New Writing Workship

Hello, All,

I just wanted to remind you that I will begin a new writing workshop at the library beginning this coming Tuesday. We will meet at 6:30 and all of you are welcome to attend. I really hope a lot of you will come because you will be a big help for those folks just getting interested in writing. The workshop will run for 6 weeks and we will discuss everything from basic writing to publishing. I hope to see many of you there.

Tony

6 week writing workshops

Hello, Ink Blots,

I have finally gotten all of my travels complete and would like to get The Community of Mercer County Writers up and running again. What I need to know is how many of you are interested in getting started again. For me, it is time to get back to the basic idea of the group which is to get together and encourage and inspire each other's writing. I think we may have gotten off track and involved in too many things that took up more of our time than the basic mission of the original group. We all want to succeed with out writing, to get our best work published and find the satisfaction of getting our passion on paper. If this sounds like something you want to continue to be involved in please reply to this email as soon as possible. There are a couple of places downtown where we can meet on a regular basis but I need some idea of how many will be participating, so let me know as soon as you can.

I will be starting a 6 week workshop at the library on July 12th beginning at 6:30. Each week will be devoted to a different aspect of writing from just the basics to getting published. I invite you to attend and be a part of this. Actually, I would appreciate some of you coming to help me guide any of the new writers who might attend. You do not have to commit to every week but the more you can be there to help the better.

Looking forward to sharing with all of you again and hearing from you.

Tony

Bi-Monthly Meeting

Nomadic Ink held their bi-monthly meeting this week at the United Presbyterian Ink. With Tony not present, no one had planned anything for the meeting. We eventually did a jump start:

You are finally going on your dream destination, the thing you have waited for all your life. You get to the place, and find there are no rooms to be found. What do you do? And just to make it a tad bit harder, we had to word in the song title "Great Balls of Fire."

For those who follow us on the blog, this can also be your assignment of the week.

At the beginning of Nomadic Ink (formerly known at The Community of Mercer County Writers), we all agreed the Mercer County Humane Society would be our volunteer program. Last May, we held the first annual "Prose and Poetry for Pets." We wrote volume 1 of the chapbook and sold them to benefit the Humane Society. There were also a food vendor, pet painting, and rabies clinic. The weatherman from channel 27 was the MC. We had fun and earned money for our organization.




Because we are so close to Prose and Poetry for Pets, the majority of members at the last meeting agreed we need to put Grasshopper Holler and the Literary Magazine on the back burner and work on the "Pets" chapbook. You can enter any type of pet or animal story, with preference given to rescued, adopted or stray animals. This can be poetry, prose or a short story and it is due to Bobbi by April 22nd

Grasshopper Holler

(Drawing by Josh Pincus)

We had such a great meeting last night! 14 members in attendance - that must be a record, and we hope to keep it up.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 11th at 6:30 in the Kentucky AG Center - we are hoping this will be our last meeting in the Ag Center before we can move back to the Mercer Public Library.

The assignment for next meeting is to begin expanding "Grasshopper Holler" - this is a concept Tony started in a workshop a few years ago. You have several options:

• Develop a character
• Construct a building
• Describe the town and/or setting
• Begin writing a story

This is an idea we are kicking around for the literary magazine we have in the works - a serial story about "Grasshopper Holler" with each member making a contribution for each magazine.

Don't Forget ...

... the next meeting for Nomadic Ink is this Friday, February 25th, 6:30 at the Kentucky Ag Center. Paula says we have plenty of chips, but we may need something sweet. We will continue to talk about the new "Nomadic Ink" literary magazine. Hope to see everyone there Friday night.

Nomadic Ink

The next meeting of NOMADIC INK will be Friday, February 25th at 6:30pm - 8:30pm - Kentucky Ag Center, across the road from the Kountry Kupboard.

We will be "Kneading" out more ideas for starting out our new literary magazine, so come prepared with more ideas and suggestions. There was no official assignment for this week - but you were asked to work on the first sentence of "The Sled" and see if it changes your story.

