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online writers meeting
Note from leadership:
 
Due to the current health crisis with COVID-19, Wordsowers’ March meeting is canceled. We will make a decision about the April meeting when it’s closer to time and we know what the situation is with the virus. In the meantime, spend more time with your family and stay healthy. 
 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
 
If you have any specific prayer requests during this time in regards to this season of health crisis, please email us at wordsowers@wordsowers.com. We would be honored to lift you up in prayer. 
 
May the Lord bless you and keep you! 
Author Angela D. Meyer

Please note: The monthly meeting will be held at
Village Inn on 7837 Dodge St., Omaha, NE
6:00-9:00 pm

Topic: Starting Strong

Whether it’s the new year, an article, a book or devotional, you want to start strong. Come prepared to learn how to hook your reader and keep them turning the page. We will answer questions like what makes a good opening and, if your writing a novel, what has to happen in the first portion of the book to set up a story people can’t walk away from.
Bring pen/pencil and paper or a laptop and be prepared to practice what you learn. There will also be time for some feedback on your in-class practice. Angela Meyer will share insights on starting strong from a variety of sources.

Please join us for the 2020 kick-off meeting on Jan. 23 at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St., Omaha, NE from 6-9pm.
The back room is reserved for Wordsowers.

We meet the fourth Thursday of the month.

Jennifer Slattery

Today we have Jennifer Slattery sharing with us today.

Sometimes we forget we’re called. When pressure comes or ministry events don’t turn out as we hoped or expected, we tend to make much of ourselves and little of Jesus. Only when we, like Paul, can say, in the depths of our hearts, “I am a slave of Christ,” can we rise above outward successes and failures and the ever-shifting opinions of man.

I have a dear friend who’s an equally humble and gifted writer. She’s never signed with a publisher or seen her name in a byline of a national magazine. But she writes truth with the transparency, and grace of one chosen and empowered by the Risen Lord. However, she doesn’t often remember this. She tends to allow her insecurities and doubts to overshadow God’s authoritative voice.

When this occurs, I remind her that she’s called, chosen, lavished with grace, and given everything she needs to fulfill all God has planned. Whenever I introduce her, I especially love stating her role as a writer, after which she’ll drop her gaze and sputter something about me being too kind.

I’m not. I’m simply calling out the truth. She became a writer the moment she took her first steps of obedience, regardless of the words penned on a page. The same holds true for every speaker and ministry leader commissioned by Christ. Our calling isn’t dependent on the size of our readership or how many Instagram followers we have. It’s determined by the will and pleasure of our Sovereign Lord.

I love how the apostle Paul introduced himself in his letters. He almost always began by asserting who he was in Christ. He told them, and likely himself, that he was “called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1 Cor. 1:1).

We are as well.

We are called: summoned by God Himself and gifted with salvation.

We are apostles: messengers sent on mission, commissioned by Christ to represent Him to a broken and hurting world.

We’re called by theléma, God’s preferred will. His preferred not decretive will. In other words, this is something we accept or reject. We submit or rebel.

 It’s possible to waste the life and talents God has given us. It’s possible to be so set on a particular direction or opportunity, we completely miss the amazing things God has in store. It’s possible to stand on the fringe of the abundant, filled to overflowing life Jesus promised without experiencing the full joy and depth of it. When we choose surrender, however, no matter what we encounter, no matter the opened and closed doors, we find deep intimacy with Christ, our true prize, and therefore realize we have every reason to rejoice.

To lead, write, and speak well, with the power and authority granted us by Jesus Christ, we must anchor ourselves in God’s love and grace and fully commit to His call, regardless of where He leads.

Identity, not just who we are, but who we think we are, determines behavior.

So remember and hold tight to this:
You are called.
You are sent.
You are empowered.
.

~ ~ ~

Jennifer Slattery is a writer and international speaker who has addressed women’s groups, church groups, Bible studies, and other writers across the nation. She maintains a devotional blog found at Jennifer Slattery Lives Out Loud and on Crosswalk. She has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Love Ministries, she and her team partner with churches to facilitate events designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Contact her HERE to book her for your next women’s event.

Hometown Healing:

She’s home again, but not for long…
Unless this cowboy recaptures her heart
Returning home with a baby in tow, Paige Cordell’s determined her stay is only temporary. But to earn enough money to leave, she needs a job—and her only option is working at her first love’s dinner theater. With attraction once again unfurling between her and Jed Gilbertson, can the man who once broke her heart convince her to stay for good?

