MouseMuse Productions

Dreams can come true!  One of our Writers’ Cafe supporters, Mary Grace Dembeck, has had a short story made into a 30-minute movie by British director, Jack Ryder. Act of Memory, based on an incident from Mary Grace’s life and originally set in Brooklyn, has been transposed to England in 1948. The film stars Anna Massey, Claire Skinner and Grace Cooper Milton. It will be shown on British TV this Christmas.

Multi-talented Mary Grace Dembeck has exhibited paintings at The National Academy of Design
in New York City. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal
and Reader’s Digest. She is also the author of a collection of children’s poetry, MOONSNACKS
And Assorted Nuts, and she delights in the Steve Allen quote found in the back of the book.
She has collaborated on a number of songs with renowned singer Maureen McGovern, many of which were turned into  the children’s musical The Bengal Tiger’s Ball, and performed in Florida.

You can fnd out more by checking out the press release at: http://actofmemory.com/

Mary Grace – you owe the Writers’ Cafe a dollar for this brag! (That’s what writers put into the kitty when they brag about something at the Cafe.  Next one is on July 13 from 1-2ish at the Westport Arts Center.

We had a great group on Wednesday, with so many ideas that I can’t cover them all!
First the bragging:
Christine Shaffer is one of five finalists in a memoir contest being judged by the University of Minnesota. First prize is $1000 and publication of her book. We’re rooting for her!
Ina Chadwick talked about the new writing contests  – more chances to submit!
Shira ‘fessed up that she’d finally submitted something – a huge leap forward!
Elsie showed us her two memoir essays published by the New Canaan library in a book of memoirs.
I had an essay published on the Partnership at Drugfree website. http://intervene.drugfree.org/2011/06/5-things-i-wish-id-known-about-mental-illness-and-teens/#comments

We talked about informal writers’ critiquing groups, and how to set them up. If you’re interested, let us know, and we’ll see what we can do to organize something.

I was inspired by Ina’s mentioning the current NPR series on All things considered – Summer Sounds. So I submitted a piece today, about the sounds I remember from the age of the dinosaurs (the 50’s) in England. We’ll see.

Margaret Rumford told us about the self – publication of her memoir. She used a company in Vermont, who did the design, layout, (but not the proof-reading) and got it printed very reasonably. Email me if you’d like to contact Margaret for more information.

We talked about the 30 creative things in 30 days, and I rashly committed to doing it and reporting on it via my Facebook page (see below).

That’s enough about me.  Keep writing! Gabi
See you next month – Wednesday July 13, 12.30-1.30ish at the Westport Arts Center

Great Writers’ Café on Wednesday – we were a select group, and I had a number of topics I’d thought of covering. In the event, one of our writers asked if anyone had any ideas for how to overcome resistance, not to writing, but to submitting.

We shared our experiences and suggestions. Here are a few.

If you really can’t face the work, or don’t have the time, try Writers’ Relief, a New Jersey company that will take your work (if they feel they can place it) and find suitable places for you to submit it.  Ina explained that she had sent them a novel, which they had looked at and suggested 25 possible agents. They’d provided cover letters and Ina had replies from 14 of them – three of them very interested. Other people had submitted short fiction and had been given some editing suggestions, a final copy correctly presented, and a cover letters for around 30 literary journals to which to send the work. There are several levels of service – pick what you need.  Here’s the link:

http://www.writersrelief.com/submission-guidelines-for-review-board.aspx

Jessica Bram of the Westport Writers’ workshop suggested two websites that provide lists of literary agents:

http://aaronline.org/ and    http://www.agentquery.com/

Online magazines suggested included Open Salon,  http://open.salon.com/cover Mused, http://www.bellaonline.com/review/submissions/ and the Good Men Project http://goodmenproject.com/. All of these take non-fiction (including some memoir) and Mused takes fiction as well.

Completely off topic – I found a funny website that re-titles famous books so that you know what to expect when you buy them. http://betterbooktitles.com/ So The Great Gatsby becomes Drink Responsibly, James and the Giant Peach becomes It’s OK If Giant Fruit Kills Your Aunts So Long As They Were Bitches, etc.  The Guardian Newspaper in Britain took this and ran with it, providing a further 200 or so titles submitted by their readers. My favourite: Winnie-the-Pooh – Fat, Greedy Bear Annoys His Neighbours.  Here’s that link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/apr/29/book-titles-describe-content

Happy Submitting!

Gabi Coatsworth

The April 26 storytelling at the Westport Arts Center was a rip-roaring success. Six great storytellers told tales on the theme “Money Talks” and wowed the audience.