If you have any sketches, drawings or cartoons you would like for use to see, please bring those as well.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday - and why not invite a friend? We have been picking up new members, so we always love to have new faces.

When I First Picked Up the Book ...

... I didn’t believe what I was seeing ...

... A genuine first edition “Trixie Belden Mystery from 1948. Trixie has always been my favorite book series, especially when I was a young girl.

There are 16 original books, but a few years ago, they found a new author and started writing more Trixie books – in paper back – ick, I’m a hardcover girl all the way, so I’ve never read any of the newer books.


I currently own the 1970 Whitman edition of the books, hard cover, of course, so these mean the most to me because I’ve always loved the covers. But deep down inside, I have always coveted the first edition books, even though they are truly rare, especially if you find one in good condition. The only time I’ve ever seen these books was from my babysitter’s daughter and they were much older than my collection.


I’ve seen the older hardcovers on eBay and Amazon, but $200 is a bit rick for my blood, so I never dreamed of owning a first edition ...

... until I walked into Dave’s Antiques. Dave’s is a little hole in the wall in the middle of Lancaster, Kentucky, and it feels like you’re walking into a cave. My anxiety normally keeps me out of places like this, but something was beckoning me into Dave’s.

As my hubby looked around at the older Depression glass, trying to find the green parrot pattern of glass. I saw the crate of books in the back of the store and I slowly walked to it. I sat down on a chair that reminded me of something out of Penn’s Store, easing into it so as not to break it down.

I slowly started pulling out the old books. There is just something about the smell and feel of an old book that makes my spine tingle. Old cookbooks – something my Momma loved – early readers, a third edition of an obscure Edgar Alan Poe book, and then there it was. I could hardly believe my eyes.

“Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion.” My hands were trembling as I opened the dusty books. It was not in mint condition by any means, but it was in good condition as as I turned to the title page, I couldn’t believe my eyes – 1958. I was holding in my hands a very first edition of a book I thought I’d never see.

As I carefully carried the book to the front, Dave was dickering with my hubby over a green parrot tea saucer.

“How much for this book?” I calmly asked.

“Don’t you already have that one?” my hubby innocently asked.

“No, I don’t think I do,” I replied, giving him that look.

“Did it come out of that crate in the back?” asked Dave.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Well, I’ll take $2 for it.”

I looked at the book and said, “It’s in pretty bad shape. How about $1.50?”

“Sold,” said Dave

On the way home, my hubby said, “you do own that book – I bought it for you.”

“I know, but this is a very first edition. Last time I found one on Amazon, it was worth $225.

My hubby was silent all the way home as I caressed my new, “old” book.


**(This was a jumpstart for the August 28, 2010 Nomadic Ink Writing Group)

Great Meeting

We had a great meeting Friday night - lots of old friends and a few new friends. Welcome John Cotten and welcome back Laura Kellerberger.

We are talking about working on a "Scary Story" chapbook to have ready to sell at the 2nd Annual Arts Festival on October 9th at the Fort Harrod State Park. We are looking for scary/ghost stories or poem, but nothing bloody or horrific - we want kids to be able to read these without being too scared.

We also talked about doing a "Library Memories" chapbook for the grand opening of the new Mercer County Public Library. We need memories of your first library trip, you best/worst trip or anything that reminds you of the library, the bookmobile or reading in general.

The deadlines for these stories are:

• Scary/ghost stories or poems - September 24th
• Library memories - stories or poems - October 22nd

You can email your writings to Tony at: contentedme@hotmail.com
or Bobbi (who will be doing the editing) at: brightmyer249@hotmail.com

So everyone needs to get writing and let's get this ball rolling. We haven't even talked about what we want to do for Christmas!! Send us your thoughts and ideas.

Attention Inkblots

Inkblots!!

I haven't heard from many of you so this is a reminder that we are going to try and get back in the swing of writing again... time for a real Jump Start!!! This Friday, 6:30 at the Heritage Center on US 127... Bring a friend who may want to get started with us... we will be discussing a lot of stuff and trying to get back in the groove... I hope to see you there... SERIOUSLY!!!

