Minutes of the Denver Branch of the National League of American Pen Women
March 6, 2021
Members Present: Atlanta Sheridan, Ray Cober, Karen Gonzales, Kay Taylor, Diane Chambers, Beverly Chico, Adrianne Voss, Ann Klaiman, Andrea Antico, Carol Ehrlich, Linda Volin, Aimee Guerts, CindyMassey
Diane opened the virtual meeting on Zoom at 9:37 am.
Inspirational Reading: Andrea read several pieces on the art of writing:
“The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
“Writing simply means no dependent clauses, no dangling things, no flashbacks, and keeping the subject near the predicate. We throw in as many fresh words as we can get away with. Simple, short sentences don’t always work. You have to do tricks with pacing, alternate long sentences with short, to keep it vital and alive…. Virtually every page is a cliffhanger – you’ve got to force them to turn it.”
― Dr. Seuss
“Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.”
― Gloria Steinem
“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act – truth is always subversive.”
― Anne Lamott,Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
“I have advice for people who want to write. I don’t care whether they’re 5 or 500. There are three things that are important: First, if you want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you. Where you just put down what you think about life, what you think about things, what you think is fair and what you think is unfair. And second, you need to read. You can’t be a writer if you’re not a reader. It’s the great writers who teach us how to write. The third thing is to write. Just write a little bit every day. Even if it’s for only half an hour – write, write, write.”
― Madeleine L’Engle
It will come if it is there and if you will let it come.”
― Gertrude Stein
Introduction of Guests: No guests were present at this time.
Approval of Minutes: Ray moved to accept the minutes as written and Andrea seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously by the members.
Committee Reports:
Website: Virginia continues to make necessary changes to the website with input and suggestions from members.
Treasurer’s Report: Kelly Ann was not present but she submitted the latest Treasurer’s reports via e-mail to the members.
Budget Report: Kay did not have a budget report but she cautioned the members that next month would be the end of the chapter’s fiscal year and that in order to create a budget for the following year the group would need to make some decision on whether or not to hold an in-person critique session.
Membership: Diane reported that we currently have no new prospective members. Carol inquired as to the number of current members. 22 or 23 seemed to be the consensus. Karen asked if there was a limit to the number of guests she might bring to meetings. Hearing that there was no limit she said she might invite people from her book group.
Outreach: Ann asked about getting a tapestry brochure to Salida High School to place along side their tapestry panels. Atlanta suggested that DPS could also receive one of the tapestry brochures to accompany the tapestry panel they were awarded in the contest.
Programs:
For the April meeting Karen confirmed that a husband and wife from The Journey Institute will lead us in a two hour long workshop entitled “Character Development Deep Dive.” It was decided that members would be alerted to join the zoom meeting at 9:30 and that the actual presentation would begin at 9:45. No business meeting will be held.
Ann reminded members that in May they will be present on the interviews they will have conducted with their partners. Ann sent out the interview pairings to the membership by e-mail earlier in the week. The presentations should use the techniques we learn in the character development workshop presented at the April meeting. Diane reminded us that every good writer needs to practice these important interviewing skills. Ann said the presentations should last 3 to 5 minutes and that she will use time cards to keep members to the time limit so that there will be time for all the presentations during the meeting.
In June we usually have a planning meeting and wear hats to honor a long time tradition. Atlanta suggested that perhaps we could do both an in person meeting and also zoom the meeting for those unable to come in person. Diane will send out an e-mail to the membership asking for ideas on whether we should do planning or have a program in June.
History: Aimee continues to organize the historical records of the branch.
Old Business: Diane reported on the proposed change to the bylaws on allowing men to become members, of the 55 Pen Women branches, 41 branches voted no, 5 voted yes and 9 did not report.
New Business: Ray reported that he recently produced his first cover for the Pen Women Press. He said the Press will publish any work produced by members including memoir, children’s literature, and poetry. The Press will be featuring a poetry collection from the Kirkland collection. Diane mentioned that there are hundreds of companies offering their services for a fee to help authors self-publish their books. Carol warned members that each of these services comes at a cost and that her own experience has been that the companies pressure writers to use more paid services. Diane noted that the traditional publishers just want to know how well known you are, which correlates for them in more profits. Cindy reported that she has found several writing classes offered through Arapahoe Public Library to be very helpful.
Announcements: Karen will have five of her photos on display at the Museo de las Americas in the Nueva Cara Exhibit.
Diane adjourned the meeting at 10:33 am.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kay Taylor