Abilene Writers Guild Abilene, Texas, U.S.A. "Not failure, but low aim, is crime." (Lowell) P.O. Box 2562—Abilene, Texas 79604 Monthly meetings are the fourth Thursday at 7:00 P.M. Meeting at the Rose Park Senior Citizens Center, located at 2625 South 7th, Abilene Texas

 Us and Ours: News and Stuff 

June Meeting -- Loretta Diane Walker, Why Write Poetry?

     June 25 program speaker will be Loretta Diane Walker - Her program title is "Why Write Poetry?" She lives in Odessa, teaches there, and consistently wins poetry competitions, including placing in every AWG competition she has entered for the past several years. Nancy Masters says, "I've read her narratives and like the judges, all I can say is 'WOW' -- stunning lyrical stuff." Loretta introduces herself:

I knew from my earliest days growing up in Odessa, Texas that my life would be spent writing. My poetry has been a constant companion through Ector High School, a few courses at Odessa College, gaining a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Texas Tech University and earning a Masters of Elementary Education from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin.

I am currently in my twenty-sixth year of teaching music to elementary children in Odessa. I have remained active in my community through memberships in organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Permian Basin Poetry Society. I am also a member of the Poetry Society of Texas, The Pennsylvania Poetry Society and The National Federation of Poetry Societies.

I have been published in numerous publications. My work has most recently appeared in The Texas Observer, The Concho River Review Literary Journal, Texas Poetry Calendar 2009, Harp-String Poetry Journal, The State Poetry Society of Texas Book of the Year 2009, Poetica Magazine, Big Hair, Big Land, Big Sky: The Best of the Texas Poetry Calendar Anthology, and is forthcoming in Orbis International Literary Journal, Illyas Honey, SP Quill Quarterly Magazine, Nomads Choir, Pennsylvania Poetry Society Prize Poems Anthology, and WestWard Quarterly Magazine. I published a collection of work, Word Flirtations: Poems of the Everyday, 2006, available in paperback.

Coming Attractions

     Our July 23 program will be Nina Romberg aka Jane Archer, author of numerous articles and two books on Indian myths and legends which will be the focus of her presentation. She'll be sharing a bit of her time with her husband, C. D. Anderson, who is an accomplished fantasy writer and the combination should really light some fires--no peyote smoking, of course, but a lot of intriguing stuff, for sure. They live in the Metroplex.

     August 27 will be Karen Witemeyer's program stepping us through how she got the contract from Bethany House, wrote the first book, and by that time what happened with the revision process.

New Meeting Location

     Remember to come to our NEW permanent location, the Rose Park Senior Citizens Center, located at 2625 South 7th, Abilene Texas. We'll be back there for the April meeting featuring

     Enter Rose Park from Barrow entrance. You may drive up to the door to unload, but will need to park in the parking lot in front of the building. When you go inside the main doors, to to the right to the hall. Classroom B will be on the left.

Members Only Monthly Contest Winners

     Both fiction and poetry categories had less than 5 entries, so only first place was awarded.

Members Only Monthly Contest

1. Only Abilene Writers Guild members in good standing may enter the contests.
2. Work must be the member's original work, unpublished at the entry deadline.
3. There's no entry fee.
4. Any piece of writing can be entered that has not won a money prize in any other AWG contest. These monthly contest entries may be submitted in the annual contest, even those winning money.
5. Word count: 200 words maximum excluding title for flash fiction, 1000 words maximum for other prose categories, 50 lines for poetry.
6. Works must be postmarked by the 10th day of the month of the competition and mailed to AWG Contest, month (January, etc.), %Karen Witemeyer, 58 Augusta Drive, Abilene TX 79606. Note: Karen will accept entries at any time for any contest. You must clearly mark the topic and month for judging. Only members outside the United States may enter by email.
7. Prose format: Manuscripts must be double-spaced, typed/printed on one side of paper, with at least one-inch margins. Author's name appears only on the cover sheet. Number pages.
8. Poetry format: Manuscripts may be single-spaced. Author's name appears only on the cover sheet.
9. Cover sheet: Each entry must have a cover sheet with name, address, telephone, and email information on top left, word or line count on top right, and title of work centered in middle of page.
10. Judging will not be by members of the Abilene Writers Guild and will be based on reader reactions. Some may write comments; others will not.
11. First, second, third, and honorable mention will be designated.
12. Manuscripts sent with a self-addressed stamped envelope will be returned. Others, if not claimed at the next monthly meeting, will be discarded.
13. The topics/themes/ideas are:
    • February – Turning Points
    • March – Playgrounds
    • April – Christmas story for December magazines
    • May – Books, Reading
    • June – Wild Animals
    • July – Sailing Along
    • August – Listening
14. The categories are:
    • February – Rhymed poetry market, Inspiration market, Fiction market
    • March – Unrhymed poetry market, Flash Fiction market, Memoir/Nostalgia market
    • April – Rhymed poetry market, Children's market, Article market
    • May – Unrhymed poetry market, Inspiration market, Fiction market
    • June – Rhymed poetry market, Article for newspaper or magazine, fiction market
    • July – Unrhymed poetry market, Memoir/Nostalgia market, Children's magazine market
    • August – Rhymed poetry market, Article market, Children's market (fiction or non- fiction)
15. For example, in February you may enter as many times as you wish. If you enter three times, one may be a rhymed poem, the second an inspirational piece, the third fiction, or all may be the fiction, etc. Each should be on the theme for the month, in February "Turning Points."
16. Prizes in each category will be: $15 first prize, $10 second prize, $5 third prize. We are awarding up to $90 in prizes each month. Please participate!
17. If fewer than five entries are received for any of the three monthly categories, no money will be awarded for 2nd or 3rd prize. If fewer than three entries are received for any category, no money will be awarded for 1st prize. The judges, at their sole discretion, may find no entry in a category merits an award.
18. You must enter to win!

Operation Paperbacks for Patriots

     We have learned that the airlift troops, particularly those living in extremely remote airfields in conditions much like we see on M*A*S*H, are in need of good paperback book reading material for the times when they get to relax.

     Abilene Writers Guild's new project--to continue as long as necessary--is "OPERATION PAPERBACKS FOR PATRIOTS." We ask our members to go through their shelves and collections and donate any good paperbacks--adventure, thriller, western, inspirational, science fiction, nonfiction--to send to our Dyess troops. (No porn, no slime, no political propaganda.) Bring them to the meetings or drop them by Nancy Masters' house and they'll be packed and delivered to the Squadron to go out with the re-supply flights. These flights go out about every two weeks, so there's no deadline or cut off. Of course, we'll take books from non-members as well! We'll keep count and make a report ever so often of how many paperbacks AWG members and friends have sent.

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