get out the Word of God through worship materials that do not require royalty payment. In reading their legal terms, users are entitled to charge for recordings made from these uncopyrighted songs, but the ownership never changes. For songs you feel need to reach audiences to stir their hearts toward The Lord, prayerfully consider this place as an offering of your intuitive works, but please read their Legal Framework page to make sure you want to let go of works you submit according to their guidelines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few more notes...
In September, Alan David gave us an assignment to write about our walk with Jesus Christ. He suggested we give our testimony of making the decision to follow the Lord and whatever else we might want to include.
- 1. We recommend you bring those testimonies for critique time.
- 2. All who turn in a story when the edits are done will receive a free book once we compile and print them.
- 3. A book of testimonies can inspire us when we need it, and it can also be used to share with those who do not yet follow Christ. We hope it will be a well-used gift once we get it put together.
Saturday, October 14th, 2017
"Getting to Know LCW"
Come See Us and Have a Chat
For our October meeting, we will share our wares (as in books, articles, etc.) AND...we will share the other aspects of writers who are part of LCW. For example, some of us make jewelry, some of us sell beauty products, some of us are active collectors, and some of us think journaling and scrapbooking are the greatest pastimes.
We will open the doors at 5:00 PM for authors to come in and set up a table to tell others all about themselves. We will have chairs in front of each table so guests and other writers can visit each table for a chat and a look at the items on display. It will be a little like a book fair except for two things...
1. Our writers will present more than just their publications; and...
2. Due to the non-profit policy of the meeting location (Audubon Hospital),
we are not able to sell things as part of our writer's gatherings.
We recommend our authors and members bring a clipboard and paper or a notebook to create a mailing list from their guests. Authors may also consider hosting drawings for some free item as return for mailing list sign-ups. Whether you show up as an author or a guest, you should have an enjoyable visit with us for this month.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
A few more notes...
Regarding the critique session: Last month, Alan David gave us an assignment to write about our walk with Jesus Christ. He suggested we give our testimony of making the decision to follow the Lord and whatever else we might want to include.
Some suggestions for our authors who want to sell some of the items they represent at the "Getting to Know LCW" gathering...
"Getting to Know LCW"
Come See Us and Have a Chat
For our October meeting, we will share our wares (as in books, articles, etc.) AND...we will share the other aspects of writers who are part of LCW. For example, some of us make jewelry, some of us sell beauty products, some of us are active collectors, and some of us think journaling and scrapbooking are the greatest pastimes.
We will open the doors at 5:00 PM for authors to come in and set up a table to tell others all about themselves. We will have chairs in front of each table so guests and other writers can visit each table for a chat and a look at the items on display. It will be a little like a book fair except for two things...
1. Our writers will present more than just their publications; and...
2. Due to the non-profit policy of the meeting location (Audubon Hospital),
we are not able to sell things as part of our writer's gatherings.
We recommend our authors and members bring a clipboard and paper or a notebook to create a mailing list from their guests. Authors may also consider hosting drawings for some free item as return for mailing list sign-ups. Whether you show up as an author or a guest, you should have an enjoyable visit with us for this month.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
A few more notes...
Regarding the critique session: Last month, Alan David gave us an assignment to write about our walk with Jesus Christ. He suggested we give our testimony of making the decision to follow the Lord and whatever else we might want to include.
- 1. We recommend you bring those testimonies for critique time.
- 2. All who turn in a story when the edits are done will receive a free book once we compile and print them.
- 3. A book of testimonies can inspire us when we need it, and it can also be used to share with those who do not yet follow Christ. We hope it will be a well-used gift once we get it put together.
Some suggestions for our authors who want to sell some of the items they represent at the "Getting to Know LCW" gathering...
- 1. Take orders for sales.
- 2. Make plans to meet outside the hospital (there are many nearby locations outside the hospital where you can exchange payments and merchandise).
- 3. Give out cards with links if your products are available online.
Saturday, September 9th, 2017
"Music and Lyrics"
The Joy of Singing and Songwriting
For our September meeting, we will sing. And, we will write. And we will sing some more. And we will write some more. Because...according to the Scripture in 1 Samuel 16:23, music can calm a troubled soul (or a troubled Saul...lol). And, besides that, writing lyrics is probably easier than you think.
For this meeting, please bring your writing tools and your praise hat. We will have open discussion on what makes songs special to each of us and how we can contribute to that market. We had a great class on telling stories in song at this year's KCWC, and the girl who instructed the class even has a songwriter's group on Facebook.
Whether you have written songs, want to write songs, or just enjoy singing praises to God no matter who wrote the lyrics, come join us for a melodic LCW gathering. I'll add some helpful links for songwriters after the basic information table.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some Helpful or Fun Links for Lyricists and Songwriters...
Here's a great article (that's really two articles if you also read the "How to Write a Really Mediocre Worship Song" referenced in the first paragraph).
How to Write a Really Good Worship Song By Bob Kilpatrick
For support and valuable instruction in songwriting (albeit only a few Christian songwriters there), the group NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) is a great resource. They even have a local chapter in Louisville. It meets the 2nd Monday of every month at Deer Park Baptist Church. 2017 is their 50th year of supporting songwriters and lyricists.
https://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/
For specifically Christian songwriters, there is also a group available. It's called "Christian Songwriters and Musicians International." Visit their site to learn about becoming a member or about upcoming events.
http://www.csminetwork.com/
Lydia Walker was one of the songwriting instructors at KCWC in June of 2017. She publishes through her own Nashville recording company named "Rustic Songbird." You can visit her site to hear samples of her music, and she runs a songwriting group on Facebook. The first link will take you to her page filled with resources for Christian songwriters. The second link to the Facebook group where you can request to join.
1. http://www.rusticsongbird.com/christian-songwriters.html
2. www.facebook.com/groups/198887453897722/
And now, just for fun, I always have to share something from my favorite Christian lyricists, that parody band called ApologetiX. Since we'll be "working" on songwriting, I'm bringing you a couple of cool videos about works.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Music and Lyrics"
The Joy of Singing and Songwriting
For our September meeting, we will sing. And, we will write. And we will sing some more. And we will write some more. Because...according to the Scripture in 1 Samuel 16:23, music can calm a troubled soul (or a troubled Saul...lol). And, besides that, writing lyrics is probably easier than you think.
For this meeting, please bring your writing tools and your praise hat. We will have open discussion on what makes songs special to each of us and how we can contribute to that market. We had a great class on telling stories in song at this year's KCWC, and the girl who instructed the class even has a songwriter's group on Facebook.
Whether you have written songs, want to write songs, or just enjoy singing praises to God no matter who wrote the lyrics, come join us for a melodic LCW gathering. I'll add some helpful links for songwriters after the basic information table.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some Helpful or Fun Links for Lyricists and Songwriters...
Here's a great article (that's really two articles if you also read the "How to Write a Really Mediocre Worship Song" referenced in the first paragraph).
How to Write a Really Good Worship Song By Bob Kilpatrick
For support and valuable instruction in songwriting (albeit only a few Christian songwriters there), the group NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) is a great resource. They even have a local chapter in Louisville. It meets the 2nd Monday of every month at Deer Park Baptist Church. 2017 is their 50th year of supporting songwriters and lyricists.
https://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/
For specifically Christian songwriters, there is also a group available. It's called "Christian Songwriters and Musicians International." Visit their site to learn about becoming a member or about upcoming events.
http://www.csminetwork.com/
Lydia Walker was one of the songwriting instructors at KCWC in June of 2017. She publishes through her own Nashville recording company named "Rustic Songbird." You can visit her site to hear samples of her music, and she runs a songwriting group on Facebook. The first link will take you to her page filled with resources for Christian songwriters. The second link to the Facebook group where you can request to join.
1. http://www.rusticsongbird.com/christian-songwriters.html
2. www.facebook.com/groups/198887453897722/
And now, just for fun, I always have to share something from my favorite Christian lyricists, that parody band called ApologetiX. Since we'll be "working" on songwriting, I'm bringing you a couple of cool videos about works.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. More Than Works (A parody of More Than Words by Extreme. Includes lyrics--and puppets.)
2. Don't Bring Me Cows (A parody of Don't Bring Me Down by ELO, includes lyrics.)
Saturday, August 12th, 2017
"The Purpose of Devotions"
(A Writing Exercise about Purpose and Audience)
For our August meeting, we will talk about writing with purpose; not just the purpose of being published, paid, and/or promoted, but the purpose of using our gifted talents to bless others.
For this meeting, please bring something to write on, something to write with, and some people in mind that you would like to write to. (And, yes, I know each of those clauses ended in a preposition, but that's a suggestion in writing and not a hard, fast rule. See Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips site for a great article on the subject.) If you cannot think of anyone to write to, I can tell you about a couple who have recently gone through a cancer diagnosis and surgery plus the loss of a kitty cat, and they could use some comforting words of devotion right now.
I'll give the exercise for the writing details below, so those who would like to work on it beforehand or because they cannot attend the meeting can be part of it as well.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing Purposeful Devotions...
We will each write one devotion, but we will write it twice because we want to see how things in our writing change when we change our reading audience.
For example, if we choose to write a devotion to a spouse whose husband or wife has been diagnosed with cancer, we want to write a devotion to a believing spouse that includes known (and maybe more complicated) Scriptures to comfort that spouse. But, if either the spouse or the one with cancer is an unbeliever, the words need to be a little different to make sure they are not preachy or religious. Instead, they may need to be given doses of Scripture in the same way you would give a newborn its formula.
Here are some suggested topics for writing a devotion to a person in need of Scriptural encouragement...
Choose a topic, and write from your heart. Remember to use Scripture but to use it according to your audience. For example, on the topic of financial troubles, you can tell a Christian to consider tithing, but for someone who is not yet a follower, you'll want to first encourage them to get to know God and then to trust Him as their provider.
If you need a little more instruction or help in writing devotions, I found a great article at WikiHow that gives wonderful details to the whole process, including audience. Find that article at http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Devotional. Also, I found an encouraging and informative post on the subject by Julia Bettencourt on her Creative Ladies Ministry blog at http://www.juliabettencourt.com/articles/devotionalwriting.html.
After we write, we can read our devotions out loud if there is time. If not, be sure to keep your copy to edit according to the guidelines of a publisher to whom you might wish to submit, or mail it to someone you know might need it...or both.
"The Purpose of Devotions"
(A Writing Exercise about Purpose and Audience)
For our August meeting, we will talk about writing with purpose; not just the purpose of being published, paid, and/or promoted, but the purpose of using our gifted talents to bless others.
For this meeting, please bring something to write on, something to write with, and some people in mind that you would like to write to. (And, yes, I know each of those clauses ended in a preposition, but that's a suggestion in writing and not a hard, fast rule. See Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips site for a great article on the subject.) If you cannot think of anyone to write to, I can tell you about a couple who have recently gone through a cancer diagnosis and surgery plus the loss of a kitty cat, and they could use some comforting words of devotion right now.
I'll give the exercise for the writing details below, so those who would like to work on it beforehand or because they cannot attend the meeting can be part of it as well.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing Purposeful Devotions...
We will each write one devotion, but we will write it twice because we want to see how things in our writing change when we change our reading audience.
For example, if we choose to write a devotion to a spouse whose husband or wife has been diagnosed with cancer, we want to write a devotion to a believing spouse that includes known (and maybe more complicated) Scriptures to comfort that spouse. But, if either the spouse or the one with cancer is an unbeliever, the words need to be a little different to make sure they are not preachy or religious. Instead, they may need to be given doses of Scripture in the same way you would give a newborn its formula.
Here are some suggested topics for writing a devotion to a person in need of Scriptural encouragement...
- Salvation
- Cancer diagnosis
- Other sickness
- Loss of a spouse/parent/child/other loved one/pet
- Loss of a friendship
- Loss of a job
- Depression and Giving Up
- Doubting or Questioning God
- Church split
- Pastor troubles
- Ignorance
- False Doctrine
- Financial Troubles
- Crumbled Dreams or Hopes
- Weakness and Lack of Willpower
- Dealing with Wolves in Sheep's Clothing (both in and out of the church)
Choose a topic, and write from your heart. Remember to use Scripture but to use it according to your audience. For example, on the topic of financial troubles, you can tell a Christian to consider tithing, but for someone who is not yet a follower, you'll want to first encourage them to get to know God and then to trust Him as their provider.
If you need a little more instruction or help in writing devotions, I found a great article at WikiHow that gives wonderful details to the whole process, including audience. Find that article at http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Devotional. Also, I found an encouraging and informative post on the subject by Julia Bettencourt on her Creative Ladies Ministry blog at http://www.juliabettencourt.com/articles/devotionalwriting.html.
After we write, we can read our devotions out loud if there is time. If not, be sure to keep your copy to edit according to the guidelines of a publisher to whom you might wish to submit, or mail it to someone you know might need it...or both.
