Writers Reminder

Since 1993 serving Writers with free information they can use.

Main Website: https://www.CarolynBLeonard.com

January -February 2019 Writers Reminder

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Writers Reminder - January - February 2019

by Carolyn B. Leonard

 

Got a minute? 3,000 words. Scanning time 7 minutes (including clicks)

IN THIS ISSUE:  

1. Local Programs for Writers

2. Contests 

3. Conferences & Orgs for writers - a half-dozen or more  

4. Blog - “A Poignant Duty”  (by carolyn leonard) click here: https://www.carolynbleonard.com/my-blog.html

5. EDITORS for hire! 

6. Publishers (Lots of publishers) 

7. Agents (a few good ones)

8. Opportunities for Freelance Writers (several)

9. Writing Classes & Grant Offers (Some NEW ones)

10. Jobs for Writers (Eight, last count) 

11. Plays and Screen Writing (two NEW) 

12. Poetry

13. Carolyn’s Book Review: “Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History” 

    Click here:  https://www.carolynbleonard.com/book-reviews.html

14. Letters to Editor (Looking for Critique Grps, Grassroots Lobbying & more) 

15. Website Winner – www.MariaVeres.com

16. Story Call Outs: Check out this big list! 

17. Announcements, Indies NEWS

 

Check out the main site as well: https://CarolynBLeonard.com

 

Scroll down, and click on any underlined listing to go directly to the subjects you are most interested in. If you find any dead hotlinks, please let me know <carolynleonard@me.com>

 

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1.LOCAL PROGRAMS - If you belong to another local writing group, and would like it listed here, please send an email with the info to carolynleonard@me.com.

 

NEW:  The Depot, Norman, Oklahoma, 200 S. Jones – Sunday, Feb 10th, 2019, 2p

 Featured poet: Benjamin Myers (for more info click here:)

 

* OKC Writers - 3rd Saturdays each month at 10 am. Now meeting at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 15th and Harvey, OKC. Enter through the northwest door, go to 1st floor, Room 130, (405) 232-1371. (Click here to read program details)

 

* OKC Christian Fiction writers meet 3rd Saturdays at 1 pm at Henderson Hills church, located at 1200 E I-35 Frontage Rd, Edmond OK. We meet in the church offices on the back side of the church campus. https://www.facebook.com/okcchristianfictionwriters/. 

 

* Pen and Keyboard Writers meet the 2nd Saturday of the month, from 10 AM until noon at the WELL CHURCH (formerly Edmond Christian Church) 2800 E. Danforth Road (corner of Coltrane & Danforth), in the Family Life Center, room 2. The FLC is the building to the right of the Chapel (building with cross). We enter in the north door (door facing parking lot is to kitchen), and go to the second class room on the left.. They welcome anyone who is interested in writing, whether a beginner or published author. The group works together to help each other improve their writing. For more info contact Dianna Street <lostrhodes@aol.com>

 

* Wordwrights Christian Writers CHANGE OF MEETING PLACE!  meet from 10 am to noon. the second Saturday of the month in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Epworth Villa in OKC (near Quail Springs Mall).  If you have any problems  locating our new meeting place, you may call Milton Smith on his cell at 405-200-9850 or Donna Le, cell phone is 405-501-2522.

 

* Norman Galaxy of Writers - meets every month on 2nd Saturday, 10 AM to noon at Norman Public Library, downtown, 225 North Webster. For more info, email normangalaxyofwriters@gmail.com

 

* OKRWA --OK Romance Writers Association meets on the third Saturday of each month; members write romantic suspense, Christian romance, contemporary, erotic, and historical romance. Historical is mainly westerns and the Regency period. Meetings are at the OKC Art Museum in Classroom C at 1 pm. For more information contact Mary Jo Springer email, <gothicbook@aol.com>

 

* Oklahoma Playwrights Association: meet 4th Thursdays from 6 to 9 pm.  For more information contact Playwright leader Janis Contway at <opaokc@gmail.com>

 

* Mid-Oklahoma Writers: meets the second Tuesday of every month 7-9 pm  in the Family Center behind Eastside Church of Christ, 916 S Douglas, Midwest City, OK

 

* Tulsa NightWriters meets the third Tuesday of every month at Allee Beth Martin East Regional Library, 2601 So. Garnett in Tulsa. Meetings are 7:00 to 8:00 pm, but come early at 6:30 to meet and chat with fellow writers. No formal meeting in December at the library, with a casual Christmas party scheduled elsewhere. See website for information – www.nightwriters.org.

