October, 2005

 

1. Announcing -- A New Roundtable Group

2. Hurry -- Last Chance to Register for Fall

3. Other Places/ Other Faces

4. Advance Notice

5. News about Redbird Writers

6. How to: help/contact/report/get off the list

 

 

 

1. ANNOUNCING -- A NEW ROUNDTABLE GROUP

 

If you've been watching the class schedules this year, you've noticed that the Tuesday afternoon roundtable group is nearly always filled, with a waiting list. We're about to fix this with a brilliant new addition to our list of offerings. Starting in November, our very own Robert Vaughan will lead a Friday morning roundtable critique group. Hours: 9:30 to 12. Same format, same fees as Judy's Tuesday group. Robert will continue participating in the Tuesday group. ("Just try to get me out of that," he says.) See dates and registration info below.

 

 

 

2. HURRY -- LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER

 

See full course descriptions and teacher bios on our website: www.redbirdstudio.com

 

To register, email (jb@redbirdstudio.com) or call (414-481-3195) to check availability. Get your name on the list and then follow-up by sending your payment. You can use the printed form on our website or just send a note -- we'll figure it out. 

 

Shut Up and Write!

The "how-to"/"do it now" seminar writers love.

Judy Bridges, (Founder, Redbird Studio)

6 Mon   6:30-9pm    $295 ($100 deposit)

Oct 10, 17, 24, Nov 7, 14, 21

 

Self-Publishing: The ABCs

How to create the book you've always wanted.

Kira Henschel (Goblin Fern Press and Radiant Heart Press)

2 Tues   Oct 11, 18   6:30-8:30pm   $55

 

Writing for the Web

Cyber-communication: how to write so people pay attention.

Anne Landre (Web Wizard)

2 Tues   Oct 25, Nov 1    6:30-8:30pm   $55

 

Roundtable Critique Groups 

Reading, feedback, camaraderie.

See format on website.

4 meetings per session  $75

 

Tuesday Afternoons   12-2:30pm

Judy Bridges (Studio Founder)

Nov 8, 22, Dec 6, 20 (waiting list)

 

Wednesday Evenings (The Inkslingers)  6:30-9:00pm

Judy Bridges (Studio Founder)

Nov 2, 16, 30, Dec 14

 

Friday Mornings  9:30am-12noon

Robert Vaughan (Writer/Poet/Playwright)

Nov 4, 18, Dec 2, 16

 

 

 

3. OTHER PLACES

 

Last chance to register:

"Writing Life Stories" with Judy Bridges

Fox Valley Technical College, Neenah, WI, Sat. Oct 15, 9:30-2:30.

You don't have to be a pro to write about your life. Use your memories and the skills you have to write your stories. All levels welcome. To register, call Lisa Bell, 920-720-6820 or (toll-free) 877-515-5151

 

 

 

4. ADVANCE NOTICE

For those of you who need to plan way in advance

 

2006 Young Authors

Young Author camps are scheduled for:

Grades 4-6, July 24-28

Grades 7-8, July 31-Aug 4;

Grades 9-12, Aug 7-11

Registrations open on January 1, 2006.

Watch the web site for further information.

 

2006 Women's Writing Retreat

The week-long writing retreat at The Clearing in Door County was so much fun and so rewarding for everyone involved that we all agreed to schedule another for next year. Dates: Sept. 10-16. Space limited. Watch The Clearing website or ask for brochure to see when registrations open. Phone 920-854-4088 or (toll free) 877-854-3225 or see www.theclearing.org

 

 

 

5. NEWS ABOUT REDBIRD WRITERS AND FRIENDS

Note: "R.W. and Friends" either attended Redbird workshops, or taught them, or support the studio in some special way. If you sent information and it did not appear, please forgive and send it again. Web sites are listed but not necessarily linked.

 

 

In Memoriam

 

Writers lost a dear friend when Harold A. Schwartz died Friday, September 2 at the age of 92. Just a few years ago, Harold hiked up the stairs to the studio to attend a Council of Wisconsin Writers board meeting. He thought the studio was quite wonderful, despite the stairs, and always asked about our writers. A former vice president and director of circulation of Newspapers Inc., which published The Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel, Schwartz served many nonprofit groups, particularly favoring libraries and writers. We will miss him.