Saturday, July 8th, 2017
Speaker: Lisa Prysock--Historical Fiction
For our July meeting, we are bringing in a writer, Lisa Prysock, who has visited LCW meetings since 2015 and who brought us some great interactive story-telling at last year's Christmas dinner. In addition, she recently helped one of our long-time members, Mary Varga, get her book (The Light Through My Tunnel) prepared and printed in record time. In her speaking, Lisa tells her stories with great body animation that makes it easy to follow along and listen. Find her full bio and links below.
For this meeting, Lisa will provide a handout with a summary on historical romance writing. In addition, she will teach and answer questions, and then she will also get us into a neat writing exercise on Constructing a Novel.
We should have a great meeting with Lisa, and we will no doubt hear some good news from those who have recently attended the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 22nd through 24th. See our archives for information to get ready for the 2018 conference.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
More about Lisa from her writer's bio...
Lisa M. Prysock lives in the countryside of beautiful, rolling Kentucky just outside of the greater Louisville area near horse farms and four-board fences with her husband of 19 years. She homeschools the two youngest of their five children (three grown). She and her husband live in an average, two story, Colonial style home they are continually updating-- with a funny looking Heinz 57 dog; an adorably dainty lady cat; two teenagers; a vegetable garden; numerous flower beds; and a tree house undergoing a remodel. When not in teaching or writing mode, she is teaching herself to play the piano and violin. In regards to that, she laughs: “It’s a pretty painful process, but I’m truly enjoying it!”
Lisa loves all things old-fashioned and has adopted a slogan of “The Old-Fashioned Everything Girl.” A few of her interests and passions include doll houses, long dresses and hats, gardening, reading the Classics, butterflies, swimming, walking, working out, cooking, sewing, crochet, cross stitching, arts and crafts, scrapbooking, decorating, and drawing.
Recently, her husband remodeled a room in their home with a picture window overlooking a valley which contains a creek and wooded area, transforming the space into a serene and sublime writing office/sewing room. “It’s a great source of peace and inspiration for me… and pure joy not to be writing from the busy kitchen amidst the household chaos on a laptop. Growing teenagers eating every five minutes makes for a constant stream of happenings!”
Lisa is an Amazon bestselling author of To Find a Duchess, an Inspirational Regency Romance; a Victorian Christian Romance Series which includes Hannah’s Garden: a Turn of the Century Love Story and Abigail’s Melody; and ‘The Lydia Collection,’ which includes The Redemption of Lady Georgiana (a Ruth love story of modern day Regency proportions), Protecting Miss Jenna (an Antebellum Era Christian Romance Adventure), and Persecution & Providence (a ‘Jane Austen-ish’ mail order bride story from the Pioneer Era). She is also the author of a devotional/Bible Study, Arise Princess Warrior and recently released The Shoemaker, an Old-Fashioned Regency Christmas Romance. Lisa writes clean and wholesome literature that shares her faith in Jesus Christ. She is a member of ACFW and Louisville Christian Writers. You can find out more about Lisa at: www.LisaPrysock.com
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/LisaMPrysock
https://twitter.com/LPrysock
www.LisaPrysock.com
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00J6MBC64
Speaker: Lisa Prysock--Historical Fiction
For our July meeting, we are bringing in a writer, Lisa Prysock, who has visited LCW meetings since 2015 and who brought us some great interactive story-telling at last year's Christmas dinner. In addition, she recently helped one of our long-time members, Mary Varga, get her book (The Light Through My Tunnel) prepared and printed in record time. In her speaking, Lisa tells her stories with great body animation that makes it easy to follow along and listen. Find her full bio and links below.
For this meeting, Lisa will provide a handout with a summary on historical romance writing. In addition, she will teach and answer questions, and then she will also get us into a neat writing exercise on Constructing a Novel.
We should have a great meeting with Lisa, and we will no doubt hear some good news from those who have recently attended the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 22nd through 24th. See our archives for information to get ready for the 2018 conference.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
More about Lisa from her writer's bio...
Lisa M. Prysock lives in the countryside of beautiful, rolling Kentucky just outside of the greater Louisville area near horse farms and four-board fences with her husband of 19 years. She homeschools the two youngest of their five children (three grown). She and her husband live in an average, two story, Colonial style home they are continually updating-- with a funny looking Heinz 57 dog; an adorably dainty lady cat; two teenagers; a vegetable garden; numerous flower beds; and a tree house undergoing a remodel. When not in teaching or writing mode, she is teaching herself to play the piano and violin. In regards to that, she laughs: “It’s a pretty painful process, but I’m truly enjoying it!”
Lisa loves all things old-fashioned and has adopted a slogan of “The Old-Fashioned Everything Girl.” A few of her interests and passions include doll houses, long dresses and hats, gardening, reading the Classics, butterflies, swimming, walking, working out, cooking, sewing, crochet, cross stitching, arts and crafts, scrapbooking, decorating, and drawing.
Recently, her husband remodeled a room in their home with a picture window overlooking a valley which contains a creek and wooded area, transforming the space into a serene and sublime writing office/sewing room. “It’s a great source of peace and inspiration for me… and pure joy not to be writing from the busy kitchen amidst the household chaos on a laptop. Growing teenagers eating every five minutes makes for a constant stream of happenings!”
Lisa is an Amazon bestselling author of To Find a Duchess, an Inspirational Regency Romance; a Victorian Christian Romance Series which includes Hannah’s Garden: a Turn of the Century Love Story and Abigail’s Melody; and ‘The Lydia Collection,’ which includes The Redemption of Lady Georgiana (a Ruth love story of modern day Regency proportions), Protecting Miss Jenna (an Antebellum Era Christian Romance Adventure), and Persecution & Providence (a ‘Jane Austen-ish’ mail order bride story from the Pioneer Era). She is also the author of a devotional/Bible Study, Arise Princess Warrior and recently released The Shoemaker, an Old-Fashioned Regency Christmas Romance. Lisa writes clean and wholesome literature that shares her faith in Jesus Christ. She is a member of ACFW and Louisville Christian Writers. You can find out more about Lisa at: www.LisaPrysock.com
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/LisaMPrysock
https://twitter.com/LPrysock
www.LisaPrysock.com
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00J6MBC64
Saturday, June 10th, 2017
"Today, We Write"
For our June meeting, we will get together and write. We will open our meeting with prayer, and then, after we conduct some basic business (such as a quick discussion about the possibility of permanently switching meeting rooms), we will share member updates and good news. From there, we will introduce the exercise(s), and attendees can apply them to whatever style of writing they prefer. We always have fun when we write or tell stories together, so we just ask everyone to come prepared with their tools for writing, their thinking caps, and a map to their imaginations for an evening visit.
Many of our members are preparing for the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 22nd through 24th, 2017. If you haven't registered, now is the time to get it done, so our caterers can prepare the right amount of delicious food. For now, though, here's the basic information you'll need if you want to attend the June LCW meeting...
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference...
(This information is from June 2017, but save the site for 2018 information. Watch for their early-bird registration near the beginning of 2018.)
KCWC has a theme for this year of "Cookin' Up A Story," and they definitely have a lot of ingredients in the mix. This will be the 21st year of a conference that started with one humble servant's dream and a few prayerful friends who helped her see it to fruition. Kentucky Monthly magazine published a wonderful article by Diana Derringer on KCWC and its founder, Kate Thomas. Read Composed from the Heartland for some great inspiration and history about the conference.
The keynote speaker for this year is Twila Belk aka "The Gotta Tell Somebody Gal."
Some publishing companies represented this year include:
Some presenters this year include:
And, a sampling of workshops for this year includes:
IMPORTANT!!! If you would like to attend KCWC, please visit
www.kychristianwriters.com/2017-conference/ to submit or download your registration form and payment ASAP. We have wonderful caterers, and they want to know how much food to prepare, so they can feed us all well. Visit and register TODAY!
"Today, We Write"
For our June meeting, we will get together and write. We will open our meeting with prayer, and then, after we conduct some basic business (such as a quick discussion about the possibility of permanently switching meeting rooms), we will share member updates and good news. From there, we will introduce the exercise(s), and attendees can apply them to whatever style of writing they prefer. We always have fun when we write or tell stories together, so we just ask everyone to come prepared with their tools for writing, their thinking caps, and a map to their imaginations for an evening visit.
Many of our members are preparing for the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 22nd through 24th, 2017. If you haven't registered, now is the time to get it done, so our caterers can prepare the right amount of delicious food. For now, though, here's the basic information you'll need if you want to attend the June LCW meeting...
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference...
(This information is from June 2017, but save the site for 2018 information. Watch for their early-bird registration near the beginning of 2018.)
KCWC has a theme for this year of "Cookin' Up A Story," and they definitely have a lot of ingredients in the mix. This will be the 21st year of a conference that started with one humble servant's dream and a few prayerful friends who helped her see it to fruition. Kentucky Monthly magazine published a wonderful article by Diana Derringer on KCWC and its founder, Kate Thomas. Read Composed from the Heartland for some great inspiration and history about the conference.
The keynote speaker for this year is Twila Belk aka "The Gotta Tell Somebody Gal."
Some publishing companies represented this year include:
- Olivia Kimbrell Press
- Clean Reads
- Elk Lake Publishing
- Kirkland Media Management
- Hartline Literary Agency
Some presenters this year include:
- Brandilyn Collins
- Hallee Bridgeman
- Buck Creasy
- Sara Turnquist
- Cyle Young
- Cara Putman
- Ralene Burke
- Carlton Hughes
And, a sampling of workshops for this year includes:
- The Four Ds of Story Structure
- Creating a Cookbook
- Preparing for Liftoff (Launching Your Book)
- The Elements of Humor
- Finding Your Place in Social Media
- Discovering Everyday Devotions
IMPORTANT!!! If you would like to attend KCWC, please visit
www.kychristianwriters.com/2017-conference/ to submit or download your registration form and payment ASAP. We have wonderful caterers, and they want to know how much food to prepare, so they can feed us all well. Visit and register TODAY!
(Important note for May 2017: we have a change in our meeting room...
We are moving this month from the community room on basement level L2 to conference rooms 1 and 2 on basement level L1.)
Saturday, May 13th, 2017
"Freelancing 101"
For our May meeting, we welcome back our member and group Vice President, Harriet Michael. Harriet has been quite busy with her writing since she last spoke for us in 2015. She has published three new books (see more information on these below) and has begun mentoring other writers. To learn more about Harriet's publications, visit her Amazon author page and consider ordering one of her books.
For this upcoming meeting, Harriet will share some of her tips for successful freelancing. Harriet Michael has written over 150 nonfiction pieces for Christian publications by well-known publishers including; Focus on the Family, David C. Cook, Standard Publishing, LifeWay, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Upper Room, Judson Press, and more. On Saturday she will cover the basics of freelancing such as writers' rights, how to submit, where to find paying markets, as well as answer any questions you might have about freelancing.
Read below for more information on Harriet's books which you will be able to get autographed at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 22nd through 24th, 2017. For now, though, here's the basic information you'll need if you want to attend the May LCW meeting...
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
To find out more about our former meetings, be sure to browse through our archives of 2014-2017 meeting announcements. The archives include links to on-site documents like our annual goal sheets. Click the archive link in the ribbon banner above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about Harriet Michael and her books...
Harriet has been a member of LCW for a number of years and has shared many valuable lessons with our group. Raised in Nigeria as a missionary kid, she has plenty of stories and anecdotes from a life filled with variety of the Godly kind. Whatever the topic in the group, she is often reminded of a something that has happened to or around her, and she tells us her stories with humor and encouragement. She has taken many of her 150 published articles and stories and shared them on her blog at What He Has Done for My Soul.
Her most recent publication is a story based on her parents' lives and published by Olivia Kimbrell Press. Visit the 2017 archives of her author blog to read more about the creation of the book and the process behind the story, including her cover reveal. Visit the Amazon book page to view and/or order The Whisper of the Palms.
Harriet also has a holiday season book, Glimpses of the Savior, from September of 2016 that she co-authored with a friend. That book is available on Kindle or Paperback at Amazon.
Many in LCW have read Harriet's wonderful book, Prayer: It's Not About You, and have enjoyed both her personal stories and the spiritual lessons she shares in it.
We look forward to Harriet's presentation this month, and to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
We are moving this month from the community room on basement level L2 to conference rooms 1 and 2 on basement level L1.)
Saturday, May 13th, 2017
"Freelancing 101"
For our May meeting, we welcome back our member and group Vice President, Harriet Michael. Harriet has been quite busy with her writing since she last spoke for us in 2015. She has published three new books (see more information on these below) and has begun mentoring other writers. To learn more about Harriet's publications, visit her Amazon author page and consider ordering one of her books.
For this upcoming meeting, Harriet will share some of her tips for successful freelancing. Harriet Michael has written over 150 nonfiction pieces for Christian publications by well-known publishers including; Focus on the Family, David C. Cook, Standard Publishing, LifeWay, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Upper Room, Judson Press, and more. On Saturday she will cover the basics of freelancing such as writers' rights, how to submit, where to find paying markets, as well as answer any questions you might have about freelancing.
