Author: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen is a pioneering XR Innovator and WordPress leader, tech educator, keynote speaker, and producer bridging virtual reality and digital innovation. Co-founder of Educators in VR, founding WordPress community member, and passionate advocate for emerging technologies and human rights. Expert in immersive education, VR/XR event production, UX, and digital transformation.

The Vacation

The following was written by Writers in the Grove member, Bev Walker.

His friend said kindly, “Why don’t you take a vacation, some place quiet.”
So he did. He went hunting. A walk in the woods would be just the place.
He was going along when all of a sudden a giant jumped out in front of him.
The hunter quickly bellowed like a mating alligator, a terrible sound.
The sound scared the giant so bad he flew up into the nearest tree.
There, sitting on a limb sat a real live dinosaur eating a kumquat.
The giant scared the dinosaur so bad he dropped his kumquat.
It hit the hunter on the head knocking him out cold.
The giant jumped down from the tree, grabbed the kumquat for his breakfast and ran away.
Just as the hunter was coming around, the dinosaur jumped down from the tree,
grabbed the hunters red hat, (his ears were cold), and took off after his kumquat.
The terrified hunter immediately called a policeman
reporting there was a giant running loose in the woods
who could turn himself into a dinosaur! He’d seen it himself!
They could spot him because this dinosaur was wearing a red hat!
Policeman kindly said, “Why don’t you take a vacation friend, some place quiet.”

Portland WordStock November 7, 2015

WordStock, Portland’s Book Festival, is a one-day event at the Portland Art Museum on Saturday, November 7, 2015. Tickets are available now for $15 and includes admission to the Art Museum and a $5 voucher to spend at the extensive book fair.

Over 80 authors will be present offering writing tips and techniques in all genres. According to the press release (PDF), “There will be conversations between Cheryl Strayed and Diana Nyad; Jon Krakauer and Barry Lopez; Tom Spanbauer and Chuck Palahniuk. There will be interviews with Wendell Pierce, Sandra Cisneros, John Irving, and Stacy Schiff; and panel discussions on topics as wide-ranging as unconventional histories, accidental families, paranormal YA, and so much more.”

A series of writing workshops are also available during the event for an addition fee. They include storytelling, poetry, scene writing, editing, humor, and other topics.

The Bookmark Ball is the opening night celebration held the night before as a fundraiser and social gathering with music. Tickets start at $35 for this special event for the Portland literati.

Have No Fear and Watch Out

The following is from Writer in the Grove member, Patti Bond.

As I was walking to a nearby Plaid Pantry to get a coffee and some other things I heard something to my left. It was a squirrel it was moving at a fast pace.

It quickly went up the utility pole, but as I came closer the squirrel came back down, and stayed there looking at me. I said hi and it just stayed there not moving, just staring at me for five minutes. I was thinking and he was thinking that I wasn’t going to be mean to it.

The squirrel finally turned around and went up the pole, and I resumed my walk. After visiting the Plaid Pantry, I cut through a park and I saw quite a few squirrels. One gray squirrel ran up the tree and a brown one quickly came running down.

The grey one said to the brown one, “You are in my territory!” and forced him to leave. I looked up the tree grinning and saying ha ha I won while he was sitting glued to the branch just watching the brown one. The brown one ran across the path. He tried to go up another tree, but the same thing happened. He ran into another grey squirrel. He was thinking how this can be what luck I’m having. I spotted another squirrel in the tree watching the others, then all of sudden they all disappeared.

I spotted the dog roaming around under the trees. What bad luck for the squirrels.

What an adventure seeing five squirrels. One of these days I will have a camera with me, so I can take a picture of the squirrels. I will sit at a picnic table quietly like a cat waiting for a mouse and click the camera when I see a squirrel. Instead of eating it, I’ll just click the camera. Then I’ll think to myself I finally accomplished my goal to be closer to nature.

Roger and Helen Ritchey Book Signings at Jennings McCall October 24, 2015

Writers in the Grove long-time members, Roger and Helen Ritchey will be signing books and sharing their specialty fruit wines along with some great bluegrass music from 4-7PM on October 24, 2015, at Jennings McCall in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Roger Ritchey is the author of Mostly True Stories And Other Lies and Hankering For The Way It Was. Both books are memoirs of Mr. Ritchey and stories of others. Helen Richey Osburn is the author of “A Memorial for the Ritchey-Richey Families” and poetry books. Both are working on upcoming books to be released soon.

Come join them and for some wine, music, and prose.

Flea Market and Book Sale at Forest Grove Senior and Community Center

Forest Grove Community and Senior Center Flea Market Poster 2015The re-opening of the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center Flea Market is Saturday, October 10, 2015, coinciding with the Writers in the Grove Annual Book Sale and Fundraiser, also for the Center.

From 9am – 4pm there will be a variety of booths in the Center featuring our book sale, handmade crafts, antique collectibles, jewelry, and a mini quilt show. The Gift Shop will be having a clearance sale and there will be drawings for prizes and food carts outside for some fun bites to eat.

