AAG President - conversation

“The tedious part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winter, the fleshy, in summer.  I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to literature, summer the tissues and the blood.”  ~John Burroughs   

If you spent the winter that never seemed to end developing lots of bone and sinew, then it is time to add the tissues and blood. While in the process of editing and re-editing older non-fiction short stories, I was reminded that, like the seasons, a writer’s life is a continuous process. We can always improve that which we have improved. I came across two quotes that are worth sharing.

“Stylebooks are useful – to teach writers how to occasionally break the rules. Raymond Chandler had it right: When I split an infinitive, damn it, I split it so it stays split.”’ James Popkin

Style should be the servant of clarity and understanding – supportive, but unobtrusive, so that the reader doesn’t really know it’s there.’  Susan Dentzer 

We are at the halfway point in the year. Our speakers have been excellent. At our last meeting, we not only had an outstanding speaker, but he also paid for all of our meals! I learned that The Tuscan Italian Grill may have closed. Stay informed as we look for a new place to meet on July 8. The next event on the AAG calendar is the Virginia Highlands Festival, August 1 - 10. Jack Rose is taking reservations. Send your requested date(s) and check to AAG, PO Box 803, Abingdon, VA 24212 The cost is $25.00 for weekends, and $15.00 for weekdays. There are new guidelines that will be posted separately. Please note that if you sign up for two weekends you are required to take a weekday also. Our next business meeting will be September 9 from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Washington County Library in Abingdon, VA

Sincerely,

Claudia Ware, AAG President

Virginia Highlands Festival space

Virginia Highlands Festival Update, we have confirmed that we will have the same

location and setup as last year. Spaces 23 and 24 have been assigned to AAG and

Jan Carol Publishing. This arrangement will accommodate up to 7 authors per day.

Initial applications for space were good - several days are filling up nicely.

The 9th of August is full.

Please send your request for space to 

Appalachian Authors Guild, P. O. Box 803, Abingdon, VA 24212.

Jack (J Russell) Rose

Spring, where art thou?

Of course, March is still March. In previous years we've not been surprised to have cold weather in March. But this past winter has been lonnnngg and cold so we're tired of it. Begging spring to come on, already. She will, and then we'll be scrambling to get the usual spring things done, complaining about the grass growing so fast, no time to write. See, this is writing related!

One event many look forward to is the Appalachian Heritage Writers Symposium, June 13-14, 2014. The Symposium was jointly founded by Appalachian Authors Guild and the Southwest Virginia Community College. It's held on the campus of Southwest Virginia Community College, Richalnds, VA. If you're not familiar with this valuable resource for your writing, click this link to the Symposium information page. Keynote speaker this year is New York Times best selling author, Lisa Alther. She will also conduct a fiction workshop. Other very able presenters are also scheduled for poetry, memoir, characterization. Best of all, the Symposium is very affordable. Try it and see.