Read below for more information on Harriet's books which you will be able to get autographed at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 22nd through 24th, 2017. For now, though, here's the basic information you'll need if you want to attend the May LCW meeting...
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
To find out more about our former meetings, be sure to browse through our archives of 2014-2017 meeting announcements. The archives include links to on-site documents like our annual goal sheets. Click the archive link in the ribbon banner above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about Harriet Michael and her books...
Harriet has been a member of LCW for a number of years and has shared many valuable lessons with our group. Raised in Nigeria as a missionary kid, she has plenty of stories and anecdotes from a life filled with variety of the Godly kind. Whatever the topic in the group, she is often reminded of a something that has happened to or around her, and she tells us her stories with humor and encouragement. She has taken many of her 150 published articles and stories and shared them on her blog at What He Has Done for My Soul.
Her most recent publication is a story based on her parents' lives and published by Olivia Kimbrell Press. Visit the 2017 archives of her author blog to read more about the creation of the book and the process behind the story, including her cover reveal. Visit the Amazon book page to view and/or order The Whisper of the Palms.
Harriet also has a holiday season book, Glimpses of the Savior, from September of 2016 that she co-authored with a friend. That book is available on Kindle or Paperback at Amazon.
Many in LCW have read Harriet's wonderful book, Prayer: It's Not About You, and have enjoyed both her personal stories and the spiritual lessons she shares in it.
We look forward to Harriet's presentation this month, and to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
Saturday, April 8th, 2017
For our April meeting, we welcome Kristy Horine, a writer and teacher from Paris, Kentucky. Kristy is the founder of 3rd Letter Writers in Lexington, and this year, she is the publicity chairwoman for the 2017 Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference in Elizabethtown. See below for more information on Kristy, including a link to her blog.
At Saturday's meeting, Kristy will teach the cinquain, a five-line, 22-syllable poem. She shared this form with the 3rd Letter Christian Writers and it was met with trepidation at first, then wholehearted acceptance. In addition, she will share how writers can use Zines" to storyboard, make a personal impact, find and document writing ideas, or just turn on a bit of artistic flair to let the write brain rest. Zines found their genesis in a counter-culture movement. With Christianity being counter-culture these days, there just might be no time like the present to learn a new form of creative expression.
Continue below for more on Kristy and her prolific writing experience. For now, though, here's the basic information you'll need if you want to attend the April LCW meeting...
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about Kristy in her own words...
Kristy Horine is a Kentucky writer: journalist by trade; creative by grace. Throughout her professional career, she has served in many capacities from fetching coffee, to leading classrooms, to presiding over writing events. No matter what she has done, she maintains a servant’s heart, collecting stories as she goes.
As a journalist, Kristy wrote for newspapers and magazines across Southern Indiana and Kentucky including The Bourbon County Citizen, The Georgetown News-Graphic, Citizen Voice & Times, Business Lexington, The Lane Report, Evansville Parent, Lexington Family Magazine, Georgetown Magazine, Kentucky Monthly Magazine, KYForward.com, and The Bridge Magazine, produced by the Center for Excellence in Rural Health.
As a teacher, Kristy inspired and taught students in private homeschooling environments, public school environments, and as a community college adjunct instructor. In addition, she has taught micro-workshops for writers at public libraries across the region.
As Executive Director for the Licking River Writers Annual Writers Conference, Kristy gathered accomplished Kentucky writers such as Frank X Walker, Tom Eblen, George Ella Lyon, Crystal Wilkinson, Maurice Manning, Leatha Kendrick, Gurney Norman, Merlene Davis and others, and connected them with those whose greatest desires were to learn to write better, stronger and clearer.
Kristy has served as Editor-in-Chief of the literary journal Life’s Vivid Creations, as community liaison with poetry slams and book signings, as a mentor and advisor for Licking Valley Campus creative program called The Literati, and as executor of writing contests. Her personal creative work has won awards and been published in magazines and anthologies across the region. She is the founder of 3rd Letter Christian Writers in Lexington, and serves as Publicity Chairwoman for the 2017 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Her most recent writing move is the current Senior Writer and Editor with the University of Kentucky Office of Philanthropy.
She makes her life in Paris with her husband, Eric, and is the humble mother of four children – Hanson, Anna, Emy, and Sadie. In addition to being a wife and a mother, she is a daughter, a sister, an artist, a chicken keeper, a gardener, an active member at Central Baptist Church in Paris, and a friend.
She blogs at https://writeonereallife.wordpress.com/ and welcomes folks to stop by, drink in the words, take what they need and share what they get. She encourages everyone to sign up to receive the blog for free.
More than any of her past accomplishments, her desire is to remain a gentle and faithful keeper of stories, who tucks tales into the pockets of her heart and tells the words how to stand up right on paper. This gift of writing is beyond her; it keeps her reaching forward and writing with all her heart.
For our April meeting, we welcome Kristy Horine, a writer and teacher from Paris, Kentucky. Kristy is the founder of 3rd Letter Writers in Lexington, and this year, she is the publicity chairwoman for the 2017 Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference in Elizabethtown. See below for more information on Kristy, including a link to her blog.
At Saturday's meeting, Kristy will teach the cinquain, a five-line, 22-syllable poem. She shared this form with the 3rd Letter Christian Writers and it was met with trepidation at first, then wholehearted acceptance. In addition, she will share how writers can use Zines" to storyboard, make a personal impact, find and document writing ideas, or just turn on a bit of artistic flair to let the write brain rest. Zines found their genesis in a counter-culture movement. With Christianity being counter-culture these days, there just might be no time like the present to learn a new form of creative expression.
Continue below for more on Kristy and her prolific writing experience. For now, though, here's the basic information you'll need if you want to attend the April LCW meeting...
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More about Kristy in her own words...
Kristy Horine is a Kentucky writer: journalist by trade; creative by grace. Throughout her professional career, she has served in many capacities from fetching coffee, to leading classrooms, to presiding over writing events. No matter what she has done, she maintains a servant’s heart, collecting stories as she goes.
As a journalist, Kristy wrote for newspapers and magazines across Southern Indiana and Kentucky including The Bourbon County Citizen, The Georgetown News-Graphic, Citizen Voice & Times, Business Lexington, The Lane Report, Evansville Parent, Lexington Family Magazine, Georgetown Magazine, Kentucky Monthly Magazine, KYForward.com, and The Bridge Magazine, produced by the Center for Excellence in Rural Health.
As a teacher, Kristy inspired and taught students in private homeschooling environments, public school environments, and as a community college adjunct instructor. In addition, she has taught micro-workshops for writers at public libraries across the region.
As Executive Director for the Licking River Writers Annual Writers Conference, Kristy gathered accomplished Kentucky writers such as Frank X Walker, Tom Eblen, George Ella Lyon, Crystal Wilkinson, Maurice Manning, Leatha Kendrick, Gurney Norman, Merlene Davis and others, and connected them with those whose greatest desires were to learn to write better, stronger and clearer.
Kristy has served as Editor-in-Chief of the literary journal Life’s Vivid Creations, as community liaison with poetry slams and book signings, as a mentor and advisor for Licking Valley Campus creative program called The Literati, and as executor of writing contests. Her personal creative work has won awards and been published in magazines and anthologies across the region. She is the founder of 3rd Letter Christian Writers in Lexington, and serves as Publicity Chairwoman for the 2017 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Her most recent writing move is the current Senior Writer and Editor with the University of Kentucky Office of Philanthropy.
She makes her life in Paris with her husband, Eric, and is the humble mother of four children – Hanson, Anna, Emy, and Sadie. In addition to being a wife and a mother, she is a daughter, a sister, an artist, a chicken keeper, a gardener, an active member at Central Baptist Church in Paris, and a friend.
She blogs at https://writeonereallife.wordpress.com/ and welcomes folks to stop by, drink in the words, take what they need and share what they get. She encourages everyone to sign up to receive the blog for free.
More than any of her past accomplishments, her desire is to remain a gentle and faithful keeper of stories, who tucks tales into the pockets of her heart and tells the words how to stand up right on paper. This gift of writing is beyond her; it keeps her reaching forward and writing with all her heart.
Saturday, March 11th, 2017
"Fear Not; It's Only a Blog"
For our March meeting, we will repeat a topic from a few years ago, but this time we will practice what we preach. After we learn a bit about blogging (for the many in our group that have yet to venture into that world), we will each write a blog post from a list of ideas provided. Show up ready to challenge yourself to write as if you're going to be published but with the option of waiting for some confidence-building critique time before you actually release your baby into the wild blogosphere.
We are retraining in the blogging category because some of our authors have published first or new books and need to learn to blog for marketing. LCW has had a group blog for some time, and we feel it's a good way to let some of our members get their feet wet without starting their own blogs. We have reblogged a few posts from those who have blogs, but that has even been a few years ago. You can read them at our LCW WordPress blog.
Continue below for information on the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference and the chance to get a discounted tuition by taking advantage of the early-bird sale.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference...
The Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference (KCWC) is an annual writer's gathering held in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, each June. If you register before March 20th, you can get a great discount on the total tuition. Also, if you bring a friend, you will each save $15 off your tuition. Go to the registration page for more info.
In addition, you can find KCWC info at their blog, on Facebook, and onTwitter. For current information without having to visit the website, scroll down the homepage where you can sign up for the newsletter.
"Fear Not; It's Only a Blog"
For our March meeting, we will repeat a topic from a few years ago, but this time we will practice what we preach. After we learn a bit about blogging (for the many in our group that have yet to venture into that world), we will each write a blog post from a list of ideas provided. Show up ready to challenge yourself to write as if you're going to be published but with the option of waiting for some confidence-building critique time before you actually release your baby into the wild blogosphere.
We are retraining in the blogging category because some of our authors have published first or new books and need to learn to blog for marketing. LCW has had a group blog for some time, and we feel it's a good way to let some of our members get their feet wet without starting their own blogs. We have reblogged a few posts from those who have blogs, but that has even been a few years ago. You can read them at our LCW WordPress blog.
Continue below for information on the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference and the chance to get a discounted tuition by taking advantage of the early-bird sale.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference...
The Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference (KCWC) is an annual writer's gathering held in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, each June. If you register before March 20th, you can get a great discount on the total tuition. Also, if you bring a friend, you will each save $15 off your tuition. Go to the registration page for more info.
In addition, you can find KCWC info at their blog, on Facebook, and onTwitter. For current information without having to visit the website, scroll down the homepage where you can sign up for the newsletter.
Saturday, February 11th, 2017
"Fiction Writing Support with Ralene Burke;
ACFW Louisville Director"
For our February meeting, we turned to someone we know will fill the meeting minutes with information and encouragement for all writers, and with a special bit of support for our fiction writers. In addition to sharing snippets from her own writer's journey, we've asked Ralene to share details of what is offered by both the local ACFW group and by ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) as a whole. She will advise those interested on how to become a member in plenty of time before their 2017 conference in Grapevine, Texas.
Ralene Burke is a writer's writer in that she can usually be found doing some type of volunteer services for writers or offering wisdom and advice we often need. From her position as the Louisville director for ACFW, Ralene has grown the small local group into a full-fledged ACFW chapter for fiction writers in the Kentuckiana area. She has also volunteered for various positions with Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference (KCWC), an annual writer's gathering held in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, each June. See below for more information about Ralene.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
More about Ralene...
From the front page of her beautifully-designed website, you'll find this...
"I am the wielder of a freelance editor's sword and a fantasy writer's pen. Join me for writing tips, social media advice, and encouragement for your publishing journey! Whether you weave tales of fiction or want to help others with your nonfiction/website, there's a little something for everyone. And while you're around, be sure to check out my fantasy novel, Bellanok: The Reluctant Savior!"
In addition, you'll find links to her complete bio, her blog, and information on how she can help you with editing and marketing. You can also follow her onTwitter and like her author page on Facebook.
"Fiction Writing Support with Ralene Burke;
ACFW Louisville Director"
For our February meeting, we turned to someone we know will fill the meeting minutes with information and encouragement for all writers, and with a special bit of support for our fiction writers. In addition to sharing snippets from her own writer's journey, we've asked Ralene to share details of what is offered by both the local ACFW group and by ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) as a whole. She will advise those interested on how to become a member in plenty of time before their 2017 conference in Grapevine, Texas.
Ralene Burke is a writer's writer in that she can usually be found doing some type of volunteer services for writers or offering wisdom and advice we often need. From her position as the Louisville director for ACFW, Ralene has grown the small local group into a full-fledged ACFW chapter for fiction writers in the Kentuckiana area. She has also volunteered for various positions with Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference (KCWC), an annual writer's gathering held in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, each June. See below for more information about Ralene.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
More about Ralene...