The next scheduled dates are November 14 and December 12, 2015. If you live in Washington County, Oregon, or in the surrounding areas, this is a great event to catch up on your holiday shopping lists.

See you there!

Prompt: Writing Letters You Might Never Send

This week’s prompt talked about how we communicate? What do we use to communicate? Eyes, attention, body language, respect, support, and words.

You can communicate with a person and have it be a very intimate connection. You may also connect with someone and have it be a one way experience.

There are many ways to communicate with each other, as there is with your characters. How do they communicate with each other?

As a writer, how do you connect on a deeper level to your readers? Sometimes you write to a specific person, even if you are writing for many. Others say they write to and for themselves.

The prompt narrowed down to this:

Write a letter to yourself or someone else that speaks the truth, says what you really wish to tell them, no holds barred.

It could be a letter sent, or one that is written and never sent. It doesn’t matter.

If you’d like to experiment with character building, have your main character or any character in your story write that letter.

It’s NaNoWriMo Time: How To, Tips, Techniques, and Survival Advice

NaNoWriMo Flyer.November 1, 2015, at midnight is the start of NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month.

The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words (and complete a novel) in 30 days.

Sound impossible? The numbers divide down to 1,666 words a day, typically 60-90 minutes of writing.

To participate, you may do so actively or passively. This can be a solo experience or a highly social one. You can connect online and/or connect in person through the many local activities, events, and write-ins where people gather in a social space to write and get to know each other.

Here is how it works.

  1. Before November 1, sign up on the NaNoWriMo site. There is no fee. It’s free. By registering, you will get email notifications and notes to cheer you on throughout the month, and be able to track your word count daily.
  2. At midnight, October 31, you start writing.
  3. Each day, you report the number of words you’ve written. If you are using Scrivener, it’s easy to update this information daily. I’ve included tips on how to track your writing below.
  4. If you wish, participate in the regional forums such as the one for Washington County, Oregon, and consider attending some of the many local events throughout the month. NOTE: There are also prep events online and locally worth attending.

That’s it.

NaNoWriMo typically features over 310,000 participants on six continents. Many educators work with their students to participate during November as well as throughout the year. (more…)

October 2 Annual Book Sale at Forest Grove Senior Center

Books for Sale.It’s time for our Annual Writers in the Grove Book Sale to raise money for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center.

Put October 2, 2015, on your calendar.

Drop off your books before hand or on the morning of at the Forest Grove Senior Center in Forest Grove, Oregon. We will be pricing them reasonably for sale to the public. The book sale tables will be self-managed. Exact change would be appreciated. All funds collected will benefit the great works of the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center.

If you wish to donate books for this special event, you may drop them off at the Center before the sale start date.

Prompt: Positive or Negative Effects on Love and Kindness

The prompt came from the book “Art as Experience” by John Dewey. In one section he describes that for art to be whole, it has to have its own unity. Each word in a poem has to come from what came before it, and contribute to the words that come after.

The example is an excerpt from Wordsworth’s “The Prelude.”

…the wind and sleety rain,
And all the business of the elements,
The single sheep, and the one blasted tree,
And the bleak music from that old stone wall,
The noise of wood and water, and the mist
That on the line of each of these two roads
Advanced in such indisputable shapes.

The wind as the noun is not described in adjectives but in the descriptions of what followed in the poem, the single sheep, blasted tree, bleak music from the stone wall, noise of wood and water…all paint the sense and emotional quality of the state of the wind.

Part one of the prompt was to write at least 7 words that leave you with a negative feeling, each one building upon the other. Then write at least 7 words that leave you with a positive feeling, building upon the previous one.

Part two of the prompt was to write something about the negative or positive effects on the topic of love and kindness, growing the feeling as the word choices push the reader forward with the growing emotions.

Prompt: Side Effects

The following poem was written by Writers in the Grove member, Paula Adams, in response to reading the fine print on a bottle of the prescription medication Lyrica. It became our prompt for the week, explained below.

Prescription LYRICA is not for everyone

Drug Pill Bottle TopTell your doctor right away about
any serious allergic reaction that causes

  • swelling of the face,
  • mouth, lips,
  • gums, tongue,
  • throat,
  • neck
  • hands,
  • legs
  • and feet,
  • rash, hives or blisters.
  • or any trouble breathing

LYRICA may cause suicidal thoughts or actions
in a very small number of people.

Patients, family members or caregivers should
call the doctor right away if they notice

  • suicidal thoughts or actions,
  • thoughts of self-harm, or
  • any unusual changes in mood or behavior.
  • new or worsening depression,
  • anxiety,
  • restlessness,
  • trouble sleeping,
  • trouble waking,
  • panic attacks,
  • anger, irritability,
  • agitation,
  • aggression,
  • dangerous impulses or
  • violence, or
  • extreme increases in activity
  • or talking.

If you have suicidal thoughts or actions,
do not stop LYRICA without first talking to your doctor. (more…)