Open Call for Board Members

By: M.B. Partlow

Are you driven by curiosity? Do you want to know how things work?

You can delve into the deep inner workings of Pikes Peak Writers, let your voice be heard, and make a difference!

Five PPW Board positions need to be filled in September. Two have incumbents running, but the rest are wide open, waiting for someone with the interest, skills and desire to be part of the group that steers the course of Pikes Peak Writers.

THE PRESIDENT is the public face of the organization when possible. This includes at events and conference. The president organizes date/time location for quarterly board meeting, along with the agenda (VP often assists), while facilitating communication among board members when a topic must be discussed (and potentially voted on) via email between board meetings. With the Secretary, they organize the annual election slate.

The President answers the PPW Google Voice number (traditionally forwarded to the President’s personal cell phone), and reviews, negotiates and signs all contracts not explicitly tied to a single conference.

The President appoints each year’s conference director and the Zebulon Contest Coordinator. He or she also appoints committee chairs and approves committee members. In addition, he or she attend committee meetings when possible, and is a de facto member of each committee.

For bonus points, the President may participate in awards committees and/or the scholarship selection committee for each year’s conference.

The job is currently filled by J.T. Evans who is running again.

THE TREASURER is the money person. The Treasurer keeps tabs on the bank accounts and PayPal account, and reconciles bank records and credit card records each month, with an established QuickBooks account. The treasurer is responsible for handling cash and records for the bookstore, the conference and for NCE events. In addition, he or she files quarterly taxes, files with the Secretary of State, and works with the accountant to get annual Federal taxes completed. The treasurer presents a general statement of income and expense at each quarterly board meeting. The treasurer also checks the PO Box, located in the Briargate area of Colorado Springs, near the Chapel Hills Mall.

Shannon Lawrence has done a wonderful job as treasurer, but needs someone else to take the job.

THE SECRETARY attends the board meetings, takes the notes, compiles and cleans up the notes after the meeting and gets them out to the rest of the board. Needs to track motions, seconds, votes, passage or failure of motions, too. If bylaw changes are made, the official documents need to be updated and filed accurately on Google Drive.
He or she also works with the president to put together the slate of nominees each year for the September elections and disseminating the slate and attendant documents to the board.

The job is currently filled by Stacy S. Jensen who is running again.

NCE DIRECTOR (Non Conference Events) is in charge of monthly free Write Brain programming, as well as additional free and for-fee programming throughout the year, such as Write Your Heart Out in February.

The NCE Director plans events, contacts the speakers, locates venues and caterers (if necessary), and runs the events the day of. He or she also keeps an eye out and coordinates some outside relationships with other groups, such as PPLD, the BAC, Friends of the PPLD, and other writing groups. In addition, the NCE Director handles coordinating advertising and outreach for NCE, and answering questions that may arise. [come to them]
You don’t need to have a database of Colorado authors in your brain to do this job. We have a proposal portal that will help you find interested presenters, as well as an NCE committee that helps with planning and execution. This job can easily be shared by two people who want to work together, but only one will sit on the board.

Jennifer LaPointe has been doing an excellent job with NCE, but needs to relinquish the position to focus on her duties as Conference Administrator.
 
MEMBER AT LARGE  The MAL role represents the general membership of PPW at the board meetings. This is a great position to get acquainted with the board and how it works. It offers the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects. MALs are generally expected to take on at least one other role, such as heading up a committee to accomplish a specific goal.

ALL BOARD MEMBERS are expected to attend quarterly board meetings, which typically run 2-3 hours, usually on a weekday evening, at a public location. We try to avoid weekend meetings, but they do occasionally happen. We also sometimes have a longer, half- to full-day board meeting to catch up on board business, but this occurs every 12-18 months.

Everyone is expected to participate in the board mailing list. Volume of email can fluctuate from a few to a lot, depending on what is going on. Not every email requires a response from every member, but every member is expected to read them. 

If you are interested in becoming a board member, we ask that you submit a 1- to 2-page letter of interest to the president (president@pikespeakwriters.com) no later than Sept. 19, 2016.  The letter should include

·       Why you are interested in this position

·       A summary of your history with PPW

·       A summary of any PPW volunteer efforts

·       Any non-PPW volunteer experience that are applicable

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact JT Evans via email: president@pikespeakwriters.com.