From the front page of her beautifully-designed website, you'll find this...
"I am the wielder of a freelance editor's sword and a fantasy writer's pen. Join me for writing tips, social media advice, and encouragement for your publishing journey! Whether you weave tales of fiction or want to help others with your nonfiction/website, there's a little something for everyone. And while you're around, be sure to check out my fantasy novel, Bellanok: The Reluctant Savior!"
In addition, you'll find links to her complete bio, her blog, and information on how she can help you with editing and marketing. You can also follow her onTwitter and like her author page on Facebook.
Saturday, January 14th, 2017
"Planning Our LCW Writing Year"
Every January, LCW has a casual meeting and discussion to plan our upcoming year. We would love if every member and friend of LCW, and any Christians from the greater Louisville area who also write, would join us for this important meeting. If there is something you want LCW to present for you, help you with, etc., this is the meeting to make that known.
As part of our planning, we also want to include some speaker meetings for the year. If you have ideas for speakers, or if you are a speaker or presenter of writing topics, please join us for the January meeting to let us know what you can provide to help our writers. We offer a small honorarium and dinner, so what you bring to us is far more a gift from your heart than a work night. If you have something to share with LCW, please join us at the meeting or contact us through the e-mail below or through our Facebook page.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
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One other portion to our planning meeting is personal planning for our individual writers. We like to work together on our annual goal sheets, and then we gather in small groups to pray over each other's goals. You may download a goal sheet for your personal use whether you come to the meeting or not, and you are welcome to fill it out prior to the meeting and ask a couple writers there to witness it for you as an incentive. Grab your 2017 goal sheethere (in Word format), here (in RTF), or here (in PDF).
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"Planning Our LCW Writing Year"
Every January, LCW has a casual meeting and discussion to plan our upcoming year. We would love if every member and friend of LCW, and any Christians from the greater Louisville area who also write, would join us for this important meeting. If there is something you want LCW to present for you, help you with, etc., this is the meeting to make that known.
As part of our planning, we also want to include some speaker meetings for the year. If you have ideas for speakers, or if you are a speaker or presenter of writing topics, please join us for the January meeting to let us know what you can provide to help our writers. We offer a small honorarium and dinner, so what you bring to us is far more a gift from your heart than a work night. If you have something to share with LCW, please join us at the meeting or contact us through the e-mail below or through our Facebook page.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One other portion to our planning meeting is personal planning for our individual writers. We like to work together on our annual goal sheets, and then we gather in small groups to pray over each other's goals. You may download a goal sheet for your personal use whether you come to the meeting or not, and you are welcome to fill it out prior to the meeting and ask a couple writers there to witness it for you as an incentive. Grab your 2017 goal sheethere (in Word format), here (in RTF), or here (in PDF).
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2016 Meetings--Most Recent First
Saturday, December 10th, 2016
December brought LCW our annual Christmas dinner and "White Elephant" gift exchange. We played games, sang Christmas songs between each gift opening, and had some wonderful food and fellowship. We do not update the website for December since it is mostly an invitation-only gathering, but we look forward to seeing old and new faces in 2017, and we hope for some new writers who will join us for our 2017 Christmas dinner.
December brought LCW our annual Christmas dinner and "White Elephant" gift exchange. We played games, sang Christmas songs between each gift opening, and had some wonderful food and fellowship. We do not update the website for December since it is mostly an invitation-only gathering, but we look forward to seeing old and new faces in 2017, and we hope for some new writers who will join us for our 2017 Christmas dinner.
Saturday, November 12th, 2016
"Writing Exercise: Inspiration from the Past"
Each of us likely has at least one person in our past who we can consider an inspiration. Maybe it's a family member who braved the hardships of life after the 1929 stock market crash. Maybe it is a friend who fought a valiant fight against a health crisis and kept smiling the entire time. Maybe it's even a biblical (or other) historical character who upholds the personality and values you cherish as a goal for your own life.
For the first part of the exercise, your assignment will be to find at least three inspirational figures from your past or from the past. Make certain you have enough information about your chosen figures to answer some detailed personality questions about their lives and their beliefs. The questions are below, and for the next part of the exercise, you'll need to attend the November meeting or watch for an after-meeting update here.
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Some questions to create outlines of the character traits that make up inspirational people from the past. (Answer all questions for each person you choose to outline.)
Bring your character outlines with you to the meeting, or keep them for reference if you will work on this exercise later. These outlines will come in especially handy if you are participating in National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo.
UPDATE: We did our character outlines live and found some unique traits that showed what was important to each writer. These traits gave us insight for both our story writing and our lives. For example, one writer focused on Joshua from the Bible and then a women's ministry director from her church. After her descriptions, it was obvious that leadership was an important quality for her. As a novelist, that can then become an important trait for her main character whether she uses it as a hero trait or something her protagonist struggles with.
"Writing Exercise: Inspiration from the Past"
Each of us likely has at least one person in our past who we can consider an inspiration. Maybe it's a family member who braved the hardships of life after the 1929 stock market crash. Maybe it is a friend who fought a valiant fight against a health crisis and kept smiling the entire time. Maybe it's even a biblical (or other) historical character who upholds the personality and values you cherish as a goal for your own life.
For the first part of the exercise, your assignment will be to find at least three inspirational figures from your past or from the past. Make certain you have enough information about your chosen figures to answer some detailed personality questions about their lives and their beliefs. The questions are below, and for the next part of the exercise, you'll need to attend the November meeting or watch for an after-meeting update here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some questions to create outlines of the character traits that make up inspirational people from the past. (Answer all questions for each person you choose to outline.)
- Age range for the most memorable part of his or her life.
- Era description of your character's life. For example, did he or she live during the depression, during the hippie movement, in the Old Testament during a period of war or deliverance, in the New Testament during the life of Jesus, or in the time of one of the Great Awakening periods of modern religious history?
- Location description of your character's surroundings. Was your character raised in a tenement apartment, a trailer park, or a mansion on a hilltop? Did surroundings get progressively better or worse? Was your character an only child, an older sibling, the baby of the family, or a lost middle child among many siblings? Did he or she work at a young age, or was college to career the afforded path?
- If your character had two favorite quotes or cliches, what would they have been?
- Finally, what makes or made your character an inspiration to you personally? You may also answer what made him or her an inspiration to others if you like.
Bring your character outlines with you to the meeting, or keep them for reference if you will work on this exercise later. These outlines will come in especially handy if you are participating in National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo.
UPDATE: We did our character outlines live and found some unique traits that showed what was important to each writer. These traits gave us insight for both our story writing and our lives. For example, one writer focused on Joshua from the Bible and then a women's ministry director from her church. After her descriptions, it was obvious that leadership was an important quality for her. As a novelist, that can then become an important trait for her main character whether she uses it as a hero trait or something her protagonist struggles with.
Saturday, October 8th, 2016
Hopes and Dreams for Individual Writers
Our October meeting moved the original idea for the night to November and chose instead to focus on current dreams and whatever might be standing in the way of them. We had a small group, so we shared and prayed together. Sometimes, the meetings just work that way, but that's what makes LCW so unique. We are writers, but we are Christians first, and sometimes we just need to pray for each other.
Hopes and Dreams for Individual Writers
Our October meeting moved the original idea for the night to November and chose instead to focus on current dreams and whatever might be standing in the way of them. We had a small group, so we shared and prayed together. Sometimes, the meetings just work that way, but that's what makes LCW so unique. We are writers, but we are Christians first, and sometimes we just need to pray for each other.
Saturday, September 10th, 2016
"$22,000 Worth of Editing Advice for Free"
Yep! You read that correctly. Writers, get ready and get your pencils sharpened and your note-taking skills honed for a working evening of nitty-gritty instruction on the one skill every writer needs...editing. This September, LCW brings you Gregg Bridgeman, the Editor-in-Chief of Olivia Kimbrell Press™. Gregg will be teaching us from his own experience as an editor and publisher, and you'll want to attend if you want to know what a publishing company looks for when considering the acquisition of a new title or author.
Gregg may even show up in combat boots since he'll be joining us immediately following a drill weekend with the Kentucky Army National Guard, but hopefully, that doesn't mean he'll be making any of us drop and give him push-ups if we find ourselves woefully under-educated in the editing department. :-) We may feel like we've been to editing boot camp when it's all over, but if we apply the advice we receive, our future publishers and readers will thank us for our easier-to-read manuscripts.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
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A little more about Gregg (from the editorial page at Olivia Kimbrell Press™)...
Gregg Bridgeman began operating Olivia Kimbrell Press™ in 2011 acting as Editor-in-Chief. Then as now, he operates the press as a ministry. The primary objective remains that of lifting up and helping ministry-minded Biblical authors fulfill the Great Commission — to bring the Gospel message to the entire world — for every tribe and every nation. Gregg currently serves in the National Guard, is a decorated combat veteran, and is best known for his technical savvy and attention to the smallest detail.
Finally, it is important to mention that Gregg is the husband of Kentucky author, Hallee Bridgeman, and together they teach and support many authors as part of their ministry. They give freely of their time and knowledge, not just to authors who publish with their press, but also to authors and writing groups around the country. For some of Gregg's works, visit Amazon for a list of books where he is listed alongside the authors of works he has edited. There is a similar list at Goodreads where he is listed on each as Editor.
We're looking forward to fellowship with members and guests as we gather to hear Gregg's presentation. Be sure to come early for critique time to get the most out of our meetings. As always, may you be greatly blessed in every moment you live--and write--for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
"$22,000 Worth of Editing Advice for Free"
Yep! You read that correctly. Writers, get ready and get your pencils sharpened and your note-taking skills honed for a working evening of nitty-gritty instruction on the one skill every writer needs...editing. This September, LCW brings you Gregg Bridgeman, the Editor-in-Chief of Olivia Kimbrell Press™. Gregg will be teaching us from his own experience as an editor and publisher, and you'll want to attend if you want to know what a publishing company looks for when considering the acquisition of a new title or author.
Gregg may even show up in combat boots since he'll be joining us immediately following a drill weekend with the Kentucky Army National Guard, but hopefully, that doesn't mean he'll be making any of us drop and give him push-ups if we find ourselves woefully under-educated in the editing department. :-) We may feel like we've been to editing boot camp when it's all over, but if we apply the advice we receive, our future publishers and readers will thank us for our easier-to-read manuscripts.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more about Gregg (from the editorial page at Olivia Kimbrell Press™)...
Gregg Bridgeman began operating Olivia Kimbrell Press™ in 2011 acting as Editor-in-Chief. Then as now, he operates the press as a ministry. The primary objective remains that of lifting up and helping ministry-minded Biblical authors fulfill the Great Commission — to bring the Gospel message to the entire world — for every tribe and every nation. Gregg currently serves in the National Guard, is a decorated combat veteran, and is best known for his technical savvy and attention to the smallest detail.
Finally, it is important to mention that Gregg is the husband of Kentucky author, Hallee Bridgeman, and together they teach and support many authors as part of their ministry. They give freely of their time and knowledge, not just to authors who publish with their press, but also to authors and writing groups around the country. For some of Gregg's works, visit Amazon for a list of books where he is listed alongside the authors of works he has edited. There is a similar list at Goodreads where he is listed on each as Editor.
We're looking forward to fellowship with members and guests as we gather to hear Gregg's presentation. Be sure to come early for critique time to get the most out of our meetings. As always, may you be greatly blessed in every moment you live--and write--for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
Saturday, August 13th, 2016
This August, we are in for a treat with an award-winning local author, Betty Thomason Owens. Betty will be teaching us how to Research Your Historical Novel. While research technique can be applied to a multitude of fiction genres where the writers want to base as least some things in reality, those who love imagining what it might've been like "back in the good 'ol days" are surely going to enjoy this get-together. See below the basic meeting information for details on the class, and now, here is some information on our presenter.
Betty has recently won a Grace Award for her novel, Annabelle's Ruth. Read her site post of the announcement and her reaction for more information. In addition to this award-winning novel, Betty has four more novels and is a contributing voice to a four-novella set of stories about love and adventure by multiple authors. Find all her books, and follow her for updates, at her Amazon author page. If you are a fan (or want to become a fan) of Betty's historical romance novels, fantasy adventure novels, or romantic comedy novels, be sure to follow herFacebook author page and/or Twitter feed. Betty is also part of the crew for a blog for writers called Writing Prompts & Thoughts & Ideas...Oh My!
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A little more...
From Betty's overview document on the class...
Research Your Historical Novel
You can’t do too much research, but you can use too much of your research.
During this presentation, I will discuss the following:
We're looking forward to fellowship with members and guests as we gather to hear Betty's presentation. Be sure to come early for critique time to get the most out of our meetings. As always, may you be greatly blessed in every moment you live--and write--for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
This August, we are in for a treat with an award-winning local author, Betty Thomason Owens. Betty will be teaching us how to Research Your Historical Novel. While research technique can be applied to a multitude of fiction genres where the writers want to base as least some things in reality, those who love imagining what it might've been like "back in the good 'ol days" are surely going to enjoy this get-together. See below the basic meeting information for details on the class, and now, here is some information on our presenter.
