6/8-6/14 Book Buddy Stuff
Mark Your Calendars! Summer Book Buddy Weekend is BOOKED!
Last year in August we had a lovely weekend extravaganza here in Easthampton starting with a daylong retreat on a Saturday then we gathered at Nonotuck Park for a little party on Sunday. Good news! We’re doing it again! I’ve just booked our usual retreat space for Saturday August 8th! Remember, you get a discount using the BOOKBUDDY10 code upon check out (10%), and if you’re itching to register early you can do so using this link.
I’m in process planning a little party for us on August 9, but if all goes well, I’ll hold it this year at Darlings where we do the reading series in the afternoon. Still waiting to get that firmed up - the owner has been out of town. My hope is that we can hang together, and then at the end have a little open mic! Stay tuned. Will let you know when that’s all settled.
If you hope to come that weekend and are traveling from outside of western MA, let me know! I might be able to help you find lodging.
Book Club
Our next one will be June 15th! A week from today! For this one we’re reading Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
The following book club will be a special summer beach read on July 6 — Heart the Lover by Lily King. Watch out, it’s a big ol’ tear jerker! More on that soon.
Gen Writing Scheduling Changes
I’ll be with you at Gen writing tomorrow, but Nora is going to be your trusted leader on Saturday 6/13.
Garth is going to sub for me on 6/16 so I can attend Heather Abel’s book launch at the Odyssey Bookshop. Are you interested in coming to see Heather with me? Let me know, and register using this link (it’s free!).
Also, I am going on vacation the week of my birthday! However, this means I am also looking for someone to run gen writing for me on Tuesday July 14. Is this you? Email me! Thank you!
Feedback Group Submission Schedules!
IRL Group Wednesdays @ beautyland 6:30-8:30: The next meeting is June 10. Rich and Johanna have floor time, and those pages are already in. We will meet again on June 24. Paul will definitely have floor time, and Margo can snag that second slot if she wants it, but we can settle the schedule when we meet this week.
Noon Crew Thursdays 12pm - 1:30: The next meeting is June 11 and Jill has the floor. Pages are due ASAP. Next meeting after that is June 25 and Exra will have the floor then.
Weirdlings Wednesdays 12pm - 1:30: We’ll meet again on June 10 and Dana will have the floor with pages are in. Meeting after that is June 24 and Elizabeth has the floor then with pages due June 17.
Kool Kids Thursdays at 7pm - 8:30: Our next meeting is June 11 and Hilary right now is the only one on the schedule. Does someone else want that second slot? Let me know!
OG Crew Thursdays at 7:30pm - 9: The next meeting is June 11 and Danae and Garth have floor time then, pages are in. The following meeting is June 25 and Maia and Tom have floor time scheduled.
Saturday besties 12:30pm - 2: The next meeting is June 20 and Ali and Helen have floor time, I believe! Ali we can use the pages you just sent.
Gen Writing Prompt June 9 and 13
Trapped
Some of the creepiest news stories I’ve read this year have taken place on a cruise ship. Almost all of them involve being trapped and a quantity of bio waste in one place that I never want to consider. But I think the situation of being trapped in the middle of the ocean or in another inescapable place is one that could be ripe with tension so let’s try it out.
Begin a new piece in the style/genre of your choice or use this as fodder for a scene in a WIP/idea in an existing poem by putting a group of strangers in a physical location and then introducing something that prevents them from leaving. Here are some scenarios:
Passengers on a cruise ship find themselves stranded on the ship
Caver divers get trapped in the middle of a spelunking trip
Do the desert island plot! Use a single person or a whole crew depending on what vibe you are into
A submarine with three people stops working and that have to find another way back to the surface
Alien kidnappers trap a group of humans on a space shi[
Astronauts get trapped
Party goers experience an earthquake that traps them in a single banquet hall
An elevator breaks
XO you’re the best!
Your bestie -
Kate
