College of the Ozarks is where Ozarks Writers League meets four time per year. We gather in the Plaster Auditorium for an 8:30 registration. Meetings start at 9:00. Go to the college website for information and directions. http://www.cofo.edu
Scroll down after the meeting info to view a map that will to get you to our new Friday night gathering spot....
Watch this page for information about our November meeting.
Ozarks Writers League Meeting Schedule for 2009
February 21st of 2009 we have two great speakers lined up.
Suzann Ledbetter and Mark Littleton will both be in Branson that week-end. Come join us at the College of the Ozarks and have a great day. Remember, our February meeting is also our annual art and photography contest. Contact Regina Williams and make plans to exhibit your work.
Suzann is going to give two workshops at the College of the Ozarks on the 21st of Feb.. These will be audience participation sessions on how to write a 'Who Done It,' and how to plot your story and make your characters zing. Join Suzann and write your bestseller. Information on attending the meeting, plus directions on how to get there, can be found on this website...just take a peek at all the pages and you'll find everything you need. And, we're always looking for new OWL members, make sure you check out the members page and see who you might run into at a meeting. Visit Suzann's website and buy one of Suzann's books. Or two!
http://www.suzannledbetter.com
Mark Littleton will speak at OWL on February 21st. Mark will teach us how to write a query letter that agents and editors will pay attention to.
Mark is the author of more than 2000 articles in such magazines as Discipleship Journal, Reader's Digest, Christianity Today, Zelos, Credo, Power for Living, Focus on the Family, Preaching, Group, and many others. He has had more than 87 books published, several of them bestsellers, including the NIRV Kids' Devotional, the Edge Devotional Bible for Kids, the Sports Heroes Series, and the "Up" series for teens. He has been nominated three times and been in the final round for the Gold Medallion Award of the ECPA. He has won Campus Life Magazine's "Book of the Year" Award twice. He works as a mentor for Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild.
May 16th of 2009
Mark you Calendar and come see Paul Fedorko, Literary Agent Extraordinaire !!!
Having built his career on the publishing side of the business—at Dell/Delacorte, Bantam, Simon and Schuster and William Morrow—Paul Fedorko brings his wide array of publishing experience and unique skills, plus a diverse list of clients to Trident Media Group.
Following the worldwide success of JOHN PERKINS’ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (both in hardcover and trade paperback), his latest, The Secret History of the American Empire leads a list of recently published books including JACK CAFFERTY’S It’s Getting Ugly Out There, GEORGE SHUMAN’S Last Breath (and his latest Sherry Moore novel, Lost Girls, coming Fall 2008), KIMBERLY DOZIER’S Breathing the Fire, RICHARD ENGEL’S War Journal, GARY PERKINSON and T.J. TOMASI’S When Bad Things Happen to Bad Golfers plus KATHY HAINES’ new Rosie Winter WWII novel, The Winter of Her Discontent, JANE AND MICHAEL HOFFMAN’S Green and RON MCLARTY’S newest novel, Art in America.
Coming Fall 2008 are JACK GARCIA’S Making Jack Falcone, SHARI SHATTUCK’S Speak of the Devil, DR. DEDE BONNER’S new series launch—10 Best Questions to Ask When It’s Breast Cancer, and DR. LINDA PAPADOPOULOUS’ What Men Say, What Women Hear. Coming early in 2009 is a new book from JACK CAFFERTY and PETER GOLENBOCK’S biography of George Steinbrenner.
Paul’s other clients include: Kim Akhtar, Yolanda Banks, Prill Boyle, Jamie Fedorko, Dianne Gallagher, Jerry Glazebrook, Laurie Burrows Grad, Alireza Jafarzadeh, Sherri James, Lt. William Keegan, Chef Gray Kunz, Chef John La Femina, Riva Levinson, James L. Manos, Dave Marash, Tanya Memme, Alyson Reed, Doug Richardson, Pamela Samuels, Tom Seligson, Deborah Solon, David Sullivan, Stacey Tisdale, H.W. Watford, John Weisman, S.D. Williams, Dave Winfield, and the prolific Andrea Cagan.
Paul is currently looking for commercial fiction, thrillers, mysteries, romantic suspense, business, sports, celebrity and popular culture.
Pat Carr
Pat Carr is one of this country's favorite writers and a longtime honorary member of OZarks Writers League. Pat has graciously agreed to give an all-day workshop at our May meeting while our agent is taking pitches. If you're a writer, or if you've ever thought about being a writer, learning from Pat will assure your success.