 

 

Happier notes:

 

Shannon Jackson Arnold is teaching "Writing For Your Life: How to Capture Your Memories and Life Experiences on Paper" at Martha Merrell's Bookstore, 231 Main Street on Mondays, September 26-November 14. She also leads  "Writer to Writer" at Martha Merrell's the first Saturday of each month.

 

Shauna Singh Baldwin's short story "The View from the Mountain" will be published this month in The Capilano Review. Shauna traveled to Holland to release the Dutch edition of her latest novel The Tiger Claw. She participated in panel discussions and gave readings from The Tiger Claw and What the Body Remembers at the Berlin International Literary Festival. Italian rights have been sold for English Lessons and Other Stories. Shauna will be at Kriti, a Lit-Fest in Chicago, reading and participating in panel discussions on November 11, 2005. Fansite: ShaunaSinghBaldwin.com.

 

Erin B. from our Young Author writing group, is now editor in chief of Parnassus in Print, the Wauwatosa East High School literary magazine. She and friends are also "forging" a writing club, with their first meeting on October 5. She writes, "I'm so excited about this it's ridiculous... My goal is to not only provide a hub for all of my current creative writing friends, but also to get all of the closet creative writers to come out an nurture their writing. I want to create an environment and a community where anyone who loves to write can come and feel welcomed instead of alone. I feel fully prepared to take this on because of that one week writing camp at Redbird. I learned writing exercises, resources, and I learned how to break into groups and give/receive constructive criticism. I wanted to let you know that the work Redbird does has influenced and helped more than just the students of the studio."  (Ed. note: Can we hire this kid?)

 

Barbara Bergen (Milwaukee, WI and Spring Hill, FL) writes: My web site is up -- www.BarbBergen.com -- which lists my products -- enclosure cards, bookmarks, books, and a reference CD of quotes of Unity's founders. My own book is out -- Inspirations at Daybreak -- (self-published) plus the book I helped Rev. Tom put together (through a publish-on-demand company).

 

Elaine Bergstrom is welcoming new members to the "Redbird Refugees Novel Writing Roundtable." This read and critique group meets 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 7pm in a private room at Robert's Pub at Howell and Boliver Avenues just north of the airport. Published participants include Shauna Singh Baldwin and group moderator Elaine Bergstrom. $5 per meeting. For further information, email Elaine at mkiraly@juno.com.

 

Garrett Cohn placed third in a Peninsula Pulse contest with his short story, "Talent and Tradegy."

 

Carol LaChapelle is offering several writing workshops in the Madison area. You can email her at madmoon55@hotmail.com to ask for a list.

 

Chris Krajniak and Phil Belair were featured artists for the Three Lakes Center for the Arts in July and August. They were also featured in a Vilas Co. news article titled "Creative cousins inspired by Three Lakes."  

 

Doris Hayes has returned from five weeks in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, where she visited educational facilities, rode elephants and rafted a river in a bamboo raft. She's now back to writing and teaching school -- at least until next summer.

 

Eric Hansen was interviewed for WUWM's At 10 program about his new book, Hiking Michigan's Upper Peninsula: A Guide to the Greatest Hiking Adventures in the U.P.

 

Les Huisman will be at the Cornerstone Theatre in the Brumder Mansion, 3046 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, at 7pm, Monday, December 12, to attend a reading of his monologue, "Blue Deodorizer Blues." Call 414-342-2951 or see: www.cornerstonetheatre.net

 

Terry Kaldhusdal did a stunning job of creating a DVD featuring our Young Author groups. You will hear more about this as we complete the project. For now we can say this, we recommend his work, highly. kaldhust@kmsd.edu

 

Katie Lance is teaching English in Aix en Provence, France, from whence she is sending word-picture emails that have us all ready to pack.

