2010 Meetings and Special Events

"Write to Win in 2010" is our theme for 2010.

September 25 – “Tales from the Trenches: How to Market Your Work in Your Own Backyard.” Marketing panel discussion with members on ways o get your book noticed.

October 30 – “Getting in the Door and Pokin Around.” Fall Workshop featuring Susan Swartwout, professor at Southeast Missouri State University and editor of “Big Muddy,” and Steve Pokin, columnist for the Suburban Journal.

Susan Swartwout teaches creative writing and publishing at Southeast Missouri State University and is the Publisher of Southeast Missouri State University Press which produces books and Big Muddy: Journal of the Mississippi River Valley, an interdisciplinary magazine. Her two collections of poetry are entitled Freaks and Uncommon Ground. She co-edited Real Things: Anthology of Popular Culture in American Poetry,Hurricane Blues: Poems about Katrina and Rita, Balancing on a Bootheel, and A Student’s Guide to Getting Published. Her poems and short stories are published in literary journals such as Nebraska Review, The Laurel Review, River Styx, Negative Capability, Mississippi Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review, among others. She is a recipient of the Rona Jaffe Writers’ Foundation Award, the Dillinger Good Award, and St.Louis Poetry Center’s Hanks Award.

Dr. Swartwout will share her writing expertise as both a teacher and an author. She'll be talking about "Getting in the Door" in literary magazines and small presses in today's economic climate – the research, the query, the cover letter. She will also take pitches from workshop attendees who schedule appointments in advance.

Steve Pokin’s popular column “Pokin Around” appears in the Suburban Journal. Steve will talk about writing non-fiction.

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2010 WORKSHOP REGISTRATION FORM

(Copy, paste, and print)

Saturday Writers One-Day Workshop

“Getting in the Door and Pokin Around”

"Getting in the Door" with Susan Swartwout. Susan Swartwout will tell us how to get into the literary magazines and small presses even in today’s economic climate. She’ll cover research, the query, the cover letter. Susan will also take pitches during the day for her literary magazine, Big Muddy, and for the Southeast Missouri University Press. Please let us know when you register if you’d like a five minute pitch so we can schedule appointments accordingly.

“Pokin Around” with Steve Pokin. Steve Pokin’s popular newspaper column appears in the Suburban Journal. Steve will talk about writing non-fiction and give us some tips on how to write for the area newspapers, or perhaps how to get your own column.

When: October 30, 2010

Time: Registration begins at 9:00 Meeting starts at 10:00 ends at 3:30

Where: St.Peters Community & Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters Howell Road (off mid rivers Mall drive) St. Peters, MO 636-397-6903

Bring a picnic lunch. There are several restaurants and fast food places in the area, but we are encouraging everyone to bring a picnic lunch and visit during lunch break. Saturday Writers will provide drinks and dessert. A prize will be awarded for the most creative container for your lunch. Door prizes and a raffle. Bring your notebook and your pen and be prepared to learn.

Workshop Fees (Due October 15)

Saturday Writers Member $30 _______________

MWG or OWL Member $30 _______________

Full-time Student $40 _______________

Non-Member $50 _______________

After Oct 15 or at the door (All) $60 _______________

Pitch appointment with Susan _______________

Check payable to Saturday Writers:

Name ____________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________

Contact Information _______________________________________________________

Mail to: Donna Volkenannt

32 Country Crossing Est. Dr.

St. Peters, MO 63376

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November 27 - No meeting - Thanksgiving Weekend.

December 4 - Annual Christmas Party and Open House, including Book Exchange.

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Events that occurred in 2010

January 30 - SPOTLIGHT ON OUR MEMBERS: Fifteen Minutes of Fame, Announcement of Saturday Writers 1/1/1 Kick-off Contest Winner and Open Mic Session: As part of our "Write to Win in 2010" theme, our first meeting will be dedicated to our members.

Kicking off our "Saturday Writers Featured Member Fifteen Minutes of Fame" will be Nick Nixon, who has been a country music singer/performer and is founder and president of the Gateway Country Music Association.  Nick says he has had "marginal success at song writing, and is currently working on a love ballad entitled ...'You Caught My Eye When Your Husband Knocked It Out.' " Last October, Nick was also winner of our 2009 Workshop Writing Contest for his poignant essay, "July, the Wonder Dog."

After Nick's "Fifteen Minutes of Fame" performance, the winner of our "Write to Win in 2010 Kick-off Contest" will be announced. The winner will be invited to read his or her winning entry.

Rounding out our meeting, members are invited to read during our Open Mic Session. Bring their very best, polished work to read. Advanced sign-up required to read during the Open Mic Session.  Contact louturn@aol.com to sign up to read.

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February 27 - Award-winning Mystery and thriller writer DAKOTA BANKS (aka SHIRLEY KENNETT) will talk about "BOOK PROPOSALS THAT SELL." A book proposal is what you need to introduce yourself to an agent or editor, like an expanded business card. It consists of a query letter, a synopsis, and a fifty-page writing sample. The object is to get your full manuscript a reading by an agent or editor. It's a foot in the door to let your full manuscript work its magic. Without a compelling query and synopsis, the door closes rapidly and you get a form rejection letter with a check in the box that says, "Sorry, does not meet our needs." Dakota will talk us through a real-life query letter and synopsis that sold, and talk about an opening hook for your manuscript. You'll have a handout and you can feel free to e-mail her after the presentation with any questions that weren't covered (shirley@shirleykennett.com).

Dakota Banks (aka Shirley Kennett) grew up in a converted turn-of-the-century funeral home, complete with blood gutters and multiple drains in the basement floor, and it probably warped her mind. She set aside all those macabre thoughts spawned by reading books in the basement at night with a flashlight and undertook a relatively normal life. Dakota published six books, all hard-edged suspense thrillers dealing with virtual reality, one of them set in a near-future world. Something was missing, though, and it took her 600,000 words to find out what. Although the thrillers extrapolated trends in forensic science, computer simulation, and virtual reality, they didn't go far enough.

She felt hemmed in by reality. She needed to get back into the basement with a flashlight and write from that perspective. Dark Time, the first book in the Mortal Path series, is a supernatural thriller/dark urban fantasy, with a little horror and romance thrown in for seasoning. Book two, Sacrifice, will be out in September 2010.

Dakota lives on the western fringe of St. Louis, Missouri with her husband. Her two sons, one adopted from Peru and the other from Ethiopia, are in college. She's a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, American Crime Writers League, and a board member of International Thriller Writers. http://www.dakota-banks.com

March 27 - Creating Winning Manuscripts: An Insider's View. St. Charles Community College English professor and Mid Rivers Review Editor Teddy Norris shares her insight about what grabs an editor's attention and causes a manuscript to rise to the top of the submission pile. Teddy will also discuss what she learned during a manuscript conference she attended while on sabbatical.  

Teddy Norris is Professor of English at St. Charles Community College where she teaches poetry and creative writing. Since 2006 she has edited SCC’s literary journal, Mid Rivers Review, and she also hosts the SCC Coffeehouse. She recently completed a poetry manuscript and has poetry forthcoming in Untamed Ink and The Mom Egg.

Jerrell Swingle will have is fifteen minutes of fame prior to Teddy’s presentation, and winner of our March Madness contest will be announced prior to Teddy’s presentation.

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Saturday, April 24 - Jen Cullerton Johnson is the author of Seeds of Change. She has published fiction and creative nonfiction in literary journals and magazines. She has led writing workshops for high school students, elementary children, and continuing education students where she provides a positive and productive workshop environment where respect and craft coincide. She holds a MFA in non-fiction, a MEd in curriculum and development and is Illinois certified.

Want to dig up some stories and help the environment? SEEDS OF CHANGE is a workshop designed to give participants the tools to write about the environment around them. Participants will learn how to observe nature through keeping a nature journal. They will also use this inspiration to write a piece of their choice: poetry, short story, essay, and so on. Adults and children are welcome to participate! Bring paper and pencil.

SEEDS OF CHANGE (the book) received a STARRED review in the 4/15 issue of Kirkus! "This debut picture biography, idealized and inspiring, draws on Wangari Maathai’s autobiographical writing to present an overview of the activist’s life from childhood to the present. Johnson sows her narrative with botanical metaphors: ‘Her mind was like a seed rooted in rich soil, ready to grow.’ The mugumo tree symbolizes Kenya’s transition from agrarian bounty to environmental precipice: It yields figs for humans and animals yet bows to destruction as multinational corporations raze forests to profit from coffee plantations. Richer than other treatments of Maathai for children and more grounded in her work’s implicit feminism, this details her education in Nairobi and the United States, her imprisonment for activism and her scientific and environmental work, resulting in the planting of 30,000,000 trees and economic empowerment for Kenyan women. Sadler’s beautiful scratchboard illustrations incise white contoured line into saturated landscapes of lush green leaf patterns, brilliant-hued textiles and undulating, stylized hills. Maathai always wears a colorful headscarf or fabric bow, and the community spirit she resuscitates is joyfully celebrated on every spread. Vibrant and accomplished." (This book will be for sale at the workshop.)

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May 29 – Annual Works-in-progress Meeting. Come listen to our members read their works in progress. To sign up to read during the meeting, e-mail Lou Turner louturn@aol.com with YOUR NAME and Saturday Writers WIP Meeting in the Subject line no later than May 20.

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June 26 – EMILY JAYCOX, Librarian for the Missouri History Museum’s Library, will give a presentation on “Research Resources Available at the Missouri History Library.” According to their website: “The Missouri History Museum’s research collections contain unique regional history sources and objects documenting St. Louis, Missouri, the Mississippi and Missouri Valleys, the Louisiana Purchase Territory and the American West.” No matter what you write: fiction, nonfiction, short stories, novels, essays, articles, even poetry, Emily’s presentation will give you an insider’s view of the library and its excellent research resources, which include family history, Missouri history, genealogy records, photos, and much more.

Bio: Emily Troxell Jaycox joined the Missouri History Museum library staff in 1989. Prior to that, she worked at the Newberry Library in Chicago and Lake Forest College Library. Her undergraduate degree in History is from Oberlin College and her master’s in Library Science is from the University of Chicago. While working among old books and documents, much of her workday is spent planning ways to make more of MHM’s collections searchable via the Internet. Her research interests include historic maps, North America in the late 1700’s, and the history of etiquette and food. She lives in South St. Louis and enjoys gardening and house tours.

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July 31- Writing Fun with no Hot Sun

Here’s what’s in store or us, courtesy of president, Louella Turner:

As many of you know, we had a scheduling conflict with the speakers we had lined up for July. They have promised to do the workshop at another date next year. The good news is we have the room from 10 until 3 for this meeting, so we're planning to pack it with a whole lot of fun!

First. Everyone bring a picnic lunch of some kind. You can stop at a fast food place, or you can fry up some chicken and put it in a vintage picnic basket. To encourage you to be creative, we're going to have a prize for the most inventive lunch...food, container...whatever. You could even dress up if you want and we'll judge on that. Just have fun.

Second. We have such talented members. Bring anything and everything that you've published and set up a book table to sell your wares. Bring flyers of upcoming book or speaking events that you are involved in. This is your day to crow about your achievements. We'll also have a prize for the prettiest table. So bring something to decorate it with. Tables are available at the center. Some may have to share a table, but everyone who participates in the book sale is asked to help with table set up and clean up.

Third. We'll have a short open mic for anything you want comments on. This will be a critique session, so if you want, bring a few copies. We'll take suggestions or comments from the audience, so please bring something that you think could benefit from a good critique. We'll have a sign up sheet at the registration table. Just two pages please!!!! Just have fun.

Fourth. Bring a new or used book for a unique book exchange Donna and I want to do. Now, do I have to say it again? We're just going to have fun.

We'll also try to save a little time for just a good old-fashioned discussion about writing. I think we have so much we can learn from each other.

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The 2010 Children’s workshop and contest are sponsored by:

*Missouri Writers’ Guild, (www.missouriwritersguild.org)

*Donna Volkenannt, (Donna’s Book Pub http://donnasbookpub.blogspot.com and author of stories in Cup of Comfort for Christmas, Cup of Comfort for Military Families, Cup of Comfort for Women, and Irish Inspirations)

*Cindy Allen, Saturday Writers board member

*Margo L. Dill, (Editor 911: editing services and business writing, http://www.margodill.com/editor911.html)

*Lou Turner, (High Hill Press, http://www.highhillpress.com/)

*Amy Harke-Moore, (The Write Helper, editing services http://www.thewritehelper.com/)

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The members of Saturday Writers thank the speakers who visited us in 2009.

