Pat Wilson Speaks in Tucson and San Francisco

The last two weekends Pat Wilson was in Tucson and San Francisco giving presentations.  Tucson Festival of Books was quite an experience.  Kudos to Tucson!  The festival took over the University of Arizona during spring break.  She was honored to be one of the over 200 authors asked to speak.  They treated her and her husband like royalty.  Fun time. Tents, authors, books everywhere! From 130,000 to 150,000 attended!

In San Francisco (actually Burlingame) The California Transcribers and Educators of the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI) Conference was awesome.  Her workshop went well.  They sold a lot of her book I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine in both Braille (twin vision) and print. Nearly ran out.  They did a lot of ‘networking’ at the conference. Pat has always wanted to add tactile graphics to her book…allows a blind person to feel the shape of something mentioned on a particular page.  She met Liberty Braille owners Mike and Cristen Lockwood.  Liberty Braille does tactile graphics and they want to do her book! 

Pat says, “It was interesting to see people all around me who are blind or visually impaired doing just fine.  They are independent, working and successful.  Many have families and do all the things mothers and dads do—just in a little different way.  Many have dogs or white canes. They tell me this is the best time ever to be blind because the technology is incredible.  After being with them awhile you simply forget they have a vision problem at all.  I had heard that, because of the technology, Braille is becoming less and less used, but they tell me that is not true at all.  They use Braille all the time. It goes hand in hand with the technology.” 

Thanks, Pat, for sharing such a wonderful and exciting experience. You have done yourself and the Guild proud!

Meeting Reminder: This Thursday March 28, our featured speaker is Young Adult Author Jill Williamson.

Chapbook Reminder: The 2012 Literary Harvest Chapbook is available for purchase at our meetings and several book stores at $10 each. 

PAT WILSON FEATURED IN TWO LOCAL PUBLICATIONS

 

Articles about Guild author, membership chair and treasurer Pat Wilson are featured in two publications: 

Cascades Arts and Entertainment Magazine's November 2012 edition contains an article by April Lewis about Pat titled, “Local Author’s Braille Edition I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine”. It is on Page 7 and gives a wonderful summary of Pat's book by that name, with a photo of the beautiful book cover. April writes about Pat's journey from an idea to publication, chronicling each step along the way to completion of this wonderful story, which is a tribute to Pat's blind grandmother complete with a CD of the songs she wrote. That book has now been translated into Braille. The A&E print edition is available in local stores and libraries, or you can to go their online version to read the article: http://www.cascadeae.com/news-articles.

The current  issue of “Boomers and Seniors”  has two Wilson articles, one about Pat's husband Jim on the front page titled “Meet the Collector," and the second on page 12 about Pat, "Seeing is a State of Mind," both by writer Susan Noyes. The publication is available at several local outlets. Be sure to check out and enjoy each of these articles!

 GUILD AUTHORS FEATURED ON KRISTI MILLER'S NOV. 7th TV PROGRAM

We are pleased to announce that Guild authors Pat Wilson, Paty Jager and Ava Wilson will be featured on  Kristi Miller's new program, myWindow, next Wednesday, November 7th at Noon on KBNZ-CBS for Central Oregon, channel 6 and 606. The show is focused on writing and in particular, local authors. The program will air again at 6:30 and 11:00 p.m. on BendBroadband's COTV, channel 11 and 611. It is also available on Free Video on Demand under the date it airs. 

A long-time Bend TV host, Kristi Miller's new program focuses on a variety of topics of interest to Central Oregon viewers. Her debut show aired Monday October 29 and airs each weekday at Noon on the channels listed above. Be sure to check your Cable Provider's schedule so you won't miss Kristi's shows (channels may vary). Set your DVR or TIVO next Wednesday to record the show for later viewing if you are unable to watch the episodes when they air. We can be certain that Pat, Paty and Ava will do us proud during their segment, and we welcome Kristi back to the airwaves as she continues with her usual excellent programming.

