Summer Offerings for Young Writers

With the school year wrapping up in the next month or so, it's time to start thinking about how to keep your young writers busy this summer. We have a host of great stuff planned, including workshops, groups, seminars, and even a 10-day Creative Writing Conference. Here's a quick list of upcoming opportunities:

May 28: How to Start a Writers Group (1-1.75 hrs.) 
Discover the elements of a good, useful critique group; how to be a good crit partner (without tearing a heart out);  and how to take constructive criticism well (without crying!) Participants will have the opportunity to form new groups or join The Red Ink Club. Optional: Experience a live critique group afterward--with your writing on the table!

June 4: The Art of Journaling (1.5 hrs.) 
Learn how journaling is done--and done right--so you can make writing a daily practice of your own. Personalized journal included.

June 6-23: Collaborative Writers Group 
(JUNE Fast Track; meets 2x/week for 3 weeks; 2-hr. sessions) 
Together, the group brainstorms and writes a novella over the course of 6 sessions. Participants learn to work together to craft a story and contribute their own ideas and writing to the finished product. 

June 7: The Red Ink Critique Group begins (2 hrs./weekly)
Weekly critique group designed for young writers. Meetings open with a short writing exercise before individual critiques begin. New writing applications will be practiced and learned each week.

June 13-24: Inception Syndicate:
Creative Writing Conference
(meets 5x/week for 2 weeks; 2.5 hrs/day)
An incredible experience of building a world with strangers and new friends in this 10-day conworld adventure. We will create a foundation and genesis of a new world's deep history, economy, religion, art, culture, and more, and explore the lives of the people who live in our imagined universe. Includes conference instruction booklet and one free copy of our created world's printed, final, professionally-designed "abridged encyclopedia" and the collection of native stories we write.

June 25: How to Write Flash Fiction (2 hrs.)
Learn how to write dynamic, marketable flash fiction in this hands-on, informative workshop.

July 8-26: Collaborative Writers Group 
(JULY Fast Track; meets 2x/week for 3 weeks; 2-hr. sessions) 
Together, the group brainstorms and writes a novella over the course of 6 sessions. Participants learn to work together to craft a story and contribute their own ideas and writing to the finished product. 

July 10: Teen Writers Survival Guide (3 hours)
First presented at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference in 2009, this seminar is a series of three mini-workshops: The 12 Red Flags of Editing, How to Look Like You Know What You're Doing (even if you don't), and Prompting the Muse.

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For details on age ranges and cost of any of these summer opportunities, please visit themangycat.com/events.

If you have questions, feel free to send me an email or use the contact form on the website.

Thank you for investing in your young writer's life and creativity!

Thai Eats Website

My mom is opening a Thai grocery, take-out, and workshops business here in town, so naturally, she asked me to create a website for her. Her signage is almost done, thus making time of the essence in finishing the site.

I opted to design through WordPress, as opposed to creating a full-blown, Photoshop-spiffified design. Her website needs were small, and the main content was to be an informational blog. WordPress fits that prospectus perfectly.

With so many incredible WordPress theme developers out there, I chose to simply modify an existing theme. I found this one by Eric Ulous and customized some of the key background and logo graphics. I rather like the result, and so does my mom. :o) Check it out:

Thai-Eats.com

The Red Ink Club: Weekly Writers Group

Critique groups are essential for the creative development of every writer. Encouragement and insights from fellow members can make all the difference when we're faced with the next blank page.

The Red Ink Club is a weekly critique group designed for young writers, facilitated by an experienced, published author. We'll delve into each piece, line-by-line, to correct, encourage, and spur one another on to even better writing.

Group meetings open with a short writing exercise before individual critiques begin. Our time will be conducted with an attitude of respect for one another in the midst of a fun environment.

Ages: 13-20
Duration: 2 hours per week
Dues: $20 per month (also see Commitment Pricing below)
Participants: 5-7 total

Commitment Pricing:
* 3 months in advance: $49 (2 weeks free)
* 6 months in advance: $99 (1 month free)
* 1 year in advance: $199 (2 months free)

FINE PRINT: Dues are non-refundable, but $5 per missed session may be applied toward future group sessions.

Contact me if you or a young writer you know are interested in getting in on The Red Ink Club.