Betty has recently won a Grace Award for her novel, Annabelle's Ruth. Read her site post of the announcement and her reaction for more information. In addition to this award-winning novel, Betty has four more novels and is a contributing voice to a four-novella set of stories about love and adventure by multiple authors. Find all her books, and follow her for updates, at her Amazon author page. If you are a fan (or want to become a fan) of Betty's historical romance novels, fantasy adventure novels, or romantic comedy novels, be sure to follow herFacebook author page and/or Twitter feed. Betty is also part of the crew for a blog for writers called Writing Prompts & Thoughts & Ideas...Oh My!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
From Betty's overview document on the class...
Research Your Historical Novel
You can’t do too much research, but you can use too much of your research.
During this presentation, I will discuss the following:
- You can find almost anything on the internet.
- Learn how to ask the right questions.
- You can find almost anything on YouTube.
- Make tracks – bookmark your pages.
- Download photographs (royalty-free please!) to a Pinterest page for your book.
- Keep accurate records of where you obtained your information.
- History.com
- Word of mouth
- Travel
- Find and read books and articles.
We're looking forward to fellowship with members and guests as we gather to hear Betty's presentation. Be sure to come early for critique time to get the most out of our meetings. As always, may you be greatly blessed in every moment you live--and write--for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
Saturday, July 9th, 2016
Picnic Time!
Summer is the time for picnics and family time, so July at Louisville Christian Writers will be filled with picnic fun. However, we plan to beat the heat by having our picnic indoors in our meeting room. So, get our your favorite picnic blankets and baskets and plan to join us on July 9th in the community room at Norton's Audubon Hospital on Poplar Level Road.
The plan is to move all the tables to the walls and open up the center of the floor for laying out the blankets for our members and their guests. Each attendee is encouraged to bring some kind of picnic-esque food to share in potluck fashion. LCW will contribute some deli trays and bread, so I'll add a list of other suggested items below. While we eat and fellowship, we will also take time to share some writings with each other, and we may even sing a chorus or two of Kumbaya since our greatest desire is to have our Lord "Come by here."
We're looking forward to fellowship and hearing some of the fun writings of our members and associates this July 9th. Bring your poems, stories, articles, song lyrics, or whatever you think you can share in 2-3 minutes, and prepare to have fun. In the meantime, may you be greatly blessed in every moment you live--and write--for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
Picnic Time!
Summer is the time for picnics and family time, so July at Louisville Christian Writers will be filled with picnic fun. However, we plan to beat the heat by having our picnic indoors in our meeting room. So, get our your favorite picnic blankets and baskets and plan to join us on July 9th in the community room at Norton's Audubon Hospital on Poplar Level Road.
The plan is to move all the tables to the walls and open up the center of the floor for laying out the blankets for our members and their guests. Each attendee is encouraged to bring some kind of picnic-esque food to share in potluck fashion. LCW will contribute some deli trays and bread, so I'll add a list of other suggested items below. While we eat and fellowship, we will also take time to share some writings with each other, and we may even sing a chorus or two of Kumbaya since our greatest desire is to have our Lord "Come by here."
We're looking forward to fellowship and hearing some of the fun writings of our members and associates this July 9th. Bring your poems, stories, articles, song lyrics, or whatever you think you can share in 2-3 minutes, and prepare to have fun. In the meantime, may you be greatly blessed in every moment you live--and write--for Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
Saturday, June 11th, 2016
This June, LCW welcomes our writers to get back to what they do best--write. We have a writing exercise scheduled that should work with both our love for writing and our love for The Lord. We will be writing about answered prayers, and we will be creating the project at the meeting so it will be a fresh look at the catalyst event. There are more details below (including a surprise detail near the end) but first, a local notice:
We want to remind everyone of the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference (KCWC) from June 23rd through June 25th, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Click the link in the name to visit the website and learn more about the 20th annual conference with Kentucky's own Sandra Aldrich as this year's keynote. From the "meet and greet" on Thursday evening (7:00-9:00 PM) to the closing prayer on Saturday afternoon, KCWC should provide encouragement and instruction for whatever phase of your writer's journey you may be in. It's a conference filled with information and covered with prayer--the best of both worlds for a Christian writer. Be sure to stop by the KCWC Facebook page and tell them LCW sent you.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
To find out more about our former meetings, and to make it easier to bring ideas for 2016, be sure to browse through our archives of 2014-2016 meeting announcements. The link is in the ribbon banner above.
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A little more...
You can begin now to make a list of possible prayer topics. You may wish to write on prayers that were answered with a "Yes" from God, prayers that were answered with a "No" from God, or even prayers answered with a "Wait" from God and include the "rest of the story" to tell us how it turned out.
We often think the best way to get an answer to our prayers is to pray them three times because that's what we read of Paul in 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10 as he sought God to remove a thorn in his flesh. However, if you read the passage in context, you'll note that Paul likely quit praying after three requests simply because he got an answer. It may not have been the answer he thought he'd receive, but he found peace in God's answer of "My grace is sufficient for you." What answers have you received from God that gave you peace?
Finally on the topic of prayer; recently I've been enjoying the message from Max Lucado "Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer." I have the DVD with 4 sessions, and I plan to bring it to the meeting to show at the end if anyone is interested. No session is longer than 20 minutes, and all 4 are power-packed with inspiration for your prayer life. You can see all the available products from this line at Amazon or at the Christian Book website, the latter of which includes a download for your computer. I highly recommend this study.
This June, we look forward to working together to write and share our own times of answered prayer. If you've read this far, you get the surprise detail of knowing that we have an author who is putting together a book of these prayers, and she will be looking for stories for her upcoming publication. This will be a paid publishing opportunity. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words, and we love to be a catalyst for writers who desire to be published. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
This June, LCW welcomes our writers to get back to what they do best--write. We have a writing exercise scheduled that should work with both our love for writing and our love for The Lord. We will be writing about answered prayers, and we will be creating the project at the meeting so it will be a fresh look at the catalyst event. There are more details below (including a surprise detail near the end) but first, a local notice:
We want to remind everyone of the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference (KCWC) from June 23rd through June 25th, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Click the link in the name to visit the website and learn more about the 20th annual conference with Kentucky's own Sandra Aldrich as this year's keynote. From the "meet and greet" on Thursday evening (7:00-9:00 PM) to the closing prayer on Saturday afternoon, KCWC should provide encouragement and instruction for whatever phase of your writer's journey you may be in. It's a conference filled with information and covered with prayer--the best of both worlds for a Christian writer. Be sure to stop by the KCWC Facebook page and tell them LCW sent you.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
To find out more about our former meetings, and to make it easier to bring ideas for 2016, be sure to browse through our archives of 2014-2016 meeting announcements. The link is in the ribbon banner above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
You can begin now to make a list of possible prayer topics. You may wish to write on prayers that were answered with a "Yes" from God, prayers that were answered with a "No" from God, or even prayers answered with a "Wait" from God and include the "rest of the story" to tell us how it turned out.
We often think the best way to get an answer to our prayers is to pray them three times because that's what we read of Paul in 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10 as he sought God to remove a thorn in his flesh. However, if you read the passage in context, you'll note that Paul likely quit praying after three requests simply because he got an answer. It may not have been the answer he thought he'd receive, but he found peace in God's answer of "My grace is sufficient for you." What answers have you received from God that gave you peace?
Finally on the topic of prayer; recently I've been enjoying the message from Max Lucado "Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer." I have the DVD with 4 sessions, and I plan to bring it to the meeting to show at the end if anyone is interested. No session is longer than 20 minutes, and all 4 are power-packed with inspiration for your prayer life. You can see all the available products from this line at Amazon or at the Christian Book website, the latter of which includes a download for your computer. I highly recommend this study.
This June, we look forward to working together to write and share our own times of answered prayer. If you've read this far, you get the surprise detail of knowing that we have an author who is putting together a book of these prayers, and she will be looking for stories for her upcoming publication. This will be a paid publishing opportunity. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words, and we love to be a catalyst for writers who desire to be published. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
Saturday, May 14th, 2016
This May, LCW welcomes our member and group treasurer, Lisa Greer. Lisa always brings us usable information, and she's great at answering questions for those who want to learn more.
For this meeting, Lisa tells me she'll bring an informal talk about places to generate income with your writing. Her focus will be mostly for a website called Envato Studio, so if you've ever thought of online income generation from your writing, this is the meeting to attend. There's more about Lisa and this topic below.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
To find out more about our former meetings, and to make it easier to bring ideas for 2016, be sure to browse through our archives of 2014-2016 meeting announcements. The link is in the ribbon banner above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
Lisa is one of those active writers who makes good use of time she finds between her work and family hours to engage in freelance writing for a variety of publications. She says, "I will go over with everyone how to get started on a site like Envato and how to set up your profile." She promises to teach us how to interact with clients to make sure we're not doing more work than we're really getting paid to do. She wants to share with people how they can make money on the side--whether focusing on writing a book or whatever other writing passions they may have.
In addition to LCW, Lisa is the conference historian, and a frequent presenter, for the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference. Here's info from the blurb in her faculty bio...
Lisa Greer is a contract analyst, writing contract language and handling negotiations for a local Fortune 300 company. She also does freelance writing and has over 300 published articles. Lisa has been a regular contributor to local publications such as Southern Indiana Living and The Capitol News. She and her husband own a freelance writing and photography business, Olive Tree Enterprises, LLC. Visit their site at www.olivetreeenterprisesllc.com.
This May, we look forward to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees to join us for Lisa's presentation. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
This May, LCW welcomes our member and group treasurer, Lisa Greer. Lisa always brings us usable information, and she's great at answering questions for those who want to learn more.
For this meeting, Lisa tells me she'll bring an informal talk about places to generate income with your writing. Her focus will be mostly for a website called Envato Studio, so if you've ever thought of online income generation from your writing, this is the meeting to attend. There's more about Lisa and this topic below.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
To find out more about our former meetings, and to make it easier to bring ideas for 2016, be sure to browse through our archives of 2014-2016 meeting announcements. The link is in the ribbon banner above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
Lisa is one of those active writers who makes good use of time she finds between her work and family hours to engage in freelance writing for a variety of publications. She says, "I will go over with everyone how to get started on a site like Envato and how to set up your profile." She promises to teach us how to interact with clients to make sure we're not doing more work than we're really getting paid to do. She wants to share with people how they can make money on the side--whether focusing on writing a book or whatever other writing passions they may have.
In addition to LCW, Lisa is the conference historian, and a frequent presenter, for the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference. Here's info from the blurb in her faculty bio...
Lisa Greer is a contract analyst, writing contract language and handling negotiations for a local Fortune 300 company. She also does freelance writing and has over 300 published articles. Lisa has been a regular contributor to local publications such as Southern Indiana Living and The Capitol News. She and her husband own a freelance writing and photography business, Olive Tree Enterprises, LLC. Visit their site at www.olivetreeenterprisesllc.com.
This May, we look forward to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees to join us for Lisa's presentation. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
Saturday, April 9th, 2016
Our April meeting should be very exciting for everyone. Whether you write for children, read to children, or love to write and read poetry, our speaker should bring something to the table for you to receive and grow from. Linda Villwock Baker from Baxter's Corner Publishing will bring hope and opportunity for any who want to be published within Baxter's line of books for children. More below along with a downloadable flyer.
If you plan to attend the April meeting, please consider joining us a little early to be part of the critique experience. Even if you do not have any writing to be critiqued, the help you offer another writer by perusing and commenting on the work he or she submits to the critique process is invaluable. You can critique as a general reader or as a detailed editor. Our writers need to hear the thoughts and suggestions from both viewpoints.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
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A little more...
Linda was referred to us by our member Joyce Cordell, and she has attended as a guest to a previous meeting. Those who met her already started writing stories they felt would be appropriate for Baxter's Corner, where an eclectic group of animal critters give children lessons and encouragements in the form of metered rhyme.
You can find Baxter's Corner on Facebook and the website address linked above. Also, from the "About Us" section on the Baxter's Corner website, here's a little more about Linda...
Linda Baker, also known as “Chief Pencil” at Baxter’s Corner, is a Louisville native who began her journey with the written word as an avid reader and now author. The route from reader to author saw Linda majoring in communications in college, where she began her career as a reporter for a Wyoming newspaper. She then put her writing skills to work in the public relations arena and most recently served as a marketer for nationally-touring Broadway shows. As a mother and with experience in the book industry, she also knows a thing or two about children’s books!
It was only natural that she would turn her creativity to authoring children’s books, so when the opportunity arrived to collaborate with artist Mary Ellen, Linda jumped at the idea. This partnership has Linda developing children’s stories in concert with Mary Ellen’s illustrations. Her lyrical style of writing charms children and offers teachers, parents and other caregivers a unique aid to stimulate their children’s imagination – by masterfully developing characters in her inventive, imaginative and instructive books that are paired with puppets and artwork.
