Free August Events Reminder

August Write Brain

What: Writing a Winner: Tips and Tricks for Entering Writing Contests

Who: Dawn Smit & MB Partlow

When: Tuesday, August 20, 6:30-8:30 PM

Where: Penrose Library, 20 N. Cascade Ave., Carnegie Room (Note: There is street parking, as well as two lots available. The meters are free after 6 PM.)

More Information: Want to improve your odds of winning a writing contest? Insure you're judged on the quality of your writing, not the mistakes you made in following the guidelines? Dawn Smit and MB Partlow will address tips, tricks, do's and don'ts for writing contests. In addition, you'll get advice on writing synopses, query letters, and formatting your entry. Plus, you'll have a leg up on your competition for the 2014 Zebulon Writing Contest (note the official new name of the Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Writing Contest!) We'll teach you everything you need to know about entering a writing contest, and give you the tools to meet all the guidelines they lay out. RSVP to rsvp@pikespeakwriters.com.

About the Presenters: 

Dawn Smit: Dawn Smit was born the youngest of four children in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she spent nearly all of her formative years. After receiving her bachelor's in business administration and her master's in international management, she knew what she really wanted to do was write. Marriage to a supportive husband made her writing dream possible, and she now dedicates a portion of each day to her stories. She was given an unusual gift, the ability to dream in novel format. To date she has 80+ novels in her mind, most of which tie together by what her readers will come to know as the shadows. Dawn currently lives in Monument, Colorado. Through Spiral Eyes, her first published book, placed third in the 2001 Paul Gillette Memorial Writing Contest for science fiction/fantasy. Her current book, Rainbow Editing(TM), is a companion to her workshop of the same name, in which she introduces a colorful new weapon in the war against sloppy writing and the eternal editing cycle. Visit Dawn at her website: www.dawnsmit.com.

MB Partlow: After moving to Colorado, MB got a job in the A&E department of The Independent. She wrote a parenting column for Pikes Peak Parent for several years, and currently free-lances for The Gazette. She's happiest, though, when rearranging reality to suit the needs of her characters, currently in the genre of urban fantasy. She's a longtime volunteer for PPW, working her way up from chair stacker at Write Brains to Moderator Coordinator, Contest Coordinator, and now Director of Programming.


PPW Open Critique Night
When: Wednesday, August 21, 6:00-8:30 P.M.
Location: Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 E. Colorado Ave., Colorado Springs, CO
More Information: The first 8 to RSVP can have up to 8 pages of their manuscript pages discussed by the group and the night's guest critiquer. All are welcome to come observe.

PPW Night at Ivywild
**PLEASE NOTE the change of venue**
When: Monday, August 26, 2013; 6:30-8:30 PM
Location: The Principal's Office in the Ivywild School, 1604 South Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80905
More Information: Join fellow writers on the 4th Monday of each month for writerly discussion, laughter, and socializing. The direction of the discussion is decided by the participants.

Free PPW Events This Month

Don't forget tonight's Write Brain, presented by Page Lambert:

Manifestation of Yearning: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling

Speaker: Page Lambert, Author, Editor, Creative Coach, Retreat Director

When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013, 6:30 to 8:30 P.M.

Location: Penrose Library, Carnegie Room, 20 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO

Cost: ALWAYS FREE!

MANIFESTATION OF YEARNING: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling
Yearning: A longing. A desire. An unfulfilled wish. A questioning. A hunger to know more.

In Page Lambert's words: "First, enter the white-hot center of why you write. Second, enter the white-hot center of deep yearning...yours...your character's. Third, enter the place where you dream. Let your vision and words rise like smoke from the creative fire. But manifesting our stories takes more than illusive desires. Our characters interpret the world through their senses, but we create their world through physical detail. Yearning comes alive through detail." During the May Write Brain, Page will explore these ideas and more, helping us enter the white-hot center of detailed storytelling. "Whether you're writing fiction or memoir, the deep (and sometimes dark) motivations behind every action, beneath every word-what Robert Olen Butler calls the yearning factor-is how we manifest our stories."

About Page Lambert: Recipient of numerous writing awards, her books include the Rocky Mountain best-selling memoir In Search of Kinship and Mountains & Plains Best Novel finalistShifting Stars. Her essays, stories and poems appear in dozens of anthologies. Page has presented over 200 seminars and keynotes. She's been leading writing adventures for 17 years and Oprah's O magazine once featured her River Writing Journeys as "One of the top six great all-girl getaways of the year." She writes the popular blog, "All Things Literary. All Things Natural."www.pagelambert.com.

Note: Plenty of parking in both library lots and street-side. Parking is free at meters after 6:00 P.M.

This Wednesday, there's Open Critique:

Open Critique - FREE 

Third Wednesday of every month

6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Cottonwood Center for the Arts
427 East Colorado Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO

This FREE program provides a critique experience for a small number of writers who seek feedback on manuscript pages and who want to learn how to have positive critique group experiences. 

