PPW News

We Want Your Workshops!

Writing from the Peak, PPW Blog

by: M.B. Partlow

Pikes Peak Writers just unveiled their brand new workshop proposal portal, and we are open for business, looking for your proposals!

What are we looking for? One-hour workshops for our annual Conference, two-hour proposals for our monthly Write Brains, and half-day workshop proposals for the occasional longer events we do.

PPWC Portal

On what topics?

Anything that will help writers improve their craft, from writing better dialogue to thickening the plot. The business of writing, including (shiver) marketing, the bane of our existance, and info from proven successes in the world of independent publishing. We also welcome genre-specific proposals, and love workshops that take the tenets of one genre to make another genre really pop. We like Reality Track/How To topics, which are real life experiences of interest to writers. (In the past, we’ve had a SWAT team, a food writer, a firefighter, a coroner, numerous law enforcement from local to national, and more.) Then there’s the Writer’s Life, which could include time management, motivation, and inspiration to keep on writing when life throws the inevitable roadblock in your way.

Here’s a tip:

It’s better to propose a few workshops for us to choose from than just one lonely proposal. It gives us a better idea of the range of your mad skills, and makes you a more attractive candidate. Want more insider tips? We’ve got a great FAQ on our website. And if you don’t want to present a workshop, but would like to request that a particular topic be covered? We’ve got you covered! Just click here.

Our new portal is based in Submittable, so you will have to make a Submittable account when you begin, It’s quick, painless and free!

We accept Write Brain proposals all year long. But if you want to be considered for the 2019 Pikes Peak Writers Conference, you must submit your workshop proposals by September 30, 2018.

Propose early and propose often!

 

MB Partlow is a long-time volunteer with Pikes Peak Writers, who has worked extensively on the annual conference and on the board. She writes in the spec fic world, reads voraciously across genres, and is only fully happy when she’s made someone laugh or is laughing herself.

Letter from the Editor

Writing from the Peak, PPW Blog

Kathie KJ ScrimHello Pikes Peak Writers! My name is Kathie Scrimgeour (writing under the name K.J. Scrim) and I have taken the reins of Managing Editor From the Editorfor PPW’s blog. I have been the Sweet Success coordinator since 2013 and last year started the column, Meet the Members. When Gabrielle asked if I would be interested in taking over for her, it only seemed to be a natural transition.

PPW is an organization that is here to help all of us learn the craft of writing, editing, and publishing whether it is an epic five book high fantasy or a twenty-word flash fiction. Our blog is a wonderful resource to learn not only tips and tricks to be a better writer, but also a place for moral support and sometimes a few laughs.

As Managing Editor, I will strive for professional, fun, and informative content, and, in the same breath, ask for your help to reach these goals. We are accepting submissions from all members on all aspects of writing. Did you have an “ah-ha” moment at a Write Brain? We would love to hear about it. Have you struggled through writer’s block? How did you get through it? Have you ever had a book optioned for film? Been through a publishing nightmare? Experienced the difference between traditional and self-publishing? Do you know Scrivener, WordPress, or Blogger? What about PPW’s conference? What experiences have you had? These are just a few questions that you could share your experiences through. I am also open to all suggestions. Please contact me at editor@pikespeakwriters.com.

We are going to have a great time together here on Writing from the Peak. This month look for Barb Nickless’ post Devil in the Details, along with Jennifer Lovette’s piece on Facebook algorithms and Jasons Evans’ next installment about villains in historical fiction, plus more!
Bookmark this page so you can visit often.

Longevity

Writing from the Peak, PPW Blog

By: F.P. Dorchak

Longevity.
How do you “get” it?
Do you need to attain it?
Why keep writing?

I don’t know that it’s something to so much as shoot for…as it’s more something you just…fall into. I’m not quite sixty, and have been writing for some fifty-one years. I’ve written ten full manuscripts (at about two-to-three years per manuscript), but have only released five novels and one anthology. I’ve lost track of how many short stories I’ve written. The better of them are in my anthology, Do the Dead Dream? An Anthology of the Weird and the Peculiar, which won the 2017 Best Book Award for Fiction: Short Stories. The anthology came out October 1, 2017, but only sixteen of those have been individually published. And though I’ve been writing fifty-one years, you’ve never heard of me. Or my work. Or my newest abovementioned effort.

Yet still I write.

I think we can get too caught up in the accolades and tropes of society. Like “longevity.” What should be the ameliorated focus is appreciating the voyage…not being praised for, nor identified as having attained, some loftily defined or heralded conclusion. Though it is nice.

Let’s talk more about the voyage.
Enjoy each moment.
Enjoy the beauty of writing and the imagination.
Enjoy creating mental images from your generated words. From stringing together characters into words into phrases into sentences into paragraphs, pages, and books.

How you’ve created a notional construct…translated it through your physical form…your arms, your hands, your fingers…through use of a material instrument—a pencil, pen, a keyboard—into physical reality for others to read. Interpret. Create their own notional constructs. How you are also influencing the emotions and thoughts and perceptions of other people.