 AUTHOR PAT WILSON SPEAKS AT SFSU CLASS FOR FUTURE BRAILLE TEACHERS

On September 19 Pat Wilson had an experience she feels she must share! She was invited to speak to a class at San Francisco State University for future Braille teachers and present the print/Braille edition of her book I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine. She was invited by Professor Sunggye Hong, whose name had come up several times when Pat talked to Braille teachers in California. The students in the class were sighted and one was blind, as is Professor Sunggye. Pat's presentation and her book were both well received by the group, as evidenced by this e-mail from Prof. Sunggye: "Pat, it was my pleasure to have you in my class. And thanks for your wonderful presentation and excellent literacy option for families, children, and teachers. The students loved the story and appreciated your presentation. On behalf of my students, best wishes for your endeavor and I look forward to seeing you in CTEBVI next March as well." That is when Pat will conduct a workshop at the 54^th annual conference of California Teachers and Transcribers for the Blind and Visually Impaired.  Pat has met some awesome teachers of the visually impaired, and she is pleased to know the wonderful instructor, Prof. Sunggye, who has taught them so well. 

Pat will be at the Bend Fall Festival this weekend, October 6th and 7th, selling and signing her book, both the original and print/Braille editions. We congratulate Pat on her continued success with her wonderful children's story, and especially for her presentation at San Francisco State. To keep up with her writing activities, visit her blog at www.icantseebuticanimagine.com.

New Release from M. Pax

The Backworlds is here!

The first story in the Backworlds series by M. Pax. A vision of how humanity might colonize the galaxy some day in the distant future.

The Backworlds

After the war with Earth, bioengineered humans scatter across the Backworlds. Competition is fierce and pickings are scant. Scant enough that Craze’s father decides to hoard his fortune by destroying his son. Cut off from family and friends, with little money, and even less knowledge of the worlds beyond his own, Craze heads into an uncertain future. Boarding the transport to Elstwhere, he vows to make his father regret this day.

Available from: Amazon / AmazonUK / Smashwords / Feedbooks

Other links to more outlets can be found at either Wistful Nebulae or MPax

The Backworlds is an ebook and a free read. All formats can be found at Smashwords and Feedbooks.

It’ll take a few weeks to work its way down to free on Amazon Kindle. It will also be available on B&N and iTunes. Sign up for M. Pax’s mailing list to be notified the day it does go free on Amazon, and when the book becomes available at other outlets. You’ll also receive coupons for discounts on future publications. NEWSLETTER

M. Pax’s inspiration comes from the wilds of Oregon, especially the high desert where she shares her home with two cats and a husband unit. Creative sparks also come from Pine Mountain Observatory where she spend her summers working as a star guide. She writes mostly science fiction and fantasy, but confesses to an obsession with Jane Austen. She blogs at her website, www.mpaxauthor.com and at Wistful Nebuae. You’ll find links there to connect on Twitter, Goodread, FB and other sites.

The sequel, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, will be released in July 2012. It will be available in all ebook formats and paperback.

Bill Birnbaum at the Sisters Public Library

Sisters author, Bill Birnbaum will read from and discuss his newly-published
memoir, “A Lifetime of Small Adventures: Stories of Adventure,
Misadventure and Lessons Learned Along the Way.”

Where: Sisters Public Library
When: 2 p.m. Sunday, November 13th

Upon retirement, Bill Birnbaum and his equally adventurous wife applied to join the
Peace Corps. When the Peace Corps’ medical department rejected his application, the
Birnbaum’s sold their home, put everything they owned in storage, and purchased oneway
tickets to Arequipa, Peru. They searched for, and found, their own volunteer
opportunities in a poor community in the Peruvian Andes. Adventurous? Certainly, but
typical for a fellow who’s spent a lifetime looking for adventure.

In his memoir, Bill tells of his various adventures from his mischievous boyhood to his
mountain climbing adulthood. And he relates his lessons learned along the way. He
notes that we citizens of modern society are too damn busy. And, at times, we’re
concerned about things which aren’t important at all. He also tells of his own personal
experience, far from home and family, on the morning of September 11, 2001.

