We had a great time at our March meeting. Agent Melissa Jeglinski was wonderful and very informative. We all learned a lot and laughed a good bit, too.
We are pleased to present author Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense author Debby Guisti in April. She will be presenting the program Building Suspense In Any Genre.Come join us on Tuesday April 27th.
Here are the unanimous election results from our meeting in December:
President: Amy Wallace
Vice President: Belinda Peterson
Treasurer: Cindy Woodsmall and Christy Smith
Secretary: Missy Tippens
Please be in prayer for your 2009 Board! We look forward to serving you and seeing what God has in store for us in 2009.
Wishing each of you a Christmas filled with joy and a New Year full of hope!
Merry Christmas!
The WORD meeting for March with Ginger Garrett was an incredible time filled with tons of tips and insights on creating story structure. Ginger shared some of the stunning art she uses for inspiration and offered a plethora of ideas on finding the tools that work for each individual writer.
Not only did Ginger show up and inspire us, but she also shared about her exciting new book. To let you all in on the wonder, here’s a link to a video clip about this upcoming novel, In The Shadow of Lions.
Our WORD book giveaway for the month is Scraps of Love—An anthologoy written by authors Tracy V. Bateman, Lena Nelson Dooley, Rhonda Gibson, Janet Spaeth ~
A patchwork quilt weaves its way through these 4 stories.
Leave a comment and you are entered for the book giveaway. The winner will be drawn at the beginning of March.
January Meeting Recap:
We had a great January meeting. Amy Wallace discussed the snowflake method with us which turned into great conversation and ideas.
We hope to see you next month as author Julie Garmon talks about a great topic: Writing From the Heart. To learn more about Julie, read the interview below.
Belinda: When did you realize you had a love for writing?
Julie: I grew up the daughter of a writer. Marion Bond West—Guideposts’ most published/most rejected author and author of seven books. My mother picked me of her four children to become her junior editor. I hated it. I wanted to go out and play. I got even by being really tough on her. When something didn’t snag my interest I’d write, “Boring, who cares” with a red magic marker across the pages. But God must have had a plan because despite my irritation with my mother, I learned a little bit about transparent writing way back when. Without trying to, my mother taught me the beauty of writing real.I’ve always loved to read but didn’t start writing until I turned 40. Writing became my sanity.
Belinda: You write stories, articles (not sure about the correct term there) for Guideposts. Tell us about that journey.
Julie: I won a spot to the Guideposts writer’s contest in 2004. I sort of cheated and wrote the story from three POV’s. My daughter was date raped as a freshman in college. After much healing took place, she asked me to write her story. I wrote it from my POV, my daughter’s, and my husband’s. Even though I won the workshop with that story, it never worked for Guideposts. I rewrote it in the form of a devotional for Daily Guideposts. It was published from my husband’s POV in Today’s Christian. I learned if a story won’t let go of me, I don’t quit. Different articles suit different publications.
One of my Guideposts teachers at the initial workshop was Elizabeth Sherrill. She’s been with the magazine since it began. She taught me so much. She says writing is like taking a hunk of marble and carving. The more you carve, the better the story gets, and a story can have many different themes, depending on the way you carve it out. Of course, only one theme is allowed in an article.
I’ve also written for some of their other Guideposts publications—Sweet 16, Angels on Earth, and PLUS. I’ve been a contributor to Daily Guideposts (devotional book) since 2003. I’ve published on www.sober24.com, by Guideposts. Writing for Guideposts sparked other publications like Today’s Christian and Today’s Christian Woman. My first “yes” came from Homelife. I’ve returned to two subsequent Guideposts workshops based on stories I ghosted. I’ve discovered that I love to ghost.
Belinda: What do you love most about writing?
Julie: Speaking and teaching has followed writing. My favorite thing is to connect with people and hear, “Thank you for writing. That’s exactly how I felt. I feel like I’ve always known you. Your story helped me.” The creative process of writing goes like this. I write like a mad woman. Driven. Obsessed. Probably not a very healthy and balanced way to write. I don’t dress. I drink too much coffee. I forget to eat. The day goes too fast. Writing with heart feels natural. Sure it’s work, but it’s doable. Writing with structure, outlines, and following the rules, that part, I don’t like—makes me grind my teeth. What I am loving big time, is writing fiction. My prayer/goal/dream is to become a novelist. I plan to go to Mount Hermon this year with my novel. I was in an editing group led by Cec Murphey for a couple of years. He said something I’ll never forget. He said, “Did you realize you have a flair for fiction?” Well, no, of course not. That sparked something inside me. Cec and my mother were in an editing group 30 years ago. I’m forever grateful.
Belinda:Where is your favorite place to write?
Julie: My husband built us a log cabin in the woods. He made a writing loft for me. I can look out the windows and feel like I’m in a bird’s nest. This is the only place I write—though I think most writers are always writing no matter where we are. I have a laptop but I don’t use it much. I jot down ideas when I’m away from my loft. Writing with noise bothers me—anything but the birds. Thank you so much for the interview. Julie
See you at the February WORD meeting!