Tony

New Library Kick-Off

As many of you know, our new Mercer County Public Library will be opening hopefully sometime in November and the Community of Mercer County Writers may be asked to help with the Grand Opening. I am not sure what we might be asked to do but I am sure whatever it is, it will be fun.

In conjunction with that I thought we might create another chapbook to give away during the celebration (which will probably last more than one day). I am open for suggestions as to what sort of content we might put in to such a chapbook but my initial thought is that we write about some experience we have had with reading, the importance of a library or even a fictional piece about a library visit... something along those lines but I am not locked into that so if you have suggestions let's talk about them when we meet on August 27th.

I have been asked to have a workshop scheduled as soon as the library is open. It will be something they will promote during the opening. I would like to do something different but I am at a loss for a good idea at the moment. So, again, I am open for suggestions. I have been considering having a running workshop that meets once a week there and the first workshop could be a kick off for that... I bet some of you already have a good idea... bring these ideas with you on the 27th as well. You may not know it but when the library was being designed, I asked for a room that we could use for workshops, one with a small kitchen, maybe a dry erase board and so forth.... well, it is there.

They have designed a large room that can be divided and both rooms will have a sink and a place to make coffee, etc. One side is larger than the other and the plan is for us to use the smaller of the two parts. Both rooms will have access to the restrooms and we will have our own exit so we do not disturb anyone or vise versa. They have gone out of their way to make it easy for us to meet and have workshops so I want us to use it to the max. Isn't that really cool? This morning I toured the new library. It is coming along great and you can see where everything is going to be and I will tell you it is going to be a very impressive place and we will be so proud to have such a place right here in Mercer County.

Hope to see everyone there,

Tony Sexton

First Meeting of the new Writing Season

For our first meeting of the new writing season, we will meet on August 27th at the Heritage Center where we have met before (US 127 across from the Kountry Kupboard). We will begin at 6:30.

If you know someone who is interested in joining us or just would like to check us out, bring them along. If you would like to bring a snack to share, let me know.

One of the projects we are going to work on is the Sort of Scary Story (or poem) for a chapbook we are considering doing for Halloween this year. If you are not a member of The Community of Mercer County Writers you are still invited to join us or submit a piece for this chapbook. I am not sure when we will present it to the public, it could be during the Zombie Crawl sponsored by The Arts Council of Mercer County or during the downtown Halloween event or at another time around Halloween. The idea is to write something that has a scary thought to it but would not give kids nightmares if they heard it or read it. The piece could even be funny if you we so inclined. It should be fun to do even if the chapbook did not develop. So think about it, maybe even get something down on paper to read at the meeting.

Also, if you are working on something and would like a bit of critique, bring that along as well. Please, please let me know if you can or cannot come on the 27th so we know how many snacks we need and what to plan for. I am looking forward to seeing all of you there.

Hope to see you all there!
Tony

Harrodsburg Festival of Books and Arts

Below you will find the booth assignments for Saturday's Harrodsburg Festival of Books and Arts. Remember to bring a tent or umbrella, sun screen.. floppy hats or whatever to protect yourself if the sun gets too hot for you.
Tony
1. Ed McClanahan
2. Donna Ison
3. Roberta & Lonnie Brown
4. Christopher Kelder
5. Sheri Wright
6. Abigail Keam
7. Kathy Skaggs
8. Alonzo Fugate
9. Fred L. Cook
10. Ann Gabhart
11. Nic Brown
12. Fiona Young-Brown
13. Mason Smith
14. Marie Mitchell
15. Rebecca Turney
16. Ragged Edge Theater
17. Russell A. Vassallo
18. Bill Womack
19. Betty Pace
20. Nash Black
21. Kentucky Monthly (publisher)
22. Kari Burchfield (artist)
23. Billy Reed
24. The Community of Mercer County Writers (Nomadic Ink) & Katerina Klemer (This is OUR Booth!!!)
25. Richard Taylor
26. Kris Marnon (artist)
27. Joanna Thompson (potter)
28. Shaker Village (organization)
29. Kaboom Writers
30. Lynn Pruett
31. Tim Renfrow (publisher booth)
32. Jeff Loane (artist)
33. Mathew Rodgers (artist)
35. Mark Wayne Adams (writer/ artist)
36. Mike Young (artist)
37. Fort Harrod (organization)
38. Jacquie Woodward (artist)
39. Fan Fun Books
40. Dreama
41. Paula Sparrow
42. Tim Callahan
43. E. Gail Chandler
44. Nelda Shattles Copas
45. Tourist Commission
46. Normandi Ellis
47. Russell Lunsford
48. Jan Sullivan
49. Alycia Davidson
50. Rinda Hahn
51. Lori A. Moore
52.
53. Georgia Stamper/Sherry Chandler
54. Sylvia DeLee Davis
55. Dr. William Montell
56. Vickie Cimprich
57. Ruth Thompson
58. John Braxton Sparks
59. Joan Hall
60. Ron Rhody