January 31 - "Out of the Silence Cometh the First Line." Saturday Writers is pleased and honored to present WALTER BARGEN, Missouri's first poet laureate, at the first Saturday Writers meeting of 2009. Bargen will cover his topic for approximately 45 minutes to an hour, followed by questions and answers from attendees. His books of poetry will also be available for sale after his talk. He has published twelve books of poetry and two chapbooks of poetry.  His four most recent books are, The Feast (BkMk Press-UMKC, 2004), which was awarded the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award, Remedies for Vertigo (WordTech Communications, 2006), West of West (Timberline Press, 2007), and Theban Traffic (WordTech Communications, 2008).  His poems have appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry East, Seattle Review, and New Letters. He was the winner of the Chester H. Jones Foundation prize in 1997 and a National Endowment for the Art Fellowship in 1991. In 2008, he was appointed to be the first poet laureate of Missouri.  www.walterbargen.com

Walter Bargen at 2008 MWG Conference

(Photo by Donna Volkenannt)

February 28 - BOBBI SMITH, The best-selling "Queen of the Western Romance" talks to Saturday Writers about "Motivation."

(Photo courtesy of Bobbi Smith's website)

New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Bobbi Smith worked in retail sales until her graduation from the University of Missouri, St. Louis in 1971. Zebra Books purchased her first manuscript in early ’82, and the rest as they say, is history. In the past twenty-six years, Bobbi has written forty-nine books and six short stories, and the love affair has become a sizzling romance between author and her fans. To date, there are over six million Bobbi Smith novels in print. She has been awarded the prestigious ‘Storyteller of the Year’ Award from Romantic Times Magazine (New York) and attained positions on the New York Times Best Seller List, the USA Today Best Seller List, the Walden’s Best Seller List, B. Dalton’s List, and the WalMart and K-Mart Best Seller Lists. She has been a guest speaker at the Romantic Times Conferences and is currently coordinating an entire Writers’ Track for them. She has also spoken at numerous writers’ groups around the country. Ms. Smith was awarded the Distinguished Alumna Award from Harris-Stowe and was inducted into the Sigma Tau Delta Literary Fraternity. She taught creative writing courses at the University of Missouri – St. Louis for the Adult Education Courses. The foreign rights to Ms. Smith’s books have been sold to China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Russia and Sweden. Smith’s current novel for her publisher Leisure Books, a division of Dorchester, is Wanted! The Texan out in January and Runaway will be out in July. Zebra Books is re-releasing Desert Heart this spring and The Gunfighter (originally titled Beneath Passion’s Skies) this fall! Smith also writes contemporary faith-based novels (Haven and Miracles) under the pseudonym of Julie Marshall.

March 28 - "Just the Facts" - A panel of experts answer questions and talk about their careers in law enforcement. This question-and-answer panel discussion is an excellent opportunity for writers of mystery, suspense, or crime novels to get an insider's perspective from experts in a variety of law enforcement careers. Here's the list of panelists:

Cindy Allen is deputized as a Federal law enforcement officer. Voluntarily, she offers her service as a Federal Flight Deck Officer. Since 1978, she's been employed in the airline industry.  At TWA, she served as captain on the B717; currently she flies the 757/767 at American Airlines.  In addition to her pilot training, she's trained on the use of firearms, defensive tactics, the psychology of survival, legal issues, and the use of force.  When she is not working, she enjoys target shooting practice at the local shooting range.

Christopher DiGuiseppi (Chris) has over eighteen years in law enforcement at various levels up to and including Assistant Chief of Police. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and Northwestern University School of Police Staff Command. He is trained in various aspects of law enforcement and holds degrees in Management and Human Resources.  Chris lives with his wife and children in Missouri.

Michael Force (Mike) has over eighteen years in law enforcement as a Police Chief with numerous certifications in various areas of law, forensics, investigations and criminology. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and served twenty-two years in the U.S. Marines, where he retired as a Captain who oversaw operations for twenty-seven military installations worldwide.   He holds degrees in Political Science and Human Resources.  Mike lives with his wife in Missouri and has three grown children.

Jeffrey L. Fulton is currently the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in St. Louis, Missouri.  He is responsible for ATF’s enforcement operations in eastern Missouri and the states of Nebraska and Iowa.  Prior to arriving in St. Louis in October 2002, Jeff was the Chief of ATF’s State, Local and International Training Division in Washington, DC,  overseeing all of ATF’s external training initiatives dealing with firearms, explosives, arson and the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program.

Between January 1997 and January 2000, Jeff was the Resident Agent in Charge of ATF’s Omaha, Nebraska, field office where he had geographical responsibility for the entire state of Nebraska and the western tier of Iowa. Jeff has been a Special Agent with ATF since April 1984.  Prior to that, he was with the Customs Service in El Paso, Texas, and Houston, Texas.  He graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1982 with a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice. Jeff’s previous assignments with ATF were in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from April 1984 through November 1993.  He was assigned to the Intelligence Division in Bureau Headquarters in Washington, DC, from December 1993 to January 1997. Jeff’s investigative specialties include explosive and firearm investigations.  He is a Certified Explosives Specialist with ATF and has made explosive and firearms presentations both domestically and abroad. Jeff and his wife, Nancy, along with their two teen age children, reside in Wildwood, Missouri.

Lisa Harke came to the position of 911 operator and dispatcher quite by accident. While working as an assistant manager of a gas station, which some of the local police officers frequented, she asked one of her favorite officers about an ad she'd seen in the paper for a dispatcher. He told her not everyone was cut out to do the job, which she soon found to be an accurate statement. That was seven years ago, and she still loves the job today. When she's not "answering the call," she enjoys catering, photography, crafts, and spending time with family and friends.

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April 25 - NOTE: As part of Saturday Writers theme for 2009 of "Taking Your Writing to the Next Level," prior to Max's presentation, High Hill CEO and Publisher Louella Turner will give a brief tutorial on "Point of View."

April 25 - Photojournalism - Multimedia photojournalist MAX GERSH will discuss:

* His background in photography and photojournalism

* What separates a photographer from a photojournalist

* Breaking into the field

* Why today's photojournalists have to know many visual media

* How to react to news/how we see news

* Maintaining objectivity when covering tragedy/covering exciting stories

Max has been studying and practicing journalism for twelve years and photography for nearly nine. Gersh is a 2008 graduate of Webster University with a B.A. in photography. He spent one semester abroad in Shanghai, China. In his final years at Webster he studied interactive digital media and web design in addition to photojournalism. He participated in the design and construction of Web sites for one of St. Louis' leading interactive advertising agencies, working on projects for clients such as Nestle Purina. His work has appeared in publications like The Alton Telegraph, The St. Louis Jewish Light and the St. Louis Journalism Review. He currently is the photography intern at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 
(Photo courtesy of Max Gersh)

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May 30 - Saturday Writers presents, "The First 300." Ladies and Gentlemen, start up your writing engines!!!!!

According to most editors and agents, a writer has to capture their attention right away-in the first paragraph or the first page-but for sure by the first 300 words. Members of Saturday Writers are invited to submit their fiction, non-fiction, or essays, up to 300 words (double spaced) which will be read during the May meeting and critiqued by a panel of editors. Writers of all levels are welcome to submit. And, you don't have to submit anything to attend the meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend!!!

 Editors Lou Turner, Donna Volkenannt, and Amy Harke-Moore will read the submissions ahead of time and offer practical comments to help you improve your writing. They will let you know what's working as well as what needs work.

The day of the meeting, after David "Kirk" Kirkland gives a brief tutorial on "Self-editing," he will read your submission anonymously, after which members of the editors' panel make comments, followed by reading the revised version. After the meeting we'll have the copies for submitters to take home.

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June 27 - "Getting Paid to Tell the Truth" - Local newspaper columnist and non-fiction writer Shelly Schneider and husband-and-wife writers Dianna and Don Graveman will participate in a panel discussion and share what they've learned about writing and publishing non-fiction.

Shelly Schneider spent much of her life trying to find a painless method for removing her foot from her mouth. She’s matured, a little, thanks to her husband, Jim, and their three children: Christopher, Michael and Samantha. She is an award-winning columnist for Community News (www.mycnews.com) and alter ego to Sarcastic Woman. Shelly is a lifetime fan of most sports and an 18-year fan of classic and muscle cars. When she’s not doing that other stuff, she tries to keep track of her daily points allowance, because hey, if you bite it, you write it!

Dianna Graveman is an editor for Liguori Publications. She holds an MFA in writing and a bachelor's degree in education and has taught most grades from Kindergarten through college. Her writing has been published in the U.S. and U.K. and has been recognized by the Missouri Writers Guild, Saturday Writers, Whispering Prairie Press, Women on Writing, ByLine Magazine, Erma Bombeck Writing Competition, and Catholic Press Association of the U.S. and Canada. She is a St. Louis Writers Guild "member of distinction," where she served on the organization's board of directors in 2008-2009.

Don Graveman is a historian and freelance photographer, as well as an account manager for Butler Communications in O’Fallon, Missouri . The recipient of a variety of sales awards, Don’s business travels regularly take him across a multi-state territory, mostly in the American West. Don holds a degree in economics from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Don and Dianna are co-authors of the recently-released pictorial history, St. Charles: Les Petites Cotes, which was published as part of Arcadia Publishing's national "Images of America" series. They are currently under contract with Arcadia to develop three additional books for release in 2010.

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July 25  - New York Times bestselling author Angie Fox steps in for Agatha-Award nominated writer Joanna Slan, who is out of town due to a family emergency. Angie will share her thoughts on: "ANATOMY OF A BEST SELLER." 

Angie Fox is the New York Times bestselling author of the Accidental Demon Slayer series. She claims that researching her books can be just as much fun as writing them. In the name of fact-finding, Angie has ridden with Harley biker gangs, explored the tunnels underneath Hoover Dam and found an interesting recipe for Mamma Coalpot’s Southern Skunk Surprise (she’s still trying to get her courage up to try it).

Angie earned a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. She worked in television news and then in advertising before beginning her career as an author.

At the beginning of the July 25 meeting, Saturday Writers newsletter editor and award-winning writer Amy Harke-Moore will give a tutorial on "Show, Don't Tell."

August 29 - DUSTY RICHARDS, Western Writer and two-time Spur-Award-winning author, talks at an extended meeting about "Developing Character and Setting." Since publishing his first novel, Nobel's Way, in 1992, Dusty hasn't looked back. He has published 65 books under his own name and pseudonyms. In 2003, his novel The Natural won the Oklahoma Writer's Federation Fiction Book of the Year Award. In 2004, The Abilene Train won the same award. He serves on the board of the Ozarks Creative Writers Conference held annual in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, as well as on the boards of the Ozarks Writers League and OWFI. He is a past board member of the Western Writers of America. In 2004 he was inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame. Dusty and his wife Pat live near Beaver Lake east of Springdale, Arkansas.

Prior to Dusty's presentation, as part of our 2009 goal of "taking our writing to the next level," Donna Volkenannt will give a brief writing tutorial on "Brainstorming."

September 26 - "Exercising Your Writing Muscle." Multi-published and award-winning writers Tricia Sanders (left, top) and Amy Harke-Moore (left, bottom) (who both are left-handed, by the way) will get your right brain working WRITE during a hands-on meeting, which will include: exercises, how-to, handouts, and more. Now that summer is over, it's time to get serious about your writing. So, if you want to rev up your writing engines so your stories, articles, or essays zip to the top of an editor's desk, this is a meeting where you get to flex your writing muscles.  Bring your enthusiasm, imagination, pen, and paper--and get ready to work! Oh, and don't forget to bring your brain, too.

Tricia Sanders is a former instructional designer and corporate trainer who has been writing since she received her first chubby pencil and Big Chief tablet.  Her first short story "Christmas in July" was published when she was in fourth grade.  Her essays and short stories have won numerous awards and have appeared in ByLine, Sasee, The Cuivre River Anthology II and III, Magnolia Quarterly, Great American Outhouse Stories; The Whole Truth and Nothing Butt and the 2007 Seven Hills Review.  She is currently working on a novel-length murder mystery.  Her website www.triciasanders.com is under construction.

Amy Harke-Moore has won over sixty awards to date, most notably the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. Essay Award, 2001 and 2004, and OWFI Short Story Award, 2002 and 2005. Her work has appeared in The Writer, Chicago Quarterly Review, The MacGuffin, Permafrost, Grit, Writers’ Journal, Spring Hill Review, Echoes of the Ozarks, Cuivre River Anthology, and Bellowing Ark. She also served as co-editor of the 2006 and 2007editions of Cuivre River Anthology. She is past president of Saturday Writers, a chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild, and co-founder of The Scribe's Tribe critique group. Currently, she is editor of Saturday Writers newsletter. In her spare time she plugs away at her suspense novel set in the early 1900s.

