Portland

All Portland meetings of Willamette Writers are held at The Old Church, SW 11th and Clay, near Portland State University in downtown Portland, unless otherwise noted. Doors open at 6:15 pm, with a speaker or panel at 7 pm. Meetings usually run until 8 pm, with opportunities to meet the speakers or panelists after they speak. For more information about meetings, call 503-452-1592. Meetings are free to members of Willamette Writers, $5 for their guests, college students are free, and $10 for non-members.

Tues., May 6 "Enduring Stories"
Jane Kirkpatrick, Author

Tues., June 3
"Love is in the Air"
Romance Writer Panel TBA

Tues., July 1
"Getting Serious About Editing"
Author, Editor TBA

Meetings held at The Old Church, SW 11th & Clay. Social before & after program from 7-8pm.

Young Willamette Writers

With only a keyboard, telephone book and cell phone the first of four song writer classes began. Megan Hope of the "Mega Music Foundation" captured the student's imagination with her enthusiasm and knowledge of music. The main emphasis of the first aclass involved the art of truly listening to the nuance in series of notes. Megan guided the students to listen to musical structure as a prelude to writing lyrics.

For the next class Meagan asked that students bring two of their favorite songs. The students will analyze why the songs appeal to them. She will also bring three samples of what is regarded by experts as the best songs of the last fifty years. Students will learn why musicians chose those songs that earned such high respect. Both activities develop skill and the ear so that when students go to write their song, they will be able to discern what will work for them.

The next class is April 1st at the Old Church at 11th and Clay from 6:45 – 8 p.m. Looking forward to seeing you then.

YWW meets on the same date as the regular monthly Willamette Writers Portland meeting. For more information, call Joni Heyman at 503-697-9593.

Salem Chapter

Salem meetings will be held upstairs at the West Salem Roth's 1130 Wallace Rd. NW with entrance and parking in rear. Social half hour begins at 6:30pm, meeting from 7-8pm. We have set up a website www.SalemChapter.com and have a specific e-mail address for interested parties, SalemChapter@aol.com.

Adam O'Connor Rodriguez is the Associate Editor of Hawthorne Books in Portland. Before that, he served as Managing Editor of the literary journal Willow Springs, as Editor-in-Chief of the journal West Wind Review, and as an editorial assistant for Eastern Washington University Press. He has also worked as a freelance manuscript screener, editor, and designer for several other presses and magazines.

His fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and interviews with notable writers have been published in various magazines and journals. He has received six Pushcart Prize nominations, a Michael Baughman fiction award, and a Walden Residency Fellowship. Monthly meetings are held the second Thursdays at the West Salem Roth's store--1130 Wallace Road NW. Parking and entrance are in the back.

Networking begins at 6:15pm. Meetings are from 7- 8pm. Interactive meetings run from 7-8:30pm.

Meetings are FREE to Members. $5 for Guests of Members. $10 for Non-Members.

Oregon Coast Chapter (Newport)

The Oregon Coast chapter of Willamette Writers offers Writers-on-Writing workshops the second Tuesday of each month, 7-8:30 p.m. in the McEntee Room of the Newport Public Library, 35 NW Nye St. Admission is free. The Writers-on-Writing series is sponsored by the Newport Public Library and the Sylvia Beach Hotel. For information, contact Sue Lick at suelick@casco.net or Dorothy Blackcrow Mack at dmack@netportnet.com.

Whether you write children's books or read favorites to grandchildren, Elizabeth Rusch offers something for everyone with her workshop talk, "Listen to the Children." It includes tips for pitching writing for children as well as adults, reading aloud to toddlers by watching their body language, and exercises on getting meaningful feedback from your audience with board books, picture books, and novels. The talk is free and open to the public, part of Willamette Writers Coast Branch monthly series "Writers-on-Writing," at the Newport Public Library on Tuesday, May 6, 7-8:30pm.

Two of Rusch's books have been Oregon Book Award finalists. Generation Fix: Young Ideas for a Better World was also a Smithsonian magazine Notable Children's Book, an IRA Children's Book Award finalist, a Children's Bookwatch Reviewers Choice, and an Oregonian Junior Book Club selection.

Her second, Will It Blow? Become a Volcano Detective at Mt. St. Helens, was also a Natural History magazine Best Book for Young Readers, and a Washington Reads pick. Midwest Book Review recommends it highly as "An ideal introduction to volcanism as engaging and entertaining as it is informed and informative."