Information for Authors and other participants,

Thank you for being a part of this event. I wish each of you great success and a lot of fun.
* You have received your booth assignment but there could be a slight change between now and then but if there is I will let you know. There will be a name tent on each table so if you get lost just look for your name. There should be a volunteer somewhere around the booth area to assist you if you have any problems.

* The Country Hearth Inn in Harrodsburg is offering some great deals on rooms. Call 859-734-2400 and mention The Harrodsburg Books and Arts Festival or ask for Nate Patel

* If you come in from the North or South you will be most likely traveling on US 127 which comes directly into Harrodsburg. Do not take the by pass. Once you get into town there will be signs directing you to the area reserved for our authors and other vendors. If you come in from another direction just watch for the signs bringing you to the parking area. If you do a map quest or google directions put your destination point as Greenville Street, Harrodsburg, KY That will put you very near the parking area. If you need more detailed directions, please call me at either 859-734-7867 or 859-247-0522 (C) if you need to talk with me on the 26th please call the cell phone.

* The booths should be set up by 9 am. If you need help getting to your booth please drop me an email so I can make arrangements but we will be really busy that morning. But if you do need help we will assist you.

* Please bring sun screen. We will provide you will all the water you need and there will be someone to go get it for you. We will also have food available and someone to sit at your booth while you go eat or whatever you need.

* If you have a patio table umbrella with a holder, feel free to bring it. I have one and you fill the base with water so it does not fly away, it will help some if the sun shines too much on your booth. The sun does not shine on both sides of Main St all day. But it will be hot and will shine on you for awhile so please prepare for that. We hope to have a big tent next year and the sun will not be a problem. We will try to make you as comfortable as possible.

We are so excited about you being here and we want your experience to be a great one. And, thank you for being a part of this first Books and Arts Festival.

Tony Sexton

Next Meeting

Hello Ink Blots and friends,

We will be meeting at my house - 657 Fairview Court - this Friday, May 7th at 6:30 pm for our first monthly meeting this month (due to unforseen complications, we are not able to meet at the Ag Center). Along with our regular antics we will talk about the Prose and Poetry for Pets project on Saturday, May 8th. If you have a piece in the chapbook, we will have them available at the meeting. We need you to be here if at all possible so we can make sure everything goes as planned on Saturday. As you know, Todd Borek (WKYT TV morning weatherman) will be with us so we want to have a good showing of our group. If you do not have a piece in the book but have a pet/animal story you would like to share, you are welcome to come and read - just let us know .. all are welcome.

Please let me know if you can or cannot come Friday Night -(859)-247-0522 or (859)-734-7867 and leave me a message.

I hope many of you can make it to this meeting... it is going to be a fun couple of days!!!!!!!!!!

Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Tony Sexton

Prose For Pets

Here is the jump start for the May 8th Prose for Pets event - it can be prose or poetry.

Finish this:

"I picked her up on the side of the road during the worst thunder storm I had ever seen..."

Send your writing to Tony at: contentedme@hotmail.com. Once I get several of these back, I am going to send them to Todd Borek (the morning weatherman for Channel 27) who is going to be at Prose For Pets event we have planned.

.

Harrodsburg Festival of Books and Art

Here is the logo for the 1st Annual Harrodsburg Festival of Books and Art - pretty cool!