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October 24 - "Vision, Voice and Viewpoint." Acclaimed writer Pat Carr will headline our annual workshop. 

Pat Carr’s twelve books of fiction include The Women in the Mirror, winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, If We Must Die,in the 2003 PEN book awards, and The Death of a Confederate Colonel, published by the University of Arkansas Press. Her more than one hundred short stories have been published in such notable publications as... Southern Review, Yale Review, Best American Short Stories...

ForeWord magazine named Pat Carr's, The Death of a Confederate Colonel, one of the top university press books of 2008, praising Carr's economic narrative as being precise and dramatic.

Regina Williams, publisher and editor of Storyteller Magazine, will also give a presentation about writing for Storyteller. During the workshop, Regina will take pitches from attendees.

Regina Williams, editor of Storyteller Magazine will speak in the morning about how to submit your short story, essay or poem to any magazine or anthology. She’ll tell you what to include in your query, and what to avoid.  Regina will also be taking pitches throughout the day.

This will be a hands-on workshop, limited to the first 50 people.  A workbook will be provided so bring nothing but a sharpened pencil and your enthusiasm. (Lunch on your own.)

A Workshop Registration Application and Contest information can be found on the Member Application page.

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December 5 - Saturday Writers Annual Christmas Party and Open House. Put your party hat on! You’re in for a treat on Saturday, December 5, is the annual Saturday Writers Christmas meeting and Pot Luck Lunch will be held at the St. Peters Community and Arts Center from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m.

* Members bring a snack to share. ** Note: We’re not doing a gift exchange this year.

* Members read works-in-progress (Sign up at the door. First come, first served. Limit five, double-spaced pages,)

* MEMBER BOOK SALE and signing event. This is a perfect time to do some Christmas shopping and support your fellow writers. Members, if you have published a book or have a story in a book or anthology, this is your chance to make your book available to our members and guests. If you will have book(s) you would like to have available for sale, e-mail dvolkenannt@charter.net with the title of your book to post on the website. Members are responsible for their own sales.

* Announcement about our exciting “Write to Win in 2010” Kick-off contest for members only.

* Announcement about new tee-shirts.

* Announcement about our annual children’s meeting and writing contests.

* Other announcements from the board about future events.

* Guests are welcome! Invite your writing friends!

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We thank the following speakers who visited us in 2008. Please let them know how much you appreciate their support of Saturday Writers.

January 26 - LAURA BRADFORD:  "Tricks of the Promotion Trade."

In "Tricks of the Promotion Trade" Laura will discuss the changes in the publishing world that make it even more important for writers to learn the ins and outs of promotion. Securing articles in newspapers, taking advantage of the World Wide Web, catching the eye of local television stations, and increasing one's overall visibility are all vital to an author's success. But, unless you know what you're doing or have the money to hire a publicist, the task of self-promotion can be quite daunting.  If you let it be.

LAURA BRADFORD, a local mystery author, will share some tried and true promotion tricks she's learned along the way--both as a promoter and a promotee.  Click on her name to visit her web site and learn more about this amazing author.

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February 23 - DAN DILLON:  "Picking up the Pieces: How to Turn a Failed Project into a Successful Book."  

In "Picking up the Pieces," Dan will discuss how he was able to shift gears on a work-in-progress. Dan’s original book topic was Prom Magazine, a local monthly magazine read by St. Louis high school students from the late '40s through the early '70s. Problems forced him to withdraw from the project. He was fortunate enough to be able to salvage much of his research on the "Prom" project and turn it into the second edition of "So, Where'd You Go to High School?"

DAN DILLON has been a writer/producer at KMOV Channel 4 since 1983.  He is the recipient of 14 Mid-America Chapter Emmy Awards for writing, directing and editing.  Dan is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.  He is also a proud alum of St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Dan lives in Olivette with his wife Kim, and daughters Kylie and Mackenzie. 

March 29 - JULIE EARHART.  "First Sentence Expectations."

The first sentence of every written piece is the hook. It is crucial in drawing your reader into your work. A first sentence often determines whether a reader moves to the second sentence. Learn what it takes to make a great sentence.

Bring the first sentence of a story, essay, nonfiction piece, or a poem to the meeting and discover how it affects readers.

Be one of the first to hear an added category suggested by Arthur Poltnick.

(Photo courtesy of Julie Earhart)

April 26 - Poet, editor and translator MICHAEL CASTRO will talk about Collaborations: Translating the Voices in My Head. Castro is a poet, translator, and performance artist. He is the co-founder of the literary organization and magazine, River Styx, in operation in St. Louis since 1975. He has hosted three poetry radio programs, broadcasting poetry programming over twenty years--most recently, Poetry Beat (1989--2003, KDHX-FM St. Louis). He has published ten books of poetry, including Human Rites (2002), and two books of translations (with Hungarian poet, Gabor Gyukics), Swimming in the Ground: Contemporary Hungarian Poets (2001) and A Transparent Lion: Selected Poetry of Attila Jozsef (2006). His performance work with music is reflected in two recent CD's: "Kokopilau" with wind player J.D. Parran, and "Endless Root" with multi-instrumentalist Joe Catalano (both 2008). Castro teaches at Lindenwood University, where he founded the MFA in Writing Program.

May 31 - Critique Groups 101. A panel of multi-published, award-winning writers, including Tricia Sanders, Tricia Grissom and Amy Harke-Moore, will share their experiences about belonging to critique groups. Critique group discussion topics include: how to form one, how to find one, tips on giving and receiving critique, tips on running a critique group, online critique groups and online sources about critiquing.  SPECIAL NOTE: During the May meeting SW President Tricia Sanders will make a special announcement about the October Workshop.

June 28 - Works in Progress. "Saturday Writers Cafe" Members read their works in progress at an open mike session. Come read, come listen, just come and enjoy good works.  This annual meeting is dedicated to showcasing the talents of our members.  It is a special opportunity to listen to our members read from their works in progress. 

July 26 - PATRICIA RICE. "Writing Realistic Fiction." Be sure to bring a pen and paper for this hands-on workshop with Patricia.

With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today's bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA PATRICIA RICE is one of romance's hottest authors.  MYSTIC RIDER, her forty-fifth book and the second in her Mystic Isle trilogy is a July 2008 release about an ancient island invisible to anyone except the mysteriously gifted people who live there.Patricia Rice's emotionally-charged contemporary and historical romances have won numerous awards, including the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards and the Bookrak Bestselling Paperback award. Her books have also been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories.

( A firm believer in happily-ever-after, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky, a past resident of North Carolina, she currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and now does accounting only for herself. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild, and Novelists, Inc., as well as numerous professional accounting organizations and local charities.  Here’s her website www.patriciarice.com

August 30 - Saturday Writers Presents Mystery Writer SUSAN MCBRIDE.

Today's publishing market is tighter--and crazier--than ever.  With celebrity books taking over publishing budgets, boundary lines being crossed between literary genres, and some genres shrinking out of sight, what's a writer to do?  Being open-minded and versatile is the best game plan, and St. Louis author Susan McBride will discuss how she's kept her literary muscles flexible in order to adapt to these tricky times.  Susan is the author of five Debutante Dropout Mysteries from HarperCollins/Avon, two darker small press mysteries, and the forthcoming young adult series, THE DEBS, from Random House/Delacorte. Susan will share her tricks for working with very different editors, keeping your eyes open for opportunities, and always thinking outside the box! 

September 27 - Saturday Writers presents JANE HENDERSON, book editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jane's talk at our monthly meeting will focus on book reviews.  This is a meeting you won't want to miss!! Read about books and writing-related topics on Jane's Book Blog

October 25 - SATURDAY WRITERS PRESENTS "TURN THE PAGE" WORKSHOP from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Peters City Hall, Room A, One St. Peters Centre Blvd, St. Peters, MO. (Note different location from regular meetings.)

Finished your novel or almost have it finished?  Have new ideas for a smashing article?  Well, turn the page and join us for an all-day workshop featuring Krista Goering, literary agent from The Krista Goering Literary Agency LLC; Susan Swartwout, professor, director of the University Press and editor of Big Muddy; Rebecca French Smith, Managing Editor Missouri, Life, and Anna Genoese, Consulting Editor for Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Since the year 2000, ANNA GENOESE has worked for Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, in some capacity or another.  Currently, she is a consulting editor, which means that she acquires and edits books project by project.  Prior to becoming a consulting editor, Anna conceived and executed Tom Doherty Associates’ first dedicated romance imprint, Tor Romance. For the first two years of its existence, Tor Romance focused exclusively on the genre of paranormal romance. It became a great success, and currently has some of the most successful paranormal romance books on its list. Anna likes character-driven action, lots of sexual tension, and alpha heroes. And, of course, a heroine who can stand up to an alpha hero. If there are ninjas, witches, spies, or Navy SEALs involved, so much the better.  Outside of the romance genre, she likes stories. Good stories. About characters who have at least two-and-one-half dimensions.

KRISTA GOERING, attorney-at-law and literary agent, moved from New York to America's heartland when she married a Kansas City area businessman. "I've never considered living in the Midwest a disadvantage," says Goering. "Everyone communicates by email, phone and fax, anyway. When I have business in New York, I'm happy to make the trip."

Earlier in her career Goering studied creative writing at Tufts, German in Vienna, and Danish in Copenhagen. She graduated from the Copenhagen Business School and worked in Europe as a Danish/English translator. She received her juris doctor from the University of Kansas School of Law. Since the 1980s Goering has lived in the U.S., working as a freelance writer, publishing a regional magazine, acting as Editor-in-Chief of a law journal, and practicing law.

SUSAN SWARTWOUT, Professor in English, teaches creative writing and publishing at Southeast Missouri State University and is the Director/Publisher of Southeast Missouri State University Press which produces books and Big Muddy: Journal of the Mississippi River Valley, an interdisciplinary magazine. Her two collections of poetry are entitled Freaks and Uncommon Ground  and she co-edited Real Things: Anthology of Popular Culture in American Poetry, Hurricane Blues: Poems about Katrina and Rita, and A Student’s Guide to Getting Published.  Her poems and short stories are published in literary journals such as Nebraska Review, The Laurel Review, River Styx, Negative Capability, Mississippi Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review, among others. She is a recipient of the Rona Jaffe Writers’ Foundation Award, the Dillinger Good Award, and a St. Louis Poetry Center Hanks Award. For book-length manuscripts, Susan prefers prefers pitches for historical fiction or nonfiction--no romance and no children's.

REBECCA FRENCH SMITH has written for Missouri Life since 2005. She has been an editor with the magazine since 2006, appointed managing editor that year. Prior to that she was a contributing writer for Inside Columbia magazine at Columbia, Missouri. She has worked in both newspaper and magazine media, doing everything from writing and design to old-fashioned color separation in production and copy editing.

As a native Missourian with roots that run five generations deep in the Ozarks, Rebecca is passionate about Missouri. She is always looking for interesting places, people, and events to share with Missouri Life readers. She lives in central Missouri with her husband, David, and their four boys.

Saturday Writers Presents  - Annual Celebration of Writing for All Ages, featuring award-winning children's author JODY FELDMAN.

Jody Feldman holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri, which has led her to write a television special, a travel book, speeches, all means of advertising, and now - more fulfilling than that giant fortune cookie message she was assigned to create - The Gollywhopper Games (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, 2008), her first children's novel.

Targeted to 10-14 year olds, The Gollywhopper Games leads readers through the challenges, puzzles and stunts of a nationally televised, once-in-a-lifetime competition along with the contestant who wants to win it for more than the prize at the end. The Gollywhopper Games has been named the Midwest Booksellers 2008 Choice Awards Honor Book for Children's Literature, is an ALA/YALSA BBYA (Best Books for Young Adults) nominee, is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master list.

Jody lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she's not supposed to be playing video or computer games until she finishes her next novel. For more info, check her website at http://www.jodyfeldman.com/; and the book's website at http://www.gollywhoppergames.com/.

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2007 Events that have occurred:

We thank Amy Harke-Moore for her vision, dedication, and leadership during her two years as president. 

We welcome 2007 and Amy Willoughby-Burle as our new president.

January 27 - Inspiration 101 Panel, featuring Amy Willoughby-Burle, Amy Harke-Moore, and Margo Dill Balinski.

