The Fort Scott Writing Festival and Author Fair is October 19, 2019, pre-register by Oct. 15.
at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes, Main and Wall Street.
The Program Schedule is listed below along with other information regarding the festival.
Registration: 8:30 and refreshments (inside front doors)
Opening Remarks: 8:50 Little Theater
Finding Your Writing Plan – 9:00 Little Theater
Presenter R.J. Thesman
Are you stuck between writer’s block and the fun of procrastination? Maybe you’re not blocked. You just don’t have a writing plan. Finding Your Writing Plan helps you develop a discipline for your writing craft and keeps you from avoiding that blank page. Especially for bi-vocational writers who work another job, Finding Your Writing Plan gives you a structure for each day’s work. You can still nurture your creative side by choosing more than one plan or by changing your plan, depending on your circumstances. RJ Thesman will present 12 different options for your writing plan with best practices to help you finish your Work in Progress and move toward your publishing dreams.
RJ Thesman, CLC, BSE Author / Writing Coach / Editor / Speaker
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“Writing FOR a Child Requires Thinking LIKE a Child” – 9:00 Conference Room
Presenter: Cathy Werling
Have you often thought you would like to write a children’s book? With the current self-publishing opportunities available, the goal of writing and publishing a children’s book has become much more attainable. Through this presentation, you will learn how to get started, some important steps you need to consider before you actually start writing, and some available resources to help your children’s book become a reality.
Cathy Werling is a retired elementary educator, who works part-time at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. The opportunity to provide positive role models for children led to the Center’s Unsung Heroes book series for children. Cathy is the author of the first four books in the series, with plans to continue sharing more of the amazing stories of Unsung Heroes through additional books. Her goal is to, not only provide inspirational role models for elementary students, but to encourage them to be people who can also make a positive difference in the world around them.
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Self Publishing – 10:00 Little Theater
Presenter: Sally Freeman Jadlow
Come learn how to publish your own book, step-by-step, in paperback or ebook through Amazon.com. Handouts will accompany the class.
Sally Jadlow has published eleven books which have gone through the process Amazon offers authors. She writes award-winning historical fiction, inspirational short stories, non-fiction, devotionals and poetry. Sally has also been published in many magazine articles and anthologies. She teaches writing for the the Kansas City Writers Group in the spring and fall.
Know Your Sources – 10:00 Conference Room
Presenter: Ronda Hassig
Primary sources can be mysterious, exciting, and lead to creative writing at its finest. If you want to write non-fiction or historical fiction you will need to know your sources! When you leave this session, you will know what a source is, where to find it, how to use it and how to document it.
Ronda Hassig is a retired Kansas Master Teacher and middle school librarian. She is the author of two books including “The Abduction of Jacob Rote” and “The Greatest Test of Courage.” Ronda loves reading, writing, and walking her three feral dogs!
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Workshop Drawing – 10:55
Transformative Works & the Online Writing Experience – 11:00 Little Theater
Presenter: Qwen Salsbury
Discussion of the popularity and opportunities in online writing. How to build an online following, locate writing e-communities, and the bridge to publishing. Exploration of the importance of transformative works in society’s need to own its own stories. Presentation by author Qwen Salsbury, Amazon #1 Best-Selling author, whose online works have over 5 million unique hits.
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Writing the Poetic Image – 11:00 Conference Room
Presenter: Laura Lee Washburn
Laura Lee Washburn will lead this workshop on imagery. Poets will participate in a poetic game as well as write a short lyric or narrative free verse poem.
Washburn is the author of two books of poetry, This Good Warm Place (March Street) and Watching the Contortionists (Palanquin Chapbook Prize). Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals including Poet Lore and The Sun. Harbor Review’s Washburn Chapbook prize is named in her honor. She directs the Creative Writing Program at Pittsburg State.
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch Break
Authors set up for the Authors Fair
Afternoon Mini-Sessions – Conference
1:30 Thomas Yoke
2:15 Kate Emmett-Sweetser
3:00 Jan Hedges
“Why I Just Now Write” – 1:30 Conference Room
Presenter: Tom Yoke
It took me 60 years to fulfill the dream of becoming an author. The roadblocks and obstacles I had to overcome, are the motivation for telling my story. I want to encourage anyone of any age or circumstance to pursue that dream.
The main points of the talk are:
- Listening to the right voices
- Daring to believe in yourself
- Dreaming big dreams
- Following your heart’s hidden desire
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NaNoWriMo and Poem-a-Day: Write. Every. Day. – 2:15 Conference Room
Presenter: Kate Emmett-Sweetser
Though raised by a professor of British literature and a poet, Kate Emmett-Sweetser prefers to write non-fiction. She has worked as a free-lance journalist in both English and Spanish, as a translator, and as a Spanish adjunct at Pittsburg State University. She is currently working on a book about the Jewish families who lived in SE Kansas in the decades following the Civil War. Her biggest challenges are perfectionism and procrastination; she will share ways to adapt fiction- and poetry-writing prompts and goals to all genres of writing.
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The Art of Journaling – 3:00 Conference Room
Presenter: Jan Hedges
We each have a great deal to write about already tucked in our own heads. Journaling is a way to keep track of and organize these thoughts, musings and ideas. This session will cover the many aspects of journaling, how-to’s, inspiration and motivation. A drawing for a journal will be held at the end of the session.
Jan Hedges is a retired teacher and school administrator. She and her husband Dick opened Hedgehog.INK! Gently Used Books and So Much More… in October 2018. She has dabbled in writing for over 50 years. I write because I must.
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Author Fair Participants: (Tentative List)
Ronda Hassig Young Adult Historical Fiction
Gerri Hilger Adult Historical Fiction
Sally Freeman Jadlow Adult Christian Living/Memoir/Poetry…
Scott KinKade Adult Science Fiction / Fantasy
Joyce Love Children/Young Adult Historical Fiction / Devotional
Eric Reynolds Adult Historical Fiction
Carol Russell Young Adult Historical Fiction
Sally Smith Adult Christian Living
R.J. Thesman Adult Christian Living / Fiction…
Laura Lee Washburn Poetry
Cathy Werling Children Children
Thomas Yoke Adult Fiction
Notes, Inspirations, To-Do’s
Writing Festival
October 19, 2019
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Activities:
8:30 – 8:50 Registration and Refreshments
8:50 – 9:00 Welcome
9:00 – 12:00 Writing Workshops with experienced published authors – 50 minute break-out sessions
12:00 – 1:30 Lunch Break and set-up for Authors’ Fair
1:30 – 3:30 Authors’ Fair and mini-workshops
(multiple authors will be set-up to market, sign and share with participants their writing journey.)
Pre-Registration due by October 15 –
$35 per Participant Late registration – $45
High School and College students free with current
student ID
Co-sponsored by Bourbon County Arts Council,
Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce,
Books and Grannies & Hedgehog.INK!
Hosted by the Lowell Milken Center