Eighth Annual Northwest Book Festival

The Eighth Annual Northwest Book Festival is at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square on July 30, 2016. Hours are 10:00AM to 5:00PM. The festival is free to the Public. Willamette Writers and other writers and arts groups will be represented.

Lend an Ear, Come and Hear Reading, July 9, 2016

Lend an Ear 2015 - Audience listen to Veronica read.As a reminder, Lend an Ear, Come and Hear is July 9, 2016, at Plum Hill Winery in Gaston, Oregon. It begins at 10:30AM and goes to approximately 1PM.

Local writers submitted their four-minute readings and we have a fabulous collection of short stories and poems this year. Local authors will be selling their books, and the pizza wagon will be available for food. We are very grateful to Plum Hill Winery for once again providing such a beautiful outdoor venue. And their wine is pretty awesome, too!

You can find more information and details in our announcement and on the Lend an Ear, Come and Hear site.

Fourth of July Monday Meeting

The Forest Grove Senior and Community Center is closed this Monday for the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday. We will be meeting at the home of Anne and Ralph Cuellar in Forest Grove, Oregon, at the normal 9AM. Please bring folding chairs and a potluck meal for lunch, if you are able to stay.

If you do not have the address, please contact MJ Nordgren or use our contact form.

Thanks to them for their generosity to open their home to us.

Are We There Yet? How Long Does It Take?

Ever wonder how long it takes to travel?

This is more than an answer to “Are we there yet?” It is a challenge that faces ever writer when their character leaves the comfort of home or work and must travel to another location.

If traveling by foot, how long does it take? By car? By bus? By train? What about by horse? The time spend traveling across the same difference changes with the mode of transportation.

The folks behind The Writer’s Handbook found a chart that answers some of these questions if you are considering traveling by horse, sea, foot, or pigeon. This is a great tool to add to your writer’s toolbox.

Another travel time chart to keep in your writer’s toolbox comes from Lapham’s Quarterly.

What about calculating for traffic congestion? It might take you 30 minutes to get to Portland, Oregon, in the middle of the day, and 3 hours to travel the same distance during rush hour. There is much to think about when you take your character traveling.

Here are a few more examples:

  • A healthy person can walk 3-4 miles an hour on flat and even ground (36-48 miles a day possible)
  • A healthy person can walk 1-2 miles an hour on rugged terrain, less if off-trail
  • By horse on roads or trails with level or rolling terrain – 40 miles per day
  • By horse through mountainous terrain on roads or trails – 20 miles per day
  • By horse through hilly grasslands with no roads or trails – 25 miles per day
  • By horse through rugged mountainous terrain with no roads or trails – 10 miles per day
  • By horse during Roman Era on roads or trails with level or rolling terrain – 20 miles per day
  • By horse during Roman Era on level or rolling terrain with no roads or trails – 15 miles per day
  • A wagon can travel 15-25 miles a day depending upon size, horses, path, and load
  • A league is 3 miles, the distance someone could travel in one hour.

Other tools to help you estimate travel times include:

This is just the tip of the travel time iceberg. What about travel by train? By skateboard? By bike? By helicopter? By skiing? By air balloon?

It’s your imagination traveling with your character. Add their travel type and estimates to your writer’s toolbox as a guide to help you estimate travel times.

Glimmer Train Accepting Submissions for Fall

Glimmer Train Press is accepting original short stories through the rest of the year by August 31, 2016:

  • Very Short Fiction Contest (300-3,000 words)
  • Fiction Open Contest (3,000 – 6,000+ words)
  • Family Matters (stories about families from 1,000 – 5,000+ words)
  • Standard Category (open to all – Maximum word count 12,000)

The two sisters, Susan and Linda, have been producing Glimmer Train Press since 1991 are open to just about anything fiction. They pay out our $50,000 a year to writers through their various contests and publishing fees. The copyright is retained by the author, and they will accept previously published work, as long as fewer than 75 copies have been sold.

This year, they’ve announced that they’ve expanded the number of months submissions are open to only emerging writers, allowing more new writers to get an opportunity. They’ve also increased the first place prizes in every category.

Literary short fiction works are to be original, and comply with their content guidelines with accompanying reading and submission fees. Prizes range from $300 – $3,000.

Check their submission calendar for more information and deadlines.

Pacific University’s Free Public Readings This Week

Pacific University’s MFA in Writing Program hosts faculty-authors for free public readings this week in Forest Grove, Oregon, at the university’s Taylor-Meade Performing Arts Center. Three different authors read each evening from their own work, all teachers at the residency program. Each evening is different and a diverse example of some of the finest writing today.

The schedule features:
June 17 | Judy Blunt, Claire Davis & Dorianne Laux
June 18 | Kwame Dawes, Jack Driscoll, & Laura Hendrie
June 19 | Sandra Alcosser, Pete Fromm, & Craig Lesley
June 20 | Valerie Laken, Mike Magnuson, & Joseph Millar
June 22 | Marvin Bell, Mary Helen Stefaniak, & Kellie Wells
June 23 | Steve Amick, Eduardo Corral, & Scott Korb
June 24 | Chris Abani, Ellen Bass, & Debra Gwartney

Saturday, June 25: Play at the Blue House

We will be doing our annual Writers in the Grove “Whatever happens at the Blue House stays at the Blue House” event on Saturday, June 25, 2016. Please arrive at the Blue House in Lincoln City, Oregon, between 9am and noon for a luncheon and afternoon of writing, games, or whatever happens. For directions, please contact MaryJane Nordgren or use our contact form.

Please bring potluck to share with 6-16 people.

This is a day of play on the Oregon Coast. If you decide to walk the beach or play in the sand, make sure you bring appropriate clothing, shoes, and sun lotion. It is supposed to be very warm.

That evening is the annual Harp Guitar in the Woods Concert with John Doan in Salem for those interested in making a full, full day of it. Tickets are available for the 8PM concert on his site and are $30. There is a potluck dinner at 6:30PM, a chance to meet some wonderful people and musicians and dine in their lovely garden on an ancient volcano overlooking the valley below. John’s concert of harp guitar music and storytelling is not to be missed.