Do you make a resolution every year to lose weight, work smarter, WRITE MORE? Has another year flown by and you really didn't make a change in your writing career? Here's your best first step to making this year the year you really see a differnce. Inspiration 101:  Published & experienced writers here in your midst talk how they made the jump from
"wanting to" and "doing it." You'll get the inspiration you want and the practical tips you need to make this year the year you keep your resolution to write.  You'll hear: "Writing Through the Changes in Life.","Light Bulb Moments & How to Change a 40 watt bulb to 300 watt.", "Excuses, Excuses, Excuses & the Medium Method." and  "Two Keys to Staying Motivated."

Members of the Inspiration 101 Panel will share their stories on what inspired them take their writing to the next level, the "ah ha" moments in their lives where they realized something important to their writing  career, and where they go to get inspiration.  Bring your pen and paper and be prepared to be enlightened, entertained, and inspired! 

Amy Willoughby-Burle is a tranplanted member of the GRITS society (Girls Raised in the South) now living  in Missouri and learning, finally, to love that season called "winter." Her fiction has been published in Potomac Review, Sycamore Review, & Cuivre River Anthology.  Her Non-fiction has appeared in Family Digest, Natural Health Magazine and I Love Cats.
Amy Harke-Moore lives and works on her family's dairy farm in eastern Missouri, a great place to collect stories, she says. Hers have appeared in Chicago Quarterly Review, The MacGuffin, Permafrost, Grit, Writers' Journal, Spring Hill Review, and Bellowing Ark. Currently she is working on a suspense novel set in the early 1900s.

Margo L. Dill-Balinski is a freelance writer and editor and a substitute teacher in Champaign, IL.  She will discuss Writing Through the Changes in Life. Newlywed Balinski, who recently moved from Columbia, Missouri, to Champaign, llinois, will talk about how major changes in her life have not kept her from writing.  In fact, some of these changes have been inspirations for her stories. She has been published in magazines and anthologies such as: Cuivre River, Echoes of the Ozarks, Grit, Pockets, On the Line, ByLine, The Storyteller, Octavo, Living by Faith and God Allows U-Turns Vol. 4.  Her first on-line picture book, Operation Color Change, has been accepted by the educational company, Reading A-Z.  She has upcoming articles in Highlights for Children and Fun for Kidz.  Margo is also member of the SCBWI, Ozarks Writers League, and the 1st VP of the Missouri Writers' Guild.

February 24 - Bob McEowen, Photographer and Managing Editor of Rural Missouri Magazine, will talk about "The Ins and Outs of Freelance Writing."  McEowen has been to just about every little place you can image taking photos and writing articles for Rural Missouri.  He's now the managing editor and a guy who doesn't just know how to tell other people what to do--he knows how to do it. Click on Bob McEowen's name to see some images he has had published in Rural Missouri Magazine.

March 31 - Flash fiction and short story writer, William J. Donnelly, will talk about "What To Do When the Engine Stalls: Pressing Past Writers Block." Donnelly is a 29-year-old fiction writer from Gainesville, Florida.  His work has appeared in "Quick Fiction" and "Jump! Magazine," and he was a finalist in the 2005 "Many Mountains Moving" Flash Fiction Competition.  He teaches English literature at the University of Iowa and is currently studying at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

April 20-22 - No Saturday Writers meeting due to MWG conference.

May 26 - Works in Progress for May. "Saturday Writers Cafe" Members read their works in progress at an open
mic session. Come read, come listen, just come and enjoy good works.  This annual meeting is dedicated to showcasing the talents of our members.  It is a special opportunity to listen to our members read from their works in progress.  Contact SW President Amy Willoughby-Burle to sign up.  president@saturdaywriters.org

June 30 - Literary Potpourri:  College Writing Teachers Answer Questions About Their Craft.  This is a special opportunity to get first-hand advice from writing "prose" (and poets, too).  Whether you write fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, our panel of award-winning writing teachers (and editors) will inform, educate, and inspire.   Be sure and bring a pen and paper--you'll want to take lots of notes!

Literary Potpourri Panel Members:

Dianna Graveman:  Dianna's writing has been included in newspapers, literary journals, anthologies, and magazines.  She recently received two Missouri Writers' Guild awards and was recognized by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada for Best Short Story in a Magazine.  Dianna will talk about "five common-sense hints for writing and selling short fiction." 

Tricia Grissom: Tricia is  a Lindenwood University English instructor and freelance writer. Her writing will soon be appearing in Missouri Life, Fiery Foods & BBQ Magazine, and the online parenting magazine Babble.com.  She also created and maintains a blog for the Coffee and Critique Writers Group at coffeeandcritique.blogspot.com.  Among the topics Tricia will discuss are: researching your writing projects, finding ideas for articles, and creating a writer's blog.

Mary Horner: Mary has worked for several local and national publications as a writer and an editor. She also worked for the City of St. Peters as a communications specialist. She teaches oral communications at St. Charles and St. Louis Community Colleges. She is currently writing a bad novel. Her presentation, "What I wish someone had told me about writing before I started writing," will focus on nonspecific and somewhat warped ideas regarding the non-fiction process.

Teddy Norris: Teddy is an Associate Professor of English at St. Charles Community College, where she teaches Intro to Creative Writing, Intro to Poetry, plus various literature classes.  She edits Mid Rivers Review, St Charles Community College's literary journal, and hosts the SCC Coffeehouse.  She was recently named a finalist in the  Writers Exchange Contest, sponsored by Poets and Writers, Inc.  Teddy will discuss poetic forms and scansion as it relates to sound in poetry, etc. 

July 28 - "The Business of Writing" As busy writers, our creative sides work overtime pumping out books, short stories, articles, memoirs, and poems.  Yet we often overlook the business aspect of writing, which is so critical not only after our works are finished, but even before the creative process is engaged.  The business end of writing involves strategies and tactics to make money as writers, tips on how to sell our works once they have been written, and suggestions on how to target markets for our works even before we pick up a pen or sit down at our PCs. Panelists will field questions such as:  How do I find a market for my article, poem, short story, etc.?  What can I do to get attention for myself and my book by the media?  What writing-related expenses can I claim on my taxes? Is there an easy way to keep track of my expenses? What' the best way to contact a bookstore to set up a book signing? A panel of writing-related business specialists, including a marketing whiz and business owner, along with an attorney, who also happens to be a writer, will discuss "The Business of Writing."

*****

July 28 - Right before or right after our meeting, hurry over to Barnes and Noble on Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters to catch Bobbi Smith's Book signing, where Bobbi will be signing copies of her latest novel from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

*****

August 25 -

DICK WEISS  is a journalist and writing coach with more than three decades at American newspapers. Weiss will talk about "Telling Stories in a Media World Turned Upside Down and Inside Out."  He will share with us storytelling techniques and how they can be adapted to the new media environment.  To contact Dick, e-mail him at weiswriter@gmail.com

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Sep 8 -SPECIAL BOOK SIGNING EVENT to help fund Saturday Writers' literacy efforts, which include our annual children's and teen's writing contests.

Jamie Duly, proprietor of Dahlia's Distinctive Designs, 525 S. Main Street in St. Charles (across from the Crow's Nest,) has opened the doors of her lovely shop, which is rumored to be haunted, for a book signing. This special event will be from noon until 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sep 8, and will feature some local contributors to the CUIVRE RIVER ANTHOLOGY.

The following contributors are scheduled to be there with Sharpies ready to sign copies of the anthologies: Louella Jo Turner, Amy Harke-Moore, Dianna Graveman, Tricia Sanders, Joy Wooderson, Doyle Suit, Candace Carrabus Rice, Jerry Swingle, Julia Failla Earhart, Diana Davis, and Donna Volkenannt.

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2007 EVENTS

Sep 29 - SUSAN KIRKPATRICK, editor and publisher of OZARKS MAGAZINE, will talk on "Everybody Fishing in the Same Pond."

SUSAN KIRKPATRICK  IS A FIFTH GENERATION OZARKER WHO VACATIONED AT THE LAKE OF THE OZARKS ALL HER LIFE. Her mother’s family hails from Dade and Lawrence Counties. Tradition has it that one of her great, great, great grandfathers was a Cherokee Indian who came down the Trail of Tears. Her family has had a place on Mill Creek at the Lake of the Ozarks since she was a child. She is a former reporter for the Springfield News-Leader, where her job was to “stay out of town,” so she traveled the Ozarks and wrote stories to keep the surrounding area in the paper. She and her husband Joel bought the place next door to her family property about 10 years ago, remodeled it and moved in full time three years later.

Susan’s career includes being a reporter in St. Louis and Springfield, and a newspaper column in south Texas. She has authored a book on Route 66. For 20 years she worked as a corporate public relations executive in St. Louis, Europe, and Chicago; most recently as vice president of Sandoz Agro, Inc., a Swiss company. She also owned her own PR and writing firm in Chicago and Houston, where she wrote executive speeches, published corporate magazines, and wrote annual reports. Ever since Susan was a reporter in Springfield, she wanted to own a magazine in the Ozarks. About five years ago she realized she’d better get with it. And the result is Ozarks Magazine.

Born in Berkeley, CA, Susan grew up in Kirkwood, MO. Her education credentials include: graduate of Kirkwood HS (for St. Louisans), BS Purdue University, MA Saint Louis University, and Certificate, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business

Susan is married to Joel L. Kirkpatrick, Ph. D. Susan and Joel have three children: Brendan Kelly, Kaylee Kirkpatrick, and Bradley Kirkpatrick. No grandchildren, two dogs & one cat. Her favorite pastimes: Italian cooking, travel, investigating the Ozarks.

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Oct 27 - Saturday Writers' Annual Workshop. This year's workshop features Gail Galloway Adams.

WALK-IN REGISTRATIONS ARE WELCOME!!!

Galloway Adams is an Associate Professor at West Virginia University, and author of the Purchase of Order, winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Spend the day at the St. Peter’s Community and Arts Center with Gail Galloway Adams. An exciting combination of lecture and “pen to paper” on-site writing that will send you home with knowledge inspiration, and the beginning of your next masterpiece. Lunch provided. This is one event you won't want to miss!!! 

    Here's an what Julianna E. Thibodeaux had to say about Gail in a conversation published in The Kenyon Review. 

"Writer Gail Galloway Adams has a distinctive voice. Reflective of a reverence for hard-edged beauty and poignant humor, Adams deftly unearths hope even in the face of loss. One could say this beauty is another way of getting at truth, her characters “real” people whose lives are anything but indifferent, frequently characterized by some subtle revelation."

December 8 - "Get Real: Using Life Experiences to Craft Fiction Stories for Readers of All Ages," presentation by BARRI BUMGARNER. Workshops by Barri, MARGO DILL BALINSKI, and Saturday Writers board members Patricia Sanders, Amy Harke-Moore, Tricia Grissom, and Donna Volkenannt.

Third and Fourth Grade Workshop Leader:

Margo L. Dill-Balinski is the children's events coordinator for Saturday Writers. She is a freelance writer and editor and a substitute teacher in Champaign, IL.  She has been published in magazines and anthologies such as: Cuivre River, Echoes of the Ozarks, Grit, Pockets, On the Line, ByLine, The Storyteller, Octavo, Living by Faith and God Allows U-Turns Vol. 4.  Her first on-line picture book, Operation Color Change, has been accepted by the educational company, Reading A-Z.  She has upcoming articles in Highlights for Children and Fun for Kidz.  Margo is also member of the SCBWI, Ozarks Writers League, and the President of the Missouri Writers' Guild. Her middle-grade novel, Finding My Place, is due out in 2008 by White Mane Kids.

Flash-Fiction Workshop Leaders:

Four Saturday Writers board members will discuss these elements of writing short-short fiction: Generating Ideas, Characterization, Theme, and Plot.

Newsletter Editor Amy Harke-Moore lives and works on her family's dairy farm in eastern Missouri. A great place to collect stories, she says. Hers have appeared in the Chicago Quarterly Review, The MacGuffin, Permafrost, Grit, Echoes of the Ozarks, Writers' Journal, Spring Hill Review, Bellowing Ark, and forthcoming in The Writer magazine. Currently she is working on a suspense novel set in the early 1900s. Visit her website at www.thewritehelper.com. Amy will talk about "Generating Ideas" for fiction.

President Patricia Sanders is a former instructional designer and corporate trainer who has been writing since she received her first chubby pencil and Big Chief tablet.  Her first short story Christmas in July was published when she was in fourth grade.  She is the 2008 President of Saturday Writers and lives with her family in Foristell, Missouri.  Her essays have won numerous awards and have appeared in ByLine, Sasee, The Cuivre River Anthology II and III, Magnolia Quarterly, Great American Outhouse Stories; The Whole Truth and Nothing Butt and the 2007 Seven Hills Review.  She is currently working on a novel-length murder mystery set in St. Charles, Missouri.  Patricia will cover "Characterization" in short stories.

