Wednesday to Friday

Powell River will be buzzing as words fly off the page and out of the mouths of exciting authors. Leading up to the opening ceremonies  Friday night, April 30, many literary proceedings will be happening in Powell River.

From Sechelt, renowned author and psychic Natasha J Rosewood will hold “Soul Talk”, April 28 from 7-9:00 pm at Breakwater Books. Tickets $20. The next day, April 29, she will be holding psychic readings by appointment from 10:00-6:00 pm at Breakwater Books. April 30-May 1 at the Writers Conference Natasha will be part of the book fair.

Friday, April 30, 1:00-3:00 at Breakwater Books, James McCann will launch his young adult book “Flying Feet.”Author of four books, and creative writing instructor  he brings fun to young people and those young at heart. James will also be reading from his newest book at the opening ceremonies that night, April 30 at Dwight Hall. Tickets $10, children free.

Friday, April 30 at Dwight Hall: Master classes for those seriously writing and wanting to earn an income from it. These classes are sold separately from the writers conference registration. Cost of each class: $40. Registration form on this site.

Sylvia Taylor: 9:30-11:30 a.m ”Building Your Professional Platform: A Blueprint for Success”

Anthony Dalton: 1:30-3:30 p.m  “Don’t Give Away All Your Rights: Understanding Publishing Contracts”

TBA: Eva van Loon, upstairs at Quality Foods reading from her book about growing up with dogs “How to Raise  a Human.”

Blue Pencil Cafe appointments will be held at Dwight Hall for conference registrants late afternoon April 30. These are 30 min one on one sessions with the presenters to discuss whatever you’re writing. Very limited spaces available to those who register early.

Yes, Powell River will be buzzing. Will you catch the buzz?

 The Powell River Business Directory

  The Business Directory in the Retail & Wholesale Section now contains pages for local authors with each author’s name and contact info listed with their book titles and a one-paragraph description of each book.  There is the option of taking out an advertisement that will show the cover of the book with a more complete description.

 So please spread the word to any authors you know and send the details noted to:

 Norah LeClare

604.487.0177
http://www.powellriverdirect.com/

 Write to Sell

 The brainchild of Gary Grieco and Barb Rees, this pilot project launched Group 1 in December. With the support of Darren Robinson at Tourism Powell River, and the bottomless wisdom of Ann Nelson, they set about to write “articlettes” …Gary’s word for a filler piece of no more than 300 words. The Patricia Theatre was the theme for those nine participants.

 Over two sessions they were shown how to write cover letters, do research, find magazine editors and guidelines. At the end six had bravely stuck with the project, and several sent articlettes to magazines.

 Group 2 with five writers had two sessions in January with the theme “Powell River’s Centennial.” We are happy to report that Roger Whittaker and Janet May sold their stories. Congratulations!

 Write to Sell was the appetizer to more in depth workshops at the coming writers conference. Bigger…Better…and designed to take your writing to the next level. By now you’re gathered from our site that’s the theme for this years 7th annual event.

 Writers Buzz

Friday, April 30

 Powell River will be buzzing with many readings, and extra workshops. Details on Writer’s Buzz page.

 International Peace Poem Walker’s Association

 Congratulations Eva van Loon and the Powell River Live Poet’s Guild! IPPWA became official Feb.12/10. For the last two years in conjunction with our festival/conference, they have gathered peace poems from all the schools in Powell River, judged them and held an awards ceremony. From that Eva produced 2 little books of poetry on Powell River’s first perfect binding press thanks to CMG Printing .  This year the awards take place April 8 at Max Cameron Theatre ahead of the writers’ conference.

 Details at: Live Poet’s Guild  or contact Eva: mettalaw@gmail.com.

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 Any body who is planning to attend the Powell River Writers’ Conference and who has not yet registered, is asked to email Gary Grieco at griecogary@gmail.com to be included on a “soft list” of attendees. Thanks. Deadline for early bird special is March 31/10. Deadline for So You Think You Can Write contest is April 10/10. Go to writing contest for guidelines.

