Sticky Notes Blog

A blog of writing news, tips, and inspiration from Fat Plum

Category: Coming attractions

Fat Plum's Book Boot Camp is Back!

Events

What is Book Boot Camp? It is an intensive six-week workshop designed to take your work in progress from mediocre to marketable!

To quote yesterday's Publisher's Lunch, the newsletter of www.PublishersMarketplace.com, it read, "Even in the digital age, the power of meeting face-to-face cannot be underestimated."

While this quote was in reference to attending the London Book Fair, the writer was correct. Face-to-face meetings can be a powerful way to impact your writing.

Book Boot Camp's small group sessions offer writers targeted feedback specific to individual writing projects with a focus on improving the manuscript, taking it to the next level. Constructive, targeted suggestions cover content, editing, and marketing concerns.

Continue reading "Fat Plum's Book Boot Camp is Back!"

Posted by Judy on January 30, 2010
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Coffee & Crime Breakfast with Michael Baden, M.D. & Linda Kenney

A message from Mary Alice Gorman, owner of Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA:

On Saturday June 27 at 10 AM, we have a Coffee and Crime Breakfast with the Badens and their new novel. Michael Baden, M.D., is one of America's leading forensic experts. He has overseen cases ranging from the death of John Belushi to the examination of the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and has served as an expert witness in countless criminal cases, including the trials of Claus von Bulow and O. J. Simpson. He has been a consulting forensic pathologist to the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the FBI, and the Russian government, as well as a visiting professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Albert Einstein School of Medicine, and Albany Medical College.

Linda Kenney has won dozens of civil rights lawsuits and has appeared as a guest legal commentator on Court TV, CNN, and MSNBC.
They live in New York City with their dog, Mycroft.

Call 412/828-4877 or go to www.mysterylovers.com
to buy your ticket at $5.00.........such a deal for writers!!!!

Posted by Judy on April 28, 2009
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WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids

WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids: Building Writing Confidence in the Classroom & Beyond
June 22-26, 2009
Offered by Published Author Judith Burnett Schneider

I am hosting my fifth annual WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids!

The concepts and skills developed at camp carry into every subject and every form of writing. My daughter was motivated by the instructors to work hard and learn the art of writing. As always, she loved it! ~ Doug (father of a four-time camper)

Whether a student approaches writing projects with confidence or fear, the first step is to understand that writing well is not a talent but a craft that can be learned and practiced -- much like mastering an instrument or excelling in a sport.

Continue reading "WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids"

Posted by Judy on March 19, 2009
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WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids: Meet & Greet

Register & Receive our Thank You Prize!

If the child in your life loves to write or if you'd like her/him to gain more confidence in writing, come visit with authors and professional writers Judy Burnett Schneider and Mary Patouillet. The WRITE NOW Writing Camp Founders & Directors will be hosting a Meet & Greet session at Borders in the Shops at Northway on McKnight Road. They'll be there on Saturday, May 10, from noon until 2:00 PM answering questions and displaying some of the work students have completed during their intensive, fun-filled week at WRITE NOW Writing Camp.

Camp registrants will receive a prize, so come one, come all!

WRITE NOW Writing Camp will be held during the week of June 16-20, 2008 in the music section of the North Hills Borders. It is open to students entering grades 5-8. One returning camper's mom said her daughter "loved the camp and used the material she learned there throughout her sixth grade year."

Can't make it to the Meet & Greet? Email Judy at judy@fatplum.com for more information.

We're looking forward to catching up with our past campers and meeting future students, too!

Posted by Judy on May 05, 2008
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UPWords Reading Series, Lori Jakiela and Stacey Waite

From the mailbag:

Friday February 8th at 7pm is the next UPWords at the Union Project featuring writers Lori Jakiela and Stacey Waite. Join us for an intimate evening of free entertainment. UPWords is a monthly reading series generally occurring the  2nd Friday of each month. Union Project is located at 801 N. Negley Ave., on the corner of Stanton Ave. and Negley Ave. For more information please visit www.unionproject.org, email hilary@unionproject.org or call 412-363-4550 x 26.
 
Lori Jakiela is the author of a memoir, Miss New York Has Everything (Warner 2006), and a poetry collection, The Regulars (Liquid Paper Press 2001). Her second memoir, Call Your Mother, is forthcoming. Jakiela's essays and poems have appeared in literary journals, newspapers, and anthologies in the U.S. and the U.K., including The Chicago Tribune, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 5 AM, Tears in the Fence, River Styx, Nerve Cowboy, and elsewhere. Jakiela is an Associate Professor of English at The University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg.
 
Winner of the 2004 Frank O'Hara Prize for Poetry for her first chapbook entitled Choke. Stacey Waite teaches writing and gender studies courses at the University of Pittsburgh. Her poems have appeared most recently in Poet Lore, Nimrod, 5AM, West Branch, Chiron Review and Pearl.

Posted by Cindy on January 30, 2008
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UPWords Reading Series, January 11

For Pittsburgh-area writers and readers, an item from our mailbag:

On January 11th from 7pm-9pm, Union Project will host their monthly reader/writer series UPWords. The evening will highlight esteemed fiction author Sherrie Flick and acclaimed poet Nancy Krygowski. UPwords, hosted and coordinated by fiction writer Damian Dressick, will be held in the Union Project's Atrium and is free to the public. The Union Project located at 801 N. Negley Ave. is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing community space to connect, create, and celebrate.