Buy your copy HERE.

Does Your Need Motivate You to Write?

There is no school for caregivers. So where does the caregiver turn for help? I struggled through the first year of my husband’s “No Hope” rare cancer diagnosis in 2003. Through that time, I developed a new strength and a new title, The Lionhearted Kat.

I also created a lionhearted motto to keep me going and to share:

“Be Bold! Stay Strong! Spring to action!”

My husband survived the rare cancer, Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP). He lived seven years from the day he first saw a doctor and then died suddenly of a heart attack.

That first near-death experience brought reality to our home.

Gary often said, “Life is short and then you die. It is what you do with the minutes in between that count.” He used those last seven years to help make a difference in the lives of others. He also encouraged me to write, write, write.

At the beginning of Gary’s illness, I searched libraries and bookstores for help. I can still feel my desperation in a Barnes and Noble store when I said to the teen clerk, “I need a book for caregivers.”

“I’m not sure what that is, maybe try self-help.”

I found nothing. Later I wrote and published, “Capsules of Hope: Survival Guide for Caregivers.”

A rare cancer moved me to supply a need for others.

Not all of life is death and dying—today I’m determined to find something ridiculous to write about. A tidbit of laughter to share with others.

Above all I know this:

Nothing I write will be read by others and possibly make a difference in their lives, help them to find help and hope unless I share it or submit it.

Stronger Verbs Stronger Writing
Stronger Verbs Stronger Writing

After writing about caregiving and such tough places in life, I searched out a fun teaching tool I wrote myself years ago. My critique partner at that time, Audrey, pushed me to learn a stronger vocabulary. Instead of studying, (see the ing word) I played (yep, an ed word.) I shared (an ed word) my fun poetry with my writer friends and we laughed (see another ed word.)

This writing exercise and lots of practice taught me to write with stronger verbs.

ED, YOU SAID?

“Ed, it’s said, is a stronger verb than ING.
I smote my head and said, “For me, ING sings.
Try like I might, Ed leaves me befuddled.
My mind sifted ED’s and ended up jumbled.
I smote my head and said, “For me, ING sings.


Try like I might, Ed leaves me befuddled.
My mind sifted ED’s and ended up jumbled.
So, I jumped and bounced and ED words compiled.
I dabbled and drizzled till my lips really smiled.
I hurled and furled and agonized, too.
I bristled and blundered and bandied my way through.


Skewered, slithered, sniveled, and sniped
Whacked, wallowed, warbled, and wiped.
Yawned, yoweled, yodeled, and yipped.
I gasped for air as I giggled and gripped.


Yes, I clicked my tongue and chimed delighted,
“Look at those ED’s they promenade as if benighted.”
My tongue relished the sound of a toughed end.
Words that rippled, rolled and even I comprehend.


I’ve weathered, and warmed. Trounced and trashed.
I’ve screamed and squirreled. Hobbled and hashed.
And what, you ask, was accomplished by this?
Why, I raised my knowledge, at my editor’s wish?


I smote my head and said, “For me, ING sings.
Try like I might, Ed leaves me befuddled.
My mind sifted ED’s and ended up jumbled.
So, I jumped and bounced and ED words compiled.
I dabbled and drizzled till my lips really smiled.


I hurled and furled and agonized, too.
I bristled and blundered and bandied my way through.
Skewered, slithered, sniveled, and sniped
Whacked, wallowed, warbled, and wiped.


Yawned, yoweled, yodeled, and yipped.
I gasped for air as I giggled and gripped.
Yes, I clicked my tongue and chimed delighted,
“Look at those ED’s they promenade as if benighted.”


My tongue relished the sound of a toughed end.
Words that rippled, rolled and even I comprehend.
I’ve weathered, and warmed. Trounced and trashed.
I’ve screamed and squirreled. Hobbled and hashed.


And what, you ask, was accomplished by this?
Why, I raised my knowledge, at my editor’s wish?
“Ed, it’s said, is a stronger verb than ING.
I smote my head and said, “For me, ING sings.


Try like I might, Ed leaves me befuddled.
My mind sifted ED’s and ended up jumbled.
So, I jumped and bounced and ED words compiled.
I dabbled and drizzled till my lips really smiled.


I hurled and furled and agonized, too.
I bristled and blundered and bandied my way through.
Skewered, slithered, sniveled, and sniped
Whacked, wallowed, warbled, and wiped.