Website Editor Donna Volkenannt lives in St. Peters, Missouri, with her husband and grandchildren, who give her great joy. Since retiring as a management analyst with the Department of Defense, she has devoted herself to raising her grandchildren--and writing in her spare time. Her words have been published in: A Cup of Comfort for Women, A Cup of Comfort for Christmas, Mysteries of the Ozarks, Echoes of the Ozarks, Cuivre River Anthology, Writing on Walls, Mid Rivers Review, Sauce, ByLine, Storyteller, Ozarks Mountaineer, and other publications. She currently reviews books for Bookreporter, Kidsreads, and Teenreads.com, while very slowly working on a middle-grade mystery set in St. Charles. Her writing has received numerous awards, including honorable mention in the national Steinbeck short story competition. She is a founding member of Saturday Writers, co-founder of the Coffee and Critique Writers’ Group, and a past president of the Missouri Writers’ Guild.  Donna will tackle "Theme" as it relates to short fiction.

Publicity Chair Tricia Grissom has published articles in various food and lifestyle magazines. Her essays have been read on NPR's St. Louis on the Air and published in the parenting ezine Babble.com. She teaches English at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO, and manages the Coffee and Critique Writers' Group blog coffeeandcritique.blogspot.com. Tricia's workshop presentation will be on "Plot."

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2006 - OUR FIFTH YEAR - Events That Were Great!!!

January 28 - MARY KIM SCHRECK will speak on "THE CREATIVE JOURNEY: YOURS AND MINE." Mary Kay is a familiar workshop presenter across the state, emphasizes creative, hands-on strategies for increasing student achievement through reading, writing, and thinking.  After 36 years in public education--over 23 spent in the Francis Howell School District--she currently is serving as an independent contractor for various organizations such as MNEA, CSD, Gateway Writing Project/UMSL, as well as a Cooperating School Districts Cadre member.  Her first book of poetry, Pulse of the Seasons, was published by Tigress Press in 2004, and her second book, The Red Desk, was published this year.  She lives with her husband, a former principal in the Francis Howell School District, at the Lake of the Ozarks. 

February 25 - HARRY JACKSON, JR. will speak on the topic, "How to write good so people will read and buy your stuff"--or, in other words, "How to take your average news feature and make it into thought-provoking storytelling."

As a journalist with more than 30 years experience, including 21 with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Harry Jackson's specialty is using narrative to spice up the usual mundane feature. He is an adjunct professor at Lindenwood University, where he teaches narrative feature writing and documentary history.  He has won more than a dozen journalism awards.  His freelance work has been published widely and has appeared in dozens of publications across the United States, including UNDER THE ARCH, a collection of St. Louis Stories, which is available from Borders on Brentwood Blvd, Sunset Hills, and Crestwood, as well as Left Bank Books in St. Louis.

March 25 - QUESTIONS WRITERS ASK (Saturday Writers Panel).   From conference pitches to copyright laws, press releases to promotion, we’ve assembled a panel of our in-house experts to answer the questions you have as a writer.  There will be a short presentation on the following:  BOOK PROMOTION - Finding your place on the bookshelf, CANDACE RICE; MAXIMIZING CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE, How to get the most out of a conference (specifically the upcoming Missouri Writers’ Guild Conference) MARGO DILL; THE PERFECT PITCH, How to pitch your idea to an editor or agent - LOUELLA TURNER; and COPYRIGHT LAWS AND WRITING PRESS RELEASES – PATRICIA HAYNES.  Question and Answer session will follow all presentations. 

April 7 - St. Charles Community College English Department presents - Coffeehouse Open Mike at St. Charles Community College, 7-9 p.m.

April 15 - "AN AFTERNOON OF COMFORT" - Book signing featuring Saturday Writer members and "A Cup of Comfort" contributors: CANDACE CARRABUS RICE (A Cup of Comfort for Courage), JOY WOODERSON (A Cup of Comfort for Christians) , AND DONNA VOLKENANNT (A Cup of Comfort for Women),  At the new Barnes and Noble, 320 Mid Rivers Mall Drive (Across from Wendy's and McDonald's), St. Peters, MO  From 1-3 p.m.  

April 28-30 - MISSOURI WRITERS' GUILD CONFERENCE AT THE HILTON AIRPORT HOTEL IN KANSAS CITY. MASTERING THE CRAFT, the 91st Annual Missouri Writers' Guild Conference. SEE MWG website for details. www.missouriwritersguild.org

April 29 - NO MEETING DUE TO MISSOURI WRITERS' GUILD CONFERENCE IN KANSAS CITY.

May 27 -Saturday Writers Annual Works-In-Progress from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. is returning for another round!  Like last year, members will have the chance to read from their works-in progress in an open-mike style with a time limit of five minutes.  Fellow members will then give constructive feedback after each reading.  Sign-up will begin May 5th for those wishing to have a chance at their five minutes of fame! (More details to follow.)  Even if you don't sign up to read, you can come and listen to your fellow talented Saturday Writers.  So make plans to join us for the fun!!!

June 24 - NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, BOBBI SMITH, talks about "WRITING FAITH-BASED NOVELS."   www.bobbismithbooks.com

In the past 23 years, Bobbi Smith has written 39 books and six short stories, and the love affair has become a sizzling romance between the author and her fans.  To date, there are over six million Bobbi Smith novels in print.  She has been awarded the prestigious "Storyteller of the Year" Award from Romantic Times Magazine and has attained positions on the New York Times Best Seller's List, the USA Today Best Seller's List, the Walden's Best Seller's List, B. Dalton's List, and the Wal-Mart and K-Mart Best Seller's Lists.  The foreign rights to her books have been sold to China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Russia, and Sweden. 

Her current novel for Leisure Books is HalfBreed Warrior.  She recently published her first faith-based contemporary, Haven, writing as JULIE MARSHALL.  Miracles, another faith-based story, was published in January 2006, and Defiant, a western historical, will be out in April 2006. 

July 29 - SATURDAY WRITERS Sizzling Summer Book Fair held at the St. Peters Community and Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road in the Assembly Hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Published members of Saturday Writers discuss and read from their works every half-hour. Participating authors (subject to change) include: Jeane Whittenburg, Jackie Endraske, Joy Wooderson, Donna Volkenannt, Mary Kim Schreck, Gary Hoffman, Candace Rice, Randy Schuppan, Sherri Richardson, and Doug Wilmes.   The event is free and open to the public.  Books will be offered for sale. Free refreshments, door prizes, a raffle, and an on-the-spot writing contest.

Back by special request, Saturday Writers presents Suzann Ledbetter.  Suzann comes to Saturday Writers from the heart of the Ozarks in Nixa, Missouri.  Suzann has been inducted in the Writer's Hall of Fame, and her writing has received the Western Writer's Spur Award. Don't miss this special opportunity to learn from one of Missouri's most informative and entertaining writers. 

August 26 SUZANN LEDBETTER, "Myth of Fantastic First Chapters" Suzann's mother taught her to read at age four, assuming a tomboy couldn't have her nose in a book and get into trouble, simultaneously. It didn't work, but somehow, Suzann's insatiable curiosity, smarty-pants mouth, tendency to make up stuff and love of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden novels became the basis of a diverse writing career.

Suzann www.SuzannLedbetter.com  is a Writers Hall of Fame of America inductee and received a Western Writers of America Spur Award for her biography, NELLIE CASHMAN, PROSPECTOR & TRAILBLAZER. Suzann was an editor-at-large for Family Circle magazine for over a decade and is a client of Greater Talent Network, an international talent agency.

In April 2006, Suzann's short story "How To Murder Your Mother-in-Law" appeared in Avon's DEADLY HOUSEWIVES anthology. May marks publication of her latest suspense/caper, ONCE A THIEF (Mira) and in August, SHADY LADIES, a biographical collection of 19th century nonconformists is due out from Tor/Forge.

Suzann and her husband share their Missouri Ozarks home with three retired racing greyhounds, two morbidly obese cats and way-more books than the children's library her mom hoped would tame the ornery streak Suzann allegedly inherited from her father's side of the gene pool.

September 30 - Saturday Writers Panel Discussion (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) "ELEMENTS OF A PRIZE-WINNING STORY"  Panel members AMY HARKE-MOORE, DAVID LEE KIRKLAND, DONNA DULY VOLKENANNT, MARGO DILL-BALINSKI, CANDACE CARABUS RICE, and DOYLE SUIT will use examples in their discussion of elements they have used to craft prize-winning stories.  No matter where you are on your writing journey--just beginning or multi-published--this panel discussion will give you something to think about. 

Here are bios and discussion topics of "Elements of a Prize-Winning Story" panel members. 

Margo L. Dill-Balinski is a freelance writer and substitute teacher in Champaign, IL.  She has been published in magazines and anthologies such as Grit, Pockets, On the Line, ByLine, The Storyteller, Octavo, Living by Faith and God Allows U-Turns Vol. 4.  Her first on-line picture book, Operation Color Change, has been accepted by the educational company, Reading A-Z.  She has upcoming articles in Highlights for Children and Fun for Kidz.  Margo is also member of the SCBWI, Ozarks Writers League, and the 1st VP of the Missouri Writers' Guild.  She will talk about "From beginning to end: telling a complete story," describing what it takes to make a story symmetrical by bringing it full circle.

Amy Harke-Moore lives and works on her family's dairy farm in eastern Missouri, a great place to collect stories, she says. Hers have appeared in The Chicago Quarterly Review, The MacGuffin, Permafrost, Grit, Writers' Journal, Spring Hill Review, and Bellowing Ark. Currently, she is working on a suspense novel set in the early 1900s.  Harke-Moore will cover "Word Choice Matters," talking about lyrical quality in stories and choosing the right words to complement your character (in dialogue and thought) and story.

David Lee Kirkland has numerous publication credits including short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.  His present efforts are focused on the (hopefully final) rewrite of a Civil War novel set in Eastern Tennessee. Kirkland will talk about "Grounding Your Reader" to establish early on a sense of time and place and character so your reader does not flounder. 

CANDACE CARRABUS RICE has been writing stories and riding horses--frequently simultaneously--for as long as she can remember.  She grew up on Long Island and spent her formative years in the saddle--just imagining.  She lives on a farm outside St. Louis which she shares with her wonderful architect husband, a delightful daughter who keeps her on her toes and in a constant state of wonder, and seven cats.  She is a member of Saturday Writers, a chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild , as well as a founding member of Thursday Writers, the best little critique group west of the Mississippi. Her writing has won awards in fiction, essay, and poetry categories, and appeared in UMSL’s Litmag, The Storyteller, The Rockford Review, A Cup of Comfort for Courage, and elsewhere.   Not surprisingly, her fiction and non-fiction are both frequently infused with the mystery and spirituality horses have brought to her life. Rice will talk on "Thickening the Plot," to start their characters in hot water.  Add a cup of conflict, a tablespoon of tension, and a pound of pressure.  Stir well to keep readers begging for "More!" Rice will use excerpts from her novel, On the Buckle, such as the very first page which pretty much starts out with Vi in hot water, then adds a heaping cup of conflict between her parents and her life choices.  The tension is demonstrated between Vi and Malcolm, and the pressure . . . well, if a body in the manure spreader the third day on a job you don't want but you have to keep for a year isn't pressure, Rice doesn't know what is.

Doyle Suit is a retired engineer who lives in St. Charles with his wife, Irene. In addition to writing, he plays and sings bluegrass music. Doyle and Irene golf, play bridge, and do country western dancing together. Since kids and grandkids live close, they double as chauffeurs for their grandkids. Doyle's fiction and non-fiction work has appeared in The St. Louis Suburban Journals, Storyteller Magazine, The Cuivre River Anthology, The Spring Hill Review, Good Old Days Magazine, Sweetgum Notes, and other publications.  During his presentation, "Getting Started: Tips for the Novice Writer," Doyle will share some thoughts and suggestions to help writers just starting out. 

Donna Duly Volkenannt got bit by the writing bug in eighth grade at Most Holy Name of Jesus School in North St. Louis and later at St. Alphonsus (Rock) High, where she was sports editor of The Rocket school newspaper and a reporter for Prom magazine. She lives in St. Peters with her husband and their two grandchildren, who fill her heart with joy.  Her work has appeared in literary and commercial publications, including: A Cup of Comfort for Women, A Cup of Comfort for Christmas, Sauce Magazine, Mid Rivers Review, The Storyteller, ByLine, Mysteries of the Ozarks, Echoes of the Ozarks, and others. She is a past president of the Missouri Writers’ Guild and founding president of Saturday Writers. Her writing has won numerous awards, including honorable mention in the national Steinbeck Short Story Competition. Her presentation, "Whose Story Is It?" will discuss how writers can remain true to their character's voice to make their stories real. She will also talk about listening to the voice that inspires you so you can write until your heart sings.  

