Central Oregon Writers Guild

January 24 Meeting Notes

Our guest speaker was Elizabeth Quinn, managing editor of the High Desert Journal. Elizabeth talked her love of the nation’s high desert, which began when she was growing up near Bend. In her lively and engaging presentation, Elizabeth shared her dream of publishing a forum for literary, visual and journalistic artists to contribute a deeper understanding of the landscape and people of the interior West. High Desert Journal was the fulfillment of that dream. She founded the journal eight years ago and it has since become a premier publication which features poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, memoirs, books reviews, essays, interviews and visual arts. High Desert Journal is looking for quality work that illuminates the landscape of the interior West, the people and the relationships between the two. The Journal accepts work from residents of the interior West working with any theme, and from anyone living outside of this region creating with an element or theme of the interior West. Published in November and May, the Journal reviews submissions year round, and is now available in print and online format. It also sponsors the annual Obsidian Prizes for Fiction and Poetry. Contest details can be found at the online edition, www.highdesertjournal.com. 

We thank Elizabeth for her excellent presentation, and for bringing copies of the Journal for everyone who attended the January meeting. We are especially grateful for the opportunities she gives authors to submit their work to the Journal for publication consideration. Everyone is encouraged to visit the Journal website and enjoy the articles and images, as well as sign up for the newsletters.

Member Kudos

Congratulations to C.J. Wurm, whose memoir Uppity has been published by Abbot Press. As reported in the recent Cascades AE article, C.J.’s story shares the heart-wrenching, humorous and unusual story of her life, including her difficult childhood and her path to healing. Her book is available at Amazon.com.

Mike Rettig received word that his story "Chuck the Alien", which he read at the Holiday Readers Showcase, has been accepted for publication in Mad Scientist Journal. Great news, Mike. Way to go! Be sure to visit Mike's website--www.MichaelWrite.Bravesites.com.

M.E. (Mary) Hope is the recipient of the 2013 individual Artists Fellowship award from the Oregon Arts Commission for Poetry. Her poetry will be published by Traprock Books in a new anthology of poems titled “These Mountains That Separate Us: An East/West Dialogue Poem,” featuring 20 Oregon poets, which includes poems by Ursula K Le Guin, Jarold Ramsey, Lawson Fusao Inada and Paulann Petersen.  Congratulations, Mary!

Upcoming Events:

Carol Freed will launch her e-publishing group on Saturday, February 16, 11:30 a.m. at Starbucks on South Third Street in Bend. As she announced at last month’s meeting, Carol is offering this new group she has named ebook encouragers. The goal is to help each other get books published on Amazon. The group is open to everyone writing in all genres. Members will help each other write short, impressive descriptions for their Amazon book page as well as assist authors to describe yourself on your free Amazon author’s page. Carol will prepare handouts to summarize what is discussed. Everyone is welcome - this meeting is mostly to get acquainted and talk over how we will cover the major areas, like formatting, uploading and marketing. To learn more, contact Carol at wb7cbc@yahoo.com. 

Our Thursday February 28 Guild meeting features award-winning author Rick Steber, whose Writing the West books are well known in Oregon. Stay tuned (or better yet, check this blog) for soon-to-be published information about Rick’s presentation.