If you'd like to view the PDF flyer with information about the books and requirements for Baxter's Corner, here it is.
We welcome you to join us on Saturday, April 9th. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month, and you are welcome to bring a guest with you if you like. Also, if you are looking for a speaker, or for an editor, proofreader, or ghostwriter, contact us and we will put you in touch with those from our group that do the type of work you need. We even have a couple of independent publishers among us.
Our April meeting should be very exciting for everyone. Whether you write for children, read to children, or love to write and read poetry, our speaker should bring something to the table for you to receive and grow from. Linda Villwock Baker from Baxter's Corner Publishing will bring hope and opportunity for any who want to be published within Baxter's line of books for children. More below along with a downloadable flyer.
If you plan to attend the April meeting, please consider joining us a little early to be part of the critique experience. Even if you do not have any writing to be critiqued, the help you offer another writer by perusing and commenting on the work he or she submits to the critique process is invaluable. You can critique as a general reader or as a detailed editor. Our writers need to hear the thoughts and suggestions from both viewpoints.
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
Linda was referred to us by our member Joyce Cordell, and she has attended as a guest to a previous meeting. Those who met her already started writing stories they felt would be appropriate for Baxter's Corner, where an eclectic group of animal critters give children lessons and encouragements in the form of metered rhyme.
You can find Baxter's Corner on Facebook and the website address linked above. Also, from the "About Us" section on the Baxter's Corner website, here's a little more about Linda...
Linda Baker, also known as “Chief Pencil” at Baxter’s Corner, is a Louisville native who began her journey with the written word as an avid reader and now author. The route from reader to author saw Linda majoring in communications in college, where she began her career as a reporter for a Wyoming newspaper. She then put her writing skills to work in the public relations arena and most recently served as a marketer for nationally-touring Broadway shows. As a mother and with experience in the book industry, she also knows a thing or two about children’s books!
It was only natural that she would turn her creativity to authoring children’s books, so when the opportunity arrived to collaborate with artist Mary Ellen, Linda jumped at the idea. This partnership has Linda developing children’s stories in concert with Mary Ellen’s illustrations. Her lyrical style of writing charms children and offers teachers, parents and other caregivers a unique aid to stimulate their children’s imagination – by masterfully developing characters in her inventive, imaginative and instructive books that are paired with puppets and artwork.
If you'd like to view the PDF flyer with information about the books and requirements for Baxter's Corner, here it is.
We welcome you to join us on Saturday, April 9th. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month, and you are welcome to bring a guest with you if you like. Also, if you are looking for a speaker, or for an editor, proofreader, or ghostwriter, contact us and we will put you in touch with those from our group that do the type of work you need. We even have a couple of independent publishers among us.
Saturday, March 12th, 2016
Our March meeting gets us back into the swing of things by bringing us two of our own members to share their efforts and successes. From one member, we will hear a recently published devotion and the steps the author took toward its publication. From another, we will learn at least some of the secrets for interpreting publisher's guidelines.
Our first presenter, Victoria Hicks, is one of the poets in our group. She has a heart for the Word of God and loves communicating what it means to her in poems and short devotional writing. After presenting one of her devotions at our critique group, a call for submissions came out that seemed to match the style, and when all was said and done, the publisher was happy to include her devotion in the next print.
Our second presenter has been a member for a number of years and has shared many valuable lessons with our group. Raised as a missionary kid, she has plenty of stories and anecdotes from a life filled with variety of the Godly kind. Whatever the topic in the group, Harriet Michael is often reminded of a something that has happened to or around her, and she tells us her stories with humor and encouragement. She has taken many of these stories and put them into stories and articles for magazines and Sunday School take-home papers, as well as other publications. Read more below the meeting schedule.
Meeting details are below, but in the meantime, here again are the downloadable copies of our 2016 goal planning sheets. Feel free to download and save them for your own goal planning guide. They are two-sided or two-paged depending on the format. Just right-click and save either the Word document or PDF to your computer...
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.docx
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.pdf
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Our member, Victoria, does not yet have a web presence to share, so if you want to hear from her or see how she writes, you'll just have to join us for the meeting. (Grin)
Our member, Harriet, is active in sharing her writing online through two blogs and other online media. I put her new book blog in a link you can reach by clicking on her name above. The link is to her "about the author" page, but the main page includes the book cover reveal for her new book (Prayer: It's Not About You) coming out very soon. I'm certain you'll find it on her Amazon author page once it is released. You can read many of her published devotions on her blog, "What He Has Done for My Soul," as well.
Our plans for LCW in 2016 include meetings with 15-30-minute spaces for all of our writers to share their creations. These sharing spots will be for members only, so if you have not yet paid your dues, or if you are interested in joining us, please see any member or officer for information. Otherwise, all are welcome to hear our writers present their articles, stories, poetry, etc., for the listening pleasure of our audience. We will try to accommodate one to two writers during these presentation meetings, and if time allows, we may add in a writing exercise as well.
We welcome you to join us on Saturday, March 12th. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month, and you are welcome to bring a guest with you if you like. Also, if you are looking for a speaker, or for an editor, proofreader, or ghostwriter, contact us and we will put you in touch with those from our group that do the type of work you need. We even have a couple of independent publishers among us.
Our March meeting gets us back into the swing of things by bringing us two of our own members to share their efforts and successes. From one member, we will hear a recently published devotion and the steps the author took toward its publication. From another, we will learn at least some of the secrets for interpreting publisher's guidelines.
Our first presenter, Victoria Hicks, is one of the poets in our group. She has a heart for the Word of God and loves communicating what it means to her in poems and short devotional writing. After presenting one of her devotions at our critique group, a call for submissions came out that seemed to match the style, and when all was said and done, the publisher was happy to include her devotion in the next print.
Our second presenter has been a member for a number of years and has shared many valuable lessons with our group. Raised as a missionary kid, she has plenty of stories and anecdotes from a life filled with variety of the Godly kind. Whatever the topic in the group, Harriet Michael is often reminded of a something that has happened to or around her, and she tells us her stories with humor and encouragement. She has taken many of these stories and put them into stories and articles for magazines and Sunday School take-home papers, as well as other publications. Read more below the meeting schedule.
Meeting details are below, but in the meantime, here again are the downloadable copies of our 2016 goal planning sheets. Feel free to download and save them for your own goal planning guide. They are two-sided or two-paged depending on the format. Just right-click and save either the Word document or PDF to your computer...
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.docx
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.pdf
LCW WELCOMES YOU TO OUR MONTHLY GATHERING
Our member, Victoria, does not yet have a web presence to share, so if you want to hear from her or see how she writes, you'll just have to join us for the meeting. (Grin)
Our member, Harriet, is active in sharing her writing online through two blogs and other online media. I put her new book blog in a link you can reach by clicking on her name above. The link is to her "about the author" page, but the main page includes the book cover reveal for her new book (Prayer: It's Not About You) coming out very soon. I'm certain you'll find it on her Amazon author page once it is released. You can read many of her published devotions on her blog, "What He Has Done for My Soul," as well.
Our plans for LCW in 2016 include meetings with 15-30-minute spaces for all of our writers to share their creations. These sharing spots will be for members only, so if you have not yet paid your dues, or if you are interested in joining us, please see any member or officer for information. Otherwise, all are welcome to hear our writers present their articles, stories, poetry, etc., for the listening pleasure of our audience. We will try to accommodate one to two writers during these presentation meetings, and if time allows, we may add in a writing exercise as well.
We welcome you to join us on Saturday, March 12th. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month, and you are welcome to bring a guest with you if you like. Also, if you are looking for a speaker, or for an editor, proofreader, or ghostwriter, contact us and we will put you in touch with those from our group that do the type of work you need. We even have a couple of independent publishers among us.
Saturday, February 13th, 2016
Our February meeting is often one of our least visited due to the proximity of the many celebrations of St. Valentine's Day that coincide with the second weekend of the month. This year, our meeting is the day before, but since it's a Saturday night, well, you know. :-)
So, for those of you who choose to join us this month, please come prepared to discuss your plans and goals for the rest of the year. We will work together in pairs (since it is a time for couples after all), and we will encourage and pray for each other to succeed in the dreams we set before ourselves for 2016. We may even have a shared writing exercise just for fun.
Meeting details are below, but in the meantime, here are some downloadable copies of our 2016 goal planning sheets. They are two-sided or two-paged depending on the format. Just right-click and save either the Word document or PDF to your computer...
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.docx
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.pdf
Our February meeting is often one of our least visited due to the proximity of the many celebrations of St. Valentine's Day that coincide with the second weekend of the month. This year, our meeting is the day before, but since it's a Saturday night, well, you know. :-)
So, for those of you who choose to join us this month, please come prepared to discuss your plans and goals for the rest of the year. We will work together in pairs (since it is a time for couples after all), and we will encourage and pray for each other to succeed in the dreams we set before ourselves for 2016. We may even have a shared writing exercise just for fun.
Meeting details are below, but in the meantime, here are some downloadable copies of our 2016 goal planning sheets. They are two-sided or two-paged depending on the format. Just right-click and save either the Word document or PDF to your computer...
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.docx
/uploads/3/5/2/7/35271440/2016_goals_sheet_with_backside_checkups.pdf
Saturday, January 9th, 2016
Our January meeting gave us many great ideas for the coming year. Watch the home page for each date as it comes up. We have some dates as of yet unoccupied, so if you have something to present to LCW, be sure to contact us to let us know you are interested. Speaking for us comes with a small honorarium, so your effort is more ministry than anything else, and we are grateful for every author/speaker who wishes to share an encouragement or bit of expertise with our group.
Please note the graphic with all the meeting dates for 2016 now available on the home page. Record those dates into your calendar to make sure you never have to miss a meeting because you forgot when it was.
Our January meeting gave us many great ideas for the coming year. Watch the home page for each date as it comes up. We have some dates as of yet unoccupied, so if you have something to present to LCW, be sure to contact us to let us know you are interested. Speaking for us comes with a small honorarium, so your effort is more ministry than anything else, and we are grateful for every author/speaker who wishes to share an encouragement or bit of expertise with our group.
Please note the graphic with all the meeting dates for 2016 now available on the home page. Record those dates into your calendar to make sure you never have to miss a meeting because you forgot when it was.
2015 Meetings--Most Recent First
Saturday, December 12th, 2015
The December meeting brought our annual celebration of members where each could bring one family member and have a meal. We held a white-elephant gift exchange and played games. This meeting is not always on the website since it is for members only. And that concludes LCW 2015, may your 2016 writing year be abundantly blessed by Our Savior and Creator, God Almighty. Amen.
The December meeting brought our annual celebration of members where each could bring one family member and have a meal. We held a white-elephant gift exchange and played games. This meeting is not always on the website since it is for members only. And that concludes LCW 2015, may your 2016 writing year be abundantly blessed by Our Savior and Creator, God Almighty. Amen.
Saturday, November 14th, 2015
(Please note ongoing change in meeting time.)
Our November meeting will bring us one of our own members to present her passion for journaling and how that can help us as writers. Member Cheri Bunch will share tips and techniques for making the most of recording our daily thoughts on paper. See below for more about the lesson she has planned for us, and come prepared to follow her teaching with an actual journaling or writing exercise.
More about our presenter: Cheri was born and raised in Kansas and moved to Kentucky a little over two years ago. She is presently employed at Langsford Accelerated Learning Center as a reading specialist, teaching people with reading disabilities. Cheri is also a writer with a passion for journal writing in addition to (her words) a "wanna-be of many things." She also has a busy life with 5 grown children, 3 of whom are married, and 4 grandchildren.
Now, here's a brief description of Cheri's journal topic in her own words...
I remember my first journal. It had a little golden key, and the pages smelled like a library. I loved opening it, scrawling on the pages, and rereading my thoughts. But even then, I wasn't good at writing in a journal every day. It never became a priority, but my love for journals increased with time.
You might find me in the journal section in Barnes and Noble on any given day. My favorite store in Venice, Italy, when traveling with our then 21 year old son, Luke, was a paper store that was stocked floor to ceiling high with beautiful journals.
I've decided it is the empty page that beckons my soul.
I have never consistently kept a journal, but I have created journals of many styles, shapes and sizes. I like to call it, "Journal Writing, Thinking Outside the Book." That is the title of the book I am presently writing on the subject.
I work at an accelerated learning center and find that kids have lost the art of handwriting, and creative writing is a challenge for most of them. I have offered some writing tips for journal writing. A few of them have really taken to it, and it has truly impacted them.
I would love to take my ideas into the local schools, and stir the creative juices in the students in this and surrounding communities.