October 28 - FACT AND FICTION:  A WRITING WORKSHOP. Whether you've just starting out writing, have been writing for a few years, or are an old pro, and whether if you write fiction or non-fiction, the FACT AND FICTION writing workshop presented by Saturday Writers has something for you! 

WHO? Workshop is open to both Saturday Writers members and non-members.  Featured speakers are:

FACT - Harry Jackson will speak from 10 a.m. until noon on "How to take your average news feature and make it into thought-provoking storytelling." 

FICTION - Rose Marie Kinder will speak after lunch from 1-3 p.m. on "An Exploration of Character: Types of character, their functions, and how to create them." 

WHAT?  Annual writing workshop presented by Saturday Writers 

WHERE? St. Peters Community and Arts Center Assembly Hall, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road, off Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters.

WHEN? Saturday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHY? Because this is the writing workshop you've always wanted to attend but never got around to, and because you want to learn more about the art and craft of fiction and non-fiction story writing from two seasoned, award-winning writers.   

HOW MUCH? Members of Saturday Writers $43; all others $55.  Workshop price includes lunch, door prizes, and beverage.  Checks payable to Saturday Writers. Mail to Saturday Writers Workshop, 104 Harke Lane; Old Monroe, MO 63369. Along with your check or money order, please include:  Name, e-mail, mailing Address, City, State, Zip, and Phone number.

MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:

HARRY JACKSON, JR. (10 a.m. - noon) "How to take your average news feature and make it into thought-provoking storytelling,"  Jackson is a journalist with more than 30 years experience, including 21 with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jackson's specialty is using narrative to spice up the usual mundane feature. He is an adjunct professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, where he teaches narrative feature writing and documentary history.  He has won more than a dozen journalism awards.  His freelance work has been published widely and has appeared in dozens of publications across the United States, including UNDER THE ARCH, a collection of St. Louis Stories. 

ROSE MARIE KINDER (1 - 3 p.m.) "An Exploration of Character: Types of character, their functions, and how to create them."  Kinder is a writer, editor, and publisher.  Kinder is the author of Sweet Angel Band, winner of the Willa Cather Award (Helicon Nine Editions 1991) and A Near-Perfect Gift, winner of the recent University of Michigan Literary Fiction Award, published in Fall 2005. Her fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Passages North, Southern Indiana Review, Other Voices, Connecticut Review, Whiskey Island, Notre Dame Review, Circles of Influence (textbook), Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Deadliest Games (anthology) and elsewhere.

Kinder earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing and her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition and the Teaching of English from the University of Arizona (Tucson). From 1992-2002, she edited Pleiades at Central Missouri State University where she also coordinated the Creative Writing Program. She is a co-owner and co-editor of Cave Hollow Press, as well as an editor at Sweet Gum Press.

November - No meeting due to Thanksgiving holiday.

December 2 - SATURDAY WRITERS SPECIAL EVENT - "WRITING FOR ALL AGES" with SHEILA WOOD FOARD, WHO will cover historical fiction and conducting research.  Sheila has written for both children and adults. 

Sheila Wood Foard

Sheila Wood Foard has sold stories, articles, essays, and poems to more than 80 publications, including Cricket, Spider, Cicada, Ladybug, Highlights for Children, WeeOnes, 'TEEN, ByLine, Country Home, Albuquerque Journal, and the Missouri Conservationist's (Outside In).  In 2005, her middle-grade novel, Harvey Girls, was released by Texas Tech University Press.  Sheila devoted years to researching and writing about the Harvey Girls. As a docent at a Harvey House in New Mexico, she interviewed former Harvey Girls to get their stories firsthand. In 1999, She designed and wrote a 20-page Junior Ranger activities booklet for Ozark National Scenic Riverways, with headquarters in Van Buren, Missouri, near her home.

She also designed and wrote several waysides for the Slough Trail at Big Spring. Her biography for teens of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was released from Chelsea House in 2003. She earned a bachelor's degree in English and Communication Skills and a master's degree in Education from the University of New Mexico. She taught high school English, creative writing, and journalism for more than twenty-five years in New Mexico. Currently, she is a freelancer and an instructor for the Institute of Children's Literature.

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2005 - OUR FOURTH YEAR

SPEAKERS WHO INSPIRED, EDUCATED, AND ENTERTAINED US!!!!

Jan 28 - Deadline for submission to the 2005 edition of The Mid Rivers Review. For complete guidelines, contact Scottie Priesmeyer, Editor, St. Charles Community College, 4601 Mid Rivers Mall Dr., St. Peters, MO 63376

January 29

VALERIE VOGRIN (who teaches Fiction Writing and Novel Writing at Gotham Writers' Workshop and WritingClasses.com and SIU) has taught creative writing and English at the University of Alabama, the University of Colorado, and community colleges in the Seattle area.  Her fiction has appeared in magazines including the Carolina Quarterly, the Chattahoochee Review, and the Black Warrior Review.  Valerie has been a contributor to American Women Writers and The Encyclopedia of Modern Dance (St. James Press).  Valerie is a founding partner of Smallmouth Press, a publisher of conventional and electronic books located in NYC.  She received her B.A. in English from Washington State University.  She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama, where she was awarded a Teaching/Writing Fellowship and a grant from the University of Alabama Council of Presidents

February  12 (Sat) - Scottie Priesmeyer (author of The Cheaters: The Walter Scott Murder, Silent Justice, and A Quick Guide to Writing a Book: From Ideas to Publication) conducts an seminar on "How to Write a Book" at Kathyrn Linnemann Library on Elm St. in St. Charles City, 10:30-noon. This overview seminar is free.  For further info call 636/922-8557.

February 26 - Romance Writer IRENE HANNON - Although Irene can't remember a time when she didn't write, her career was "officially" launched at the age of 10 when she was one of the winners in a complete-the-story contest for a national children's magazine. As an adult, writing became her vocation. After earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in journalism, she entered the field of corporate communications, rising to the executive ranks in a Fortune 500 company. In her "spare" time she penned her heartwarming, uplifting novels.

For many years Irene juggled her two demanding careers. But in 2003 she decided to give up the daily rush-hour commute, the stress and the politics of the corporate world to write full-time in her home office. Coincidentally (or is it), her 16th book — titled Crossroads — came out the same month she made this dramatic career shift.

Irene's decision to leave the corporate world was made easier when her 15th book, Never Say Goodbye, won the RITA® Award (the "Oscar" of romance fiction) for Best Inspirational Romance of 2002. In addition, other books by Irene have been nominated for Romantic Times awards.

At least once a year, Irene hits the boards at local community theaters, where she has sung such classic romantic roles as Nellie in South Pacific, Fiona in Brigadoon, Laurey in Oklahoma and Anna in The King and I. She is also a church soloist and choir member. When not otherwise occupied, she and her own romantic hero — her husband, Tom (an ordained cleric who juggles ecclesiastical duties with a full-time marketing career) — enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop, and spending time with family.

March 19 - MEETING Danita Allen Wood, Editor-in-chief of MISSOURI LIFE magazine, will be talking on the subject "Making Successful Pitches." Danita's experience in the field of magazine publishing is vast, from her 15 years with the Meredith Corporation--publisher of such magazines as BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, LADIES HOME JOURNAL, MIDWEST LIVING--to teaching advanced editing, publishing, writing, and reporting at the Missouri School of Journalism. She's lectured at magazine conferences around the country, plus, she was the founding editor of COUNTRY AMERICA, which was named by the industry as one of the Five Best Magazines of 1991.

April 22-23 - MWG Annual Conference, Holiday Inn Select, St. Peters, MO. Sepakers (subject to change) include:  KRISTA MARINO, Associate Editor at Delacorte Books for Young Readers (a division of Random House), will talk about the young adult and middle-grade market. GINGER CLARK, an agent with WRITERS' HOUSE LITERARY AGENCY, will talk about what she hopes to discover when reading a writer's manuscript.  LEE NORDLING, Executive Editor of PLATINUM STUDIOS, an entertainment film and production company, will give workshops on how to give the perfect pitch. VICTORIA MONKS, Publications Manager for the Missouri Historical Society and Editor of Gateway magazine. HEATHER BERRY, Associate Editor at Rural Missouri Magazine.  Poet MICHAEL CASTRO, a co-founder and an editor at River Styx magazine. RICHARD BURGIN, a Pushcart Prize-winning author and editor of Boulevard magazine. ROSE MARIE KINDER, an award-winning writer. Former editor of Pleiades and the publisher of Cave Hollow Press and Sweet Gum Press. VALERIE VOGRIN, teaches Fiction Writing and Novel Writing at Gotham Writers' Workshop and WritingClasses.com and SIU) has taught creative writing and English at the University of Alabama, the University of Colorado, and community colleges in the Seattle area. Pulitizer-prize nominated author, JEFF FISTER, Owner and Publisher of Virginia Publishing.  WRITERS:  JORY SHERMAN will share his publishing secrets with us. Award-winning authors SHIRLEY KENNETT, BOBBI SMITH and DUSTY RICHARDS will talk about their writing careers and offer tips for publication success.

May 28 - SATURDAY WRITERS ANNUAL WORKS-IN-PROGRESS meeting will be held. Members will have the chance to read from their works-in-progress in an open-mike style with a time limit of five minutes. Fellow members will then give constructive feedback for each reading. Sign-up will begin May 1st for those wishing to have a chance at their five minutes of fame! (More details to follow.) Even if you don't sign up to read, you can come and listen to your fellow talented Saturday Writers. So make plans to join us for the fun!     

June 25 - GREG MICHALSON  

Greg Michalson is Publisher of Unbridled Books, an independent publishing company devoted to publishing quality fiction and narrative nonfiction. He was also a Founding Editor of BlueHen Books, an imprint of Penguin/Putnam best known for discovering new writers. Previously he was the General Editor of fiction at MacMurray and Beck, where he developed a prize-winning novel series, and introducing such writers as William Gay (The Long Home) and Susan Vreeland (Girl in Hyacinth Blue). In addition, he served as the Managing Editor of The Missouri Review from 1982 to 2000, during which time he was also fiction editor, special projects editor and, from 1990, poetry editor. He is the author of numerous short stories and articles that have appeared in a number of magazines. His work has won several prizes and has been mentioned in Best American Short Stories and the Pushcart Prizes.  He is co-editor of The Best of The Missouri Review: Fiction, 1978-1990 (University of Missouri Press, 1991), For Our Beloved Country: American War Diaries from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1994) and Conversations with American Novelists (University of Missouri Press, 1997).

July 30 - "I've written a story. . . Now what?" Board members tackle the basics in short teachings designed to help beginning to intermediate writers, followed by a Q & A time.  Topics include: formatting, finding markets and submitting work, writing query letters and cover letters, entering contests, attending conferences, finding an agent, and much more. If you're just starting out in the writing business or wanting valuable tips along the road to publication, you won't want to miss this meeting.

August 27 - All-Day Writing Workshop with Western Writer DUSTY RICHARDS and New York Times and USA Today best-selling Texan author JODI THOMAS. 

DUSTY RICHARDS says that when he was growing up, if there was a Saturday Matinee, he was there with Hoppy, Roy and Gene. When his family moved to Arizona, he knew he'd gone to heaven. A horse of own, ranches to work on, rodeos to ride in. 

Dusty read every western book on the library shelves. He sat on the stoop of Zane Grey's cabin on Mrs. Winter's Ranch and promised the writer's ghost his book would join Grey's on the bookrack some day.

    After graduating from Arizona State University in 1960, Dusty came to northwest Arkansas, ranched, auctioneered, announced rodeo, worked 32 years for Tyson Food in management, anchored TV news, and struggled to get a book of his own sold. In 1992, his first novel, Noble's Way, was published. In 2003, The Natural won the Oklahoma Writer's Federation Fiction Book of the Year Award.  In 2004, The Abilene Trail won the same award. This year his 65th book will be published. He's also written five-dozen plus short stories and hundreds of articles and columns. In the summer of 2004, Dusty was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame.

    Dusty invests a lot of time helping others who want to learn how to write by speaking at seminars, conferences, and workshops throughout the United States. 

Dusty and his wife, Pat, reside next to Beaver Lake east of Springdale, Arkansas. If he can steal time to do it, Dusty likes to fish for trout on the White River in Arkansas.

