International Women's Writing Guild (IWWG) Conference 2024

 

Roger Williams University

 IWWG put on another wonderful conference this year.  Held on the picturesque shores of Narragansett Bay in Bristol Rhode Island at the RWU campus on August 1-5, 2024, the IWWG's Writing Together: Community, Connection, Creation conference was a fabulous event full of inspiration, information and comradery.  It was a time to focus on our individual writing agenda and enjoy the luxury of being in the company of our writer friends once again. The workshops ran daily Friday through Sunday and covered all the genres. I have two projects in progress that I vacillate between: In the Kitchen, Hardware is Jewely(fiction) and Between Hunger and Heartache (memoir), and there were plenty of excellent workshops being offered that would inspire both those genres moving forward.

On Friday morning I saw a dozen or so women in the yard by the gazebo indulging in the morning meditation hour, but my brain only wanted to indulge in coffee. I had to be awake for my first session at 8:30:  Secrets & Lies. Writing Mystery and Suspense by Lynne Barrett. It was three days of understanding the buildup of mystery and suspense with each day having a different focus: character, plot and structure. I've been contemplating returning to a piece of fiction I started last year and since I've taken workshops with Lynne before, I knew it would be helpful and inspiring. There were several points she made that stuck in my mind: tension builds on physical space and increases as you get loser, distrust makes you observe, fear makes you panic. 

My next workshop was in the Memoir genre. Last year I completed a personal memoir that I gave as a Christmas present to the family. It is more biographical than I would have for a published memoir, so I am revising it to be more thematic.  At a previous IWWG conference, I took an intensive with Judith Huge which helped me with the voice and the agency built into in that memoir.  At this conference I chose Myth Making & the Art of Memoir by Maureen Murdock.  We talked about the various types of memoirs and read from a variety of structures. There are so many ways a memoir can be written. The coming-of-age memoir is often a younger age like 3-18, a braided memoir weaves the past and present sometimes every other chapter and circular which is when you keep coming back to a particular meaningful point in the story like Mary Karr's Liar Club. A framed memoir like Cheryl Strayed's Wild will focus on a period of your life and the Associative type is highly thematic such as Caroline Knapp's Drinking: A Love Story.  This workshop helped me to understand what type of structure my next memoir will embrace.

Another phenomenal workshop was The Lioness In Winter by Heather Cariou.   This workshop was based on the book by the same name and authored by Ann Burack-Weiss. The focus of our time was understanding this statement: Aging is loss, but it does not mean all is lost.  We did allot of prompt writing and sharing under the guidelines of What do I know now, that, I didn't know before, and How do I feel?

There was a choice of so many workshops that I was often torn between which one to take.  There were some offered on Zoom also.  The 4:30 timeslot was reserved for those wanting a critique of their work whether it be fiction, non-fiction or poetry.  

After dinner turned into a more casual party atmosphere with writers signed up to read during Open Mic followed by networking receptions.  Saturday night ended with the "Women With Wings Writing Award" presented to Tracy K Smith from Heather and Len Cariou in celebration of the poet's writing on behalf of social justice.  For anyone wishing to join the International Womens Writing Guild you can learn more on their website: www.iwwg.org.

                                                                                                                        

                    

 

                                 

 

 

                                                                                  

Heavy

 

“I want to write a lie.

 I want that lie to be titillating.

 I wrote that lie.

 It was titillating.    …

 I started over and wrote what we hoped I’d forget."

Heavy is a powerful, gut-wrenching themed memoir that Kiese Laymon writes to his mother. He starts the story fighting within himself as to how honest and truthful this book must be.  He wants to lie, to make up an all-smiles kind of book that his mother would be happy reading, But he can't.

Layman begins with a raw introduction defining how he understands his relationship to his mother and to the world he was born into.  Rich with a love of language that captivates the reader, he struggles with the anguish of being housed in a ‘fat boy’s body while trying to deal with the heaviness of social norms, of being black in a white America. You can feel the impact of every word.

Throughout the book there are thought-provoking conversations that help him to become who he is. His Grandmama tells him, “It ain’t about making white folks feel what you feel. It’s about not feeling what they want you to feel.”  He had the most soulful conversations with his Grandmama.