Yawned, yoweled, yodeled, and yipped.
I gasped for air as I giggled and gripped.
Yes, I clicked my tongue and chimed delighted,
“Look at those ED’s they promenade as if benighted.”


My tongue relished the sound of a toughed end.
Words that rippled, rolled and even I comprehend.
I’ve weathered, and warmed. Trounced and trashed.
I’ve screamed and squirreled. Hobbled and hashed.


And what, you ask, was accomplished by this?
Why, I raised my knowledge, at my editor’s wish?
“Ed, it’s said, is a stronger verb than ING.
I smote my head and said, “For me, ING sings.


Try like I might, Ed leaves me befuddled.
My mind sifted ED’s and ended up jumbled.
So, I jumped and bounced and ED words compiled.
I dabbled and drizzled till my lips really smiled.


I hurled and furled and agonized, too.
I bristled and blundered and bandied my way through.
Skewered, slithered, sniveled, and sniped
Whacked, wallowed, warbled, and wiped.


Yawned, yoweled, yodeled, and yipped.
I gasped for air as I giggled and gripped.
Yes, I clicked my tongue and chimed delighted,
“Look at those ED’s they promenade as if benighted.”


My tongue relished the sound of a toughed end.
Words that rippled, rolled and even I comprehend.
I’ve weathered, and warmed. Trounced and trashed.
I’ve screamed and squirreled. Hobbled and hashed.


And what, you ask, was accomplished by this?
Why, I raised my knowledge, at my editor’s wish?
“Ed, it’s said, is a stronger verb than ING.
Try like I might, Ed leaves me befuddled.
I smote my head and said, “For me, ING sings.
My mind sifted ED’s and ended up jumbled.


So, I jumped and bounced and ED words compiled.
I dabbled and drizzled till my lips really smiled.
I hurled and furled and agonized, too.
I bristled and blundered and bandied my way through.


Skewered, slithered, sniveled, and sniped
Whacked, wallowed, warbled, and wiped.
Yawned, yoweled, yodeled, and yipped.
I gasped for air as I giggled and gripped.


Yes, I clicked my tongue and chimed delighted,
“Look at those ED’s they promenade as if benighted.”
My tongue relished the sound of a toughed end.
Words that rippled, rolled and even I comprehend.


I’ve weathered, and warmed. Trounced and trashed.
I’ve screamed and squirreled. Hobbled and hashed.
And what, you ask, was accomplished by this?
Why, I raised my knowledge, at my editor’s wish?

© 2003 by the Lionhearted Kat

“Oh no! Where’s my file?”
We’ve all heard the horror stories. Writers pour time, energy–and their hearts–into their words, Then a computer crash zaps it all.
Please join us as workshop leader Lee Warren shares various methods to back-up our work. Let’s save our writing–and our sanity!

Lee has twenty years experience in the Christian publishing industry, both traditional and indie publishing, and has taught at writers conferences throughout the US.
He has written eighteen books and hundreds of articles for various magazines, newspapers, and websites, including Decision, Discipleship Journal, Light & Life, War Cry, Christian Single, Bible Study Magazine, CBN.com, Today’s Christian, Breakaway, Clubhouse, Living Light News and many others.

After the meeting we’ll gather for our relaxed Afterglow chat session at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St.

Instead of our usual library location, we’ll meet at 6pm at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St.

Are you hesitant to show samples of your writing to editors at the upcoming annual Wordsowers conference? If so, you’ll want to join us for the March meeting. Author and freelance editor Lee Warren will walk you through key writing principles that will help your work stand out if you implement them.

Please join us as workshop leader Lee Warren shares his expertise in this area. Lee has twenty years experience in the Christian publishing industry, both traditional and indie publishing, and has taught at writers conferences throughout the US.

He has written eighteen books and hundreds of articles for various magazines, newspapers, and websites, including Decision, Discipleship Journal, Light & Life, War Cry, Christian Single, Bible Study Magazine, CBN.com, Today’s Christian, Breakaway, Clubhouse, Living Light News and many others.

Even if you aren’t planning to attend the writers conference, the material covered in this meeting will benefit you. Please join us and learn how to make your writing shine!

Again, instead of our usual library location, we’ll meet at 6pm at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St.

As much as Wordsowers would love to treat everyone to lobster and filet mignon, unfortunately dinner is not in our budget. This is a pay-for-yourself event.