About the Author: MB Partlow tries to inject her off-center sense of humor into everything she does. She writes mostly in the speculative fiction world, with forays into mystery and women’s fiction. Her first paid writing gig was for the A&E department of The Independent. She has also written a parenting column for Pikes Peak Parent and spent years writing restaurant reviews for The Indpendent and The Gazette. She’s a longtime volunteer for PPW, having done everything from stacking chairs to Conference Director to serving on the board, currently as the Vice President. She reads voraciously across genres, and thinks making up stories for a living is the greatest job in the world.

September Letter from the Editor

This is getting ridiculous. Didn’t I just write August’s letter? And now it’s time for September? Time flies isn’t a cliché, it’s a fact, and if you’re wondering what Pikes Peak Writers has been up to, I can attest that the organization has been up to--a lot. Take for instance, our brand new redesigned website go here or that, once again, it’s time for published and unpublished alike to get those entries ready. Because guess what? The Zebulon officially opens September 15. Want information about the contest? go here  (Note: The Zebulon is different than any writing contest out there).  Moreover, winners and finalists will be acknowledged at the 2017 Pikes Peak Writers Conference – now in our 25^th year. Oh, and our 25^th conference is going to be BIG – just sayin’.

Let’s see, what else? Elections are coming up this month, and the organization is always in need of volunteers. This week, in addition to our regular columns, you'll see M.B. Partlow has written some articles about what positions are open. As someone who volunteers for Pikes Peak Writers, I can promise you’ll get more than you give – friendship, support, a sense of accomplishment and belonging.

Interested in serving on the board or volunteering for the organization? Contact J.T. Evans at president@pikespeakwriters.com.

As you can see September is b-u-s-y, and so, too, is the blog. Catherine Dilts returns with her continuing series on ergonomics; Deb McLeod, the Writing Coach is back; Dawn Smit, Zebulon Contest Coordinator explains the contest and why YOU should enter; K.L. Cooper writes what you should do if you want to KILL a book launch; Dear Annie is back with scads of writerly advice; and two new columnists join us: Writer and Librarian Summer Greenwood presents Through the Eyes of a Librarian; and Writer and Instructor Jason Evans, who presented July’s Write Brain on Writing African-American Characters, has agreed to write a monthly history column beginning this month!

So much going on!  So many articles I've yet to squeeze in. I know, since there's an election coming up, I vote to add more days to September. No? All right, I'll just have to make do. What can you do to help me? Be sure to tune in.

Here's to a safe Labor Day and great September.

About the author: Donnell Ann Bell is the managing editor for Writing from the Peak, the coordinator for the monthly Open Critique held on the first Wednesday of every month, and one of Pikes Peak Writer's board members at large. She is a best selling romantic suspense and mystery author. To learn more about her books, find her at www.donnellannbell.com

Quote of the Week and the Week to Come

“The writer has to force himself to work. He has to make his own hours and if he doesn't go to his desk at all there is nobody to scold him.” ~ Roald Dahl

Source Wikipedia and Brainy Quotes

Roald Dahl, born Sep 13, 1916 – Nov. 23, 1990 was a British fighter pilot, short story writer, screenplay writer and novelist. His books have sold over 250 million copies worldwide.  His awards for contribution to literature include the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990. In 2008, The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Dahl's short stories are known for their unexpected endings and his children's books for their unsentimental, macabre, often darkly comic mood, featuring villainous adult enemies of the child characters. His books champion the kind-hearted, and feature an underlying warm sentiment. Dahl's works for children include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine. His adult works include Tales of the Unexpected.