I hope that it will be a blessing to many.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
We welcome you to join us on Saturday, November 14th. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month, and you are welcome to bring a guest with you if you like. Also, if you are looking for a speaker, or for an editor, proofreader, or ghostwriter, contact us and we will put you in touch with those from our group that do the type of work you need. We even have a couple of independent publishers among us.
(Please note ongoing change in meeting time.)
Our November meeting will bring us one of our own members to present her passion for journaling and how that can help us as writers. Member Cheri Bunch will share tips and techniques for making the most of recording our daily thoughts on paper. See below for more about the lesson she has planned for us, and come prepared to follow her teaching with an actual journaling or writing exercise.
More about our presenter: Cheri was born and raised in Kansas and moved to Kentucky a little over two years ago. She is presently employed at Langsford Accelerated Learning Center as a reading specialist, teaching people with reading disabilities. Cheri is also a writer with a passion for journal writing in addition to (her words) a "wanna-be of many things." She also has a busy life with 5 grown children, 3 of whom are married, and 4 grandchildren.
Now, here's a brief description of Cheri's journal topic in her own words...
I remember my first journal. It had a little golden key, and the pages smelled like a library. I loved opening it, scrawling on the pages, and rereading my thoughts. But even then, I wasn't good at writing in a journal every day. It never became a priority, but my love for journals increased with time.
You might find me in the journal section in Barnes and Noble on any given day. My favorite store in Venice, Italy, when traveling with our then 21 year old son, Luke, was a paper store that was stocked floor to ceiling high with beautiful journals.
I've decided it is the empty page that beckons my soul.
I have never consistently kept a journal, but I have created journals of many styles, shapes and sizes. I like to call it, "Journal Writing, Thinking Outside the Book." That is the title of the book I am presently writing on the subject.
I work at an accelerated learning center and find that kids have lost the art of handwriting, and creative writing is a challenge for most of them. I have offered some writing tips for journal writing. A few of them have really taken to it, and it has truly impacted them.
I would love to take my ideas into the local schools, and stir the creative juices in the students in this and surrounding communities.
I hope that it will be a blessing to many.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little more...
We welcome you to join us on Saturday, November 14th. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month, and you are welcome to bring a guest with you if you like. Also, if you are looking for a speaker, or for an editor, proofreader, or ghostwriter, contact us and we will put you in touch with those from our group that do the type of work you need. We even have a couple of independent publishers among us.
Saturday, October 10th, 2015
(Please note ongoing change in meeting time.)
Our October meeting will be a double blessing for those who show up early. Our speaker, Hallee Bridgeman of Olivia Kimbrell Press, will join us during our critique sessions for some dietary teaching from the Bible. She and her family have researched living on a Levitical diet, and she will teach us the accurate way to eat biblically--sometimes quite different from what is currently considered kosher. Be there at 5:15 if you are interested in learning some healthy eating habits according to the written Word of God. If you can't make it, you can pick up one of her three parody-titled whole food cookbooks. Just reading the description page for Fifty Shades of Gravy; A Christian Gets Saucy will tickle your funny bone.
Now, onto the speaker portion of our meeting which will begin at 6:30 PM and run until approximately 8:00 PM Hallee will be teaching us about writing in layers and how that has worked for her. Read more about Hallee and her writing below...
Along with being a wife, mother, and homemaker, Hallee is a prolific writer. In addition to her 18 novels, a simple search of her name will lead you to novellas, short stories, devotions, and an active blog with writing advice, author interviews, and so much more. It would be easy to believe her if she said she barely sleeps. Here are links to some of the places you can find Hallee and her writing online (all links open in a new tab/window)...
(Please note ongoing change in meeting time.)
Our October meeting will be a double blessing for those who show up early. Our speaker, Hallee Bridgeman of Olivia Kimbrell Press, will join us during our critique sessions for some dietary teaching from the Bible. She and her family have researched living on a Levitical diet, and she will teach us the accurate way to eat biblically--sometimes quite different from what is currently considered kosher. Be there at 5:15 if you are interested in learning some healthy eating habits according to the written Word of God. If you can't make it, you can pick up one of her three parody-titled whole food cookbooks. Just reading the description page for Fifty Shades of Gravy; A Christian Gets Saucy will tickle your funny bone.
Now, onto the speaker portion of our meeting which will begin at 6:30 PM and run until approximately 8:00 PM Hallee will be teaching us about writing in layers and how that has worked for her. Read more about Hallee and her writing below...
Along with being a wife, mother, and homemaker, Hallee is a prolific writer. In addition to her 18 novels, a simple search of her name will lead you to novellas, short stories, devotions, and an active blog with writing advice, author interviews, and so much more. It would be easy to believe her if she said she barely sleeps. Here are links to some of the places you can find Hallee and her writing online (all links open in a new tab/window)...
- Hallee's author page on Facebook
- Hallee at Goodreads
- Hallee on Twitter
- Her profile on LinkedIn
- Hallee's Old Blog (Hallee the Homemaker) and...
- A Seekerville guest article on Book Cover Design Principles
Saturday, September 12th, 2015
(Please note change in meeting time below)
Our September meeting will be a real treat for everyone. Writers are readers, but writers are also storytellers, and most of us enjoy a good yarn or two. In that vein, we have the pleasant joy of bringing a real Kentucky storyteller inspire and entertain us. Please invite your friends and join us as we welcome Don "Buck P" Creacy--America's Storyteller.
I'm going to share a number of links to Buck's places of online presence below, and you can read his storyteller profile on his National Storytelling Network page. In addition, I love the following bio he wrote for his page at Author's Den where you can also read a sweet story about the day he met his "Three Penny Momma"...
"I was standing by the riverside in the northern wilderness, no stars or moon to light my way, just a single black darkness. I could not see my hands, I could not see my feet, as I blindly searched for some dry leaves or maybe a few good twigs. Then I fumbled in my pocket and carefully struck the match and it burned as bright as any sun as the dark was driven back. I want to be a spark, I want to be a flicker, I want to be a glimmer of what's burning in God's heart. I want to be the sparkle in my father's eye as someone finds their way. The Ranger had us all sit down in the bottom of Mammoth Cave and he explained how lost we'd be if the light was taken away. And I knew he was going to do it, turn out the light like that, but I was not prepared at all, when the darkness turned to black. Then I heard the scratch on paper and I saw the first sparks fly and I watched as hope and comfort burned in every person's eye. I want to be a flicker, I want to be a glimmer, I want to be a spark!"
I found quite a few links where you can find Buck P Creacy and his stories online. Make sure to support this author and storyteller by considering a purchase of some of his digital stories at Amazon. Beyond that, here is a selection of places to hear some stories before and after our upcoming meeting (and all links will open in their own tab)...
(Please note change in meeting time below)
Our September meeting will be a real treat for everyone. Writers are readers, but writers are also storytellers, and most of us enjoy a good yarn or two. In that vein, we have the pleasant joy of bringing a real Kentucky storyteller inspire and entertain us. Please invite your friends and join us as we welcome Don "Buck P" Creacy--America's Storyteller.
I'm going to share a number of links to Buck's places of online presence below, and you can read his storyteller profile on his National Storytelling Network page. In addition, I love the following bio he wrote for his page at Author's Den where you can also read a sweet story about the day he met his "Three Penny Momma"...
"I was standing by the riverside in the northern wilderness, no stars or moon to light my way, just a single black darkness. I could not see my hands, I could not see my feet, as I blindly searched for some dry leaves or maybe a few good twigs. Then I fumbled in my pocket and carefully struck the match and it burned as bright as any sun as the dark was driven back. I want to be a spark, I want to be a flicker, I want to be a glimmer of what's burning in God's heart. I want to be the sparkle in my father's eye as someone finds their way. The Ranger had us all sit down in the bottom of Mammoth Cave and he explained how lost we'd be if the light was taken away. And I knew he was going to do it, turn out the light like that, but I was not prepared at all, when the darkness turned to black. Then I heard the scratch on paper and I saw the first sparks fly and I watched as hope and comfort burned in every person's eye. I want to be a flicker, I want to be a glimmer, I want to be a spark!"
I found quite a few links where you can find Buck P Creacy and his stories online. Make sure to support this author and storyteller by considering a purchase of some of his digital stories at Amazon. Beyond that, here is a selection of places to hear some stories before and after our upcoming meeting (and all links will open in their own tab)...
- "Story Telling Radio" at Live 365
- "Professional Story Teller" at Ning
- On Facebook at "A World of Storytelling Radio"
- Buck's YouTube page
- Follow him on Twitter or
- Connect to him on LinkedIn
Saturday, August 8th, 2015
Our August meeting will bring us some fruit off the writer's idea tree. Join us for a group writing project filled with ideas, creativity, and even a little learning along the way. We hope to write stories and share them as time allows.
With the summer heat, vacations, and back to school activities, August is often one of our lowest-attended meetings, but if we all pull together, we can still make it one of our most enjoyable. Come with the intention of sharing your creativity and inspiring your fellow creative Christian writers. Oh, and to have fun of course.
For those who cannot join us but would like to be creative on your own, consider trying to write an ABC story. You can start with whichever letter you like, and then write one sentence for each letter of the alphabet. Your last sentence should start with the same letter as your first sentence, so you'll actually have a 27-sentence story. You can flesh it out to add more to it after you create your ABC skeleton. This isn't exactly what we're doing at the meeting, but it can give you something to work on for a fun exercise, and it can give you something to create for our September critique session. Have fun.
A quick note to help you in your writing for this month: If you have ever struggled to figure out the difference between showing and telling in your writing, there's an article at The Write Practice site that is extremely clarifying and helpful. It explains the difference and gives clear steps to make sure your writing brings the reader into the story. There's even some examples from readers as they apply the exercise, and the exercise attempts are then commented on by the article's author. Go read and try it out for yourself at http://thewritepractice.com/simple-principle-will-solve-show-dont-tell-problems/
Our August meeting will bring us some fruit off the writer's idea tree. Join us for a group writing project filled with ideas, creativity, and even a little learning along the way. We hope to write stories and share them as time allows.
With the summer heat, vacations, and back to school activities, August is often one of our lowest-attended meetings, but if we all pull together, we can still make it one of our most enjoyable. Come with the intention of sharing your creativity and inspiring your fellow creative Christian writers. Oh, and to have fun of course.
For those who cannot join us but would like to be creative on your own, consider trying to write an ABC story. You can start with whichever letter you like, and then write one sentence for each letter of the alphabet. Your last sentence should start with the same letter as your first sentence, so you'll actually have a 27-sentence story. You can flesh it out to add more to it after you create your ABC skeleton. This isn't exactly what we're doing at the meeting, but it can give you something to work on for a fun exercise, and it can give you something to create for our September critique session. Have fun.
A quick note to help you in your writing for this month: If you have ever struggled to figure out the difference between showing and telling in your writing, there's an article at The Write Practice site that is extremely clarifying and helpful. It explains the difference and gives clear steps to make sure your writing brings the reader into the story. There's even some examples from readers as they apply the exercise, and the exercise attempts are then commented on by the article's author. Go read and try it out for yourself at http://thewritepractice.com/simple-principle-will-solve-show-dont-tell-problems/
Saturday, July 11th, 2015
For the month of July, LCW will focus on our editorial roots--the critique process. Last month's attendees were given a homework project where they were able to choose from two given topics to create a written product for this month's critique. The goal is to have everyone in attendance this month participate in the critique portion of our gathering. For those who do not choose one of the given topics, any piece that fits our critique requirements (typed, double-spaced, basic spell-check, and no more than 4 typed pages) may be submitted for critique. Please bring 4-5 copies of your piece.
P.S. Alan says to remind people that anyone who doesn't bring something for critique may be required to perform some entertaining feat instead. :-)
Join us this 2nd Saturday for a fun and interactive meeting for writers and editors. Now, here is the rest of the information you need if you want to attend...
Over the years, some have voiced that they don't like the critique process and some have said they value critiques and want more of them. The first part of this month's meeting will be an open-forum discussion on the meaning and necessity of giving and receiving critiques. We will share the value of critique to each of us personally, and we can share the pros and cons of group critiques plus any ideas for making our process stronger and more effective. This is your chance to share your vision of the perfect critique session, and we hope to come away with a consensus on the future of critiques within our group. If we finish early, we may begin our monthly critique session a little earlier to make sure we can view and edit all items brought for this meeting.
We look forward to all the ideas and works-in-progress our writers will bring in this month, and we gladly welcome both new and returning attendees. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
For the month of July, LCW will focus on our editorial roots--the critique process. Last month's attendees were given a homework project where they were able to choose from two given topics to create a written product for this month's critique. The goal is to have everyone in attendance this month participate in the critique portion of our gathering. For those who do not choose one of the given topics, any piece that fits our critique requirements (typed, double-spaced, basic spell-check, and no more than 4 typed pages) may be submitted for critique. Please bring 4-5 copies of your piece.
P.S. Alan says to remind people that anyone who doesn't bring something for critique may be required to perform some entertaining feat instead. :-)
Join us this 2nd Saturday for a fun and interactive meeting for writers and editors. Now, here is the rest of the information you need if you want to attend...