Often we go to meetings hoping to glean knowledge, to gain tangible help to propel us along. Sometime we find those insightful nuggets; sometimes we come up empty.

That’s why this Jan 24, 2019 kick-off meeting is all about you. What do you need to propel your writing forward?

This meeting is an open forum. We plan to invite the rest of 2019’s monthly speakers based on the needs presented at the January meeting.

Please feel free to bring a snack, beverage, and your input. This meeting is open to all.
After the meeting we’ll gather for our relaxed Afterglow chat session at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St.

We meet the fourth Thursday of the month
6:00-7:45pm at the W. Clarke Swanson Library.

The meeting room is on the basement level. Park on the east side of the building and walk into the lower door.

Dee Dee Lake, Christmas, memories

Dee Dee Lake, Christmas, memories

Today we welcome Dee Dee Lake as she shares

her thoughts about writing during Christmas.

I have learned to never, never ever, set a writing deadline during the holidays. As an author, I am an observer and keeper of history in the making. My job is to capture moments and honor traditions of God, family, friends, and community.

If my mind is on editing and meeting writing deadlines, I miss the life stories happening around me. I need to be available. I need to be present in the moment as we celebrate.

Christmas is a time to

  • watch babies experience their first of many Christmas celebrations;
  • meet shy new significant others and introduce them to crazy, loud, busy family;
  • see Great Uncle Joe pretend to be gruff when he truly is a teddy bear at heart;
  • hear children shriek with joy as they begin their own journey, story, and generation of new traditions and experiences;
  • welcome new people into the family and make strangers feel like family;
  • remember the reason we have this Christmas season, the birth of Christ, our Redeemer.

Conversations are a vital part of being family and close friends. We recall and laugh about our past celebrations, burnt feast, and disagree over which of Grandma Mattie Lou’s desserts should be “the best in show”. There may be tears, laughter, and raised voices all in the same conversation. During this season we take time to remember those who are with Jesus and those who are out-of-touch. These conversations bind us as family.

Being an author is what God created me to be. He wants me to capture the joy, love, and family.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds me to stay in the moment because there is a time for everything. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every [a]event under heaven—” NASB

As my family’s scribe, I’m the story-keeper, the one who remember the details and scribbles in journals the precious recollections for future generations.  Soon enough it will be time to say good-bye to the out-of-town family and friends and begin to write down all the experiences.

My advice author friends take the time to experience the life around you and then capture the moments with words for the generations to come.

 

Dee Dee LakeDeeDee Lake is the Marriage Expert, although, she’s only be married for thirty-five years. She speaks and writes about taking your marriage and relationships from ordinary to extraordinary. DeeDee also works with CrossRiver Media as their Author Relations Coordinator. A job she loves because she connects and encourages other authors.

Connect with Dee Dee

Website       Facebook

Writing, writing during the holidays, Brenda Anderson

Writing, writing during the holidays, Brenda Anderson

Today, we welcome Brenda Anderson, author of life-affirming fiction. She has some great tips to share with us about writing during the holiday season.

When considering writing on this topic, admittedly, I doubted I could do it justice. After all, writing during the holiday season has been very difficult over the years. Yet, I’ve always met my deadlines.

This year I’ve got a few different deadlines. My first draft of my current work-in-progress needs to be completed by the end of November. And then I’ll need it back from my critique partners by the end of December when it goes to my editor. In the meantime, I should begin my next book which has a first draft deadline of April 1. Eek! So, no resting in December.

The question then is, How can I get writing in and make the holidays special? Here are a few suggestions that help me:

Make a To-Do List: Include everything that you’d like to accomplish on this list. Don’t worry about time constraints … yet. And don’t forget to include some R&R and maybe a Hallmark Christmas movie or two to help you wind down.

Check Your Calendar: Don’t forget about church and concerts and sporting events and family celebrations and other time-fillers.

Establish Your Priorities: What absolutely needs to get done? How many words per day? Work? Shopping? Decorating? Cleaning? Cooking? Serving? Wrapping? What’s less important? What can be set aside or done last minute?

Set Specific Goals: I want to write a 70,000+ word first draft by April 1, 2019. If I start on December 1, that gives me eighteen weeks. To write 70,000 words, I would have to average 3889 words per week. Considering I typically type 1000+ words per day, that means I should spend four days per week writing. As I like to reserve weekends for family that gives me one full day each week to focus on other tasks.