We are going to be needing volunteers for both the April 16th-17th KSPS Mid-Year Conference and the June 26th Harrodsburg Festival of Books and Art. We need help with giving people information about where things are and playing host to our out of town guests. The festival needs lots of volunteers: hosts for the hospitality room, author helpers, information booth and general help with whatever might come up. So far we have at least 30 authors signed up with at least that many more who are just going to read at the festival.

If you want to volunteer, contact Tony at: contentedme@hotmail.com

Next Meeting

We will be meeting this Friday

March 12th @ 6:30pm

at the Ag Center on US 127

and we are going to have a great meeting

Bobbi Rightmyer will be doing a Make Your Own Chapbook workshop


She will be showing us how to put one together

and how to bind it.

Shirley Walls will bring some cool material to use for binding

You need to bring a few poems or short stories with you

if you can print them in landscape so there are two poems per page

or two pages of short story on each page

that will help in laying it out.

THIS IS GOING TO BE REALLY COOL!!!

So come on and join us so Bobbi can practice on us for her big workshop on April 17th



Please/Please/Please

let me know if you can or cannot come so we can have enough snacks and supplies

I hope to see you there.

Tony

Just a reminder ...

... very important meeting






Friday

February 26th

@ 6:30

@ the KY Ag Center on US 127

Bring a friend who might like to be involved

in some of the things we are doing this year

WE NEED SOME HELP

and we are hoping to have a

Nomadic Ink Reunion

which means we hope some who have been gone for a while will be back and ready to go!!!

See you there

bring pet stories or poems if you have them

and thanks to those of you who have already sent some.

Call or email me if you have questions

Tony

Nomadic Ink Meeting

Hello, Ink Blots of the World

Next meeting

February 26th

at the Ag Center on US 127

across from the Amish Store

6:30 pm

I hope most of you will be able to attend this meeting. Think about all the things we have coming up: Limerick contest on St Patty's Day, Prose and Poetry for Pets, The KSPS meeting on April 17th, The Festival of Books and Art in June and a bunch of stuff in between... FUN stuff to keep you writing and out there doing what writers do.

Many of us have been in a Winter slump it seems... Well it is time to focus on the coming spring and get those creative juices flowing... I hope you can make it. OF COURSE IN CASE OF SNOW... WE WON'T MEET... but I am hoping no snow. SPREAD THE WORD TO THOSE WITHOUT EMAIL...

Please let me know if you can or cannot make it. We love our snacks and we need a better count and we just want to see you there we need you there

See you there!

Tony

Happy 2K10

Hello Ink Blots!

The next meeting of The Community of Mercer County Writers will be on January 29th at the Ag Center on US 127 at 6:30.

If you can bring a story or poem about a pet or an animal it would be great since we are working on putting out a chapbook for the Prose for Pets event in May.

We have some great stuff going on this year so please try to come and bring a writer friend with you...spread the word to those without email and let's get 2010 started off with a big bang... I am excited and hope those of you who have been missing can get started back and we can see lots of great things happen for each of you this year.

PLEASE let me know as soon as you can if you can make it and if you are bringing someone with you so I can make plans for snacks etc...

Let's all get back together and have some great fun.
Tony

Home for the Holidays

Attention Ink Blots ... the Home for the Holidays weekend is coming up November 27th and 28th. This is a time for Harrodsburg to come together as a community and shop downtown Harrodsburg, enjoy carriage rides and other entertainment, plus much, much more!

The Community of Mercer County Writers will be reading at Goldie's Studio G sometime during this weekend - more details to follow. Tony would like for us to all be thinking about an "unusual" Christmas story to write. A few topics he has suggested include:

• The Best Christmas Tree Ever
• My Encounter with Santa
• The Manger and Mary (or the lamb, or the Shepherd, etc)
• Searching for the Star
• Candy Canes and Jam Cake

These are just a few ideas, so don't be limited by the suggestions - come up with your own unusual tale.

It is Tony's plan to compile all these stories into a chapbook to have for sale during next year's Home for the Holidays.