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Meeting Announcement: Our April meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
Program: Last minute details of upcoming Conference Retreat
Writing “Opportunity”: Write what you want…500 words!
Refreshments: Delicious treats from Darrell White.
President Ramblings
We live by choice in far West Texas, tucked away from the bigger writing world. I like to think it gives us an edge with creativity. All we have to do is look out our front door and see the natural world, at its finest with sunrise, cactus blossoms and the face of a baby fawn, but also at its cruelest with drought, fire, and wind. How can we not write?
Yet, isolation has its drawbacks. We share our work with others in the Texas Mountain Trail Writers, but we don’t have many opportunities for a wider audience.
Continue reading April Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our March meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Fort Davis Public Library in Fort Davis, TX. If you wish to carpool from Alpine, meet us in the Big Bend Telephone parking lot before we depart at 6:30 pm.
Program: “The Art of Weaving Your Story”
Writing “Opportunity”:
- Spring Equinox
- March Magic
- Search The Wind
Please avail yourself of the opportunity to pick one of the above topics and write our regular limit of 500 words (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or whatever). Or challenge yourself to an exact word limit of 100 for any one of the topics (this idea is compliments of Anne VanLoon–thanks, Anne).
President Ramblings
I’m sitting in Fairbanks, AK looking out the window at a foot of fresh snow. The temperature is close to zero and it is so delightful. I’m happy to be back to my home of eighteen years and glad to see good friends. I thought I would write – brought my journal and my laptop, but so far haven’t squeezed in time for much but a few ideas percolating in the back of my brain. At least I will try to write those down – otherwise in my aged state, they will enter an unknown universe never to be thought of again.
Continue reading March Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our February meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 21, 2012, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
Program: Diane Brown will talk about her book, “Life Instead,” and how it came to be. I can guarantee it will be a fascinating presentation. Diane survived a plane crash and bravely wrote about her experience then went on an unexpected adventure to publication and beyond.
Writing “Opportunity”:
- A Snowy Night
- Valentines
- A Matter of the Heart
Choose one or incorporate one or more of the topics into one story (or poem)–use your vast and endless imagination. Limit is 500 words. Go wild! At the meeting, you may read your work or not, as you prefer. Just enjoy doing it.
President Ramblings
How do you write? Do you set measurable goals or decide to wing it? Do you slave over each word or let it flow as it comes? Do you have a different writing style for different types of writing?
I recently read and enjoyed, The Sea, by John Banville. It is a literary work, full of gorgeous words, which won the Mann Booker prize in 2005. Mr. Banville, under the pseudonym of Benjamin Black, is also the writer of mystery novels. Here is what he says about his writing:
Continue reading February Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Click on the links below to download the Weekend Overview and the Registration Form.
Weekend Overview:
http://www.texasmountaintrailwriters.org/pdfs/2012_TMTW_Conference_Overview.pdf Registration Form:
http://www.texasmountaintrailwriters.org/pdfs/2012_TMTW_Registration_Form.pdf
Have we got a Genre for you!
The Alpine & Fort Davis
Texas Mountain Trail Writers
are so proud of their presenter line-up for 2012 they are bustin’ their buttons! How could any writers not find a perfect fit among these choices to enhance their skills and chance for publication.
Choose your poison:
Mystery Writing, Flash Fiction, Western Historical Fiction, Memoir, Narrative Non-Fiction, Historical Research, Publishing, Marketing, and even an early morning Haiku Hike to a near-by cemetery for poetry lovers!
Continue reading TMTW 2012 Spring Retreat :: Retreat Registration Form Available! →
Meeting Announcement: Our November meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 15, 2011, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
Program: “In Search of Your Right Brain” by Eleanor Taylor.
Writing “Opportunity”: The word limit is 500 words. Choose from
- Taking a Chance
- Thanksgiving: Past, Present or Whenever
- Pick a cliche (your favorite or just any one will do) and build a story around it
Refreshments: Delicious treats from Phyllis Musgrove.