Be Prepared for the Unexpected: Unplanned events, problems, list additions always crop up. Go into the holiday season knowing that they will happen, so you’re not completely taken aback when they do show up.

Give Yourself Grace: If you don’t mark off everything on your list, that’s okay! If your goal was a thousand words a day and you “only” wrote 900, that’s still fantastic! Give yourself the grace to say you did your best, and don’t beat yourself up over it. Rather, applaud yourself for what you did accomplish.

Spend Time Praying and in the Word. I’m uncomfortable adding this to the To-Do List as then it becomes something that you just tick off on a box and then it becomes all about religion and not relationship. But if you get nothing else done this season, when you pray and read God’s Word you’ve gotten the most important things done.

Remember What’s Important: It’s so easy getting caught up in the busyness of the holiday season that we forget what it’s all about: Celebrating Jesus Birth! Faith, Family, and Friends are far more important than any item you can cross off on a list, so make them your focus.

Hope you all have a very blessed Christmas!

Author Brenda AndersonBrenda S. Anderson writes gritty and authentic, life-affirming fiction. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, and is Past-President of the ACFW Minnesota chapter, MN-NICE, the 2016 ACFW Chapter of the Year. When not reading or writing, she enjoys music, theater, roller coasters, and baseball, and she loves watching movies with her family. She resides in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area with her husband of 31 years, their three children, and one sassy cat.

Connect with Brenda: Website   Facebook   Twitter   Pinterest   Goodreads  

Sign up for Brenda’s newsletter

For the holiday season, enjoy Brenda’s book, Hungry for Home                          A Different Kind of Christmas Story…

Hungry … Homeless … Heartbroken

After a troubling encounter with a pregnant teen, Sheila Peterson-Brooks hurries from the crisis pregnancy center into the frigid Minnesota winter where she is mugged and left for dead. After a frantic search, Richard, her husband, finds her, and the police quickly nab the mugger …

A hungry, homeless teen.
The brother of the pregnant girl Sheila had just counseled.

The girl pleads for her brother, and Sheila and Richard choose not to press charges. Instead, they open their home to the boy, a move that could cost them their possessions, and their hearts.

And, in the process, teach them the true meaning of home.

Get your copy today on  Amazon     Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

 

 

 

Pat Mingarelli has over 25 years of experience as a pro photographer. He teaches seminars and workshops at Metro Community College, Iowa Western Community College and the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

In addition, he posts daily to his website The Visual Bible Verse of the Day  and has a speaking ministry called The Creation Speaks.

As a photographer, Pat realized that learning to write would help him get more photos published. As a writer, you’ll find the reverse to be true.
When you submit your written material with good photos, it’s more likely to get published. Even blog posts on you own website are far more likely to get read when accompanied by a strong image.

But just like Pat wondered how to write a great blog or devotional, you probably wonder how to take a great photo. Well, Pat knows, and will help us gain a better understanding of what makes a good photo whether we use an iPhone or digital SLR with interchangeable lenses.

He will also cover other topics including proper resolution for online and print, image compression, copyright issues, composition, lighting, choosing stock photography and what to consider when submitting multiple images with an article.

Please join us for this information-packed presentation.
Feel free to bring a snack and beverage. This meeting is open to all. After the meeting we’ll gather for our relaxed Afterglow chat session at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St.

We meet the fourth Thursday of the month
6:00-7:45pm at the W. Clarke Swanson Library.
The meeting room is on the basement level. Park on the east side of the building and walk into the lower door.

Lee Warren, author photo

Please note: The Feb. 2018 Wordsowers meeting was cancelled due to icy conditions. Because of the high number of requests for Lee’s workshop, he will present his material at our March 2018 gathering.

With twenty years in the publishing industry, editor and author Lee Warren shares his unique insights into the dos and don’ts when working with an editor.
Lee published traditionally before choosing to become an indie author. He has edited for book publishers, newspapers and websites/blogs.
In this workshop, you’ll glean information that will enhance your publishing knowledge and strengthen your work.

Please feel free to bring a snack and beverage if you choose. This meeting is open to all.

After the meeting we’ll gather for our relaxed Afterglow chat session at Village Inn, 7837 Dodge St.

We meet the fourth Thursday of the month
6:00-7:45pm at the W. Clarke Swanson Library.

The meeting room is on the basement level. Park on the east side of the building and walk into the lower door.