Her newest books is A Day with No Crayons. According to Crayola, the average American child wears down 730 crayons by his 10th birthday. Deprived of crayons, Liza's discovers a world of color all around her. Mixed-media illustrations reflect Van Gogh, Pollock, and "found art."

Next meeting June 3, a multi-media talk with Rebecca Harrison on nonfiction, author of Deep Dark and Dangerous: On the Bottom with the Northwest Salvage Divers.

Mid-Valley Chapter (Eugene)

The Mid-Valley Willamette Writers Speakers Series is on the first Thursday of the month (unless it conflicts with a holiday, usually Sept. and/or Jan.) from September-May (no meetings in the summer), starting with a social half hour at 6:30 (hot tea, coffee and cookies provided), followed by the speaker at 7:00 p.m. and is open to the public. Location: Baker Building, 975 High St., Eugene. Free to members of Willamette Writers, suggested $10 donation for non-members.

For more information contact: JoJo Jensen [jojo.jensen@yahoo.com]

To have your name put on the Eugene Chapter email list or have brochures sent to your group: JoJo Jensen [jojo.jensen@yahoo.com]

IMPORTANT PARKING INFO:
To park behind the Baker Center, you need to come early and see one of us for a parking permit that can be used for the whole series. Cars without permits will be fined.

May 1, 2008
BILL SULLIVAN
Making Nonfiction Writing Exciting

Nine out of ten published books are nonfiction, but how do you make yours stand out? Veteran author William L. Sullivan shares his tips for getting your work in print, keeping it in print, and making sure it sparkles. Nature writing, history, how-to, biography, travel -- Sullivan's done them all and learned some tricks along the way. He'll offer specific advice: Should you publish through an agent, go direct to a publisher, or self publish? How do you make sure your book gets noticed?

The author of ten non-fiction books and two novels, Sullivan studied writing under Alison Lurie at Cornell University. His adventure journal, "Listening for Coyote" was featured by the New York Times and was chosen one of Oregon's "100 Books" by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission. His latest work, "The Case of Einstein's Violin" is a murder mystery set partly in Eugene and partly in Europe.

www.oregonhiking.com
sullivan@efn.org

Southern Oregon Chapter (Medford)

The southern Oregon chapter of Willamette Writers meets the second Saturday of the month in September 2007, then the first Sat. of the month through June 2008 in the Adams room of the downtown Medford Library, 205 South Central Avenue. Please use the front door to enter. Meetings are 10 a.m. to noon. Parking is down the street. This speaker series is presented by Willamette Writers, a non-profit organization founded to help published and aspiring writers. Meetings are free to members, $5.00 for non-members. For information about Willamette Writers of Southern Oregon, call Lori Patch at 541-955-9365.

Join us for networking at 9:30 a.m. Speaker begins at 10. For information about local events, please call the coordinator, Lori Patch at 541-955-9365.

Membership dues: $36.00/year includes a monthly newsletter and discounted rate for the annual conference in Portland and other WW sponsored workshops.

2007 Speaker Series

Saturday, May 3rd
Elizabeth Lyon
Add Personality to Your Prose

The kiss of death, whether you share your writing with friends or family or seek publication, is non-distinctive, flat, forgettable writing. Elizabeth Lyon, veteran book editor for over twenty years, will share techniques to reverse these negatives and make your prose—fiction or memoir/personal essay—vibrate with personality.

BONUS-Afternoon Workshop with Elizabeth Lyon

There will be a fee for this workshop.

"Movement, Movement, Movement"

Underlying effective characterization is movement. Underlying effective plot is movement. Learn the half-dozen ways to create movement, which in turn improves pace, ups the suspense, and deepens characterization. Apply this much-overlooked element of craft—to fiction, memoirs, and essays—and see your writing utterly transformed.

Elizabeth Lyon has spent over twenty years teaching writing and working with hundreds of writers as an independent book editor. Passionate about empowering writers, Lyon has written six books on craft and marketing, for both fiction and nonfiction writers. Her articles have appeared in The Writer, Writer's Digest, in anthologies, and in the 2008 Guide to Literary Agents. In 2007 she launched her traveling workshops, "I'll Come to You!" to help writers living anywhere. Her newest published book is Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore. Her websites are www.4-edit.com and www.elizabethlyon.com. She lives in Springfield, Oregon.