Damian teaches creative writing and literature at Robert Morris University, he is also the 2007 winner of Harriette Arnow Award for short fiction.

Sherrie Flick is an award- winning fiction writer whose work has been included in two anthologies from Norton: New Sudden Fiction and Flash Fiction Forward.

Nancy Krygowski is a poet and an adult literacy instructor; her first book of poems Velocity won the 2006 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Sherrie Flick and Nancy Krygowski are both Assistant Artistic Directors, and co-founders of the Gist Street Reading Series.

UPWords is a free monthly reader writer series that is held at the Union Project the second Friday of every month. More information about the Union Project, and upcoming events can be found at www.unionproject.org.

Both Sherrie and Nancy are friends of mine, but even if they weren't I'd recommend this reading: Their writing is excellent, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Posted by Cindy on January 03, 2008
This entry was posted in the following categories: Coming attractions
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Script Frenzy: NaNoWriMo for screenwriters and playwrites

Have you always wanted to write a play or a screenplay but never had the time? Now's your chance: In June, you can write a script, and enjoy the support of a bunch of other people doing the exact same, crazy thing.

It's Script Frenzy, brought to life by the same people who manage National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) every November.

Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants attempt the creatively daring feat of writing an original, full-length screenplay—or stage play—in a single month. Spurred by a wild deadline and buoyed by a community of countless other writers, Script Frenzy participants can't be bothered with self-doubt—or editing. They're too busy writing by the seat of their pants, typing out beautiful, flawed stories that no one else could have dreamt up.

The fun and creativity starts June 1, and you can sign up now. Participation is free. Go to it!

Posted by Cindy on May 12, 2007
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Flash fiction workshops

A writing workshop of interest:

Point of View
Writing Workshops at Silver Eye Center for Photography
1015 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
www.silvereye.org
412-431-1810

Reservations: Please contact Sylvia Ehler sehler@silvereye.org

Thursday evenings from 7-9pm

May 3, 10, 24 [no class on the 17th]
June 14, 21, 28
October 4, 11, 18
November 1, 8, 15

Each three-session workshop is $20.

These evenings of generative writing will use a variety of photography exhibitions at Silver Eye as jumping off points to create flash fiction. Silver Eye is a great, cozy gallery perfect for getting some good writing done. We will explore setting, point of view, characterization, and the art of the detail. Sherrie Flick will moderate the programs with mini-lectures from special guests thrown in here and there.

Sherrie Flick is author of the award-winning flash fiction chapbook I Call This Flirting (Flume Press, 2004). Anthologies include Sudden Fiction: The Mammoth Book of Minuscule Fiction (MAMMOTH Press, 2003), Flash Fiction Forward (Norton, 2006), and New Sudden Fiction (Norton, 2007). She has received artist residencies from the Ucross Foundation and Atlantic Center for the Arts, as well as a Tennessee Williams Fellowship from Sewanee Writers‚ Conference. In 2005, she was honored as one of Pittsburgh's "40 under 40." Recently, she was awarded a 2007 Individual Artist Fellowship from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Her interdisciplinary work includes a collaborative exhibition, The Garden Inside, with photographer Sue Abramson and a libretto for Dali's Egg, an experimental opera by Los Angeles composer Nicholas Chase. She is co-founder and artistic director of the Gist Street Reading Series.

This event is supported by a Heinz Endowments Arts Experience Initiative.

Posted by Cindy on April 13, 2007
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Mark Your Calendars: Xtreme Critique Weekend Is Coming Soon

Are you struggling with whether or not your chapters are engaging, tight, and well-paced? Do you sense that your articles or essays lack umph? Or have you come up with a brilliant nonfiction book idea but can't seem to convey your enthusiasm in a written proposal?

If you're nodding at all, then you're likely in need of the constructive feedback and direction that our Xtreme Critique Weekend offers. By participating in five targeted critiquing sesssions and bouncing thoughts and ideas off of caring peers and professionals during meals and social gatherings, you'll leave the weekend equipped and ready to ramp your writing to a more publishable level.

Here are the details.

Continue reading "Mark Your Calendars: Xtreme Critique Weekend Is Coming Soon"

Posted by Judy on March 22, 2007
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Lecture on Police Procedures in Ligonier

Learn Police Procedures for Writers at CSI: Rector

Are you working on writing a mystery? If you'd like to learn more about crime scene investigation and police procedures for writers, come to the next Ligonier Valley Writers program on Sunday afternoon, March 25, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at St. Michael's Church in Rector.

The speaker will be retired police officer and LVW board member Ed Kelemen, who has 23 years of experience in law enforcement. He will discuss the most common mistakes writers make when writing about police and investigative procedures and give advice on how to correct them. The talk is free and open to the public.

"There are too many master criminals in today's literature. For every whodunit, there are a thousand smoking-gun solutions," Ed says. "But remember, most criminals are stupid."

Ed has received numerous citations and awards during his career, including the Variety Club Award for service above and beyond the call of duty. He was one of the founding members of the Allegheny County Police Bomb Squad and has taught police procedures and investigative techniques at numerous locations, including the Allegheny County Police and Fire Academy and the FBI Academy at Quantico, VA.

Continue reading "Lecture on Police Procedures in Ligonier"

Posted by Judy on March 20, 2007
This entry was posted in the following categories: Coming attractions
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