A fifth generation Texan, JODI THOMAS chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. Thomas has earned an impressive list of distinguished awards. Her first book, Beneath the Texas Sky (1988) won the National Press Women’s Novel of the Year in its category. Northern Star (1990) was named best novel by the Panhandle Professional Writers and the Oklahoma Writers Federation. The Tender Texan (1991) was Thomas’s first national bestseller and won her the first of two Romance Writers of America (RITA) awards, the $1.5 billion romance publishing industry’s equivalent of an “Oscar.” Her twelfth book, To Kiss a Texan (1999) was her first novel to score on the USA Today Best-selling Books list. For The Texan’s Wager (2002) sixteen was the magic number as she scored on the New York Times extended bestseller list.

A Texan’s Luck, the third in her popular “Wife Lottery” series, was a November 2004 release by Berkley. Her next contemporary novel for Mira Books, to be published in 2005, will be The Secrets of Rosa Lee. By request, she is currently working on the sequel to The Widows of Wichita County.

When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband and renovating a historical home they bought in Amarillo.

September 24 -

LINDA APPLE http://www.lindacapple.com/ will talk about "My Recipe for Chicken Soup." Apple served as a Parent-Teacher Liaison in the Chapter 1 Program, finding books and materials to interest and encourage children who had difficulty reading. She published in Upper Room, Secret Place, Woman's World, Obadiah, Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul and Working Woman's Soul. Her story from Working Woman's Soul was one of eighty selected from all stories published in the past ten years to be included in their anniversary edition, Living Your Dreams. She and husband, Neal, have five children and two grandchildren. 

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Rose Marie Kinder will speak on the topic "DEVELOPING CHARACTER THROUGH SPEECH AND THOUGHT." Rose Marie Kinder is the author of Sweet Angel Band, winner of the Willa Cather Award (Helicon Nine Editions 1991) and A Near-Perfect Gift, winner of the recent University of Michigan Literary Fiction Award, which will be published in Fall 2005. Her fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Passages North, Southern Indiana Review, Other Voices, Connecticut Review, Whiskey Island, Notre Dame Review, Circles of Influence (textbook), Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, the Deadliest Games (anthology) and elsewhere.

Rose Marie earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing and her Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition and the Teaching of English from the University of Arizona (Tucson). From 1992-2002, she edited Pleiades at Central Missouri State University where she also coordinated the Creative Writing Program. She is a co-owner and co-editor of Cave Hollow Press, as well as an editor at Sweet Gum Press.

Through Cave Hollow Press's bi-annual short story anthology, Rose Marie has discovered, or furthered the careers, of many Missouri writers. At Sweet Gum Press, she promotes Missouri writing with an emphasis on material depicting the Crowley's Ridge/Bootheel region. Her current projects include seeking submissions for young adult fiction.

December 3 - Annual Children's Writing Meeting and Children's Writing Awards.  SPEAKERS:  CYNTHIA HITSCHLER and J.B. CHEANEY

CYNTHIA HITSCHLER was born and raised in the St. Louis area, where she has lived all her life. She takes great pride in being a Missouri resident, hence: Celebration Studios of Missouri or "Cel-Stu-Mo". Married with six children ages 16 - 31, she lives with her husband and a menagerie of pets in Wildwood. Cynthia started drawing and painting portraits in grade school and attended Washington University School of Fine Arts for two years. Without bias as to preferred subjects, she has explored portrait/figure, still life and landscape, and strives for a firm yet pleasing realism in all her fine art projects. Cynthia enjoys both two and three-dimensional mediums: drawing in ink and charcoal, oil painting on canvas and clay sculpture for bronze (lost wax) and plaster casting. Her first bronze was cast in 1998 at the Johnson Atelier in Mercerville, New Jersey.In 2004, Cynthia realized a dream that had hibernated for ten years: publication of her own illustrated children’s books: The Jacky Blue Series. She plans to add three titles to the series in 2006.

J.B. CHEANEY (she may or may not tell you what the initials stand for) was born in Dallas, Texas and grew from a baby to a shy, skinny kid with straight brown hair and big teeth.  She read a lot, but wasn't that interested in writing--in elementary school she started one play and a couple of short stories, but none of them were finished because she could never figure out what would happen next. 

 After becoming a college dropout in order to get married, she and her husband have lived in six different states and moved a total of 23 times, raised two children, and homeschooled them for twelve years.  She also wrote four fiction manuscripts, none of which were ever published.

 In 1991 she published a workbook for middle graders called Wordsmith, a Creative Writing Course for Young People.  Two more Wordsmith books followed in 1994 and 1996.  Published by Common Sense Press, these books have sold more than 300,000 copies. 

 After her son graduated from high school in 1996, she started writing her first novel intended for young readers, based on an idea she had been thinking about for at least eight years.  It became The Playmaker, published by Random House in the fall of 2000.  The True Prince followed in 2002.  Her third novel, My Friend the Enemy, a World War II story for middle-grade readers, was published in July 2005.

When not writing, or thinking about it, she likes to travel, read, sing, sew, do needlework and sleep--though not necessarily in that order.

2004 - YEAR THREE - Events that were super!!!

1 January -    MWG 1VP JANE HALE will talk about the 2004 MWG conference to be held in Springfield on Apr 30-May 1.  DIANA LOSCIALE, Just Write Workshop Teacher and Journalist.  Diane's topic will be, "Those Who Can, Edit...or how I grew a writing business by mistake."  To include tips and info on applying one's writing passion. Also a moment to tie in the upcoming March workshop Diane's leads at SL Community/Meramec.

28 February -  College Instructor and Writer JULIE EARHART will talk about INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY as it relates to writing.   PATSY DECLUE, President of Writers Society of Jefferson County and the Missouri representative for ByLine magazine, will talk about writing non-fiction.  

7 March - EILEEN DREYER will talk about CHARCTERIZATION in writing mysteries.  Non-members may attend the workshop for $3.   Book signing immediately after the workshop is open to all.  We will have copies of Eileen's latest books on hand for sale. 

24 April -  Workshop by RIDLEY PEARSON, musician and best-selling and award-winning author of more than a dozen thrillers, will talk about HOW TO BUILD A THRILLER FROM THE BOTTOM UP.   In 1991 Ridley Pearson was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler Fulbright to Oxford University.  Ridley's Lou Boldt and Daphne Matthews Series includes: Undercurrents, The Angel Maker, No Witnesses, Beyond Recognition, The Pied Piper, The First Victim, The Middle of Nowhere, and The Art of Decpetion.  Seizing of Yankee Green, Probable Cause, Hard Fall, Chain of Evidence, and Parallel Lies are Crime Novels.  Never Look Back and Blood of the Albatross are Espionage Novels.  His Chris Klick mysteries, Dead Aim, Aim for the Heart, and Concerto in Dead Flat, were written under the pen name WENDELL MCCALL.  Ridley now divides his time between his home out west and his new home near St. Louis.  Workshop will be held at St. Charles County Community College at the Student Center in room SC205. 

29 May - SUZANN LEDBETTER

Western, Humor, and Suspense Writer SUZANN LEDBETTER will give a workshop on "USING ASSUMPTIVE ACTION."  Suzann will explain how what you leave out is as important to your writing as what leave in. 

Suzann has published two humor collections with Random House/Crown, six historical novels with Signet, two of which were based on the adventures of her real-life heroine and subject of Suzann’s Western Writers of America’s Spur award winning biography, Nellie Cashman, Prospector & Trailblazer.

In May of 2000, MIRA Books released Suzann’s East of Peculiar, the debut title of a contemporary suspense series set in the central Missouri Ozarks. This book was soon followed by South of Sanity, North of Clever and West of Bliss.

A Lady Never Trifles with Thieves from Pocket Books, set in 1870s Denver City was released in 2003, followed by a new contemporary suspense novel, In Hot Pursuit, published by MIRA and set in a fictional Missouri town along historic Route 66.

Suzann is also a contributing editor to Family Circle magazine and a frequent lecturer on topics ranging from women’s history and writing to humorous presentations. The former weekly self-syndicated newspaper columnist, she was a 1997 inductee into the Writers Hall of Fame of America.

26 June - WORKS IN PROGRESS.  Members of Saturday Writers will read from their works in progress.  Members are asked to bring up to five double-spaced pages of your story, article, or poem.   Non-members may attend for free. 

31 July - PULITIZER PRIZE NOMINATED WRITER, JORY SHERMAN, has been a full-time writer for over forty years.  Jory  lives in Pittsburg, Texas on Lake Bob Sandlin. He began his career as a poet in San Francisco and has published widely in such journals as: Epos, Quicksilver, Renaissance, The New York Herald Tribune, Laugh, Literary, Signet, The Black Cat Review, The Ozarks Mountaineer, Flame, The Galley Sail Review, and many other publications and anthologies. He recently completed writing THE BARON HONOR, for Forge Books and BLOOD RIVER for Berkley. He is currently working on the first novel of a new series for Pocket Books entitled THE OWLHOOT TRAIL.

28 August - SCOTTIE PRIESMEYER, Editor of the Mid Rivers Review Literary Journal, will talk about "How to Write a Book."  Scottie has an M.A. English, University of Missouri-St. Louis; B.A. English, Lindenwood University. 

Associate Professor of English at St. Charles Community College; previously, adjunct at Maryville University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and Sterling College; editor of The Mid Rivers Review Literary Journal, a literary journal at St. Charles Community College

Wrote true-crime book, The Cheaters: The Walter Scott Murder; and co-wrote screenplay, The Cheaters

Wrote A Quick Guide to Writing a Book: From Ideas to Publication, and suspense novel, Silent Justice

Conducted raw research and wrote a non-fictional historical book, An In-Depth Study of Winfield, Missouri

President of Tula Publishing, Inc. (small home-based book publishing company)

25 September - RICHARD BURGIN, writer and editor of BOULEVARD MAGAZINE, reads from his works and talks about the editing process. 

RICHARD BURGIN is a fiction writer, editor, composer, critic and teacher.  Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, he graduated from Brandeis University and received advanced degrees from Columbia University in New York.  BURGIN is the author of ten books, including the novel Ghost Quartet (1999), and the short story collections The Spirit Returns (2001), Fear of Blue Skies (1998), Private Fame (1991), and Man Without Memory (1989).   The latter three books were each listed as a Notable Book of the Year by The Philadelphia Inquirer.  His stories have won four PUSHCART PRIZES (only Joyce Carol Oates has won more) and 11 others have been listed by that prestigious anthology as being among the year's best.  His other books include Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges, which has been translated and published in seven foreign language editions, and Conversations with Isaac Bashevis Singer.  A major excerpt of Conversations with Isaac Bashevis Singer appeared in two parts as the cover story in The New York Times Magazine. 

BURGIN was the founding editor of the Boston Review and New York Arts Journal and the founding and current editor of the international distributed literary journal BOULEVARD, now in its nineteenth year of continuous publication.  Published by Saint Louis University, Boulevard is considered one of the country's leading literary journals.  Boulevard has won numerous city, state and national grants awards, including seven consecutive maximum sized grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.  Pieces from Boulevard are frequently reprinted in the country's leading anthologies such as The Best American Poetry, The Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, O.Henry Prize Stories, the Best American Essays, and others.

For more information, see www.richardburgin.com

30 October - JUST THE FACTS.  To make your mystery, suspense, or true crime stories more believable, writers will have a chance to ask the experts questions .  A panel of law enforcement experts will talk about their areas of expertise.  Former prosecutor DEBRA ALESSI now handles criminal defense cases in St. Charles with the law firm of Shea, Kohl, Alessi, and O'Donnell.    ED McCORMICK, Fire Marshal for Warren County, served five years with the St. Louis City police Dept and another five years with the Florissant Police Dept before joining the Florissant Fire Dept, where he spent 23 years.  After moving to Warrenton seven years ago, he has worked with the Warren County Fire and Rescue, and he was recently hired as Fire Marshal for Warren County.

25 November - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! No meeting in November.  Instead, the November meeting will be held first week in December.

4 December - ANNUAL MEETING DEVOTED TO CHILDREN.   Awards presented to winners of Third and Fourth Grade Children's Writing Contest followed by writing workshops for children by children's writer JEANIE FRANZ RANSOM.

Jeanie Franz Ransom is an elementary school counselor for the Wentzville School District and a freelance writer. Ransom is the author of five children’s picture books, I Don’t Want to Talk About It, a story about divorce for young children (Sept. 2000, Magination Press), Grandma U., (Fall 2002, Peachtree Publishers), Don’t Squeal Unless It’s a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales (Spring 2005, Magination Press), What Parents Do When You’re Not Home (Spring 2006, Peachtree Publishers), and What Really Happened to Humpty? (Spring 2007, Charlesbridge).