Pat Carr was born in an oil camp in Wyoming, but grew up in Texas. She has a B.A. and an M.A. from Rice University, a Ph.D. from Tulane, and she’s taught literature and creative writing in universities across the south, most recently at Western Kentucky University. She’s published fourteen books, including The Women in the Mirror, winner of the prestigious Iowa Short Fiction Award, and If We Must Die, a finalist in the PEN Book Awards, and over one hundred short stories in such places as The Southern Review, Yale Review, and Best American Short Stories. She’s won numerous other awards for her work, among which are the Texas Institute of Letters Short Story Award, a Library of Congress Marc IV, an NEH, and a Fondation de Ledig-Rowohlt Writing Fellowship in Geneva, Switzerland. Her most recent books are historical fiction, Border Ransom (TCU Press, 2006) and The Death of a Confederate Colonel (University of Arkansas Press, 2007), and she’s currently working on a Civil War novel, A Perfectly Splendid Time, set in 1864 Little Rock.
And Remember that May is also our annual auction month. Bring your new or like new items to be auctioned off ... and because your car will then be empty, you can bid on the new or like new items that others have brought and fill it up again. There will be a prize for the single item that brings in the most money, and a prize for the person who spends the most. We always have a blast at the auction, but remember...What happens in Branson, stays in Branson.
Lunch, as usual, will be a catered affair! Check back later for all the details.
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Again, we're going to have some fun the night before this meeting! Everyone is invited to a pizza party and an open mic night. We liked Boxcar Willies so much that we're going there again. The price is Just $45+ tax. It's a beautiful place! http://www.boxcarwilliehotel.com
Check it out and then make your reservation. You must tell them you're will Ozarks Writers League in order to get the group rate. Instead of going to The Lone Star, we're ordering in pizza and having an open mic in the meeting room at the hotel. This way we're not running all over Branson to get together. We check in, come to the meeting room, and have a night of fun and laughs and stories galore. So be sure and bring something to read. They also have a wonderful indoor pool in case anyone is up for a swim. The phone number is
877-704-6611
Their address is 360 Schaefer Drive at the end of the Highway 76 strip. But, before you panic and say that you'll never get down that busy road...look below for a neat map that shows as alternate route which will take you just a few minutes from Highway 65. The route is in red at the top part of the map. Go west until you hit 76 coming from that direction and go back toward Highway 65 for just a few blocks. Turn right onto 376 and go past Celebration City. You'll see the sign for Boxcar Willies off to the right.
Now, doesn't that make you feel better?
Join us for our second pizza party and open mic.
And remember...What happens in Branson, stays in Branson. Unless Lou gets a picture of it, that is!
For information on past meetings...read on.
November 15, 2008
NOVEMBER MEETING HOSTS CHILDREN’S AUTHOR AND EDITOR
Children’s Author Tells How To Do It
The Ozarks Writers League’s November program will feature David Harrison, a well-known writer of children’s literature. His talk will be on “Creating Children’s Literature.”
Harrison sold his first book for children, The Boy With a Drum, in 1969 and it has sold over two million copies. In 1972, he won national recognition when he received the Christopher Award for The Book of Giant Stories.
Since then, David has published seventy-four original titles and earned numerous other honors. He has been anthologized in more than one hundred books and appeared in dozens of magazines and professional journals. His work has been translated into twelve languages and presented on television, radio, cassette, and CD-ROM.
His poetry inspired Sandy Asher’s play, Somebody Catch My Homework, which has been produced in the United States and abroad.
David has been recognized by the International Reading Association for his efforts in promoting literacy, and by Missouri’s Librarian Association which presented him with its Literacy Award for his body of work.
A frequent speaker, he also gives presentations at educational conferences nationwide and co-writes books for teachers with leading authorities in early literacy. He holds science degrees from Drury and Emory universities and an honorary doctorate of letters from Missouri State University. David is an adjunct faculty and poet laureate at Drury. He lives in Springfield, Missouri with his wife, Sandy.
http://mowrites4kids.drury.edu/authors/harrison/
The Internet and Newspapers Provide Opportunities
Wendy Ledbetter Fite, author of the Nevada County Picayune in Prescott, Arkansas, will hold two sessions at the November OWL meeting.
Fite has been making a living writing for more than a decade. Some of her current projects are writing book summaries, writing for several local newspapers, and contributing to regional and national publications.
