Hudson Valley Writers Guild Newsletter, December 1

In This Issue

Guild Announcements: Annual Guild Meeting, Poet Laureate Project

Member Announcements: Bernie Bourdeau, Janine De Tillio Cammarata, Eugene Garber, M.E. Kemp

Area Announcements: Events at East Line Books, Publish Your Book Workshop, Ed Rinaldi to read at Social Justice Center, Writers Group meets in Johnston, Winter Poetry Sunday in Schenectady, Call for Entries for Saltonstall Residencies

Guild announcements

Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild took place at the William K. Sanford Library (Colonie) on November 17. There were reports from the past year and a review of the Guild’s recent program activities, including the very successful short fiction contest. Members elected Dan Wilcox for president and Marilyn Rothstein (a.k.a. M.E Kemp) for vice-president. Faith Green was re-elected secretary and Bob Sharkey treasurer. Julie Lamoe was elected to the board. Members discussed ideas for upcoming Guild activities and also shared some recent accomplishments in their own writing.

Poet Laureate Project
The Poet Laureate Project was discussed during the Guild’s annual meeting by Bill Poppino, who is looking for one or more persons living in Saratoga, Rensselaer and Albany County to lead the effort to establish a Poet Laureate in each of these counties. This has been done in Schenectady County with Bill leading the way, thus he is willing to provide advice and personal involvement to a willing leader resident in each of the other Capital Region counties. The job entails contacting a county legislator who can sponsor a resolution for vote by the County Legislature. The county library often has such a legislator on its board. If interested, please contact Bill at poppino3@juno.com or by phone at (518) 374-5410.

Member announcements

Bernie Bourdeau, a long-time HVWG member who formerly served on the HVWG board and as treasurer, announces the publication of his debut novel Caused & Effect, a mystery set in the capital district. The book is the first in a series featuring NY State Trooper Linda Baldwin. As a rookie trooper, Linda Baldwin is on a personal mission of justice for sex predators, and it threatens to end her career. The gravest danger she faces is not the man who stalks her with rape and murder in his heart but the rage that simmers in her own. Caused & Effect is a fast-paced tale of the insatiable quest for vengeance, the illusion of what we witness and the elusive path to forgiveness. A limited number of autographed copies is available at the author’s website, which also has more biographical information and links to the online retailers selling both print and digital versions of the book.

Janine De Tillio Cammarata, author of Eyes of the Goddess: Book Two of the Fianna Cycle, is an award winning finalist in the Young Adult Literature category of the National “Best Books 2010” Awards, sponsored by USA Book News, a premiere online magazine and review website for independent publishing houses. In her new book, the adventurous Fianna Cycle continues as the leader of the elite Fianna, Maecha Ruadh mac Art, must leave her beloved third century Celtic Ireland to rescue her father, the High King Cormac mac Art from the Picts of Scotland. Training both body and mind, Maecha learns that you can’t always control your destiny, but how you react to it defines you. Janine’s book is available at highlandpub.com and amazon.com. She will be doing a book signing at the Book House in Stuyvesant Plaza on December 9 at 6 p.m.

Eugene Garber announces the publication of his new book O Amazonas Escuro by Swank Books. In his new book, the acclaimed ethnographer K lives with the Roirua-peo in their compound on the Amazon. After a successful period of study, both his work and the tribe’s survival are threatened by the persistent journeys upriver of evangelists, adventurers, artists, and the ideas of well-known philosophers. Eventually, the arrival of a Herzog-esque German filmmaker and his deranged and volatile star destroy the balance of tribal life and lead to a surprising – and irrevocable – climax.

M. E. Kemp’s new book Death of a Dancing Master is the fourth book in Kemp’s series featuring two nosy Puritans as detectives. In her book, when Boston’s dancing master is found murdered, there are many suspects besides angry husbands: the magistrates who fined him, the ministers who preached against him and the man who seduced most of the women he taught. Kemp’s books are founded on historical fact, although in real life the dancing master was merely run out of town. Copies are available at Amazon.com or ordered from your local bookstore and are available in e-book and print form. Publisher is L&L Dreamspell of Texas.

Area announcements

Events at East Line Books
The following events take place at East Line Books:

The Art of Fiction Writing: A 3-Hour Workshop for Adults
Wednesday, December 8, 6-9 p.m.
Cost: $50
Instructor: Lily Ringler

In this class, we will use our imaginations while covering the craft elements of fiction including character, plot, point of view, description, dialogue, setting, pacing, voice, and theme. Whether you are writing a short story or novel, you will learn invaluable skills and strategies along the way. This class will accommodate both those who are new to writing and those who have already written fiction. Please bring a pen and notebook for in-class writing.

