Writing News from Gwynne

GUEST CHAT
Thursday, May 22 -- Harold Underdown "Down the Publishing Path" editor and writer of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books helps us understand all the steps along the publishing path and how to walk it more smoothly. To learn more about Harold, check out http://www.underdown.org/. Remember, to send any questions for Harold, just drop an email to jan.fields@forums.institutechildrenslit.com or WebEditor@institutechildrenslit.com. Come and hear Harold: Thursday evening, May 22, 2008 5-7 p.m. Pacific. In the chat room http://forums.institutechildrenslit.com:6080/chat/world/html/index.html

SUPPORT EACH OTHER
Sunday May 18th, noon to three, the fearless Monmouth Children's critique group meets at Rick's Place, 123 Main, Monmouth. We usually have six or seven people, if you want to bring copies for readers to mark up. It's free and it's incredibly helpful.

PLEIN AIR
Is there anybody out there interested in starting a Plein Air Writing for Kids group now that the weather has finally turned? If so, please email gwynnespencer@aol.com and we can figure it out. We could even bring our dogs! The park across from Rick's will have the fountain turned on any day now, and it just couldn't be much more archetypal. Except dogs are not welcome in that particular park but they do have a nifty gazebo with tables in case (yay) there is too much sunshine!

WRITING FOR YOUR SELF
If you're longing for a writing group to feed your adult soul, Joanne Scharer's AWA group is terrific. Contact her at Joanne@allwritingmatters.com for details and dates.

CHILDREN"S MAGAZINES
Found a great resource listing themes for children's magazines http://www.lianamahoney.com/8.html.

TIPS FOR WOMANS DAY
And if you have a great idea for Woman's Day ($50) send it to tiptalk@hfmus.com. It used to be you had to submit these on a postcard, so I guess the word count is about the same. Be sure to include your phone number and contact information, of course.

CHEERIOS
Something to consider: The Cheerios/Spoonful of Stories Contest -- Children's Story of 500 words or less ONLY unpublished writers may enter -- if you've been published for pay, you're disqualified. http://www.spoonfulofstoriescontest.com/. First prize is $1000 -- Deadline July 15, 2008

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The Hero Journey Workbook: The secret formula in a book!There is one enduring pattern to all great stories. Once you learn how to recognize it and use it in your writing, good plots become stunning and compelling. It's a distillation of Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces with a special emphasis on children's books and personal stories. To order, go to amazon.com, and put in "hero journey spencer" which ought to get you there. Change your life and your writing for only