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.

Google Doodles

I love the look of an old Houdini poster that was created for today's Google Doodle, honoring Harry Houdini's birthday. If you've never seen or heard of a Google Doodle, here's an explanation.

They are usually quite clever, and my artist's heart thrills when I see a new, unexpected Google Doodle. You can find the entire archive of doodles from all countries around the world HERE.

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: