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meeting on Saturday, February 27 2010
at the Heritage Cafeteria 1364 E.
Battlefield (at Fremont) Springfield, MO
12:00 Noon Break
1:00 Meeting
February's speaker will be
Fred Pfister
2:00 Business Meeting
a list of present and recent
past speakers along with
their topics.
February 27, 2010
The Ozarks Mountaineer editor, Fred Pfister, will speak on
"Writing About the Ozarks." Pfister, a retired English
professor, spends time writing, teaching, and speaking on
Missouri place names, folklore, and other topics. He worked
his way through college as a radio announcer and an actor in
the Beacon Hill summer stock theater. He has an M.A. from the
University of Arkansas and a doctorate from the University of
Mississippi. His books include The Littlest Baby: A Handbook
for Parents of Premature Children (Prentice-Hall), and The
Insider's Guide to Branson and the Ozarks Mountains. He
describes The Ozark Mountaineer magazine as "more timeless
than timely" and dedicated to covering the Ozarks' history,
culture and folklore.
as membership chair of the Ozarks Writers League.
January 23, 2010
Shirley McCann offered valuable information on how writers
can supplement their income by writing short stories and ways
to market them. McCann's fiction has appeared in Woman's World,
Alfred Hitchcock, The Forensic Examiner, Story House Coffee,
and numerous confession magazines. She is currently President
of Sleuths' Ink, a mystery writers' group in Springfield.
night in bed with a huge pot of Earl Grey tea, but when you're
on-the-go, you can't beat the 'quick reads.' And they're just
as fun to write."
November 28, 2009
Media consultant Tim Smith presented information to help
writers understand and apply new technologies to self-publish
and market writing. Smith is an award winning television
producer, radio reporter and Internet professional with 20-
years' experience in television, radio, print and Internet
media. He helped start several national websites for broadcast
journalism and television production students at the high
school and middle school level, as well as regional and local
websites for not-for-profits and small businesses. He is
currently the Online Media Consultant for Community Publishers,
Inc., a newspaper and online media company based in Bolivar,
Missouri, and Bentonville, Arkansas. He produces and markets
online media content for eight local newspapers and ten
associated web properties.
Smith's presentation explored websites, social networking
sites and other electronic media, as well as the "new" print
media and how to apply these tools to extend the reach of a
writer's work in multiple formats.
October 24, 2009
Barri L. Bumgarner, Publicity Chair for the Missouri Writers'
Guild, imparted some valuable information about
membership and the mission of the organization.
After years of teaching in a junior high classroom, Bumgarner
released three novels. Her young adult novel, Dregs, tackles
brutal clique issues that lead to school violence, and won the
Walter Williams Major Work Award, runner-up, 2008. Her other
two novels are both award-nominated thrillers: psychological/
suspense thriller Slipping and debut sci-fi thriller 8 Days.
She currently teaches at the University of Missouri, while
completing her PhD. Her current projects include writing a
prequel to 8 Days, a sequel to both Slipping and Dregs, and
a true-crime book, Shades of Gray: The Steven Rios Story.
National radio show host Jim Bohannon and award-winning author
Barbara Hodges have reviewed her novels.
September 26, 2009
Dr. Mick Sokol, Associate Professor of Theatre at Drury
University, spoke on Playwriting/Screenwriting. Sokol has
a Master's Degree in Playwriting (1992) from Southern Illinois
University (Carbondale), a BFA in theatre design from Florida
and a PhD in Theatre History from Georgia.
and stagecraft, and Alpha Seminar (Drury's freshman studies
program). He also designs most of Drury's shows, directs some,
and organizes a lot of productions of plays written by Drury
students. This summer will be the fourth year of producing an
evening of student- and faculty-written plays. "Short and Funny"
will be the first, followed by three others. Sokol wrote one and
will direct another.
August 22, 2009
Award winning western author and historian Ellen Gray Massey talk
was titled, "Never Give Up."
Since 1990 Massey has given over 350 talks about the Ozarks and
about writing. In 1995 she was inducted into the first Writers
Hall of Fame of America and has won 25 awards from the Missouri
Writers Guild; she was three times finalist in the Western
Writers of America's Golden Spur Awards. Massey has published
numerous articles, short stories, essays, a musical play, as well
as 14 novels and eight non-fiction books. She now teaches
Elderhostel classes for the YMCA of the Ozarks at Potosi and for
Ozark Adventures, Inc. in Branson.
