1.17.13 Meeting Notes

Write by the Rails – 1.17.13 Meeting Notes

OFFICERS. Cindy Brookshire – President/Treasurer; Linda Johnston – Projects Manager/Liaison to Virginia Writers Club; Katherine Gotthardt – Liaison to the PWC Arts Council; Carol Keily – Keeper of the Membership List

WRITERS PRESENT. Tom Basham, Tracey Brooks, Cindy Brookshire, Gary Caruso, Norma Coto, Carol Covin, Patricia Daly-Lipe, Ron Farra, Katherine Gotthardt, Ressurrection Graves, June Kilpatrick, Steve Pendlebury, Jan Rayl, Robin Tucker, Dan Verner, Val Wallace

OLD BUSINESS.  Treasurer’s Report. We have $151.80 in royalties from New Departures. (Anthology is on sale at Echoes, The Manassas Museum store and Upscale Seconds in Haymarket. Cindy Brookshire has 30 books available). Northern Virginia Magazine is running an item on the book in an upcoming issue.) Cindy will file the group’s 990 tax form for 2012. Remember to register with the Commonwealth to pay sales tax on the books you sell. Virginia Writers Club. Linda Johnston is now an admin on the VWC site and will be getting our chapter information on the site. While there are NO chapter dues, at least five of us need must be members of VWC to maintain our charter. Go to www.virginiawritersclub.org to join. VWC Youth Golden Nib Contest. Robin Tucker is distributing the PDF flyer to schools and libraries. PWC Arts Council / Arts Alive! 2013 is April 13. Katherine Gotthardt, Ressurrection Graves and Claudia LeFeve are working together on our application to participate.

NEW BUSINESS.  Robin Tucker volunteered to start a Write by the Rails Google group for those not on Facebook. Fall for the Book is considering an event at the Prince William Campus of GMU next fall and would like our input on a possible writer to feature. As a local writer in Prince William County, what regional or national writer would you like to hear? Email to Cindy’s attention at writebytherails@gmail.com.

SPEAKER.  William Golden of PrinceWilliamLife.com, USAJobZoo.com and PWCPolitics.com talked about how to set up an author's website or blog on Wordpress.com (it’s free, offers 5,000 free design themes, and you can upload your posts from email with the headline in the subject line. You may also transport the post with blog comments, to your Facebook page as well. Bill offered to livestream an online tutorial for WbtR members. He maintains 140 blogs and calculates he has written the equivalent of Gone With the Wind four times over through Facebook and Twitter posts. Bill has a Web TV show called Nights of the Roundtable – if you’d like to be a possible guest, contact WGolden@PrinceWilliamLife.com. His personal goal is to “be everywhere at once, live.” Thanks Bill!

UPCOMING EVENTS.  Write by the Rails Meet and Greet, Tues, Feb. 5 from 2-4 pm at Panera, 7351 Atlas Walk Way, Gainesville. Look for a group of six or so people in the corner! “Authors Alley” at Annual Spring Craft Show, Sat., March 16, 9 to 3 pm Gar-field HS (14000 Smoketown Rd., Woodbridge – across from Potomac Mills Mall) $30 per table (special rate for authors, thanks to Cathy Hailey). Deadline to register is Jan. 29. Free admission and parking. Details and application to download here. Proceeds support students & teacher scholarships, awards and school programs.

NEXT MEETING. Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 7 pm at Trinity Episcopal Church, 9325 West Street, Manassas. Speaker:  Write by the Rails member Ressurrection Graves. Watch her read at Busboys & Poets here.