Fear. Anger. Love. Enthusiasm. Astonishment!
Marvel at the volume and diversity of what you’re conceiving!
All of the different stories that are being created from some weird place that you simply cannot touch. Yet directs your focus. Your beliefs. Your…living.
That is both there and not there.
The origin and generation of which scientists and philosophers cannot even begin to agree upon.
And from that medium…you’ve created tales.
They just keep coming and you keep writing.
You start submitting to publications. Some get in…most do not. You’re disappointed.

But you keep writing.

You feel like a sweating, barely containable firehose in full-on operation! You can’t get your stories out fast enough! As Time marches on you find that you’re getting better…more efficient at linking words into organized arrangements…and doing it quicker. In fact…you’re using fewer words to get the job done. You’re discovering less vulgar…more refined…ways at hammering home your concepts…and they’re hitting harder than ever. Where it used to take you a paragraph…you’re now employing sentences…sometimes only two or three…and at times…as many words.

You find—much to your utter amusement—that as you submit your romances, your mysteries, your horrors, you have created…a body of work.

You’ve become more confident about your words and your ability to wield them. You’re less bothered by rejection, or what others think…and move on to the next one…the next publication. You write just to write. It’s what you do. Who you are. You know that rejections are not about you—they’re about them. That your work isn’t right for them…philosophically or practically. You know you’ll eventually find your audience…large or small. It is your audience.

Besides…you’ve got work to do.

You keep writing.
That dulls…erases…the disease of rejection.
You feel good again!
Stories!
Just keep issuing forth.
You translate them!

String words together in ways that astound you, and you wonder how that happens. From where do your ideas and methods originate?
Some will get what you’ve done…some will not. It doesn’t matter. You have stories for everyone.

And you keep writing.

Then…somewhere down the line…before you know it…you’re looking down upon your body.
Freed…like never before.
Your corporeal existence laid out before you like a crystal-clear and multi-dimensional Venn diagram.
A life well-lived!
Or not.
But it was your life.
And you have even more ideas.
So you…reach out…in ways…unimaginable…until now—
And, yes, you’re just itchin’ to tell these tales….

@ F.P. Dorchak

F.P. DorchakF. P. (Frank) Dorchak writes gritty, realistic speculative fiction. Frank is published in the U.S., Canada, and the Czech Republic with short stories, non-fiction articles, and his five novels, Sleepwalkers, The Uninvited, ERO, Psychic, and Voice. His first anthology, Do The Dead Dream? won the 2017 Best Book Award for Fiction: Short Stories.

Check out F.P.’s website or click here to read a few of his short stories.

New Proposal Portal

All News, Conference News

The new Proposal Portal is now open for business! If you’d like to propose workshops for the annual Pikes Peak Writers Conference or for our non-conference events, please go here. Please note: we are now using Submittable for this process, so you will need to set up a Submittable account to get started. It’s free and fast, so get those creative juices flowing and get your proposals in! We are accepting proposals for the conference through Sept. 30th, but will accept proposals for Write Brains and half-day workshops any time.

Going But Not Gone

Writing from the Peak, PPW Blog

Greetings Readers…

Time for a changing of the guard. 

It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to serve as Managing Editor for Pikes Peak Writers Blog. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a talented group of professionals, and I’ve enjoyed my run.

Today the capable Kathie Scrimgeour takes on the position of Managing Editor. You’ll recognize her name as she’s been contributing editor for PPW’s Sweet Success and Meet the Member. You may reach Kathie at editor@pikespeakwriters.com.  

Although I’m stepping aside in this role, I’m not leaving. You’ll see me around as contributing editor for Birthdays & Quotes and perhaps the occasional post.

Profile Photo of Gabrielle V Brown Managing Editor Pikes Peak Writers BlogSee what I’m writing about at my  Facebook Page and website. 

Keep in touch!  I can reached at gvbrownwriter@gmail.com

F.P. Dorchak Releases Psychic as an E-book

Sweet Success

PPW is happy to announce that F.P Dorchak’s action/adventure conspiracy thriller, Psychic, has come out in E-book!

Life…we are told…progresses chronologically. Between birth and death we take certain roads…bypass others. There is only one life, one reality.

But what if we have it all wrong?

Enter the world of psychic espionage…where people disappear…lives are destroyed…and facts are manipulated. Where one man stops at nothing to get what he wants, yet doesn’t know what he really has…and one woman’s belief in herself is severely tested….

Where all is never as it seems.

F. P. Dorchak writes gritty speculative fiction. Frank is published in the U.S., Canada, and the Czech Republic. His novels are Voice, Psychic, ERO, The Uninvited, and Sleepwalkers, and his first anthology, Do The Dead Dream? won the 2017 Best Books Award for Fiction: Short Stories. His short stories have appeared in the off-the-grid The Black Sheep; You Belong 2016, Words and Images from Longmont Area Residents regional anthology for 2016; The You Belong Collection, Writings and Illustrations by Longmont Area Residents regional anthology for 2012; Apollo’s Lyre.