 

John Lehman will moderate a discussion, "Making It Happen! Poetry and Community: An Open Roundtable on Poetry in Wisconsin for Poets, Publishers, Teachers, Book Buyers and Librarians," Saturday, October 15, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm at Memorial Library in Madison. Sponsored by University of Wisconsin Press and University Book Store. For more info: email John at santerra@aol.com

 

Note: John's presentation is part of the Wisconsin Book Festival which takes place in Madison October 13-17. See www.wisconsinbookfestival.org for more about this event.

 

Patricia Lorenz writes from her home in Florida: My writing life is busy as ever.  Word has it that I'm now the top contributor to the Chicken Soup books with 31 stories in 25 of them so far.  I just finished my own sixth book, True Pilot Stories and it will be published later this fall by Infinity Publishing out of Philadelphia. My 5th book, Life's Too Short to Fold Your Underwear, may hit the retail shelves in the spring of 2007 when Guideposts launches a new retail line. That book sold over 40,000 copies in 3 months last year through Guideposts mail order system.  Daily Guideposts just rehired me to write for their 2007 Daily Guideposts book.  They booted me out for the 2005 and 2006 books, but received a "steady stream" of letters from readers wondering where I was, so they just rehired me. I'm also working on my 7th book, The Five Things We Need To Be Happy.

 

Lynn Mehring was interviewed for WUWM's At 10 program about teaching gifted and talented students.

 

Wayne Mutza will be giving a talk/signing for his recently released Milwaukee Fire Department book at the Schwartz Bookstore on Downer Ave, Oct. 5 at 7 pm.

 

Kay Pliszka got another Chicken Soup contract and has been working on some inspirational messages for a follow up to her last book, Recovering Soul. 

 

Tess Romeis' poem, "Summer Sisters" accepted for publication in the 2006 Wisconsin Poets Calendar. The calendar is available at most local bookstores.

 

Eva Augustin Rumpf will read from her novel Prot U at the Publishers Showcase during the Wisconsin Book Fair on October 14 at 6:45 p.m. at Memorial Library in Madison. She was also interviewed about her novel Prot U on WFHR radio, the CBS affiliate in Wisconsin Rapids. She recently taught a workshop, "The Art of Feature Writing," for UWM Continuing Education and will teach "Getting Attention:  How to Write for Publicity and Promotion" in October.

 

Elizabeth Ridley gave birth to Lola Theresa Kolawole on Saturday, August 20th. For those who worried, that's at least a whole week after Beth finished teaching in our summer Young Author camps.

 

Soulstice Theatre presented "The Sum of Us," a touching play about a father and son, in the studio theatre here at the Marian Center. Future offerings are listed on their new website: www.soulsticetheatre.org

 

Jason Waltz and Marjorie Pagel helped to organize the 2005 Writers Ink Contest. Judges include  Stephen and Rita Boehrer, and Sharon Hart Addy. For more info on the contest and about Writers Ink meetings, email Jason at joemagic@tds.net or Larry Van Veghel at VanVegheIL@msn.com

 

Pat Weisberg won a WRWA (Wisconsin Regional Writers Assn.) Jade Ring award for her short story, "The Quaker Schoolmarm." For more info about WRWA see: www.wrwa.net

 

Kathy Winkler announced the publication of her new book for teenagers, Bullying: How to Deal with Taunting, Teasing and Tormenting. This is her eighth book for Enslow Publishers of New Jersey.

 

Woodland Pattern Book Center is sponsoring a series of interesting readings and workshops. See www.woodlandpattern.org. Woodland Pattern is The Place for poetry in the Milwaukee area.

 

 

 

6. HOW TO HELP, CONTACT US, REPORT NEWS or GET OFF THE LIST

 

TO HELP: Distribute flyers. Tell people about Redbird. Contribute to the Young Author Scholarship Fund.

May we suggest:

-- A gift to the Scholarship Fund in your name, or to honor your favorite writer.

-- A Redbird gift certificate for your favorite writer (for full or partial registration.)

-- Books by Redbird Writers and Friends. See the list on our website.

-- Books, period. First choice is to purchase from your local Independent bookstore.

-- If you are purchasing books from Amazon, you can help Redbird by ordering through our site.

-- Purchase "Redbird Writers" tee shirts for your writer-friends. $12 plus postage.