Cash-strapped writers are in need of sponsors to assist them to attend the writers conference. Please donate their registration($100 by end of March or $120 after) and reap the reward of knowing you helped further someone’s dream to become a writer. Your name will also be on this site and on the program at the event. Call Barb(604-485-2732)  if you’d like to become a “Friend of the Conference” with this donation or any other you have in mind.
Any event of note to writers can appear in the newsletter. Please send contributions to egwen@shaw.ca.

In 1998, I was commissioned in the US Navy, having earned a BS in Mathematics.  I spent time on my first ship in San Diego, but truly came into my element entering Naval Nuclear Power School in Charleston, SC.  I completed my nuclear training and spent two years aboard the USS Enterprise in Norfolk, VA.  After having earned my first Master’s Degree in Engineering Management, and earned a Engineer certification from the Department of Energy, I separated from the US Navy.  I took a leave of absence to assist my family in the transition to Maui.   I earned a MBA in learning and knowledge management from Walden University (on-line) in 2007.  

It was my passion for learning that drove me to find my true direction in life:  assisting people on how to learn better.  To that end, I have read over 600 books and written a book entitled “The Cure 4 Common Learning: The Perfect Anecdote of Structured Color”.  This book was one of the hardest things to accomplish in my life.  The company supporting this book is Learning In Color, Inc. www.learningincolor.com

I was invited to speak at Helen Irlen’s International Learning Conference in Houston, Texas in July 2008.  I also conducted an interactive workshop at the Business and Professional Women National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia also in July 2008.  Most recently, I have been invited to speak at the Hawaii International Conference on Education in Oahu in January 2010.

My current status:  I have four active clients in various industries in Canada and the US, and own four companies.  I am publishing my book and am starting a comprehensive marketing campaign including workshops for teachers, students and parents.  I am an American Citizen and a Canadian Permanent Resident.  I am earning my Doctorate in Education in adult learning (graduation date 2012).

Born in a small Austrian mountain village in 1954, most of my spare time was occupied with hiking and skiing.

Moving to Canada in 1973 at the age of 19 I landed a job in a remote logging camp on Vancouver Island, where my first impressions of the new language I was attempting to master were mixed. My pre-conceived notions of learning a beautiful and difficult new language where somewhat dashed by the prolific use of “four-letter” words with the occasional injection of meaning. This led me to believe that the English language suffered from a severe lack of words and that mastering the language would be as easy as falling off a stump.

However, the rude awakening came after moving to civilization 3 years later and a complete re-learning of my acquired “English” was in order.

 Having entered retirement in April 2009, I now hope to be able to travel and write about my adventures.

 Andy, his wife Wendy and two daughters, Sarah and Emily, have been living in Powell River for the last 26 years.

Angie Davey

For me, it’s all about making words dance. I’ve been writing since I was small and was first paid for my words at 15 when I wrote a weekly community column for Nanaimo’s daily paper. Since then, I have been a technical writer, web editor and communications analyst for the provincial government and more recently copy editor and occasional contributor for Powell River’s community paper.
Through it all, I have met lots of interesting people and written human interest stories, short stories, resumes and cover letters, business communications and personal essays.
I’ve also been experimenting with flash fiction and lending a hand as a script consultant and researcher.  Contact Angie at ajdavey@gmx.com.

FROM THE POWELL RIVER LIVE POETS’ GUILD

 Can You Hear Peace? a little book containing our children’s thoughts on peace, is surely one of the most inspiring and moving “products” Powell River has ever generated. Inexpensive at $15 and easily mailed, it also makes a great gift or memento of our terrific community.

This second annual Powell River International Peace-Poem Anthology (PRIPPA) is the first perfect-bound book ever to have been completely written, edited, published, and manufactured right here (except for contributions from Zoey Schutz, the Grand Second-Prize winner, who hails from Sechelt–close enough!). Corey Matsumoto of CMG Printing and Eva van Loon of the Powell River Live Poets’ Guild decided about six months ago that there was no reason Powell River, having been a paper-making town for a century, shouldn’t also become a book-making town for the next century. Technology co-operated, in the form of a new invention, a more or less portable perfect-binder which can stand in for the ten-grand behemoth machines that used to be necessary to the production of a “real book”. The machine arrived in Powell River this summer.