Frank can occasionally be reached in séances, and his website. Email works great too: fpdorchak@fpdorchak

Sweet Success by: KJ Scrim, Contributing Editor.
Share your Sweet Success! Fill out this form to share your success with the world.

 

Who wants to help us gear up for the 2019 Pikes Peak Writers Conference?

All News, Conference News

Who wants to help us gear up for the 2019 Pikes Peak Writers Conference?

We need volunteers at all levels, with jobs large and small. Some require a high comfort level for interacting with the public, and some are well out of the limelight.

Two of the more substantial jobs are Conference Admin and Registrar. The Admin is essential to helping the conference come together, working with the directors, making sure communication if flowing and deadlines are being met. The Registrar oversees every aspect of registration, from using software to design the registration form  to answering registration questions from attendees.

Other jobs include Signs Coordinator, Survey Coordinator and Reg Desk Coordinator. All three require the ability to work well with others, solicit and compile information from directors, and attention to detail. Signs and Surveys have less public contact, but the Reg Desk has a great deal, so we need a real extrovert (or someone who can play one for a weekend).

Brochure Design means we need someone with graphic skills and excellent attention to detail to help construct the brochure to advertise the conference. This could also extend to helping build the conference program.

Tech Team Coordinator will wrangle all our techies, the people in each workshop room who make sure the laptops are playing nicely with the projectors. Must be able to work with a variety of people and have good team-leading skills.

Onsite Volunteer Coordinator is exactly what it sounds like! We get lots of people who want to help, and we need someone to coordinate what, when and where the needs are, and assign volunteers to the tasks.

Allergy Meal Coordinator tracks attendee allergy requests from the registration form, and coordinates with the hotel chef and Green Room Coordinator.

Handouts Coordinator takes all the handouts from faculty, via the Programming Director, and puts them together in a semblance of order. Then oversees distribution to attendees.

Scholarship Coordinator will gather scholarship applications, build a scholarship committee, and work with that committee to distribute scholarship funds for conference.

If you are interested or would like more information, please contact the 2019 Conference Director, Laura Hayden, at Conference@pikespeakwriters.com.

 

Pikes Peak Writers is seeking volunteers for a number of non-board positions

All News

It’s your chance to get involved! Pikes Peak Writers is seeking volunteers for a number of non-board positions. These include:

NCE positions: Write Brain host (once each month), Special Events Coordinator (coordinating 3-5 events per year), and committee member (meets quarterly to plan and brainstorm). If you would like more information, please sent an email to Workshops@pikespeakwriters.com.

The PPW blog needs contributors! Positions include Contributor (write an occasional blog article), Contributing Editor (write a planned series of articles), and Literary Quotes Editor (create and post literary picture quotes). If you are interested or would like more information, please contact editor@pikespeakwriters.com.

The Zebulon Writing Contest needs a few good volunteers.  Entries are electronically solicited from September 1st through Nov 1st, judges are petitioned, and then the real work begins. Through the fall, winter, and the onset of spring, the Query, Main, and Secondary phases need to be coordinated, judges managed, and scores tallied as entries are judged and finalists chosen. Required skills include: Medium level of computer skills, Familiarity with Word and Excel, Graphics skills a definite asset, Comfortable posting on social media (eg: Twitter and Facebook), Live in the Colorado Springs area for boots on the ground at NCE events when required. For more information, email Contest@pikespeakwriters.com.

Social Media:  We are in need of someone who understands social media, has a few graphic design skills, and understands FB ads. Contact Social.KL@pikespeakwriters.com.

PIKES PEAK WRITERS has three board positions opening in September

All News

PIKES PEAK WRITERS has three board positions opening in September. All board positions require a 2-year commitment. The board meets quarterly (4 times per year), usually on a weeknight, for approximately two hours. Occasionally there is a longer weekend meeting.

 

Positions are:

President: The President is the principal executive who supervises and controls the business and affairs of PPW. The President brings issues to the attention of the board, directs discussion and consideration of any issues, and runs the quarterly board meetings.

 

Secretary: The secretary keeps minutes of quarterly and specially called meetings. Also maintains minutes from votes on the officer’s loop in between meetings. Update SOP file. Assist president with election nominations and slate of officers. May be called upon to research past decisions.

 

Non Conference Events (NCE) Director:– Plan and schedule Write Brains and other non-conference events throughout the year, invite speakers, ensure events are advertised via social and other media, coordinate our other regular monthly events, such as Open Critique, Writer’s Night, and Write Drunk, Edit Sober.

 

Anyone interested may also apply for a Member at Large position, which is not an officer position but carries the responsibility of representing the members of Pikes Peak Writers to the board, and helping with special projects.

 

To apply for any position, email a letter of interest to president@pikespeakwriters.com. The letter should include why you’re interested in the job, any volunteer experience-especially with PPW, and an idea of what you would bring to the job. Letters must be submitted by Aug. 30. The board meeting/election will be held on Thurs, Sept. 20, 6:15 p.m. at Library 21C, and anyone who submits a letter of interest for a position should plan to attend.