*  Second Sunday Poetry Readings at the Depot in Norman, The Depot, 200 S. Jones

This program provides a monthly venue for selected regional poets to share their work.  Former Oklahoma Poet Laureate and Oklahoma Book Award winner Carl Sennhenn hosts. (FMI contact Bill Boudreau - thanks for updates)

 

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2. CONTESTS (Click here for more info on Contests)

*    OKC Writers contest annually in September

*       Readers Digest (ongoing)

*       OWFI annual Writers Contest Feb 1 deadline

•    L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest (Various)

•    Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize (Jan 31, annually)

•    Tony Hillerman Prize (June 1, annually)

•    Young Lions fiction Award (August, annually)

•    New Voices Award (Sept 30, annually)

•    PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (Oct 31, annually)

•    OWFI annual Writers Contest - more than 20 categories - real money!

 

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3. CONFERENCES  (Click HERE for more info on Conferences)

   OWFI Conference 2019 (1st full weekend in May) 

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4.  MY BLOG– “A POIGNANT DUTY” 

By Carolyn B. Leonard

Posted on 9 January 2019  

 

Gathered them up from all over the house. Had ‘em all stacked on the dining table, waiting for boxes to store them in. Red and green hand towels, small tablecloths for the extra card tables set up In the living room, big tablecloths for the kitchen table and dining room, colorful wall decor, candles and candle rings, twinkle lights from the mantel, the wooden manger scene we brought home from Nazareth one year, big red felt stockings with white fur trim holding the names of each grandchild, the holiday door wreath and standing Old World Santa. Each piece holds special memories for this once a year occasion.

 

 Long ago I gave up the big fluffy six foot trees with all those breakable trinkets and shiny tinsel, and a week ago packed away the big electric turkey roaster, and gave away leftover food and pies. Everyone has gone home and the house is quiet. No longer ringing with laughter and children playing.

 

Now the fence post Christmas tree is back in its box in the garage along with the three tubs of Holiday throw pillows, tablecloths, kitchen and bath towels, even the little dancing Santa and Mrs. Claus music box that has decorated my table every Christmas since our children were toddlers. The small lighted ceramic trees my daughters and I created back in the 1970s at “Lillie’s Ceramic Shop” are packed away in sturdy cardboard boxes inside a strong tub.

 

Holidays bring holiday memories, and, often a sense of nostalgia for good times long gone, perhaps even loved ones long goneThis bittersweet nostalgia helps us feel connected, both around the holidays and at other times. The togetherness feels so good and it can be a salve to those suffering through hard times. It seems to help everyone maintain a constant sense of who they are and where they are rooted.

 

For us, a few special faces missing from the family prayer circle this season make the gathering bittersweet, having just lost my beloved brother. One granddaughter newly-wed living in a state too far away to come home for Christmas. Another deciding to establish her own traditions. But I am thankful for each one who chose to join us in the annual holiday dinner party.

 

In the meantime, those Christmas decorations are still here, hidden away in boxes in the garage, that is true. But the poignant memory is always with us, kept in the deep, quiet places of our hearts.

............CLICK HERE TO READ THE BLOG AND SEE THE PICTURES

 

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5. EDITORS for hire!  (Click HERE for more info on Editors)

•    Staci Mauney

•    Robyn Conley, the Book Doctor

•    Ghostwriting - Joan Rhine 

•    Bernhardt editing services

•    Red Pen Editing

•    MORE

•    Maria Veres is no longer taking editing work.

•    Kathleen Park (on leave of absence while caring for her husband.)

 

more coming...

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6. PUBLISHERS  (Click HERE to read more about these Publishers)

 

DON’T GO HERE:

Thumbs down from Writer Beware - quite a long list and descriptions. ALWAYS - before you invest money in publishing your work, check with Writer Beware and other experts. Go here:  https://accrispin.blogspot.com/

 

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7. AGENTS   (Click HERE to read about these Agents)

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8. OPPORTUNITIES FOR FREELANCERS (Click HERE to read more)

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9.  WRITING CLASSES AND GRANTS (Click here for more info on Writing Classes & Grants)

Writing Classes:

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Grants:

•    Oklahomans for Special Library Services (OSLS)

•    Oklahoma Humanities Council

•    Mid America Arts Alliance

•    Oklahoma Tribes Preserve Traditions, Cultural Capital Grant

•    Looking for a GRANT WRITER! 