Her topics will be on Internet and newspaper writing. She says the internet is a scary place for most of us over forty, but she finds it a wonderful way t make a living. Often, the people who are bright enough to build and maintain a website aren’t able to string together a comprehensive sentence, and are searching for someone with the talent to do so. She says she can’t imagine writing the html code for a website, but she’s earned money over the years writing for those who don’t understand anything less complicated.
When she was young, she thought newspaper writers, editors, and photographers had awesome jobs—something akin to potentates of the world. Even if that world is Prescott, Arkansas, newspaper people hold an important place in every community. She feels it isn’t a position reserved for the few, though most people don’t think about their opportunity to be part of it.
Fite is the mother of two daughters, and is also a grandmother.
She will have her first session just before lunch, and her second session after lunch.
November 15 Agenda
8:30 – Registration
9:00 – Election, By-laws vote, awards, announcements
9:15 – David Harrison
10:15 – Break
10:30 – Wendy Ledbetter
11:30 – Lunch on your own
1:15 – Announcements
1:30 – Wendy Ledbetter
2:30 – Program ends
3:00 – Board meeting.
WOW What a Meeting!!! For those of you who missed what Jordan Dane had to say, watch this space and we'll post one of her handout sheets here in a few days. She sold quite a few books at the meeting, but if you didn't get one click here and it'll take you to her site on Barnes and Noble. Jordan Dane
After Jordan Dane sold her first three books in auction to Avon/HarperCollins in June 2006, her debut title—No One Heard Her Scream—held more significance. Everyone heard her scream! http://jordandane.com
Click here for more from Jordan Dane
Agent to Take Pitches at OWL!!!!!....
Holly McClure, a literary agent with Sullivan Maxx Literary Agency, will be speaking and taking pitches at the August 16th OWL meeting at the College of the Ozarks.
Holly McClure, signed her books at SIBA [southeastern independent book sellers association] trade show in Atlanta in October along with Dusty Rhodes, A.J. Hartley, Carla Damron, Patsy Wall and many other excellent writers at the Southeastern Mistery Writers of America/Sisters in Crime booth. She also attended a writers reception and signed books at COMO on Jekyll Island, sharing a signing table with Gwen Hunter.
For more information about Holly McClure, go to http://www.sullivanmaxx.com
The following information is about Speakers and Events that OWL has had in the past, in leaving it up for you to read, we felt as though it would give you a better idea of what kind of programs OWL presents to its members...enjoy.
Dick Weiss....While keeping his day job at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Weiss started WeissWrite LLC in 2003 as a writing, editing and coaching service for anyone with a story to tell. WeissWrite recently has been burgeoning with requests for journalism and business writing workshops, ghostwriting, and editing consultations. Late last year, Weiss decided the time was ripe to devote all his energies to WeissWrite and left the paper on Dec. 1. Joining him is his wife, Sally J. Altman, an accomplished writer, business professional and seasoned consultant. with broad experience in civic life, particularly in healthcare.
At the Post-Dispatch, Weiss was a metro editor and writing coach. He oversaw the development of enterprise stories, with a particular emphasis on narrative writing. He also held training seminars for a newsroom staff of 300 reporters and editors, and coached reporters one-on-one.
Weiss is a frequent speaker at the American Press Institute and was site director for the National Writers’ Workshop in St. Louis from 2001-2004. He is currently touring as a speaker for the Washington-based Reynolds Center for Business Journalism where he shows business writers how to weave their facts and figures into compelling tales. He has also served on the faculty for the Neiman Narrative Program at Harvard University.
Two series appeared in recent years under Weiss's byline that struck a chord with the public. His five part series “How to be a world famous, fabulously successful writer’’ charmed, educated and entertained middle schoolers and many adults as well. A writing contest he started in connection with the series drew 800 entries. He has since turned the series into a book.
In August, 2003, the Post-Dispatch published Weiss’s three-part series called: Public Man, Private Struggle. It is the story of Al Kerth, a civic leader who committed suicide. Kerth suffered from bipolar illness. The series drew praise from mental health professionals and the families of many St. Louisans who suffer from the disease. The series won both a local and national award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
In June of 2000, Weiss produced a four-part serial narrative on the revival of an inner city neighborhood, called “ A Better Place to Grow Up.’’ It recounted how blacks, whites, residents and businessmen forged an alliance to rebuild the neighborhood and improve a substandard elementary school. The work was recognized by the St. Louis Newspaper Guild and the local chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
July of 1997, Weiss began training a team of 18 writers, editors, photographer and designers in profile writing. As part of that effort, the team has produced a series of in-depth pieces about important and interesting St. Louisans.