There is a steep learning curve to mastering the technology, but with the publication of Can You Hear Peace? van Loon’s latest “crazy idea”– accessible community publishing–has birthed its firstborn.
“The idea is to turn the wacky publishing industry on its head. Instead of bashing your head endlessly against the wall to find a publisher, or spending thousands of dollars with a print-on-demand self-publisher producing hundreds of books no one may ever want, you as writer or publisher can choose to have just a few dozen copies of a book manufactured, right here in town, and see if it flies.

”You can get your own editor, or you can hire one. You can be your own publisher, or you can submit your book to The Pack Press, Motley Crew House, or any other house prepared to have the work digitally published by CMG Printing. This way clubs, families, and organizations can put out that history in real book form for the lowest possible cost, with the least possible waste of materials. If the Great Canadian Novel is languishing in your desk drawer, finish it, publish reading copies, hand them around and see what happens. Once a work develops enough steam to make some serious profit, it can be re-published by letterpress through our relationship with bigger Canadian book-manufacturers. For tryouts or projects with probably limited distribution, there’s no reason not to use digital publishing on an affordable, local scale.”

The local publishing initiative has already produced several siblings:
Kaimana Wolff’s novella Bitters and Glasstown by young poet Katje van
Loon. There’s more coming in time for Christmas. Motley Crew House, a new
local publisher focused on publishing plays, will first produce How to Keep
a Human, purportedly written by a canine author, before turning to Powell
River’s award-winning play, Just Shoot Me by Eva van Loon.

A second new local publisher, The Pack Press, will shortly put out the
eagerly awaited Parallel: forty-nine Canadian poets speak to Obama edited by Eva van Loon of the Powell River Live Poets’ Guild, followed by Martin Rossander’s brainchild, Beyond Survival: A Journal of Cultural
Creatives.

“Bitters, Glasstown, and Can You Hear Peace? are available from Kingfisher Books, Breakwater Books, CMG Printing, or the Live Poets’ Guild. Contributions to Beyond Survival are welcome.”

POWELL RIVER WRITERS’ CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 17, 2009

 
Taking it to the Next Level: Professional Writing Advice
“It’s a game.” “It’s like preparing for a first date.” were among the exiting responses from the twenty-strong audience at Powell River’s Writer’s Conference. The question that they were addressing was “What is a Query Letter?” Over the morning it was answered in various and hilarious ways. Presenter Sylvia Taylor offered a formula and robust advice on approaching agents and publishers, emphasizing the importance of the 250 words in “your door to being published.” She encouraged dialogue between participants, and introduced some surprising ideas.  After lunch, Sylvia shared her own writing, and her enthusiasm for sculpting the 300-word articlette. She recommended using the Global Librarian for accuracy when we’re doing research. www.globallibrarian.info
The conference culminated in So you think you can Write a contest where nine brave writers presented pieces based on Powell River, with a nod to tourism, and were roundly criticized and praised by a panel of eccentric judges. Winners were: Donna Kolezar (3), Amber Lynch (2), and Angie Davey (1). Congratulations to all the winners. First place winner Angie Davey’s piece will appear in Powell River Living magazine.

7th Annual Spring Conference Update

A new date has been set to accommodate the busy schedule of Powell Riverites in April 2010. Mark your calendars for April 30, May 1 at Dwight Hall for the biggest and best writers conference as we “Take it to the next level.” Our co-mentors/patrons Sylvia Taylor and Tony Dalton will find us the best presenters to teach: Self-editing and Writing from Life, Creative Non-Fiction. Sylvia and Tony are offering a new feature in the form of Master class’s. These will be two hour intense workshops taught April 30 as separate fee based entities. Watch for details and registration.  We will continue to work with the schools sending the presenters to them on the Friday. Each school holds its own writing contest. Opening night ceremonies with lively entertainment and So You Think You Can Write contestants will set the tone for our 7th spring event and 14th conference.
For the third year the Live Poets Guild will be holding a peace poem contest for the youth.
Will you be joining us as we celebrate our 7th birthday?
Details TBA.
Membership: We now have the highest amount of members ever! Our goal is to have a membership of 50 by Jan.1/10. A bigger membership base gives more clout when we’re approaching sponsors or looking for grants. Tell all your friends to join us for $10. They don’t have to be writers to support PRWC. For those of you who are writers; one of the benefits is the opportunity to have your profile and photo on this site.
Welcome new members and thank you for supporting Powell River’s literary community.

