August 10-16 Book Buddy News
Hi Book Buddies, my favorite writers around!
I hope the start of your week is feeling great. Book Buddy weekend was, of course, a dream. The retreat was packed and we all got tons of work ton and had a great time; and the party was so sweet and fun and full of cake, good snacks, and fun drinks. Thanks so much for those that could make it, and I hope to see the rest of you in the real world soon!
Heads up, we have a new Book Buddy on-boarding this week. Mackenzie! Look out for her at Gen Writing and give her a super warm welcome!
Also:
The next book club is August 17 (Monday) at 7pm. We’re reading Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood. Here’s the publisher’s blurb about it:
“Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, a novel about forgiveness, grief, and what it means to be good, from the award-winning author of The Weekend and The Natural Way of Things. Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn’t believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident. But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signaling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past. Meditative, moving, and finely observed, Stone Yard Devotional is a seminal novel from a writer of rare power, exploring what it means to retreat from the world, the true nature of forgiveness, and the sustained effect of grief on the human soul.”
I really hope to see you there!
Feedback Group Submission Schedules!
IRL Group Wednesdays @ beautyland 6:30-8:30: The next meeting is August 19. Audrey will be coming aboard then! Aimee and Johanna have floor time. Let’s aim for having pages in by Sunday the 16th please!
Noon Crew Thursdays 12pm - 1:30: The next meeting is August 20 and Sara has the floor then! Pages due August 13.
Weirdlings Wednesdays 12pm - 1:30: Dana is next up for August 19, pages due August 12 officially but definitely some wiggle room there.
Kool Kids Thursdays at 7pm - 8:30: Our next meeting is August 13 and Hilary has the floor.
OG Crew Thursdays at 7:30pm - 9: The next meeting is August 20 and Danae and Maia are up. Pages due August 13.
Saturday besties 12:30pm - 2: The next meeting is August 15! Helen and Georgia have floor time, pages due roughly August 10.
Gen Writing Prompt for this Week
August 11 and 15, 2026
Song Prompts
Let’s roll with an old reliable prompt this week! MUSIC! Choose any song, and then here are some ways you can use it to fuel your writing.
Generate something new:
Use a verse of the song or some other chunk of the lyrics as an opening line or otherwise integrate the text into your text
Begin a story or essay with someone hearing this song and let that inform the mood
Do some journaling of what emotions and/or experiences the song brings up for you and use that as a jumping off point .
Working with something you’re revising:
Put a character in relationship with the song somehow. Maybe they are at an event and it comes on and it changes their perspective, maybe they perform the song somewhere, maybe they listen to it in the car and that can start a scene...
Integrate the lyrics into a scene you’re having trouble working out
Think about what the song is getting at thematically and let that help you understand the story as a whole.
Thanks all so much!
See you soon!
Your bestie -
Kate
