Dear Authors of the Flathead Members and Followers,
Holiday Greetings to you all. I write on a clear, frosty morning with cider bubbling in the mechanical room, squash and apples in the cellar, and hope in my heart as I send out more queries. The rejections by now are so numerous they (almost) don't hurt as much as they used to.
For those who registered for the conference: Zach Honey wants your submissions (he said so in an email to me! - https://fineprintlit.com/zach-honey.html). His website says he's closed, but mention the conference for an in. I also have his PowerPoint presentations. Send me an email if you want them.
Lots of news!
Beginning December 7, our meetings during the cold months will begin at 6:oo pm so we can be uplifted and get home at a decent hour.
December 7 - Kathy Dunnehoff's
Show, Tell & Swap! Bring books to share, others to give away, and share tips/advice you've found helpful. In person and via Zoom.
December 14 - Annual Meeting to elect new officers and receive a report of finances and organizational progress from the previous year. This will take 15 minutes, followed by widely published and award-winning author, Leslie Budewitz, giving a hands-on workshop about Building Character. In-person and Craig will have Zoom on his laptop for out-of-town folks.
December 21 - Our Annual Holiday Party Potluck. Come, share food, laughter, and wrap a book (or two, or three) for a gift exchange, one where if folks like another person's present better than fishing in the pile, they can take yours and then the original person gets to select a new present. I should bring my dog, Ginger, a Browning rescue. She loves to unwrap presents (we can't put them out or on the floor until Christmas morning or she'll unwrap them all!).
Proposed Board Members for 2024 (to be voted on December 14).
President - Craig Naylor
VP - Sue Purvis
Secretary - Fran Tabor
Treasurer - Heidi Wolf
Membership Coordinator - this is a new board position and we ask for volunteers to assist the president keeping the member list and sending out the MailChimp newsletters (we will buy the program for you if you don't already have it). Call Craig with questions.
At-Large 1 - Shira Marin
At Large 2 - Carl Stevens
All positions are elected so if you want to throw your name in, please let Craig know. Call him if you have questions about what each position entails (406-250-8867). We're in a reorganization process to make the board positions time efficient. Our Mission is Writers Helping Writers so if you want to pitch in in any way, let Craig know. Fran and Sue are willing to serve but both have served a while and will welcome another to take their place. Ditto for Craig but he'd like a V.P. or Membership Coordinator to serve for a year for organizational familiarity before he moves on.
Many thanks to all Board Members, including these three who are moving on:
Erika Putnam for her heroic work as Treasurer, transferring our finances into QuickBooks, handling the bills, and sending out our MailChimp messages.
At-Large member Jess Owen who will move to coordinate the Student Writing Competition.
At-Large Member Claudia Bennet who will join Maggie Doherty assisting Craig on the annual conference.
Chris La Tray noted that we have a special thing going here in the Flathead. Other areas have writers groups but he said he'd never seen one where folks are so supportive of each other. Let's continue to build on what our elders have bequeathed to us as we move forward into the next year.
Look for one more newsletter in early December focused on the election.
Safe travels, happy Thanksgiving, and blessings on your writing!
Craig
Craig Thomas Naylor, DMAPresident, Authors of the Flathead