THANK YOU FOR CONTRIBUTING
A special thank you to those people who contributed to this newsletter. Anyone may send any item of interest to writers. Anything from events to newsy items to helpful websites are welcome. Send to egwen@shaw.ca.

POWELL RIVER WRITER’S CONFERENCE

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE?

The latest buzz is our newest fall contest:  So You Think You Can Write?  The Powell River Writer’s Conference has teamed up with the Powell River Tourism Board to promote tourism!  We are conducting an incredible contest entitled “So You Think You Can Write?”  All entries cost $10 (unless you have already paid your annual fee, then your entries are free), which also gains the author a year membership in the writer’s conference.  Stories are limited to 300 words, and poems to 20 lines. 

The subject?  Why people should visit Powell River – Howe Sound to Lund, actually.  All entries are due by September 18, 2009.  Local travel magazine editors will review all entries and reduce the final numbers to the final 10 entries.  The authors will present their entries at the fall (October 17th, 2009) workshop at VIU, in front of 3 judges (like Canadian Idol).  The winner’s entry will be published!  Please mail all entries to:  Powell River Writer’s Conference
4300A Scotia Place, Powell River, BC  V8A 2X2. 

Please enter the contest yourself AND please help us get the word out.  For more information, people can call Jennifer at 604-485-0564 OR you can visit the Writer’s Conference website for complete details at www.prwriters.org.  Students are especially encouraged to enter and are NOT charged the entry fee – the school must be clearly marked on the entry for the fee exemption.

We will be at the Blackberry Festival on August 21^st, and have community advertising on 97.3FM, 95.7FM and Channel 4 TV.  We have requested money from The Rotary Club of Powell River to assist us with additional marketing.  Further, we have been granted a complimentary airline ticket for Sylvia Taylor (you may remember her from our spring conference) to conduct our fall workshop. 

FALL 2009 WORKSHOP

Our Fall workshop is on October 17, 2009. The cost is $50 and we will have lunch options for purchase.  The workshop is from 9am to 3pm, conducted at Vancouver Island University, Powell River Campus. 

The subjects of the workshop:

1.  How to write an articlette, and get paid good money for it.  What is an articlette?  A small “snippet” of an article, between 100 to 150 words, which magazines use as filler spaces.  Some of these articlettes are very lucrative, and may be a good source of income for those who wish to know more about it. 

1. How to write a query letter.  Most publishing editors read the cover letter and may read the manuscript (if the cover letter is sufficient).  The query letter is the most essential part of selling your manuscript.  The workshop will include how to write an effective query letter, and how to better approach publishers with your work.

1. The finale of the contest “So You Think You Can Write”. 

The registration form will be up on the website soon to attend the workshop.  Get your contest entries in!

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Congratulations Wayne Lutz on the release of his new book!

We’ve long known Wayne for his regional “Up the Lake” series but there’s a side to  his literary talents we’ve not seen before. He has released his second Sci-Fi novel: Inbound to Earth

Available at Amazon.com or at www.powellriverbooks.com

With that offer came the suggestion that the festival is more about serious literary workshops so it needed to be recognized as a conference rather than a festival. Thus, the new name: Powell River Writer’s Conference.

Watch this spot in the months to come for exciting news about the conference, and the first membership summer social July 11.

View from the top in NL

 Métis travel-writer/published author, and photographer, I am  forever looking for a great picture or story. Based on cross-Canada working vacations I’ve published  RV Canada On A Dime And A Dream  and RV Canada With Boo The Menopausal Van.With many years of Toastmasters experience, I’ve spoken at RV shows, and given many workshops. Articles of mine can be found in: RV Times, Whispering Winds, Our Canada, Powell River Living, and Sun Cruisers.   Barb Rees: LoveToGo Writing at www.write2dream.com