This week on Writing from the Peak:

September 5    Letter from the Editor Donnell Ann Bell

September 6    Open Call for Board Members by M.B. Partlow

September 7    The Writing Coach Deb McLeod

September 8    PPW’s Call for Volunteers by MB. Partlow

September 9    Sweet Success Celebrates Margaret Mizushima

            

Pikes Peak Writers September Events

Open Critique – Sep. 7

Currently Open Critique is full for the September session. To join us next month, contact  critique@pikespeakwriters.com. To learn more about Open Critique

http://www.pikespeakwriters.com/events/open-critique/

Write Brain – Sep. 13

What:  Querying an Agent and The Zebulon
Who:  Joel Quevillon
When: September 13, 6:30-8:30 pm
Where: Venue@21c (upper floor, to the right if coming in the upper entrance) of Library 21c, 1175 Chapel Hills Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80920

More Information: Manuscript done, but not sure about the next step? Come learn how to prep your work for submission to an agent. Do’s and don’ts so you won’t get a rejection before they even look at your novel. We’ll touch on Query Letters, Synopses, and First Pages.
What’s The Zebulon got to do with it? The Zebulon is PPW’s Fiction Writing Contest, which simulates the real process of acquiring an agent.

About the Presenter:  Joel Quevillon’s first Pikes Peak Writers Conference was in 2008, and he volunteered for the 2013, 2014, and 2015 conferences. He is on the Zebulon committee and has judged the contest numerous times. Joel writes speculative fiction, which gives him the opportunity to touch several genres. He got serious about writing after a dinner conversation with two authors in 2007 and has been at the keyboard ever since. Hiking 14ers, fly fishing and college football are the major distracters to his writing. Joel has spent most of the last 20 years in some form of journalism or communications position. Joel has degrees in journalism and management from the University of Arkansas. (Woo Pig Sooie!) He lives on the other side of Pikes Peak.

Facebook Event: Want to see who else is coming? Check here.

The Zebulon Writing Contest opens for business -- September 15, 2016

http://contest.pikespeakwriters.com/

Free Writers Night - Sep. 26

Location: Kawa Coffee

Address: 2427 N Union Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80909

Fourth Monday of every month

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Join fellow writers for PPW Night  on the fourth Monday of every month.

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

Kawa Coffee stays open for our gathering when they would normally be closed. We understand if you can’t afford a coffee or a snack, but please don’t bring outside food and drink into the coffee shop. Thank you for your understanding.

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!

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 8:30. These are drop-in meetings, so feel free to attend all or just part of them.

See you soon!

Fresh Brain through Food

By: Karen Albright Lin  

                                        

 A fresh brain is a ready brain. 

That Burger King Triple Whopper Large Meal leaves you smeared with grease, bloated, and tired. How often do you feel incapable and unmotivated to write after imbibing?  Lucky for us all, there’s plenty of food that’s more likely to make you feel clearheaded and so incredibly clever your critique group will bow to you. I use to be a weight loss counselor. I saw better diets turn my clients from potatoes into Iron Men—hyperbole perhaps, but you get the point.

In the '90s I changed course, turning to travel and food writing, eventually signing a literary cookbook contract with a publishing company, though it ended up falling through when I lost my photographer. Downer moment aside—I have the experience to confidently come to you with good news. Feeding your mind doesn’t have to take a ton of time out of your deadline-cloister. 

Trends in writing styles change up; it’s possible Melville and Steinbeck’s crazy-long descriptions wouldn’t get a second look by Simon & Schuster today. Nutrition education, too, has gone through some tweaking since I was a counselor. The nuts and bolts have changed; even the food pyramid has been supplanted by a plate split into four sections:  fruit, vegetables, grains and protein. Plus a lonely little dairy circle outside the plate—a minor character apparently. The primary aim of this image is to fight obesity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/business/03plate.html?_r=0

Just as having rambunctious triplets and a needy spouse could make walking feel like trudging through wet cement, carrying around extra pounds can make your body sluggish and your brain sludgy.  But it’s not only about keeping a healthy weight.  There are specific foods that will help you maintain a fit mind.

 A fit mind is a better writing mind.

You likely know how you should be eating. You know quality food helps energy, mindset, and even your relationships—after all, it’s incredibly important to have friends and family supporting you in this masochistic career you’ve chosen. You recognize the need, but you use excuses not to eat well. 

Maybe you “don’t like rabbit food.” 

                                                            

Or you don’t have time to prepare elaborate meals. 