President Ramblings
The sunlight rolled into my bedroom about seven this morning. What a glorious thing – the end of daylight savings time. I sip my coffee, watch the red tinge the horizon, enjoy the quiet before time to walk the dog. Wait – am I supposed to be writing my president’s column for the Texas Mountain Trail Writer’s November newsletter? Why, yes I am.
Pardon my slip into interior dialogue. Elaine Davenport’s program for our October meeting has me trying my hand at it. I’m starting a new mystery novel and already her tips are making my characters more lively.
Continue reading November Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our September meeting (and first meeting after the summer break) will be held on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. at the home of Reba and David Seals in Sunny Glen, west of Alpine. (See more information below.)
Program: Fun and Exciting Writing Exercise to Streeeetch Your Writing Chops presented by Reba Seals
Refreshments: Delicious treats from Eleanor and Jackie.
President Ramblings
It has been a hot, dry, summer in west Texas. To keep my garden alive, I’ve had to do more watering than usual, and even with my best efforts, some of my plants did not make it. The double whammy of below zero weather during winter and the lack of moisture this spring weakened them and they died.
It seems to me ideas are like that, too. Some spring into my head and flourish through the first five hundred words on the page, then somehow can’t be encouraged to go any further. Others don’t make it past the note I make on the yellow pad I keep in the car, and I find them months later, scribbles without substance.
Continue reading September Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our March meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at the Fort Davis Public Library in Fort Davis, TX, from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. If you wish to carpool from Alpine, meet us in the Big Bend Telephone parking lot before we depart at 6:30 pm.
Speaker: Barbara Blake – “The Character Arc: A Journey of Change”
Refreshments: (You know who you are, we hope!)
Writing Assignment: Something Irish (500 words or less)
From the desk of our president:
March winds and April showers? Don’t we wish? Wild fires? Brave pilots and big yellow helicopters that drop retardants on them? Skunks and their early morning perfume? A morning with one percent humidity? Vertigo and my sympathy to fellow sufferers?
Take your pick or think of a better one. Perhaps you can turn it into a poem or story.
Happy days, restful nights and productive writing to each of you.
Phyllis Musgrove
Barbara Blake’s Presentation at the March TMTW Meeting
Author Barbara Blake will present a short program entitled “The Character Arc: A Journey of Change” at the March 15 meeting of the Texas Mountain Trail Writers. Barbara is the author of the book A Guide to Children’s Books about Asian Americans (England: Ashgate Publishing Co.,
Continue reading March Newsletter :: “Log of the Trail” →
Homework Assignment
for Texas Mountain Trail Writers’ Spring Retreat in Alpine
April 8, 9, 10, 2011
FREE CRITIQUE ON ONE POEM
Along with learning from the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate, Larry D. Thomas, western historian and writer, Andy Wilkinson, and folklore collector and instructor, Dr. Beverly Six, you are invited to actively participate in the process. It’s painless and fun. Everyone get an A+ for their efforts!
Continue reading Homework Assignment for TMTW Retreat →
Meeting Announcement: Our February meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 15, 2011, in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
Writing Assignment: Love Lost, Then Found Again, 250-500 word limit.
Speaker: Phyllis Musgrove will speak about “Who Says Writers Heads are Blocked?”
Refreshments: Petei Guth will provide refreshments for the February meeting.
From the Desk of our President
Our new year got off to a great start, and we welcomed several newcomers and visitors to our January meeting in Fort Davis. We enjoyed an outstanding program from Jackie Siglin.
Despite February’s roaring in like a lion, our spring retreat planning committee finalized plans for what I think will be an outstanding 20th anniversary conference. I hope many of you can attend.
Phyllis Musgrove
Continue reading February Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
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2012 Annual Writers Spring Retreat April 27, 28, 29, 2012
Mountain Trail Lodge & Outdoor Learning Center, Fort Davis, Texas
NEW! Check out our Retreat Speakers!
Keep your eyes peeled here for more information and details!
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