First In Flame by The Inkaholics I Writers Group

We are so excited to announce that First in Flame, the book the first Inkaholics Writers Group wrote together over the course of 6 weeks, is now available.

The Inkaholics I girls worked so hard and had some incredible ideas to contribute to this fantastic story. There are even some surprise illustrations inside--these girls are talented! Here's the official description of First in Flame:

Torren, an awkward 13-year old kid with a penchant for superstition, is about to have the strangest first day of school in his life. When his best friend Kyle, the high school quarterback, falls for the weird new girl, things are looking bad enough. But when they witness Kyle inexplicably transform into a little black housecat in the middle of lunch period, the situation spirals into an odd series of events that takes the three unlikely friends on an adventure no one expected.

If you would like to purchase a copy, you can do so for a mere $7.00 (plus shipping). Lulu.com is a print-on-demand company, but they do amazing work. Thanks for supporting the Inkaholics!

Call for 3 Volunteer Writers: Online Workshop

I've almost got a system worked out to start an online collaborative writers workshop. The final elements will fall into place soon, after which I will need 3-4 writers *coughguineapigscough* to volunteer their participation in an ONLINE 3-week collaborative short story workshop--just to test out the system.

Volunteer Writers would commit to:

• Meet online once a week for 3 weeks (First session, 90 minutes; following sessions, 60 minutes) 
• Collaborate story ideas with other writers
• Contribute creative writing to a group document on a weekly basis
• Give feedback on the process and direction for improvement

Volunteer writers must be 16 years of age or older. They will also need to be able to communicate via email and have a reliable internet connection.

We can talk about different meeting days, but I'm initially thinking Wednesday evenings, around 7:30 MST.

If you're interested in volunteering, post a comment here or email me at mangycat (at) gmail (dot) com. 

Looking forward to writing with you!

Upcoming Young Writers Workshops: April 2011

I'm thrilled to announce the next set of Young Writers Collaborative Workshops! We're going to start them right after spring break, so hopefully your young writers will have clear schedules. Here are the date/time details for each group:

INKLINGS
Ages 9-12, Beginners
Wednesday afternoons, Location TBD
April 6-May 11, 2011
3:00-5:00 p.m.

INKAHOLICS
Ages 13-18, Intermediate-Advanced
Saturday mornings, Location TBD
April 2-May 7, 2011
9:00-11:00 a.m.


If you're interested in registering for one or both of these workshops, you may do so online HERE, or if you have questions, feel free to contact me. More details about how the workshops work, plus pictures from our last on on my website.

Hidden in the Eye

I love stock photography, especially really good, high quality stuff. Our church gets a lot of our stock images from DesignPics--it's a Christian-owned company, so doing random searches on their site does not bring up inappropriate images. Bonus! Today, I used this little boy's image for another worship service slide, and I noticed that he had something in his eye.

It's always fascinating to me when the photographer gets caught in the model's eyes. Seeing that glimpse opens a tiny window into what the model saw the day the picture was taken.

WWWhoa.

I have a new website: www.TheMangyCat.com

Is that cool or what? I've been working hard and obsessively on this website for the last few days, ignoring eating, sleeping, or paying attention to any lifeforms that were not too utterly adorable to ignore. (read:children)

All the pages are at least up now, and all the forms appear to be working. I'm super excited about this site because, not only does it reflect my personality as a near-pièce de résistance, but it is also going to be an excellent marketing tool as I continue to follow God's will for my life this year.

Please take a look and let me know what you think!

Spring Break Writers Games!

Take a day of your Spring Break to hang out with other awesome young writers in the area. Play games, win prizes, and challenge your mad writing skills! We have two age levels and lots of different games, so there's a game day for everyone.

We Awesome Writers Spring Break Games is for ages 13-18. Games on the menu are Speed Writing, Pass the Plot, Story Scavenger Hunt, and Picture a Quest. Lots of fun and yummy prizes will be won!

2 "Awesome Writers" Dates - Come to one or both!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Time: 5:00-9:00 p.m.
Location: Panera Bread, 7344 North Academy Boulevard, Colorado Springs 80920
Cost: $20 per person

—OR—

Saturday, March 26
Time: 2:00-6:00 p.m.
Location: Agia Sophia Coffee Shop, 2902 W Colorado Avenue, Colorado Springs 80904
Cost: $23 per person, includes a specialty drink from Agia Sophia!

Super Writers Spring Break Games is for ages 8-12. Games on the menu are Word Wars and The One-Word Story Game. Plus we'll create blank books for you to write stories in later. Lots of fun and yummy prizes will be won!

"Super Writers" Date & Time

Thursday, March 24, 2011
Time: 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Location: Panera Bread, 3120 New Center Point, Colorado Springs 80922
Cost: $10 per person

Hope you can make to the games!
Questions? Email mangycat (at) gmail (dot) com or make your reservation online below:

Good Reads Review: Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

Kenny & the Dragon
by Tony DiTerlizzi

What a wonderful story of friendship between two unlikely friends! DiTerlizzi's illustrations add so much to the story. Quick read for an adult, appropriately challenging read for a young reader. Nicely paced and thoroughly enchanting. My rating: 5 of 5 stars

More Mangy GoodReads Reviews

Young Writers Workshops

These young writers workshops run for 6 weeks with 2-hour sessions each week, held at a local coffee shop or cafe. Together, the group brainstorms and writes a novella over the course of 6 weeks. Details on each group:

INKLINGS
Ages 9-12, Beginners
Wednesday mornings, time/location varies

INKAHOLICS
Ages 13-18, Intermediate-Advanced
Saturday mornings, time/location varies

Cost is $65 for the entire 6-week workshop. Students have the option of purchasing a final, printed copy of the novella through Lulu.com after the workshop ends.

If you have any questions, or if you're interested in attending a workshop--great! Shoot me an email (mangycat (at) gmail (dot) com) to let me know. I'll answer your questions, let you know about the next workshop dates, and/or we can talk about forms of payment at that time.

You may also want to keep an eye on this blog, as I will be posting all the details on upcoming workshops. Online workshops are in the planning stages, so if you live outside the Colorado Springs area, we may still have an option for you!

Thank you for taking the time to consider these workshops for you or the young writers in your life.

Free Church Wi-Fi

One of our pastors recently made this request: Can we make a Sunday morning announcement slide that has the following message on it: Connect your wireless device using the "[network name]” wireless access point. The logon is: “[password]”

I love how I can always assume that "we" actually means "you." XD We must learn how to be perceptive in this job.

Anyway, I had way too much fun with this and delivered a snarky and non-snarky version of the requested slide.

Non-snarky:

Snarky:

Inkaholics Workshop I, Day 1

We had our first session of the first incarnation of the Young Writers Workshops last Saturday. The three girls in attendance were brilliant and had a great time. Much laughter was had, and the creativity was flowing in full force.



We decided to write a contemporary fantasy about three teens who all go to the same school. The two boys are best friends and meet the new girl on the first day of school. As it turns out, she's a duchess from another realm. Sounds intriguing, eh? Chapter 1 is written, and chapter 2 is homework for the week. I can't wait to read what everyone writes this week!

Parting Shot
Isn't it against against the law NOT to take a goofy picture when a group is posing?