You aren’t fooling anybody when you say you have a crush on the 20-something beauty at the drive thru window.     

   

                                                          

We don’t want to feel deprived. 

I’m not suggesting ostentatious six-course meals (unless you’re a foodie and food writer like me) or fad diets (those can be more risky than hopping on board the tail end of a genre trend).

Writer-healthy eating starts with learning which foods feed our brains, then focusing on them. It can be as simple as adding more vegetables and whole grains. And fruits and oily fish like salmon, known to power up the brain, make learning and remembering easier.  As an added bonus for us loony-toon writers, they also promote emotional stability.

Cut back on salt, fat and sugar. That last one damages your teeth anyway, leaving you unfit to do that keynote speech after your third bestseller.

                                                   

Think variety, balance, and moderation. That three day binge fueled by fifty-six Frappuccinos and 20 Lindor truffles, may not be a good idea. Once you try better foods, your body will start to crave the good stuff. It’ll be like having an intractable addiction to a gripping mystery series. 

Drink a lot of water (bathroom stretches are good for us). Minimize caffeine even when you aren’t on a writing binge; it can trigger panic attacks over deadlines. You may have stayed up until three am finishing that last chapter, making you late to work, but don’t skip breakfast (even if it’s yogurt, a piece of fruit and a granola bar eaten while on your tractor). Replace fried foods with some mind-power alternatives.

You know that pesky thought glitch caused by your 100^th rejection letter? Fish, leafy greens, and eggs fight that sort of cognitive impairment because they are rich in B vitamins. 

Some savvy scientists say vitamin E helps prevent cognitive decline, so try to eat more asparagus, leafy greens, olives, brown rice, whole grains, nuts and seeds.  Vagueness being one curse of a first draft, I’ll be more specific: pumpkin seeds enhance memory and thinking skills that help us when brainstorming our next novels.  They also lead to the uptake of that blessed good-mood chemical, serotonin. Many of us can use that.  

Red peppers, broccoli, and citrus fruits are good for mental agility, making it easier to jump through all the hoops that are required to publish. As to the finer details, experiment with herbs and spices. Sage improves memory and concentration, but add it at the end of preparation to protect the beneficial oils. Kind of like a line edit!

I’m the antonym of vegetarian, and I’m not sure who came up with this bunk, but some bogus dudes claim eating less dairy and meat might help ward off depression over an unsuccessful pitch. Eat tomatoes rather than throw them at the winners of the contest you entered but failed to final in. And right before the awards banquet, where you’ll sit by your agent of choice, eat miracle blueberries so your teeth will be a lovely sapphire and those little skins will stick there as evidence of your healthy diet.     

 For samples of my food writing visit:

http://culinary-colorado.com/2013/11/24/guest-post-talking-tofu/

http://karenalbrightlin.com/AltMedClip.html

http://culinary-colorado.com/2013/08/11/guest-post-eat-at-your-own-risk/

http://www.karenalbrightlin.com/cookingleaves.html

http://culinary-colorado.com/2013/05/15/guest-post-learning-to-love-exotic-foods/

SIDEBAR:

I had a generally healthy diet.  But when I needed to lose weight, I did 4 easy things:

• Stopped soda and started drinking ice tea with lots of lemon and calorie-free sweetener
• Exchanged junk food for Qdoba and Chipotle—where I eat naked burritos
• Instead of ice cream, I got my cold sweet dairy fix by eating shredded wheat in milk with Sweetener.
• Started walking—often listening to the recordings of conference workshops, paper and pen in hand so I could stop and take notes when needed, then graduated to dancing.
• Activity and reasonable changes to diet can make a lot of difference.

About the Author:  Karen is an editor, ghostwriter, pitch coach, speaker and award-winning author of novels, cookbooks, and screenplays. She’s written over a dozen solo and collaborative scripts (with Janet Fogg, Christian Lyons and director Erich Toll); each has garnered international, national and regional recognition: Moondance Film Festival, BlueCat, All She Wrote, Lighthouse Writers, Boulder Asian Film Festival, SouthWest Writers Contest, and PPW Contest. Find out more at www.karenalbrightlin.com

Show Me the Money!