We had a great Cafe last Wednesday. Thanks to all of you who came! We discussed some of the best blogs for writers, and here are a few of them:

http://storyfix.com/

http://zenhabits.net/

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/index.php

http://inkygirl.com/

http://writerunboxed.com/

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

http://writingcontests.wordpress.com/

http://procrastinatingwritersblog.com/

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/02/05/top-100-creative-writing-blogs/

The last one on the list has its own list of 100 best blogs, so there are plenty to choose from.
Robert Stephen Williams commented that he felt that people were no longer reading blogs because so much information consisted of sound bites.  He felt that Twitter and Facebook status updates have overtaken blogging as the preferred web communication method.. He said “It’s all about your network, followers and connections, like those on Linked-In.”

What do you think? It seems to me that even Twitter and Facebook updates often refer readers to longer articles or blogs online.

One of our writers was asking which literary magazines were the best ones to submit to. Plenty of advice here, but it really boiled down to: know the literary magazine before you submit to it. It’s no good sending a story about your childhood to a magazine that specializes in writing translated from other languages, for example. Places to find literary magazines to read/buy – the library, and Barnes and Noble.

Christine Schaffer’s advice was similar. She told us about how she gets articles placed in food related publications like Edibles. Research the publications first to find out which ones carry the sort of article you write. The pitch a story on a topic you’re familiar with, and if you don’t sell it first time, keep pitching!

Susanne Sheridan, photographer, of Westport CT, took these amazing photos of the most polished and fun storytelling we’ve had yet.  If you were there – reminisce. If you weren’t don’t miss the next one on April 26

Cash, bucks, bread, dinero, coins, loot, even high finance – no matter what you call it, the abundance or absence of money can cause conflict and change. We’ve been there, and we know you have too. Bring us your stories of striking it rich, barely getting by, being broke, owed or owing –and our great team of coaches (Bill Bosch, storytelling master, aided and abetted by Ina Chadwick,  and Gabi Coatsworth) will help you hone your tale so it’s ready to perform in April.

Our March storytellers weren’t sure they were ready for prime time, but we helped them get there, and the March 22 event was a smashing success, thanks to them. Be part of this exciting new entertainment form by telling a story or coming to cheer on the people who do! Just a small handful of banknotes will get you a ticket, free scrumptious food, and a great evening. Be there!

It was great to see all of you (12!) who came to the Writers’ Arts Café on Wednesday, March 6. Gabi  started with a bragging session, where we asked anyone who’d had something good happen since the last meeting to share it. This took a long time – because so many people had good news.

Carol Shaffer won the Fairfield Public Library Food Memoir writing contest

Penny Pearlman had an item accepted for an online inspirational book, and an “idea for the day” accepted for a calendar

Robert Williams had an article accepted for the online magazine “The Good Men Project” in which he described his first yoga (terrifying ) yoga class.

Susan Hood has had a series of illustrated children’s books accepted for publication

Carol Boas had a story accepted for Echook, the new short writing app

Shira Linden is an now an honored writer for Echook

Speaking of Echook, we talked about their fascinating new publishing idea. To find out more, click the link below.

Then we talked about the main subject – writers’ workshops and groups – worth the time? Worth the money?

We defined that writers’ groups as informal gatherings of like minded writers, and decided that finding a group of writers in the same genre was crucial to productive feedback.  Echook has a very good summary of how to start a writers’ group here:

http://echook.com/how-to-run-a-successful-writing-group-and-get-published-and-paid-for-your-work/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eChook+%28eChook+Digital+Publishing++%29

The Fairfield Library runs a series of free writers’ groups in various genres: http://www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org/writers.htm

They have a writers’ blog, too, which you might want to check out : http://fairfieldwriter.wordpress.com/

Other writers in the group talked about their best and worst writers conference/workshop experiences. Places mentioned were:

Breadloaf, VT: http://www.middlebury.edu/blwc

Squaw Valley, CA: http://www.squawvalleywriters.org/

Wesleyan Writers’ Conference, CT: http://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/conference/

What I Did for Love, to be precise.  Our next storytelling evening is coming up on February 15, and we have some amazing stories for you to hear. From the romantic story of a love lost and found, to a story of determination in the face of almost overwhelming odds, via a tale about a wasted possum, there’s variety enough for everyone.  You may laugh till you cry – or shed a few sympathetic tears – either way, we’ll have Kleenex on hand.

This should be a great date night – so keep the Valentine’s mood going, and come to the Westport Arts Center on February 15. Tickets available at www.westportartscenter.org or at the door.  $20 or $15 if WAC members, gets you light but scrumptious fare, a cash bar, and an evening’s entertainment that’ll have you cheering in your seat, which we recommend you reserve ahead of time.

See you there!