We had a great Writers’ Café last Wednesday at the Westport Arts Center. There were plenty of brags to start us off:

Ina bragged that she’s had her latest piece published in the Good Men Project online magazine:

http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/facing-my-fathers-demons/.

She also had a review of her favorite short story published on Echook’s website as a guest blog:

http://echook.com/guest-blog-ina-chadwicks-favorite-short-story/

Robert Steven Williams had two pieces published in the Good Men Project, both sports related (kind of – the Phillies and yoga).

http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/to-philly-fans-chill-out/

http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/yoga-a-mans-view-from-the-mat/

Elsie Ferrara had her memoir piece included in Writing Your Life 2011, published by the New Canaan Library.

I bragged that I had, in fact, completed 30 creative things in the 30 days of June. (I'd rashly said I would do this at the last meeting.) I learned that it’s OK to fail, and can even be fun. I also discovered some different creative skills I didn’t know I had. (See my Facebook photos for details, and my friends hilarious comments.)

Ina gave a preview of our next writing contest, to be undertaken for the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk. The theme will be Deja Vu, and writers will be asked to look at the work of Jack Boul, Master print-maker, for inspiration. The contest will officially be announced on August 2, and entries will be accepted until September 19. Check the MouseMuse website for more details (link below).

Ina also mentioned that she had a very good editor available at a very reasonable fee for people who'd like someone to work with. Please send all requests to Ina, who will pass them on.

We spent a little time discussing social media as a way of building a platform for writers who’d like to publish. Facebook and Twitter seem to be the minimum requirements, so long as they don’t stop one from actually writing! We may discuss this further at a future meeting if our writers would like to.

Our Next Writers’ Café is on Wednesday, August 10, from 1-2 at the Westport Arts Center.  Please come, and do send this on to any of your writing friends you think might be interested.