2011 Literary Harvest Contest Winners Announced

We are pleased to announce the top ten winners of this year’s Literary Harvest Writing Contest. The authors’ names and titles are:

First Place        Cindy Murphy, “The Last Storm”

Second Place:   Ava Wilson, “The One-Eyed Goose”

Third Place:      David Burns, “Going to St. John’s”

Runners-up in no particular order are:

Jackie Aaro, “Corner of Wall & Ivy”

Dixie Brown, “The Call”

JT Gregory, “Taking Sides”

Alexander Weiss, “Poems”

Sue Nell Phillips, “The Talk”

Elizabeth Stephenson, “Two Hours to Heaven”

Verna Clay, “Prison”

Congratulations to all the winners. They will read their pieces during the Seventh Annual Literary Harvest on Friday, October 14, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., at the Comfort Suites Inn, 2243 SW Yew, Redmond. Everyone is invited to attend and enjoy hearing these winning entries. Admission fee is $5 for Guild members, $10 for non-members. Several Guild authors will display and sell their books during the event. The 2011 Winners’ stories will be published in the Literary Harvest Chapbook, which will be on sale at the November 17 Guild meeting. Cost is $10 each.

See everyone at the Literary Harvest!

Helping Our Fellow Guild Members

by M. Pax

All writers need our help. Often we want to help, but are unsure how. Whether short on time or money, you can still help a fellow writer get off the ground. How?

1.  Click on the links to their book. If you have Facebook, click on the ‘Like’ button at Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, wherever the book is available.

2.  Tweet or send a FB message about the book to your followers.

3.  Buy or download the book.

4.  Leave a review. On Smashwords you need to have purchased there to leave a review, but on other sites you can leave reviews without having purchased – Amazon, B&N, Goodreads.

5.  Blog about the book and / or writer.

6.  Invite the author onto your blog to write a guest post.

All these things help the author get his/her name out there. Marketing and sales are an uphill battle for all new authors, whether traditionally published, published through a small press, or part of the Indie Revolution. Together, we can help one another achieve our dreams, be a true fellowship of writers.

In the beginning, that’s what building a platform is all about. Networking and making connections. The value is in each of us helping each other. We can’t do it alone.

Leda says that same thing when facing her world’s enemy in a final showdown in Semper Audacia. She’s the last soldier left, the final line of defense. She calls on the ghosts of the dead to help her through it, the memories of those she loved, knowing she can’t get through it alone. Available for 99 cents from Amazon and Smashwords. Bonus! The first three chapters of my next release, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, are attached at the end of Semper Audacia.

Amazon is for Kindle, Smashwords is for all other formats. Epub is for Nook. I download to my PC, then plug my Nook into the PC. I can then copy the file and paste it onto my Nook as if it were a flash drive.

If you don’t have an ereader, you can put a Kindle or Nook app on your PC, tablet or smartphone. To get an app, go to Amazon’s Kindle store or B&N’s Nook store. There’s also Adobe Digital Editions, which is the software the library uses for lending ebooks. Adobe Digital Editions uses the epub format like Nook does. If you go online to Deschutes Public Libraries, they have the link for download.

My free reads are available from:

Plantgirl

Smashwords

Barnes&Noble

iTunes

Diesel

Translations

Smashwords

Barnes&Noble

iTunes

Small Graces

Smashwords

Barnes&Noble

iTunes

Monday, October 3rd, I’m having a release party for Semper Audacia on my blog, Wistful Nebulae: http://mpaxauthor.blogspot.com I’ll be giving away five free copies of my ebook, Semper Audacia. All’s you’ll have to do to enter is leave a comment on my blog.

My blog can also be read on my website and you can enter there as well by leaving a comment. www.mpaxauthor.com

Thanks to my critique partners: Dennis Strachota, Cleopatra Welsh, Julie Drey, Mike Rettig and Trudy Schoenborn. Couldn’t do this without you.