One of the most compelling and unexpected aspects of his book is his insight born at a young age of the way black women are treated. “I was taught by the big boys who were taught by big boys that black girls would be ok no matter what we did to them.”  That male belief is universal and cuts across all color and ethnic lines.  Women are not safe in our society and in many other parts of the world.

This book is truly amazing. It will linger in your mind well after you have read it.

 

Still Life

Still Life is the debut novel written by Canadian author Louis Penny.  It's the first book in a cozy mystery series set in a small, Quebecois town featuring Chief Armond Gamache and his team of investigators. In this peaceful town where nothing ever happens, a murder takes place. The murder of a beloved, retired schoolteacher puts everyone in this rural, artsy village of Three Pines on edge.

There is much to love about this mystery but there are a lot of characters to keep track of. Fortunately, Ms. Penny has a flair for character development.  It's hard to give them all a unique voice, believable personalities, and lifestyles, but she does it.  In the beginning they all seem misfits who have found Three Pines to be a safe haven from the rest of the world and then their world reveals itself when the safety net seems to unravel, and little secrets are revealed. 

The story progresses through vibrant conversations in coffee shops, walks in the woods and fascinating dinner parties that bring the quirky groups of townspeople together to figure out what happened to their 77-year-old friend, Jean Neal. I also commend Ms. Penny for including a social element that pervades our world today - that of gay bashing. She doesn't linger on it but does give the reader space to think about it.

Penny's Chief Inspecter Gamache is a gem of a character and just the right person to bring alive the story of this town. With his attention to details, unique observation techniques and a sympathetic, compassionate nature towards people; he easily engages them in conversations. He often begins with, "Tell me about it". The characters are all very likable and well developed with the exception of Yolande, Jean Neal's niece and the new agent on his team, Yvette Nicole.

While this is an enjoyable read, keep in mind that Ms. Penny has created a fictional town and also intermingles fictional books and authors as the plot develops. I was totally intrigued by the depth of the conversations taken place within the bookstore and looked up the authors mentioned. I was ready to purchase at least two book - Loss by Brother Albert and Being by Dr. Vincent Gilbert but sadly, the authors never existed.  Loss and change are key elements that vibrate throughout the story. The scene in the bookstore helps the plot line by describing the psychology of some of those who are considered misfits in society, and while the books and authors are fictional, the emotional response to the depth of conversations is real.

Tensions mount in the town as friends join forces to understand and to solve the mystery of who killed their friend while knowing that the killer is among them and someone they know and probably trust. 

I highly recommend that you enter into the intriguing world of the beauty and the community of this little village. You may want to stay for the whole series.

A Scone To Die For.

One of my goals this year is to add a new genre of books to my reading world.  I enjoy reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction especially when it comes to memoirs, interior/architectural design and history books. This year I added the cozy mystery genre to my fiction palette.  There are so many cozy mysteries to choose from.

A Scone To Die For is the first book in the Oxford Tearoom Mystery series authored by H.Y. Hanna.

Gemma Rose, the main character, is a 29-year-old University graduate who worked at an executive level position in Sydney, Australia for eight years. She was disappointed in that endeavor, so she returned to the Cotswold area to pursue her dream of owning/operating a tearoom. 

This story is a quintessential cozy mystery that you can easily curl up with while enjoying a cup of tea, coffee or a glass of wine. It's a compelling mystery rich in lively characters especially the three elderly sleuths who along with Gemma try to solve the story's murder mystery. The Three Biddies as they are known in the book provide moments of laughter and mingle beautifully with the postcard picturesque descriptions of the charming Oxfordshire countryside and villages. The suspense and mystery details relating to the various murders will keep you engaged to the very end.  

                                                                 I highly recommend this book. If you are already a cozy mystery reader, then this is a must read. You will love it.

Happy New Year Everyone

 I read dozens of books throughout the year.  On January 1st of every year, I pick out the 'must read' books for the year. 

Non-Fiction books:

The Stories We Tell by Joanna Gaines. Memoir.

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom. Memoir.

The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. Psychology/personal development.

Heavy by Kiese Laymon - Memoir.

Plant Dreaming Deep by May Sarton - Memoir.

