Upcoming Young Writers Groups

What an exciting year 2011 has been! And here we are in 2012 with many more opportunities for young writers to hone their skills and be creative together. This year, we're going to try running a couple Inkaholics groups simultaneously, with two different age groups. Here's what we have in the works:

Inkaholics 8 (Middle School)
6-week Collaborative Writers Group for Middle Schoolers
Ages: 12-15, intermediate
Dates: Saturdays, January 14-February 18, 2012
Time/Location: 2:00-4:00 p.m. @ Panera Bread (Powers & S Carefree)
Cost: $75 for the entire workshop
Participants: 6-8

Participants learn to work together to craft a story and contribute their own ideas and writing to the finished product.Every student will receive ONE FREE COPY of the final, professionally-designed, printed copy of the novella after the workshop ends.

REGISTER FOR INKAHOLICS 8

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Inkaholics 9 (High School)
6-week Collaborative Writers Group for High Schoolers
Ages: 15-18, advanced
Dates: Fridays, January 20-February 24, 2012
Time/Location: 5:00-7:00 p.m. @ Panera Bread (Powers & S Carefree)
Cost: $75 for the entire workshop
Participants: 6-8

The older Inkaholics group will have longer write-at-home scenes, plus an opportunity to advance toward real, paid publication IF the final novella meets market standards.Otherwise, we will self-publish, and each student will receive ONE FREE COPY of the final, professionally-designed, printed copy of the novella after the workshop ends.

REGISTER FOR INKAHOLICS 9

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Ink Slingers: Free Monthly Peer Critique Group

This is a brand new group for 2012 that will meet during the school year. Bring 3 copies of 1500 words of your work-in-progress. We'll read it together and critique it as a group--live and in person! Discuss your story with peers and help others with their writing as well.

 

Ages: 14-18

Duration: Monthly, 4th Saturday of the month

Time/Location: 5:00-6:30 p.m. @ Panera Bread (Powers & S Carefree)

Cost: FREE

Participants: 3-8

RSVP for your first meeting

 

 

If you have any questions or would like to register via email, just contact me. Thanks for considering how to encourage the young writers in your life!

Project 365: 5/365 - Holding Out

We've had relatively warm weather lately, but there are still spots of ice and piles of snow that are holding out in the shadows for as long as they can.

Project 365: 4/365 - Immunization Day

My son starts kindergarten in the fall, so that meant that we had to get his shot record up-to-date. Just two shots this time, but whether it's one or six, it's never fun. :o(

Project 365: 3/365 - Blackbirds

O blackbird! sing me something well:
While all the neighbors shoot thee round,
I keep smooth plats of fruitful ground,
Where thou mayst warble, eat, and dwell.

Excerpt from The Blackbird by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Project 365: Day 2/365 - Playtime @ the Park

One nice thing about playtime at the park is that momma gets to read her library book before the overdue fines get out of control. :oP

Project 365 for 2012: Day 1/365 - Grammar Be Good

Back in 2008, I learned from my dear friend Beth about a little thing called Project 365. It is basically a challenge to take a photo every day for a year. The purpose? To create a visual diary of a single year in your life. Time moves surprisingly fast, and if I didn't keep a daily account of my comings and goings, I honestly don't think I would remember even half of what I do.



I managed to finish Project 365 in 2008 (video above). Started it in 2009 but fizzled due to extreme busyness. In 2010, I made a concerted effort, but stopped in April because sometime at the end of 2009, I got a crazy hair spiraling out of my cranium and attempted to do a photo AND a video each day. (It was extremely fun to do a video a day though; don't get me wrong. One of my faves is here below.)



For 2012, I'll attempt no such daily video nonsense, but will most definitely be posting daily photos here.

Please feel free to comment! Creative people are feedback junkies; we thrive on pats on the back and constructive criticism. So I welcome your comments as we progress through the year. Many thanks for following! And now, without further adieu...let's begin.

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2012 Project 365: Day 1/365 - Grammar Be Good



How, oh, HOW does a sign get publicly posted with a blaring grammatical error such as this? The "in assure" is bad enough, then let's add the fact that there are capitalization and punctuation problems to boot. ACK.

Into the Etsy Foray: First Item - Robot Figurine

I've been thinking about creating an Etsy account for several months now, selling only items I can make with things I already have. So this morning, I started a store and listed my first item: Robot Figurine Made from Spare Parts

I wonder if people are interested in tiny robot figurines? Anyway, I'm excited to see what happens, and if anything, I'll have had fun creating adorable artwork. See the Etsy listing HERE.

Christmas Break Event for Young Writers

Thanks to the brainstorming help of some talented (albiet easily distracted) Inkaholics I know, we are planning a special young writers event over Christmas break. If you or a young writer you know is interested in doing something creative over break, this could be a perfect opportunity. Here are details:

Eight Players:
Character RPG
3 Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
December 21, 28, 2011
& January 4, 2012

Dream up characters together, set the the stage, then send them on an unforgettable adventure of our own creation. Participants will receive a FREE professionally designed and published copy of the final story. Illustrations by writers are welcome!

Ages: 13-18
Cost: $40 per person
Participants: 8-10 total


REGISTER ONLINE

It will be an amazingly fun, fast-paced project that will leave young writers with a sense of having accomplished something grand over their break from school--besides getting to level 100 on a video game or watching three dozen movies. ;-)

If you have any questions about the Eight Players Event, please feel free to contact me.

UPDATE: Only 2 spots left! (12-8-11, 8:00 PM)

Inkaholics Books on Sale!

For those of you who have been waiting to purchase Inkaholics Group books for Christmas, this is a great sale to get a few ordered! This offer is only good through December 7, so act quickly to get the deal.

If you're seeing this late and missed the deadline, you can still use this coupon code through December 14:

25% off any of your books
Coupon Code: BUYMYBOOK305
Coupon expires December 14, 2011
$50 Max Savings

Just go to themangycat.com/books to find all the selections, then use the coupon code when you get to the checkout. NOTE: Lulu only allows one coupon per order.

NaNoWriMo 2011: Day 30 - WON

NaNoWriMo 2011 is in the books! I finished this afternoon with a validated word count of 50,830. And guess what? I STILL love the story. (That's something that has never happened in my NaNo history; I usually despise everything about my novel by the last day.)

I am totally smitten by Beckon, and I can hardly wait to start editing it. This is most definitely something special, and I have a publisher in mind already.

I leave you with a final excerpt from this novel that I love:

My eyes scanned the landscape. The village was in a shambles. The buildings, even though they were on fire, were very unlike the buildings in my world. I wondered what had started the fires, and automatically looked to the skies for dragons.

Soaring high above, through white rain clouds and black soot columns, giant stiff birds with strange wings and noses flew in a V-formation.

I touched Beck's shoulder, where he crouched on the dirt. "What are those birds? Did they start the fire?"

He looked up and squinted at the shapes. "Those aren't birds." His eyes widened.

I turned back and saw that the birds were dropping what looked like little dots from where we stood.

"Chan, we have to go." He grabbed my hand.

"Where are we going?"

"Away from here!" He pulled on my arm, urging me to run.

I lifted one side of my dress and ran after him.

Oh yes. This is something special indeed.