Now that you’ve helped me out, go do the same for Paty Jager, David Burns, Bill Birnbaum, Ava Wilson and the other members of the Guild who have published their fine work.

Pat Wilson's Book on YouTube

“The Frog Song” is one of the songs in my book I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine.  The CD accompanying the book goes word for word through the story and music.  At the end of the CD all of the songs are included so that the child can have sing-a-longs.  Some of the children have actually used them for school talent shows etc.  This is the first time on YouTube, however.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OsYbHFbUp8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Guild Members Participating in Deschutes County Libraries - Know Local Authors

Know Local Authors!

Over the course of two days, 19 local authors take center stage at Deschutes Public Library. Writers, both experienced and new, will share and sell their work on both days. The participating writers work in genres ranging from historical fiction to how to books and everything in between.

On Saturday, August 13, 2011, the readings begin at 12:00 pm at the East Bend Public Library and on Sunday, August 14, readings begin at 12:30 pm at the Downtown Bend Public Library. The participating writers applied to be a part of the reading which is scheduled to be an annual event at the library each August. The readings are free and open to the public.


Guild Members Reading: 


Saturday, August 13: Ava Wilson and David Burns


Sunday, August 14: Paty Jager and Bill Birnbaum


For more information on this event visit: HERE

Building an Audience and Release of Free Reads

by M. Pax

Like many writers, I had my free reads available up on my website. A writer friend, Lindsay Buroker [very talented and has been a most generous friend],  recently suggested I put them up on Smashwords for distribution instead. I don't know why I never thought of it, but it's a more sensible way for a writer to build an audience and let readers discover her/him.

Smashwords is one of the sites where readers hang out. Who do we want to reach? Readers. So, it made perfect sense. Readers are more likely to find us on a site like Smashwords than on our own blogs or websites. It goes back to marketing and promoting ourselves. The sooner we get started, the better. Waiting until you get an agent or a contract is starting late out of the gate. And truth is, over the next few years ebooks will begin to out sell traditional books.

For more information on self-publishing free reads, check out my articles at Wicked Writers and Wistful Nebulae. The same article appears on my website, www.mpaxauthor.com [version 2.0 is now out] under the 'Blog' tab. Want to know more? Send me an email, mpaxauthor@gmail.com

Help support a struggling writer by downloading my free reads from Smashwords. Available in all formats. Pick the one you want. You don't have to sign up for anything to do so. However, if you do sign up, you can help an aspiring writer out more by writing a review. Click on the title under the book cover to download that story.

Small Graces / Translations / Plantgirl

Pat Wilson and Kai Strand Featured at Redmond Public Library, Readin June 18th

Redmond Public Library

827 NW Deschutes Ave.
Summer Reading Program
Showing June 3 through July 30 2011
Local Children’s Books Illustrators, KC Snider & Sharon Bean

Meet the Central Oregon authors and illustrators of popular illustrated children’s books. Hear their stories, get your books signed, ask questions, and enjoy the display.

Activities: Saturday June 18th

Book Readings: 10:30am 11:30am 1:00pm to 4:30pm
Book Signings: 1:00pm to 4:30pm by authors and illustrators
Reception: 2:30pm to 4:30pm for the illustrators and authors
Location: Main floor of the library.

Featuring:

“I Can’t See, But… I Can Imagine” author Patricia Wilson, illustrator Sharon Bean (self-published)

“The Weaver” author Kai Strand, illustrator (front cover) KC Snider (Guardian Angel Publishing)

Other children's books illustrated by KC Snider will also be available for sale and some of the illustrations will be part of the exhibit.

The library display will have the original art and information about illustrations for children’s books; a history of types of illustrations, an explanation of how illustrations are determined, researched, and edited; plus other interesting facts.