As features editor, Weiss both wrote and edited stories ranging from tragic to sublime. He was honored in 1995 with the best feature writing award from the Missouri Press Association for an article on a couple whose four children were murdered by a 14-year-old boy. The couple went on to bear three more children, but they and those children remain haunted by the prospect that the killer could receive parole.
Weiss lives in Richmond Heights with his wife, Sally J. Altman. They are the parents of three girl
Whether she's exposing out-of-control tooth fairies or understanding our obsession with cellulite, Aisha Sultan's column and blog discusses the issues that matter to parents. Relationships are fraught with drama, and modern family life is a chaotic balancing act.
"Dirty Laundry" explores the dark and light sides of parenting and relationships. It's commentary told in the voices of real people.
Aisha Sultan is an award-winning writer for the Post-Dispatch, family and home editor and commentator. Her stories have also appeared in The Wall Street Journal and several magazines. She has appeared as a frequent guest on television, including Larry King Live, MSNBC, Court TV, American Morning on CNN and Nancy Grace on Headline News. She has also been interviewed on KMOX radio.
Mark Stallings is a freelance photographer and writer who resides in Western Arkansas with his wife and two sons. Their home is near the small town of Greenwood where they live on the family farm. Mark has articles and photographs published on a local, state and national level. His talk at OWL will be about taking photos to help tell your story, and how to make them interesting.
What you missed:
November 17, 2007
The November 17th meeting of the Ozarks Writers League will feature Terry Burns, an agent with Hartline Literary Agency (www.hartlineliterary.com). Terry also writes inspirational fiction.
Ever feel like no one in the publishing business gives a straight answer to questions? Instead of a straight answer as to why an agent or editor doesn’t take your project, you hear, “It’s not a good fit.” Ask an editor what they are looking for and when they get through you don’t know any more than when you started? What does it take to get an agent? What causes submissions to be rejected? Terry Burns says to ask the questions you haven’t gotten responses to and get straight answers. In this workshop, he’ll give you the straight answers.
During Saturday’s meeting, Terry is slated to be the keynote speaker in the morning, and later will hear pitches from those who already signed up.
As a writer, Terry has a series that began with Mysterious Ways from River Oak Publishing and the series bears that name. The series includes Brother’s Keeper and Shepard’s Son, and gives him twenty-two books in print, counting the non-fiction and short story collections. Mysterious Ways was a nominee for the American Christian Fiction Writers book of the year, nominated for the Christy Award, and was recently published in Russian.
He has published over two hundred articles and short stories, and is in several short story collections. Terry has published four non-fiction books and has a small book of cowboy poetry, Cowboys Don’t Read Poetry.
A native Texan and resident of Amarillo, he graduated from West Texas State, and did post graduate work at Southern Methodist University.
A popular speaker at workshops across the country, his available works, as well as a daily blog, can be found at www.terryburns.
Regina Williams, editor of The Storyteller magazine will be speaking about the dos and don’ts that are important when writers contact an editor, agent, or publisher.
Regina started The Storyteller in 1996, with the intention of being different than other publications. She wanted to provide a venue where beginning writers could be published while they were learning their craft. She succeeded even more than she dared dream.
The magazine provides an arena for beginners to be published while providing insights into the craft of writing with columns from well-known writers such as Dusty Richards and Charles Sasser.
A writer herself, Regina has been published in numerous local, regional, and national publications, and won the OWL’s Dan Saults contest in both 2005 and 2006. Regina will share the knowledge she has gained from her writing and editing experience with OWL members in the afternoon program.
Bonnie Tesh and Ronda Del Boccio, co-authors of I’ll Push, You Steer, The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through Life With Blinders On, will discuss how they collaborated on writing the manuscript, found an editor, and, after it was published, how they marketed the book—getting into bookstores, media coverage, etc. They’ll share some stories, give hints on making the struggle to cope in the face of adversity easier, and have a little fun while doing it. Come prepared to get actively involved in the presentation.
Bonnie is an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction. Many factors helped her get through experiences that life threw at her, but she developed attitude—not the mean, nasty kind, but the spunky, I-can-do-it kind. She has published articles in the Ozark Mountaineer, the Storyteller Magazine and won 3rd place in the magazine’s People’s Choice Awards for Fiction. She received awards for writing at the Ozarks Creative Writers Conference and in the Ozarks Writers League writing contest. She has a Christian mystery-romance completed and two other novels in progress.
