|
|
Meeting Announcement: Our May “End of Year Party” will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at the home of Jackie Siglin, south of Alpine. (See more information below.)
Writing Assignment: Okay, Gang! Is third time a charm? These are GOOD topics! Let’s rock these!
500 words on one of the following of your choice:
- Good Old Days (past, non-fiction)
- The Devil May Care (horror, mystery)
- What Lies Within (faith, inspiration)
Refreshments: It’s a Pot Luck!
TMTW “End of Year Party“
Spring Potluck May 21, 2013, 6 PM: Our May meeting is always fun and full of sun!! We’ll be at Jackie Siglin’s house. The TMTW will furnish beverages and paper goods. Please let Jackie know what you plan to bring so she can make sure we don’t have too much of something. And don’t forget your writing opportunities: Good Old Days (past, non-fiction), The Devil May Care (horror, mystery), What Lies Within (faith, inspiration). This is also the meeting where we elect officers for next year. Please consider taking a job you haven’t tried before. Our club needs all of us to keep it strong.
Please RSVP to me at ten.d1368880981nebgi1368880981b@1ak1368880981salad1368880981ekab1368880981 OR RSVP to TMTW at gro.s1368880981retir1368880981wliar1368880981tniat1368880981nuoms1368880981axet@1368880981suksa1368880981, and directions will be emailed to you!
Hasta la vista,
Jackie
Is It May Already?
David and I have a joke between us, “Is it Friday already?” The weeks seem to fly, and it’s similar to the way this writers’ year has flown. (Addendum: When you are young, and working 8 to 5, you say, “Is it Monday already?)
Continue reading May Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our April meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23, 2013, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
Program: 2013 Retreat in Review
Writing “Opportunity”: 500 words on one of the following of your choice:
Good Old Days (past, non-fiction)
The Devil May Care (horror, mystery)
What Lies Within (Faith, inspiration)
Refreshments: Delicious treats from Elaine Davenport.
President Chat
It’s impossible to write a blurb for this month’s Log of the Trail without babbling about the magnificent Spring Retreat we just concluded. We had over forty people in attendance throughout the weekend, and the presenters were fantastic, knowledgeable as well as entertaining. Nina Amir, blogging to book coach, Bill ONeal, Texas State Historian, and Juan Perez, poet, kept the retreat fast paced and information filled.
Continue reading April Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our March meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 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 6:20 pm. (Note the new earlier departure time so we arrive with time to spare!)
Program: Eleanor Taylor. My experience with e-publishing. My novel, WET MY MOUTH WITH HONEY, has just been published by OutskirtsPress.com–a process consuming the last five months of my life–and I’d like to share my experience with the group. I hope it will be beneficial to some that might like to try that publishing route.
Writing “Opportunity”: Darrell’s assignments this year are a little tougher because they specify a genre, but remember your way of interpretation will be fine. We want you to WRITE, and changing the challenge to suit you will be great. His assignments are for fun and to stretch our abilities. Remember, out of town writers, send yours in by email and we’ll read it and insert it in the 2014 Chaos West of the Pecos (the deadline has already passed for the 2013 Chaos). Choices are:
Good Old Days (past, non-fiction)
The Devil May Care (horror, mystery)
What Lies Within (Faith, inspiration)
Continue reading March Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our October meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 16, 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: Bob Miles, a local historian, writer, and member of our group. He is consistently published in the Cenizo literary magazine.
Writing “Opportunity”: Write 500 words on one of the following suggested topics:
The Knot-Hole in the Fence
The Magic Summer
Yet Looking Back
Refreshments: A volunteer is needed to bring refreshments to the meeting in Fort Davis. If you would be willing to do this, please contact Reba at moc.l1368880981iamg@1368880981slaes1368880981ssorc1368880981r1368880981. The organization will furnish the coffee and paper goods.
President Chat
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
Doesn’t that make you want to continue into the story? What on earth could this be about? Where is it leading? (You may know: George Orwell, 1984.) This is a sample of opening lines the Texas Mountain Trail Writers are collecting this year for a special prize. We’ve all read the first lines must draw in the reader to make them want to investigate why they should spend their time with us.
Start examining every book and article you read to see if you would classify it as the best, worst, or ho-hum first line you’ve read. (Deep six the ho-hums.) But send us your best and worst. Below are the submissions for this month. And if you’ve already submitted, no rule says you cannot submit more that you find interesting.
Continue reading October Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our September meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m. at the home of Reba and David Seals in Alpine. (See more info below in the President Ramblings.)
Format for Meeting: Potluck Party and Writing Round-Table (See more info below in the President Ramblings.)
President Ramblings
Welcome Texas Mountain Trail Writers to a new year of honing our craft while encouraging and enjoying each other from your new president, Reba Cross Seals. Food and writing, two staples in the life of writers, are openers for the first meeting of the new season. A Potluck Party will be at the home of David and Reba Seals in Sunny Glen, Alpine, September 18 at 6:30. All members, guests, and area writers interested in the organization are invited.
Continue reading September Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: Our August meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 21, 2012, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
Topic for discussion: E-Publishing—publishing on-line. Whether you have information about how to self-publish on-line, or not, please come and share in the discussion as we learn from [...]
Meeting Announcement: Our July meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 24, 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: “Characterization” (See President Ramblings below for more information.)
President Ramblings
Hey fellow friends and writers,
June’s summer session discussion went well. Marian and Anne provided us with information about science fiction or fantasy worlds and we went from there. As an outgrowth of that, we decided to talk about characterization in July. The meeting will be at the Ft. Davis library, on July 24, at 7 pm. It would be good to bring articles you like about characterization, also examples from your own work or work that you like by other authors. The club will provide refreshments and if you wish to carpool from Alpine, be at the Big Bend Telephone parking lot at 6:30.
Continue reading July Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
Meeting Announcement: “Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime!” Our June meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the Fiesta Room of the Hallmark Apartments in Alpine.
President Ramblings
From the Editor: EPIC FAIL! My Outlook became corrupted and crashed last week. The latest backup I could restore was from waaaay back on May 5. Which means I lost 45 days of emails – including Jackie’s ever eloquent ramblings. (And Jackie is out of town, or else I would ask for them again.)
As a result, you’re getting me (the editor) instead. It’s tough I know. And I will stumble through, try to glean from my distant memory what Jackie wrote and sent to me… Well, dang! Memory has failed me, also.
Continue reading June Newsletter | “Log of the Trail” →
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” →
|
2013 Annual Writers Spring Retreat
|
Follow Us!