Kai Strand and K.C. Snider on Good Morning Central Oregon, Wed. May 25th

Don't miss author, Kai Strand, and illustrator, K.C. Snider, on Good Morning Central Oregon, this Wednesday, May 25th. They will be discussing their involvement in the Redmond Library's two month long display of illustrations as part of the library's summer reading program, as well as promoting the signing event and reception to be held at the library on June 18th which will include both COWG members, Kai Strand and Pat Wilson.

Paty Jager's Spirit of the Lake Releases May 18th

Paty Jager's second book of the spirit trilogy, Spirit of the Lake, releases May 18th. In honor of the release she's touring fourteen blogs in eleven days. The person who follows her to the most blogs on the tour will receive an autographed copy of Spirit of the Lake, a sweatshirt, and cowboy chocolate. In the event there is a tie, a name will be drawn. The blog schedule can be found on her website http://www.patyjager.net/ and blog http://www.patyjager.blogspot.com/ 


She's scheduled to attend a book signing in Aloha, OR at Jan's books on May 14th at 1:00 p.m.

Kai Strand – Presents The Weaver

Kai Strand presents her children’s book, The Weaver, at a reading and book signing, at Dudley’s Bookshop Café, 135 NW Minnesota Ave, Sunday, May 1st, 2:00pm.

About The Weaver
In a town of word weavers, Mary suffers through her third year of Novice Word Weaving. Mary thinks her troubles are over when she meets a gnome-elf who grants her a wish. But instead of weaving a better story, she's weaving strange yarn charms to accompany her still pathetic tales.

Children in attendance will make a yarn charm while Ms. Strand reads from her book. Event is free. Books will be available for purchase. Ms. Strand will be signing.

About the Author
Children’s author, Kai Strand, writes middle grade and young adult fiction. Her short stories have been published in many online publications, The Weaver, is her first book. Learn more at http://www.kaistrand.com/

Kai Strand, author of The Weaver
Visit Kai's blog, Strands of Thought

Paty Jager Launches CP Matchmaker

Paty Jager has started a blog where writers looking for an online critique partner can read the criteria and fill out a form to be paired with two other writers and become online CPs.


Go on over and take a look. If you're looking for another set of eyes to help you take your writing to the next level, fill out the form and send it in.

http://cpmatchmaker.blogspot.com/

PAT WILSON SCHEDULED TO SPEAK AT TWO REDMOND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Patricia (Pat) Wilson, COWG’s long time member and author of the children’s book I Can’t See, But…I Can Imagine, will be speaking to Redmond’s school children grades K – 5. Tuesday, March 1, she will be at Vern Patrick Elementary and Friday, March 4 at John Tuck Elementary. These will be the 49th and 50th schools she has visited since her book was published in December 2003—typically seeing 6-8 classes a day.

Her presentation is a 'back up' for teachers with encouragement to write, illustrate and enjoy music. She has a colorful display and the original 31 illustrations (by Sharon Bean) for the children to see. Patricia shares her book, its accompanying CD and story behind it with the idea the children have their own stories – encouraging them to consider their own family roots (and imagination) as they write. The children are especially interested in the process of publishing, editing, illustrating and getting the book to market. In addition, it is Patricia’s goal to help children understand it is possible to have a ‘special need’ like blindness and still have a rewarding life by cultivating individual talents. To learn more about Pat's book and her activities, log onto her website, http://www.icantseebuticanimagine.com/

Mary Krakow, Runner-Up in Women in Writing Flash Fiction Contest

Congratulations to Mary Krakow, Runner-Up in Women in Writing Flash Fiction Contest


Mary Krakow's story "Impact" won runner-up honors in the Women in Writing Flash Fiction Contest. Read Mary's story and interview (wherein she says wonderful things about the Guild)  HERE

Paty Jager Book Signing at Camalli

In case someone can't make the meeting but could make the signing.

Thursday, August 26th at 6:30 PM Paty Jager will be reading, discussing, and signing her latest historical paranormal romance Spirit of the Mountain at Camalli Book Company in Bend. The story is set among the Wallowa band of Nez Perce when their only enemies were other tribes and the elements.