By: J.T. Evans

We recently had a member get approached by a publisher with a request for $4,000 to publish her short story. To be more clear: the publisher wanted the author to pay them.

This is not how the publishing industry is supposed to work. Money should flow toward the author of the work, with a few exceptions. I'll cover these exceptions at the end of the article.

The practice of the author paying for the privilege of getting his or her work printed via a publisher is called "vanity publication." It preys on the author's vanity and desire to see their word in print. Many "green" authors fall victim to the urge to get their words printed, and making a naïve move is something we're trying to get folks to avoid.

The practice of requiring the author to pay money is entirely predatory and abusive. When an author is approached with a deal along these lines, they should not walk away…they should run away.

There are a few resources online to check out publishers if there are questionable practices going on. Some of them are:

·       Preditors and Editors

·       Write Beware

The practice of requesting money from an author is not limited to these nefarious publishing houses. Disreputable agents (who are rare) may require their clients to pay "editorial fees" or "marketing fees" to them for development of their work. This is not how agents should work. Whether or not the agent does development work on a piece before submitting to publishers is up to the agent, the author, and their relationship. However, the agent should not charge the author for these efforts. The agent should only collect their agreed-upon percentage when the author receives payment from the publisher.

To check out agents, I recommend viewing comments from authors on Query Tracker or see if they are listed in the membership of the Association of Authors' Representatives.

If a deal with a publisher or agent comes across your desk, I highly recommend hiring an independent attorney who specializes in intellectual property rights to review the contract before signing away.

It's a great thing to receive a contract! However, take a day or three to sit back, breathe, consider the contract, and get in touch with an attorney before moving forward.

At the start of this article, I mentioned some exceptions to the "money flows toward the author" rule. If you are self-publishing, then hiring a professional editor, cover artist, layout expert, marketing guru, and other masters that will make your book better will cost you money. However, these folks are ones who you approach and hire on your own. They work for you in their area of specialty.

Like with self-publishing, if you are chasing down the traditional publishing deal, hiring a professional editor to assist you in polishing your work before submitting to agents and editors is not a bad idea if you can afford it. Again, this has a cost and will cause money to "flow away" from you, but this is entirely your choice and within your control.

Unfortunately, Pikes Peak Writers doesn't have an attorney on staff or within our volunteer ranks, so we can't offer specific legal advice on contracts. Regardless of our inability to offer legal advice, we can at least point out areas where contracts can be abusive or predatory toward our fellow authors.

Best of luck with your work, and happy writing!

J.T. Evans writes fantasy novels. He also dabbles with science fiction and horror short stories. He is the president of Pikes Peak Writers. When not writing, he secures computers at the Day Job, homebrews great beers, spends time with his family, and plays way too many card/board/role-playing games.

Quote of the Week and the Week to Come

“If utopian fiction became the new trend, I wouldn't read it. “ ~ Veronica Roth

Source: Wikipedia, Brainy Quotes

Veronica Roth, born Aug 19,1988, is an American novelist and short story writer known for her debut New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy, consisting of Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant; and Four: A Divergent Collection, which have been adapted for movies.

This week on Writing from the Peak:

August 29     Show Me the Money by J.T. Evans

August 30     Fresh Brain through Food by Karen Albright Lin

September 2 Pikes Peak Writers September Events

Sweet Success Celebrates Donnell Ann Bell & a Sale!

Donnell Ann Bell's fourth mystery/romantic suspense is now on sale on all digital markets throughout August 31 for $1.99.  What readers are saying  . . . 

. . . "Now this is romantic suspense." 

. . . "Such a great story teller you get lost in her books."

A devastating secret drove her from her lover's arms. Will a secret equally as deadly lead her back to him? 
Diana Reid is an investigative reporter skilled at uncovering other people's secrets. It's her own that she works to keep buried. Eight years earlier, she promised to leave her fiancé and hometown of Diamond, Texas forever. That pledge vanishes when she receives a letter that people are going to die, implicating her hometown's largest employer, and making a veiled threat against her mother. With no other choice, Diana will return to Diamond, albeit in disguise, to discover the anonymous author.