Becoming Philadelphia by Inga Saffron. Architecture/Urban Studies.

Fiction books:

What Girls Are Good For by David Blixt. A Novel of Nellie Bly.

Still Life by Louis Penny. First book in the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery series.

Wild Irish Rose by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles.  Molly Murphy Mystery.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. A thought-provoking Novel

The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott. A novel of the great war.

What Did You Do In the War Sister? A novel regarding Catholic Sisters in the Nazi resistance.

The Wicked Redhead by Beatriz Williams. A jazz-age novel.

So, as of today, these books are on my to-do list.  I love to-do list.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year.

 

Writer's Digest Conference 2023

August 17-20, 2023

New York City

 

The Writers Digest Conference was an energy shot in the arm for every writer that was able to attend. It was held again this year in the Midtown Hilton on the Ave of the Americas (6th Ave.). It is an easy walk (about 2 miles) from Pennsylvania Station, but taxi is certainly a faster method. My last WD Conference was in 2019, pre-covid, so I was eager for an in-person writing event and this one did not disappoint.

The day before the conference started, a variety of all-day workshops were held for anyone who wanted to take advantage of the moment.  The conference offered a rich variety of sessions within several categories: Craft, Publishing, Fiction and Non-Fiction, Inspirational and Platform Building.  It also offered a Pitch Slam throughout in designated time slots the first day for those wanting to connect with an agent. Within the Hall of the spacious second floor there were also plenty of vendors like Ingram Spark, Your Book is Your Hook who could answer any questions.

I jumped at the chance to soak up some concrete advise from Michael Le Ronn in his hour presentation: Microsoft Word Unleashed. It was fabulous. He knows his stuff.  For anyone not familiar with One Drive, it was a good explanation of the features of the software. He strongly advised writers to turn on Auto Save. I never work in Dark Mode, but he showed how to switch the different modes and said Dark Mode is becoming the popular choice. He also advised that writers take advantage of the Read Aloud option. I absorbed as much info as I could, and I was happy to know that the conference will be sending the attendees a replay of the sessions, so I didn't have to write everything down. He also offered his help with question afterwards by giving us his email. Several people stayed a little later that he helped with specific questions. 

 I have a tendency to get stuck in the middle, so I was excited to see that Hank Phillip Ryan was set to address this very issue in her session: Conquering the Muddle in the Middle.  In Act 1, the writer has established the genre and has laid out the setting and the problem to be solved.  In Act 3, is the resolution. The character either wins the prize or is defeated. And the middle, Act 2, focuses on the decisions the character makes to keep the story advancing. She gave us a 5-step approach to keeping things changing so you can keep the story advancing at a good pace. 

Tiffany Yates Martin gave several presentations and an all-day pre-conference intensive on Supporting Elements of Story. She is loaded with excellent information and a high dose of energy to keep the pace going for the length of the session. She's amazing. I attended her Writing Multiple Timelines and Storylines session.

I grew up in a big family of seven sisters, and I seem to always have too many characters in my stories. Ms. Martin gave me several tips regarding mixing POVs that I will be sure to take include in my writing. 

This session was excellent.

There were more craft sessions but I had to also delve into publishing, media and platform still. Each block of time, say 10:15-11:15, offers classes within all the categories and you can't do all of them. That is why the organizers send out a replay of the conference to the attendees.

I have more confidence in my writing skills than I do in my promotion or media skills. I know this about me, so when a presentation regarding promoting your book before and after its release came up from Jennifer S Wilkov, a successful book and business consultant, I quickly signed up. She's a dynamic speaker.                                                                                                                                                                                                  One of her biggest tips was probably start promoting yourself and your book six months before its released.  That's odd for me to think about doing since the book hasn't been published yet.  That's why authors or publishers will offer the reader a chance to pre-order a book before its printed. It keeps the readers interested especially if it's part of a series. This was a fast-paced session and went from goal setting to digital and offline marketing in record time.

These are just a sampling of what was offered that weekend. It was a well-developed conference. There was little time to fit in the city itself, but I worked it out. One of the best things about New York City is its creative energy. I look forward to the next Writer's Digest Conference in 2024.