A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Ransom speaks at schools, libraries, and conferences about her craft. In addition, she has served as a writer-in-residence and is available for school visits and workshops for children and adults.

Her credits include: Boys’ Life, Girls’ Life, Boys’ Quest, Guideposts for Kids, Seventeen, Horsepower, American Baby, FamilyFun, ParentSource, Sesame Street Parents, Healthy Kids, Christian Parenting Today, Better Homes and Gardens Do it Yourself, Traditional Home, Country Home, Country Home Country Gardens, Decorator Show House, Southwest Sampler, Modern Bride, Country Folk Art, Country Inns, Innsider, Yippy-Yi-Yea, Victorian Decorating Lifestyles, Michigan Living, Detroit Monthly, the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News and the St. Charles Journal.

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2003 - YEAR TWO AND WE KEPT ON GROWING!!!

25 January - Inspirational speaker and author DR. DEBRA PEPPERS speaks on "WRITE, PUBLISH, AND SELL YOUR BOOK IN THREE WEEKS!  NO KIDDING!" Dr. Peppers is a member of the National Teachers Hall of Fame and hosts of "Talk from the Heart" and TV talk show, "Shakin' the Salt with Dr. Peppers."  She has been a motivational speaker for 28 years and a speech of hers won an award from the National Federation of Press Women.  She is author of the book "It's Your Turn Now!" and was recently published in Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul.  Dr. Peppers is also a columnist and has written plays, one of which earned an Emmy.  Her daily call-in show can be heard from 3:00-6:00 PM, Monday through Friday, on KJSL, 630, on the am dial.  www.pepperseed.org.  Call 636-379-9362 for meeting information.

22 February - Author and past president of the Missouri Romance Writers of America CINDY APPEL presents "THE CURSE OF THE MANUSCRIPT-EATING SLUSH PILE MONSTER" (and other ghastly tales of how NOT to become successfully published).  In her "day job" she reads manuscripts of all kinds (fiction of all genres and non-fiction) for the manuscript listing agency, Authorlink Inc.  She's developed an outline of things to avoid if you want to impress a manuscript reader so your manuscript can crawl out of the slush pile. 

29 March - MISSOURI WRITERS' GUILD 1st VP VICKI COX has written over 500 feature articles which have appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Christian Science Monitor, Grit, American Profile Magazine, Western Horseman and newspapers in 14 states.  She is the author of three children's biographies,  Diana, Princess of Wales; Marion Jones, and Hosni Mubarak. Rising Stars and Ozark Constellations, her fourth book is an anthology profiling people and places on the Ozark Plateau. A retired public school teacher, she now teaches as adjunct professor for Drury University.   The title of her talk is "ALWAYS SHAVE YOUR LEGS AND OTHER TIPS ON FREELANCING."

26 April - POET IDA MCCALL, speaks on "SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL - POETRY FOR FICTION WRITERS."  Ida received her MFA in Poetry from Washington University and has poems forthcoming in Boston Review, Pleiades, and Delmar. She currently works as the program coordinator for the International Writers Center at Wash U, where one of her jobs is to compile the St. Louis Literary Calendar every month. She has recently also become the director of Wash U's Summer Writers Institute. Ida also will announce winners of Saturday Writers One-Page Poetry Contest.

31 May - HOOK ME!  Reading and critique.   Successful writers usually begin their work with "hook" to engage the reader.   During the first part of our meeting, participants will be invited to read the first (double-spaced) page of their short story, novel, or essay.   Readings will be followed by a critique of what works in the first page to hook the reader or if the first page needs help.  BEYOND STRUNK AND WHITE. Round-table book discussion.  The second part of the meeting will be devoted to a discussion of books that members have found to be helpful writing resources. 

28 June - MARK TIEDEMANN, multi-published science fiction and fantasy writer will talk about  "TELLING TALES IN THE SHADOW OF TOMORROW:  THE IRREGULAR EDUCATION OF A FUTURIST."  Visit Mark's Web site at www.marktiedemann.com

26 July - PAT CARR of Elkins, Arkansas, will speak on WRITING AND REVISING FICTION.  Carr has published 12 books, including The Grass Creek Chronicle, Bluebirds, Beneath the Hill, and If We Must Die. She has published more than 100 short stories, which have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, Southern Magazine, The Southern Review, and other publications.   Carr has a B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) in English/History, M.A. in English from Rice University, and Ph.D. in English from Tulane University.  Her awards include an Al Smith Fiction Fellowship, Library of Congress Marc IV Award for Fiction, and First Stage Drama Award. 

16 August - Ozarks Writers' League (OWL) Qarterly Meeting. College of the Ozarks, Branson, Missouri. Michael and Susan Farris of the Farris Literary Agency in Dallas, Texas, will conduct interviews with writers throughout the day. Preference for appointments will go to OWL members.  Contact Membership Chair, Fred Pfister, for membership and meeting details. fpfister@coxbranson.com

30 August - CHRISSY WILLIS will talk about, FROM OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI TO OXFORD, ENGLAND:  USING PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO WRITE FICTION AND NON-FICTION.  Chrissy is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in such magazines as “Parents,” “Weight Watchers,” and “Living with Preschoolers.”  In addition, she is the author of three non-fiction books and over 100 short stories which have appeared in national and international publications.  Her most recent book published by McGraw Hill is a teacher resource book about children with special needs.  She is President of Ozark Creative Writers Inc. and founder of Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas.  Chrissy lives in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee with her husband Mike and her dog “Barkinweenie.”

27 September - EDITOR/PUBLISHER PANEL. REGINA COOK WILLIAMS, Editor/Publisher of The Storyteller: A Writer's Magazine, will speak on First Impressions, Cover Letters, and Guidelines.  JEFF FISTER, President, Virginia Publishing Company/West End Word, will speak on Writing for Virginia Publishing Company www.wordnews.com Jeffrey Fister attended St. Louis University and graduated cum laude in 1981 with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Journalism.  Fister worked as a reporter and editor for the Suburban Journals of St. Louis. In 1982, Fister began a seven-year corporate public relations career, working for McDonnell Douglas and Martin Marietta corporations, serving as a writer, editor and manager in public relations.   In 1989, Fister bought the West End Word newspaper, which grew from a twice-monthly publication serving the Central West End to a weekly newspaper with circulation in the city's central corridor from downtown St. Louis to Clayton. Meanwhile, the company, known as Virginia Publishing began publishing non-fiction books on local history and local interest beginning in 1992. The company now publishes two or three trade paperbacks per year, and has a list of about 20 titles still in print. Titles due for 2003 include two on the 1904 World's Fair, Meeting Louis At The Fair, and Still Shining: Discovering Lost Treasures from the 1904 World's Fair. Fister is married, lives in the Central West End, and has seven children. He is currently serving as president of the Central West End Association.

25 October - CHILDREN'S WRITING PANEL.   Rachel Crandell published, Hands of the Maya, (Henry Holt, June 2002). She was keynote speaker at the March meeting of Missouri Association of School Librarians. She is currently working on another book about the culture of indigenous folks who still live very traditionally in the forest.  Mary A. Martin entered the field of graphic art where she works in advertising and illustrating. Since 2001, Mary has regularly designed and illustrated a 3-page insert for a children’s quarterly magazine called Kids Country. Miss Lilly and the Hollyhock Garden is her first published children’s book. It is the first in a series of five books with the second book due for publication in the fall of 2003. Sandra Ure Griffin was the 1982 recipient of the Don Freeman Memorial Grant-In-Aid award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her first book, Earth Circles, was published by Walker and Company in 1989. In 2000, she was the winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Fellowship Award.  She currently teachers Art and Bookmaking to young people. Her second book, The Big and Little ABC, is due out in 2003. She will also be mentoring an unpublished children’s book illustrator through the Ellen Dolan Mentorship Program.

* 29 November - GENRE' WRITER'S PANEL. COWBOYS, CALL GIRLS, CRINOLINE, AND KILLING...WRITING GENRE' FICTION.

MARTHAYN PELEGRIMAS  has written over 60 short stories in the dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres, appearing in such anthologies as BORDERLANDS 3, BEST OF THE MIDWEST, HOMICIDE HOST PRESENTS, LOVE KILLS, AMERICAN PULP, HOT BLOOD IX and X, FLESH & BLOOD, the UFO FILES and Lawrence Block presents SPEAKING OF LUST.   
ROBERT (BOB) RANDISI is author of over 400 novels, 40 short stories, and editor of 25 anthologies written under 15 different pseudonyms.   He was also the editor of WRITING THE PRIVATE EYE NOVEL for Writer's Digest. He founded the Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award.  He co-founded Mystery Scene Magazine and the American Crime Writer's League.   In 1993 he was awarded a Life Achievement Award at the Southwest Mystery Convention.   He has been nominated four times for the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, in the novel and short story categories.  In the Western genre, Randisi, writing as J.R. Roberts, is the creator and author of The Gunsmith series.    He is author of seven other western series under seven different names.   His latest, LANCASTER'S ORPHANS, will be published in 2004.  In LEGEND he conceived and edited a collaborative novel written by he and Elmer Kelton, Loren Estleman, James Reasoner, Ed Gorman, Judy Alter and Jane Candia Coleman.  In 2003 another collaborative novel, THE FUNERAL OF TANNER MOODY, will be published by Leisure.  Authors include John Jakes, Elmer Kelton, Kerry Newcomb, Jory Sherman and James Reasoner. Randisi the editor of the western anthologies TIN STAR , BOOT HILL, WHITE HATS and BLACK HATS.  

WESTERN WRITER DUSTY RICHARDS, is author of more 40 novels and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles.   In 2003, his book, THE NATURAL, received best book of fiction award at the 2003 Oklahoma Writers' Federation Inc and second place for best book award by the Missouri Writers' Guild.  Dusty was selected as the 2003 Honorary Life Member of Oklahoma Writers' Federation in recognition of his support of OWFI and advancement of fellow writers.

ROMANCE WRITER BOBBI SMITH, has written more than 30 books and six short stories.  To date, there are more than five million of her romance novels in print.  She has been awarded "Storyteller of the Year" award from the Romantic Times Magazine, as well as a Golden Certificate Award from Affaire de Coeur.  Foreign rights to her books have been sold to China, India, Italy, Israel, Russia, France, Germany, and Sweeden. Her recent novels from Leisure Books include EDEN, a Civil War romance, LONE WARRIOR, and FOREVER AUTUMN.

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2002 EVENTS - OUR FIRST YEAR!!!!

26 January - Inaugural meeting. Discussion of chapter goals and objectives. Election of officers.

23 February - Julie Earhart, former editor of Saint Louis Events magazine and feature writing teacher at UMSL, talks about "How to Study the Lit Magazine Market."

30 March - Western writer, Dusty Richards, author of 40 novels and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, gives hints on "Writing Fiction that Sells."

27 April - New York Times best-selling author, Bobbi Smith, gives advice on "Publishing from Page One to the Bookshelf."

25 May - Reading of "Works in Progress" of up to five double-spaced pages, followed by brief critiques of works by participants.

29 June - Attending Writers' Conferences. Members and visitors participate in a round-table discussion of what to expect from and the benefits of attending writers' conferences. 

27 July - Joe Dugan, Vice President for Public Relations at Fleishman Hiliard and former Press Secretary for Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton, talks about "Creating a Buzz for your Work."

25 August - Deadline for 2002 Short Fiction Contest.

31 August - Author Marella Sands talks about "Writing Alternative Histories," dealing with agents and editors, and alternative approaches to critique groups.

28 September - Joplin writer and MWG President Veda Boyd Jones talks about "The Writing Life" and presents certificates to winners of the SC-LC 2002 Short Fiction Contest.  (See Contest section for list of top 10 stories).

26 October - Ghostly Tales.  Reading of Works In Progress.  Participants may read up to five double-spaced pages of their work, followed by brief critiques, if time permits.  Stories with a ghost or Halloween theme are encouraged. 

30 November - UMSL professor and author, Dr. Louis Gerteis, talks about "The Civil War in St. Louis."  Dr. Gerteis will also sign copies of his book, Civil War St. Louis.  .

28 December - Saturday Writers--Past, Present, and Future.  Holiday party and year-end wrap up. Round-table discussion of our first-year accomplishments, as well as announcement of our goals, objectives, and planned events for 2003. Members are invited to share their writing successes as well as their rejection letters received during 2002, and to set their goals for the new year.  Prizes will be awarded for the "best" rejection letter and most "creative" goal. Bring a covered dish and join the fun!