Over the years, some have voiced that they don't like the critique process and some have said they value critiques and want more of them. The first part of this month's meeting will be an open-forum discussion on the meaning and necessity of giving and receiving critiques. We will share the value of critique to each of us personally, and we can share the pros and cons of group critiques plus any ideas for making our process stronger and more effective. This is your chance to share your vision of the perfect critique session, and we hope to come away with a consensus on the future of critiques within our group. If we finish early, we may begin our monthly critique session a little earlier to make sure we can view and edit all items brought for this meeting.
We look forward to all the ideas and works-in-progress our writers will bring in this month, and we gladly welcome both new and returning attendees. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
Saturday, June 13th, 2015
For the month of June, LCW will challenge our writers to at least one writing exercise to stretch our creative muscles. In addition, we will welcome our member and Vice President, Harriet Michael to share some of her writing and stories of success. Harriet's writing has been published in a variety of magazines, devotionals, and Sunday School publications. She shares many of her released items on her blog, What He Has Done for My Soul, and she has three prayer guides published at Lulu (linked with her name above).
Join us on the 2nd Saturday in June for a fun and interactive meeting for both writers and readers. Now, here is the rest of the information you need if you want to attend...
In addition our regular LCW meeting for June, you will find many of our members either teaching or in attendance at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 25-27, 2015. The keynote speaker this year is Jesse Florea from Focus on the Family. Visit their page for details and more information.
We look forward to writing, to Harriet's presentation, and to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees this month. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
For the month of June, LCW will challenge our writers to at least one writing exercise to stretch our creative muscles. In addition, we will welcome our member and Vice President, Harriet Michael to share some of her writing and stories of success. Harriet's writing has been published in a variety of magazines, devotionals, and Sunday School publications. She shares many of her released items on her blog, What He Has Done for My Soul, and she has three prayer guides published at Lulu (linked with her name above).
Join us on the 2nd Saturday in June for a fun and interactive meeting for both writers and readers. Now, here is the rest of the information you need if you want to attend...
In addition our regular LCW meeting for June, you will find many of our members either teaching or in attendance at the upcoming Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference on June 25-27, 2015. The keynote speaker this year is Jesse Florea from Focus on the Family. Visit their page for details and more information.
We look forward to writing, to Harriet's presentation, and to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees this month. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
Saturday, May 9th, 2015
For the month of May, LCW welcomes our member and group treasurer, Lisa Greer. Lisa has brought us professional instruction on a variety of topics, and this month she will talk to us about public speaking. As a member of "Toastmasters," she will be able to both teach and encourage our writers who want to know what it takes to get out there and talk about our books and other writings. More about Lisa below, but for now, here is the rest of the information you need if you want to attend...
In addition to LCW, our May speaker, Lisa Greer, is also a frequent presenter (and volunteer) for the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference. She will be teaching a class called "Speak Your Heart" at this year's conference. Here's info from the blurb in her faculty bio...
Lisa Greer is a contract analyst, writing contract language and handling negotiations for a local Fortune 300 company. She also does freelance writing and has over 300 published articles. Lisa has been a regular contributor for local publications such as Southern Indiana Living and The Capitol News. She and her husband own a freelance writing and photography business, Olive Tree Enterprises, LLC. Visit their site at www.olivetreeenterprisesllc.com.
We look forward to Lisa's presentation and to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
For the month of May, LCW welcomes our member and group treasurer, Lisa Greer. Lisa has brought us professional instruction on a variety of topics, and this month she will talk to us about public speaking. As a member of "Toastmasters," she will be able to both teach and encourage our writers who want to know what it takes to get out there and talk about our books and other writings. More about Lisa below, but for now, here is the rest of the information you need if you want to attend...
In addition to LCW, our May speaker, Lisa Greer, is also a frequent presenter (and volunteer) for the Kentucky Christian Writer's Conference. She will be teaching a class called "Speak Your Heart" at this year's conference. Here's info from the blurb in her faculty bio...
Lisa Greer is a contract analyst, writing contract language and handling negotiations for a local Fortune 300 company. She also does freelance writing and has over 300 published articles. Lisa has been a regular contributor for local publications such as Southern Indiana Living and The Capitol News. She and her husband own a freelance writing and photography business, Olive Tree Enterprises, LLC. Visit their site at www.olivetreeenterprisesllc.com.
We look forward to Lisa's presentation and to welcoming new and regular meeting attendees. LCW wants to be a welcoming place of comfort and learning for all who have been gifted by God to write and create with words. Contact us if you have any questions, and be sure to visit our Facebook page for a more interactive connection with us. May God bless you in every moment you live--and write--for Him!
Saturday, April 11th, 2015
Happy National Poetry Month!!!
This month, Louisville Christian Writers welcomes members and associates for a time of fellowship and poetry readings. While not all of our members consider themselves poets, we do have our share who like to wax poetic now and then. We also have a few songwriters, and most songs are just poems put to music.
As we grow and mature in both our Christian walk and our gifts and talents as writers, we teach each other and we learn from each other. Our timeline may change, but the heart of our group (to equip and encourage Christians called to write) remains the same.
Our April meeting includes presentations from two members who enjoy writing and sharing poetry with others. If time allows, we may have a quick (and painless) poetry-writing exercise. We hope that, even if you do not write poetry yourself, you will come to support our writers who do. If you like to read poetry, please encourage our presenters and other poets to get more of their writing into print, so others can share it.
Our plans for LCW in 2015 include meetings with 15-20-minute spaces for our writers to share their creations. These sharing spots will be for members only, so if you are interested in joining us, please see any member or officer for information. Otherwise, all are welcome to hear our writers present their articles, stories, poetry, etc., for the listening pleasure of our audience. We will try to accommodate at least two writers during these presentation meetings, and if time allows, we may add in a writing exercise as well.
Happy National Poetry Month!!!
This month, Louisville Christian Writers welcomes members and associates for a time of fellowship and poetry readings. While not all of our members consider themselves poets, we do have our share who like to wax poetic now and then. We also have a few songwriters, and most songs are just poems put to music.
As we grow and mature in both our Christian walk and our gifts and talents as writers, we teach each other and we learn from each other. Our timeline may change, but the heart of our group (to equip and encourage Christians called to write) remains the same.
Our April meeting includes presentations from two members who enjoy writing and sharing poetry with others. If time allows, we may have a quick (and painless) poetry-writing exercise. We hope that, even if you do not write poetry yourself, you will come to support our writers who do. If you like to read poetry, please encourage our presenters and other poets to get more of their writing into print, so others can share it.
Our plans for LCW in 2015 include meetings with 15-20-minute spaces for our writers to share their creations. These sharing spots will be for members only, so if you are interested in joining us, please see any member or officer for information. Otherwise, all are welcome to hear our writers present their articles, stories, poetry, etc., for the listening pleasure of our audience. We will try to accommodate at least two writers during these presentation meetings, and if time allows, we may add in a writing exercise as well.
Saturday, March 14th, 2015
Happy Pi(e) Day
We're back on schedule, and it looks like the rain will end sometime in the morning hours, so it should be a wonderful day for a meeting. The clocks are forward, so we'll even have a little light to view the blooming scene outside the meeting room windows. I'll try to be there by 5:00 PM at the latest, so early arrivers can fellowship and/or get some writing done.
SPECIAL FOR THIS MONTH, in addition to bringing yourself & your writer's tools, this month we'd like all who come to bring some kind of PIE with them. March 14th is always "pi" day (3.14), but this one is a once-per-century special day with it being 3-14-15 (3.1415). Even if you're not info mathematical equations, you can still bring and eat pies of all kinds to help celebrate. Some pie types to consider include no-bake pies, dessert pies, cobbler-style pies, shepherd's pies, pot pies, pizza pies, taco pies, etc. Whatever works that you can call a pie and share with others, please bring. In addition to eating our pies, we will be writing about them too.
Happy Pi(e) Day
We're back on schedule, and it looks like the rain will end sometime in the morning hours, so it should be a wonderful day for a meeting. The clocks are forward, so we'll even have a little light to view the blooming scene outside the meeting room windows. I'll try to be there by 5:00 PM at the latest, so early arrivers can fellowship and/or get some writing done.
SPECIAL FOR THIS MONTH, in addition to bringing yourself & your writer's tools, this month we'd like all who come to bring some kind of PIE with them. March 14th is always "pi" day (3.14), but this one is a once-per-century special day with it being 3-14-15 (3.1415). Even if you're not info mathematical equations, you can still bring and eat pies of all kinds to help celebrate. Some pie types to consider include no-bake pies, dessert pies, cobbler-style pies, shepherd's pies, pot pies, pizza pies, taco pies, etc. Whatever works that you can call a pie and share with others, please bring. In addition to eating our pies, we will be writing about them too.
February 2015 meeting was rescheduled due to snowy weather and then cancelled due to even worse weather. It's one of the few meetings we've ever had to cancel.
January 2015 was a planning meeting, and I was out of town for the death of my mother, so there was no website update, but there were no links or speakers to share anyway.
January 2015 was a planning meeting, and I was out of town for the death of my mother, so there was no website update, but there were no links or speakers to share anyway.
2014 Meetings--In Descending Date Order
Saturday, December 13th, 2014
~LCW ANNUAL CHRISTMAS FELLOWSHIP & DINNER~
Louisville Christian Writers welcomes members and associates to bring spouses and family for dinner and fellowship.
Christmas is a wonderful time to fellowship with each other outside the constraints of a regular meeting format. It's also the opportunity to share a meal and to meet the family members who support us throughout our writing journeys. Because of the limit on our room attendance, we prefer each member only bring on guest--your spouse if you're married, however, we will try to have some activities for children if you are unable to find a sitter. We love to meet the kids too, and hope to eventually have a room where there will be no restrictions to the size of our gathering.
Our cost this year will be $1.00 per adult and 50 cents per child. In addition, we would like each person in attendance to bring a can or box of food that will be donated to those in need this Christmas season.
White Elephant information and history...First, this is the time when re-gifting is not only acceptable, it's encouraged. We set no monetary requirement, but we do want gifts that will be valued by whoever takes them home. We will draw numbers and trade gifts as the game moves from one receiver to the next. Gifts that everyone wants make the most fun. Gifts for writers are always welcome even though non-writing guests will participate in the game as well. Be creative and have fun as you prepare your gift for giving. As for history, the story says that a well-meaning guest gave a rare white elephant to an emperor who had no place to put it and nothing to do with it. It was a gift of high value but no use. Hence, the idea of regifting something nice but that you just cannot use.
~LCW ANNUAL CHRISTMAS FELLOWSHIP & DINNER~
Louisville Christian Writers welcomes members and associates to bring spouses and family for dinner and fellowship.
- Day/Date... Saturday, December 13th, 2014
- Doors Open... 4:00 PM to set up. See below for this year's cost per person. Also, please bring a family-sized dish to share. You may bring a side-dish or dessert. Contact us if you wish to bring beverages. LCW will provide turkey and ham.
- Meeting--Dinner will begin serving between... 4:30 PM and 5:00 PM
- Games & Gift Exchange...around 6:00 PM, we will have some games and singing of Christmas carols. The final game will be our "white elephant" gift exchange. Please bring a wrapped gift of value for the game. All who bring a gift may participate in the exchange. More on the gifts and process of this game below.
- Goal Sheet Exchange and Prayer...Each year, we try to exchange goal sheets between our December dinner and our January planning meeting. Writers can pick up goal sheets at the meeting, but I also include documents with our monthly update, so writers can print and fill out their goals prior to the gathering. This year, I'm also including the document for download from our site.
Christmas is a wonderful time to fellowship with each other outside the constraints of a regular meeting format. It's also the opportunity to share a meal and to meet the family members who support us throughout our writing journeys. Because of the limit on our room attendance, we prefer each member only bring on guest--your spouse if you're married, however, we will try to have some activities for children if you are unable to find a sitter. We love to meet the kids too, and hope to eventually have a room where there will be no restrictions to the size of our gathering.
Our cost this year will be $1.00 per adult and 50 cents per child. In addition, we would like each person in attendance to bring a can or box of food that will be donated to those in need this Christmas season.
White Elephant information and history...First, this is the time when re-gifting is not only acceptable, it's encouraged. We set no monetary requirement, but we do want gifts that will be valued by whoever takes them home. We will draw numbers and trade gifts as the game moves from one receiver to the next. Gifts that everyone wants make the most fun. Gifts for writers are always welcome even though non-writing guests will participate in the game as well. Be creative and have fun as you prepare your gift for giving. As for history, the story says that a well-meaning guest gave a rare white elephant to an emperor who had no place to put it and nothing to do with it. It was a gift of high value but no use. Hence, the idea of regifting something nice but that you just cannot use.
Meetings before December 2014 will be added later. (CAM, 10/2015)