Lily Ringler is a senior at Dartmouth College, majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing. She recently won the Erskine Caldwell Prize for her outstanding work in the short story. She has had articles and reviews published in The Schenectady Daily Gazette, Multicultural Review and The Dartmouth and has had essays featured on Northeast Public Radio’s The Round Table and the nationally-syndicated Martha Stewart Living Radio channel. She has been teaching creative writing classes since she was sixteen. Currently, she is writing a novel as a part of her culminating experience at Dartmouth.

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Read to Remember: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Date: Thursday, December 9, 6:30-8 p.m.

Please join us to discuss this National Book Award-winning novel and its profound connection to the events of September 11, 2001.

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How to Write Book & Movie Reviews: A 2-Hour Workshop
Date: Saturday, December 11, 10 a.m. to noon
Cost: $35
Instructor: Lily Ringler

Learn to use specific facts, keen observations and well-considered insights to write professional reviews of books, movies and other events. In this class, you will receive invaluable guidance on how to make your work stand above the work of other reviewers, keeping your audience in mind, developing your point of view and opinion, providing context, an informed perspective and support for your opinion. This is an invaluable course whether you are writing for a blog, newspaper, magazine or other resource.

East Line Books is located at 1714 Route 9, Clifton Park. For more information, contact Robyn Ringler at (518) 371-4151, RLDSR12@aol.com or eastlinebooks.vpweb.com.

Workshop: Publish Your Book
Saturday, December 11, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Caffé Lena (47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs) will host “A Practical Workshop for Both Experienced and Aspiring Authors.” This 3-hour workshop will cover a host of topics that you need to understand if you’re interested in publishing your poems, novel, or non-fiction book. Don Odum, a publisher of quality books and periodicals for more than 25 years, will cover topics such as finding a publisher; the changing role of authors and publishers in the digital age; low-cost, high-impact strategies for marketing your book; whether or not to self-publish; and how to spot scams.

Mr. Odum is the founder of Dystenium LLC – Publishing for The Third Millennium. Before launching Dystenium in NYC earlier this year, he was Executive Editor at Oxford University Press USA.

The proceeds of this workshop will be donated to Caffé Lena in celebration of the venue’s 50th anniversary. The $30 workshop fee includes tea and coffee, Lena’s famous chocolate chip cookies, and hot vegetarian chili. Workshop tickets can be purchased online (brownpapertickets.com/event/140232), by phone (800-838-3006) or at the door.

December 16, 7 p.m. sign-up, 7:30 p.m. readings
Ed Rinaldi to read at the Social Justice Center
The Third Thursday Poetry Night, with feature Ed Rinaldi and an open mic, will take place on Thursday, December 16, at the Albany Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue. 7 p.m. sign-up. 7:30 p.m. start. Dan Wilcox, host.

The last Tuesday each month, 7 p.m.
Writers Group Meets in Johnston
The Mohawk Valley Writers Group, consisting of writers in all genres in Fulton and Montgomery Counties, meets monthly at Union Hall in Johnstown. For more information, contact Lena Andersson at (832) 474-5984 or lena.andersson@fmcc.suny.edu or katsson@yahoo,com.

December 26, 10:30 a.m.
Annual Winter Poetry Sunday
Each year on the first Sunday after Christmas, poets and poetry lovers gather at the First Unitarian Church of Schenectady to read favorites and celebrate the art. Each reader is limited to three minutes. All are welcome to this ecumenical service. If you would like to participate, please contact Melinda at melindaperrin@msn.com with your name, contact information, and selection titles before December 4. The Church is located at 1221 Wendell Avenue in Schenectady.

Call for Entries at the Saltonstall Arts Colony
Artists who are awarded a month-long residency at the Saltonstall Arts Colony are given time, space, and support for their own creative research. In 2011 there will be four month-long sessions, beginning in May and running through September. Artists are chosen by a panel of jurors for each discipline, and scheduled for one of the four sessions.

The categories for 2011 are as follows: Painting/Sculpture/Visual Art, Photography, Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction. All visual and literary artists are invited to apply for the month-long Summer Residencies at the Saltonstall Arts Colony, located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region of New York State. For each of the four sessions, five artists are chosen to be in residence; one photographer, two visual artists, and two literary artists. Each artist has a private apartment and bath with ample work space. There are two large, well-lit studios for the visual artists and a black/white darkroom for the photographer.

The postmark deadline for application is January 15, 2011. Please visit saltonstall.org for detailed information about the Saltonstall Foundation, the Summer Residency Program and Saltonstall Arts Colony.

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The Hudson Valley Writers Guild offers space in its newsletter for submission and program opportunities but does not endorse any programs or publications that are not offered through the Guild. Two notes from the newsletter editors:

* Within each section, announcements/events are arranged, when possible, by relevant dates.

* We are always curious to know if the formatting “works” (appears neat and tidy) in your email or if it causes issues (is difficult to read). Send feedback and suggestions regarding any formatting issues to hvwginfo@gmail.com. News items should go to Bob Sharkey at riverrun@nycap.rr.com. Thank you!