•    Grants for Artists and Writers

•    OK State Regents for Higher Ed- Writing Proposals & Grants

•    Click here for more info on Writing Classes, Grants)

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10. JOBS FOR WORKING WRITERS  (Click here for more info)

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11. PLAYS and Screen writing (Click here for more info)

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12. POETRY  (Click here for more info)

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13. BOOK REVIEWS

Last issue:  “Katherine”  by Anya Seton and Mistress of the Monarchy by Alison Weir        

 

Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History

 Richard Shenkman

Review by Carolyn Leonard, Jan 2019

ISBN 0-688-06580-5 ©1988

William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York

 

Rick Shenkman is the editor and founder of the History News Network, the website that features articles by historians commenting on current events. He can regularly be seen on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. He is a New York Times best-selling author of seven history books.

This book opens like many other history books, with Christopher Columbus. However, Shenkman seeks to disprove all the things this man found, starting with the belief that Columbus discovered the Earth was round. It was Aristotle who discovered the concept centuries earlier. Shenkman reminds his audience all the ideas and concepts we were taught as children and claims those beliefs simply do not make sense. I didn't completely agree with all he said, but do appreciate Shenkman's efforts to encourage thought. The book nudges a reader to delve deeper into the subject matter and not to take every thing we are told at face value. Maybe it is true, maybe not.

For instance, he says that Lincoln was very superstitious. He looked into a mirror and saw two images of himself and believe that meant he would win his second term but would not live to complete it.  Lincoln did actually keep important letters and documents inside his hat and he did grow his beard at the suggestion of an eleventh-year-old girl who said she thought a beard would look good on him. He did like to crack jokes too, but he did not like to be called “Abe.”

Would I recommend the book to a historian? no, but I would recommend it as a “bathroom” book.  

.......... ................... (click HERE to read the full review )

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14.  LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Click here for more info)

    Meg Welch Dendler, Barbara Ketzer Roberts, Nancy Hartney, Joan Vanarsdall, Carol Round, Dusty Richards, Andrea Moon, pendergrasts@me.com, Susan Perry, Bill Wetterman.

    Judith Rycroft, Brenda Thomas, Cynda Thomas, Lynn Broderick, Janet Lullo, 

    Carolyn Steele, Sharon Erwin, Wende Williams, Joan Billings, Janis Butler, Chuck Sasser, Susan Perry, Teresa Hoy.

    About Tate Publishing ...

    Julie Loomis’ “After School Group”

    Congrats to Ed Koonce!

    Steven James author, writing workshop

    Red Flag! - American Writing Association

    Red Flag!  www.bikker.in (from Ray Tune)

    Invitation from WRITERS RELIEF

    John Biggs, author, inre: Duotrope Publishing

    Information on copyright about song lyrics usage

    Working Writer wants feedback

    An E-Book Formatter!

    Red Truck Review: ...Forum... publisher

    Bernhardt Writing Classes

    How to Autograph a Kindle or other e-book

    Grassroots Lobbying

    Ghostwriter available

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15.  AUTHOR WEBSITE WINNER  (Click here for more info)

 

Website Winner - Maria Veres

https://www.mariaveres.com/

 

Maria, a freelance health and business writer,  specializes in content marketing writing for mid-sized businesses. With two decades of experience as a wordsmith, She knows how to package your message to get the results you need.

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16. STORY CALL-OUTS:  Click HERE to read more about these markets.

(Paying Markets--mostly)

•    EIGHT new call-out subjects from Chicken soup! varied deadlines

•    Guideposts

•    Country Outfitter Style 

•    Writers Digest - The Last Page (ongoing call for submissions) 

•    Writer’s Digest - Reject a Hit (ongoing)

•    Dialogual (ongoing)

•    Your Impossible Voice -fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more

•    The Notebook, rural roots - but progressive thinking

•    Front Porch Journal

•    Working Writer 

•    OKIE Magazine

•    Pegasus - Genealogy opportunity

•    Blogger for Writer Beware

•    Get your NEWS in the newspaper

•    Family Chronicle - Family History Writers

•    No more - Cups of Comfort

 

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17. WRITERS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: (Click HERE to read more)    

 

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ALWAYS REMEMBER - “The best way to write publishable books is to read books; then sit down and write books. Everything else is optional. 

–Jennifer Ashley, romance author.

 

Best Wishes,

Carolyn

Carolyn B. Leonard

Editor, Writer's e-Reminder

 

 

 

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