PPW's Open Critique program is facilitated by Mary Karen Meredith, with regular critique guest Deb Courtney, host of PPW's "Writers' Night" monthly gatherings. During Open Critique, Deb and Mary Karen, or another experienced criticizer will provide comments, criticism and suggestions on participants' manuscript pages, as well as model positive behaviors, techniques and procedures for critiquing.

It is our hope that participants will not only receive valuable feedback on their writing, but will also learn how to create great critique groups of their own, or learn how to improve existing critique groups.

Each month Open Critique will accommodate up to eight participants with a maximum of eight manuscript pages (double spaced, one side) per person. Bring at least 8 copies. To request a slot to participate, email your request to pikespeakopencritique@hotmail.com. Slots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, and are only considered for the month in which they are received. Participants will receive confirmation and instructions via email.

PPW reserves the right to give priority to new participants over those who have attended multiple times.

Thank you!

Hope to see you there!

Mary Karen Meredith & Deb Courtney

And next Monday, we have Writer's Night at Lofty's:

6:30-8:30 PM

Lofty's
287 E Fountain Blvd, Suite 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80903


Free Wireless Internet!

Join fellow writers for PPW Night at Lofty's in the Historic Lowell School District of downtown Colorado Springs on the fourth Monday of every month.

PPW Night is two full hours of discussion, laughter, and fun with other local members of Pikes Peak Writers.

The direction of the meeting is decided by the participants and can include discussions about query letters, obtaining and working with an agent, writing conferences, or other specific points of the craft.  If nothing else, we talk about books! 

Feel free to bring a sample of your work-in-progress to share or discuss with others, if time permits.  NOTE: This is not a formal critique group or editing session.  Bringing your work with you does not guarantee it will be discussed.

If you have any questions, or if there is a specific topic you’d like to get on the agenda, send an e-mail to the host, Deb Courtney, or call her on her cell phone at 719-337-9049.

Meetings are scheduled to start at 6:30 and run until about 8:30.  These are drop-in meetings, so feel free to attend all or just part of them.

Lofty's offers a small selection of coffees, wine, beer and mixed libations, as well as a variety of juices and organic sodas. There is a small menu of mostly sandwich based items. Wi-fi is available.

See you soon!

Quote of the Week & Week to Come

"Be obscure clearly." -E.B. White


This week on Writing From the Peak...

...Stacy S. Jensen discusses "Shower Talk: Ways to Save Your Ideas From Going Down the Drain."

...Debbie Maxwell Allen tells us "Genre Cliches to Avoid," just in time for the Genre Panel Write Brain Tuesday night.

...DeAnna Knippling presents a personal essay on reading, entitled "Hi, My Name is DeAnna, and I'm a Reader."

...Karen Albright Lin educates us on the virtues and how-to's of "Ghostwriting."

...we present the bios of keynote speaker David Liss and agent Hannah Bowman.

Have a great week, and don't forget to check out the "Events" tab for more information on our Tuesday Write Brain, a panel on genre, and our Wednesday Critique Night.

Write Brain & Open Critique Reminder

Don't forget that today is the Write Brain.  Information below:

January Write Brain Workshop 

Theme: Resolved to Write - The Body and Soul of Writing
Presenter: Aaron Ritchey
Cost: Always Free!
When: Tuesday, January 15, 6:30-8:30 PM
Location: Adult Room at Penrose Library (not our regular room there, due to scheduling conflict)

More Information: In this two hour workshop, we will begin with the body of writing: story, scene, setting, and style. But how can we have a body if we don't have a soul? Overcoming our fear and self-doubt is all about the soul and finding the courage to create. 

In the first hour of the class, we'll start with the basics, how to craft a first page that will grab the reads attention. We'll cover the basics of story, conflict, POV, and scene setting. During the class, you'll be putting pen to paper to test out some of what you have learned.

In the second hour, we'll go into what keeps most people from writing books. Writing can be a lonely, agonizing process full of self-doubt and self-recrimination. Past demons can rise up and strangle our creativity right when we need our muse the most. Through a unique application of the 12 steps of recovery, you will get the courage to create and the passion to follow your dream of writing fiction.

About the Presenter - For 20 years, through 12 epic manuscripts, Aaron Ritchey has stood at the mountain pass of Thermopylae and has surveyed the Persian army of rejection, failure and death and yet he continues to write. When he's not battling Persians, you can find him supporting anesthesiology software, bicycling, or being swept away by the raw female power living in his house. His first novel, The Never Prayer, is available now from Crescent Moon Press.



Also, tomorrow is this month's Open Critique:


PPW Open Critique Night

When: Wednesday, January 16, 2012, 6:30 to 8:30 P.M.
Location: Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 E. Colorado Ave., Colorado Springs, CO
More Information: The first 8 to RSVP can have up to 8 pages of their manuscript pages discussed by the group and the night's guest critiquer.  All are welcome to come observe.