Ronda has had a number of career changes in her life—as a hospital chaplain in training, independent living specialist for the disabled, a college professor, a massage therapist, and as a writer. She is an award-winning author, published on four continents, with one book out and a number of stories and articles. Her bi-weekly joyful living column, Relax With Ronda, appears in her local paper. She said she experiences what most people only dream of having, waking up every day with joy, eager to face the challenges that await, and to find something funny and something to grow on in any situation.
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May's meetings are always fun because we have our lunch on the patio while Dusty Richards holds our annual auction. See you all next August for some more OWL fun!!!
OWL's meetings are held in the Plaster Auditorium of the College of the Ozarks, by far one of the best meeting rooms in Branson. To find the College, travel south through Branson until you get to the Hollister turn off. Turn west and you will soon see the campus gates. Drive through the gates, turn right on the first through street you come to and we are the last large building on the right. We always meet the third Saturday of the month, with registration starting at 8:15, meeting at 9:00. Visit the College of the Ozarks online at: http://www.cofo.edu
The Keeter Center, located just inside the College gate, is offering $65 per night on their rooms. Check at the lodge for availability. There are also several luxury suites available inside the lodge. You need to call them early because they can sometimes be busy with visiting parents. http://www.keetercenter.edu/ Their phone number is located at the bottom of their home page.
We'd love to have you as an OWL member!
What you missed on August 18, 2007
TURN FACT INTO FICTION: BUT NEVER THE OTHER WAY AROUND
An OWL workshop given by:
Jay Grelen
A daily journalist for 30 years, Jay Grelen will lead a discussion about taking events from real life and turning them into fiction. He will strongly suggest that we not "make up stuff" and call it a memoir. Also, he'll discuss the word he would ban from the English language.
Jay will give us ideas and ways to find the beginning, middle, and end of a story. The emphasis will be on taking time to learn first. Jay says that the notion of Writer’s Block often means you haven’t done enough leg work. Even the shortest piece of work needs and can run on a story arc.
Jay writes a thrice-a-week story-telling column for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the state newspaper. He has worked at papers around the South and West, including The Denver Post, the Daily Oklahoman, the Mobile Register in Alabama, the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky, and the Sun-News in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He and his wife Cindi, married 28 years, have two daughters, 17 and 14, who are violinists with the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra. They have lived in Arkansas for four years. Jay has published one collection of columns from Oklahoma and a Christmas novella, which will be available at the conference.
Georgie McIrvin
Mining for the story. Georgia will tell us how to conduct an interview in order to write a great article. There is an art to getting information out of people, it's almost like mining a valuable gem from deep within the earth. It takes a keen eye to tell the real diamond inside the lump of coal. Georgia has mastered this well. She decided to be a professional writer in 1999 and attacked that pursuit with a vengeance. Within four years she had over 150 articles, published in newspapers in Arkansas and England.
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PITCHING TO AN AGENT
Dusty Richards & Linda Apple will share some tips on how to pitch your manuscript to an agent. They will explain how to pitch in a professional manner that will generate acceptance and get an agent excited about your book and recognize your talent, energy, and perseverance. Dusty often teaches in his workshops that perseverance is as important as talent when it comes to the writing world. And with nearly 80 books now in print, I'd say he knows what he's talking about.
What you missed on May 19, 2007
&
Here's what you missed in February
Last October, at the OCW conference in Eureka Springs, this writer noticed that approximately 50% of the people waltzing up to the podium at the awards banquet were OWL members. Chrissy Willis, a long time member of OCW, suggested that next year we get some kind of OWL banner to hold up each time a writer from OWL won an award. But it made me think. Although I'm sure that most of the people there were members of several groups, it goes to show you that OWL members are professional writers dedicated to the craft, and to the process of learning. Good for you, OWL members, for showing everyone what it's all about.
OWL hold s their quarterly meetings in Branson, Missouri, and strives to bring encouragement and knowledge to writers, artists, and photographers. Come to the "Heart of the Ozarks," and see what OWL is all about.
We welcome your questions or suggestions, write to LouTurn@aol.com
We've got our critique page up and running with six stories now posted. This is something that could benefit all OWL members. If you're not a member and would like to participate in order to get comments and feedback on your work, fill out a membership form and send it to Ellen Withers. And if you have any suggestions, complaints, or compliments, please let us know those too.
We Want You as an OWL Member.
Please visit OWL's Bookstore
For more information about OWL and their meetings, or this web site, call 636-928-2212 and ask for Lou, or e-mail LouTurn@aol.com
Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.
Jack Kerouac
For a better understanding of what Ozarks Writers League is, and what the organization wants to achieve, go to our Introduction page.