Massey's recent non-fiction books include "Family Fun and Games"
and "The Bittersweet Ozarks at a Glance." Her recent novels are
"New Hope," "The Burnt District" (Hard Shell Word Factory,
an online and print publisher), "Brothers, Blue and Gray" and
"Her Enemies, Blue and Gray" (Goldminds Publishing).
July 25, 2009
Gary Presley, author of acclaimed memoir "Seven Wheelchairs: A
Life Beyond Polio," spoke on Creative Non-Fiction.
Presley came late to writing, first inspired by winning an essay
contest sponsored by the Joplin Globe. He wrote a few freelance
articles before discovering his love for the personal essay. He
has had essays published in The Ozark Mountaineer, Salon.com and
other venues.
Presley says he is "no wheelchair hero, no inspiring figure
preaching patience and gratitude." He calls himself "an army brat
turned farm kid...who likes words." He fell victim to polio at
age 17 after a vaccine follow-up shot, never walking again. Now,
almost 50 years later, having worn out wheelchair after wheel-
chair, surviving post-polio syndrome, and marrying the woman of
his dreams, Gary has redefined himself as "Gimp"... more able to
find joy in his family and his newfound religion. He writes in a
way that elicits sympathy, understanding and laughter.
June 27, 2009
Librarian/Columnist Jeanne Duffey spoke on "What's Hot and
What's Not."
Duffey currently writes a weekly column for the Springfield News-
Leader. She worked as a reporter for several years on both daily
and weekly newspapers after graduating from the Journalism School
at the University of Missouri. In the following years she "moved
around the Midwest to almost everything you could do with a
journalism degree: advertising copywriter, magazine production
editor, agency vice president."
For the past 20 years, Duffey has marketed and promoted the
Springfield-Greene County Library District, "a product I can really
get behind where I use all the skills I've gained through the
years." Her SWG presentation will address topics such as what
books are popular now and why - and what, and if, some kinds of
publications are now passé.
May 23. 2009
JE Cornwell, owner/publisher of JEC Publishing Company, shared
valuable publishing information in his presentation to the
Springfield Writers' Guild at their regular meeting on Saturday,
May 23, at 1:00 p.m. Cornwell has been publishing and distributing
books and magazines for local authors and writers for the past five
years. He says he "stumbled into" the business over 10 years ago in
the Kansas City area.
Cornwell's topic, "Getting Published," is supported by the numerous
books and magazines his company has published and distributed
through businesses such as Borders, Barnes & Noble, Bass Pro Shops,
Hastings and Book-A-Million, including "Menus & More Magazine,"
"Shop Mission Magazine," "Restaurant Recipes of the Ozarks,"
"Ozarks Cooking, the Best of Chef Lou," "Taste of Springfield
Cookbook" and "Branson Humor."
April 25, 2009
News-Leader Editor Bil Tatum's subject will be "Writing for the Media."
Tatum is currently assistant metro editor in charge of the night
desk at the Springfield News-Leader. Besides "wrapping up the
daily edition each evening," Tatum serves as editor of two of
the company's weekly editions (for Nixa and for Ozark) and
manages the metro desk's freelance budget and has a variety
of administrative duties.
crime issues, entertainment writing, reviewer and columnist.
Today he works with a number of talented writers at skill levels
"from novice to veteran, planning and polishing both breaking
news and enterprise stories for impact, relevance and clarity."
As a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism,
Tatum says he is "a lifelong lover of clean and elegant writing."
March 28, 2009
Impressionist painter/author Riki Lipe spoke on "Inspiring
Creativity." Lipe is recognized nationwide for her "sunshine-in-
a-brush" technique in oil painting. The children's books she
authors are inspired by the paintings she creates and are
embraced by children and adults alike. The current crossover-
adults buying children's books for themselves-is reflected in
the popularity of Riki's nostalgic books; her illustrations are
a major part of their appeal.
each student develop his or her full potential. Individuality and
writing from memory are prevalent in Riki's presentations for
students, teachers and parents, and inspire kids to write and to
read. Her books include "Sooty," the first person tale of an old
wood cook-stove, and "The Mystery at Ricena's Pond," in which
kids solve the problem of a dying pond.
February 28, 2009
Allan Young gave a presentation on "Attracting the Editor's
Attention with Sparkling Copy." Allan has a broad work background,
including engineer, policeman, consultant, manufacturing and
publishing executive, pilot, riverboat captain, farmer, rancher,
baseball player, hunter, fisherman and livestock judge. In his
presentation he will talk about "hooks," opening lines, wordiness,
first pages, writing astute descriptions, six types of dialogue,
developing characters and plots.
Young currently teaches several different writing classes in
Continuing Education at OTC.