Tuesday, June 12, 2012

July 2012 Meeting

Saturday, July 14, 2:00 p.m., Dorris Van Doren Library, 551 Redd Road – The El Paso Writers’ League will sponsor a workshop on “How to Hook Your Reader from the First Line.”  Local authors Janice Brooks and Sarah Purcell will moderate writing exercises on the First Line, First Paragraph, and First Page, contrasting classic and current best-selling authors.  The goal is to inform, stimulate, and help local authors create an individual style that will hook a reader and compel them to turn the page to read more.  For more information:  915-581-1080.

Announcements out of the Inkslinger:




Rafael Ortega Melendez our Playwriting judge from our 2011 Writing Contest has recently published :

A Serpent's Breath

Available through Amazon. Below is the synopsis. Sounds like an exciting read.
Red China prepares to invade Formosa. However, fate intervenes when a pro-democracy Beijing official downloads certain information onto a disk. He then erases the data from their system's mainframe and smuggles the disk out of China. The material must be recovered. Arrangements are made to send a young woman to America with the disk. She barely escapes drowning in the Sea of Cortez. Next she then driven through Mexico and smuggled into El Paso, Texas, there she meets her end. A street youngster sees where she hides the disk before she is murdered, retrieves it and then becomes the object of the hunt. Two Triads, the Mexican mafia and a secret group of right-wing Americans I call the Serpents who then become pitted against one lowly FBI agent; Macias Baca Gonzalez. Special Agent Gonzalez's brother-in-law, an Immigration agent dies in an "accident," his lawyer girlfriend is framed with cocaine and the youngster's mother is murdered all in an effort to deter Agent Gonzalez. Agent Gonzalez finds the youngster, the disk, but then his girl friend Molly is kidnapped for trade. Ultimately a fight ensues and Molly is rescued from an old abandoned brewery. The players and the importance of the information is revealed.


ANNE HILLERMAN'S WORDHARVEST WORKSHOP

July 7 ABCs of Market Analysis and Promotion, with Shirley Raye Redmond
(SCBWI-NM)

Writing a book can be tough.  Convincing a New York editor to buy it is tougher.  Selling 100,000 copies is tougher still.  The workshop introduces students to the intricacies of market analysis and dispels well-circulated myths about successful book promotion.  Using hands-on
exercises and discussion topics, Redmond shows participants how to develop a marketing plan that will convince an editor to publish their book and how to sell more than 100,000 copies of that book without hiring a publicist.

Shirley Raye Redmond is an award-winning fiction and nonfiction writer and frequent conference and workshop presenter.  She has taught a variety of writing and literature courses at the University of New Mexico- Los Alamos campus, WORDHARVEST Writers Workshops, and the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference. As the author of more than 25 books and more than 400 articles, Redmond learned the intricacies of marketing and promoting from the ground up and uses them very successfully to promote her own work. Two of her titles have sold more than 200,000 copies each. Visit her website www.shirleyrayeredmond.com

For more information or to register:

SEMINARS

July 7—ABCs of Market Analysis and Promotion,
              with Shirley Raye Redmond
Writing a book can be tough.  Convincing a New York editor to buy it is tougher.  Selling 100,000 copies is tougher still.  The workshop introduces students to the intricacies of market analysis and dispels well-circulated myths about successful book promotion.  Using hands-on exercises and discussion topics, Redmond shows participants how to develop a marketing plan that will convince an editor to publish their book and how to sell more than 100,000 copies of that book without hiring a publicist.
Shirley Raye Redmond is an award-winning fiction and nonfiction writer and frequent conference and workshop presenter.  She has taught a variety of writing and literature courses at the University of New Mexico–Los Alamos campus, WORDHARVEST Writers Workshops, and the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference. As the author of more than 14 books and more than 400 articles, Redmond learned the intricacies of marketing and promoting from the ground up and uses them very successfully to promote her own work.  Visit her website www.readshirleyraye.com
July 14—Writing Your Life Through the Lens of Food,
                 with Deborah Madison
Learn the simple rules of writing recipes, from fundamentals to head notes, the best part of a recipe.  This workshop delves into the details of food writing to encourage students to compile a cookbook for family and friends and include a memoir of their personal experiences that they would like to share.
Deborah Madison had farms and food in her sights from the start. Since her years at Greens restaurant in the Bay Area, she has been largely known as a cook, writer, writing teacher, and cooking teacher whose specialties are seasonal, vegetarian recipes with strong emphasis on farmers markets produce and heritage fruit and vegetable varieties. Madison is the author of ten cookbooks.  Her most recent is Seasonal Fruit Desserts from Orchard, Farm and Market. Visit her website www.deborahmadison.com
July 21—Poetry Launch,
                with Joan Logghe, Santa Fe Poet Laureate
Learn how the language of poetry can naturally lead writers of all genres into language that is precise, imagistic, and vivid.  The workshop will give participants an opportunity to play with poetics, building unique and compelling images, condensing for greater effect, and more. 
Joan Logghe has been an integral part of New Mexico’s Poetry Renaissance. A life in poetry began for Logghe when she volunteered at her children’s school thirty years ago.  She has taught at Ghost Ranch Abiquiu, University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, Santa Fe Community College, Santa Clara Pueblo Day School, Vienna, Croatia, and WORDHARVEST Writers Workshops. Her many books include What Makes a Woman Beautiful, Twenty Years in Bed with the Same Man (a finalist for a Western States Book Award), and Greatest Hits: Love & Death. Visit her website www.joanlogghe.com
July 28–The Writer’s Sacred Journey: Find and Write a Compelling Story,
               with Kate Horsley
Explore inner and outer sources of inspiration and material for writing by combining brief meditation and guided imagery. Students will travel figuratively to different times and cultures to find what inspires us most, taking full advantage of the present moment to produce pieces of short writing. The emphasis will be on going beyond the ego's agenda to a deeper place where writing is a powerful gift to others.
Kate Horsley found that every event in her life was marked by a book.  Research she did on women in the American West inspired her to write novels about the little known but awesome lives of ordinary people in extraordinary times. The author of six published novels―Crazy Woman, A Killing in New Town, Careless Love, Confessions of a Pagan Nun, The Changeling, and Black Elk in Paris―Horsley teaches creative writing and speaks on the process of research and writing historical fiction, particularly focusing on the Southwest and Ireland. Visit her website www.katehorsley.com


Exhibit Title: “Romancing El Paso”, a One Woman Show by Artist Maritza Jáuregui
Place: At The City Hall, Community Exhibition Space (formerly “People’s Gallery”)
Address:  2 Civic Center Plaza, 1st Floor of City Hall, El Paso, TX 79901
Exhibit Dates: June 1st to June 27th, 2012
Opening Reception:  June 7th, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Sponsored by: The City of El Paso, Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, Artist Incubator Program

Why “Romancing El Paso” ?
Even though, I’ve shown my artwork at many galleries, and at local, regional and International competitions, this exhibit is a significant step in my career as an Artist, as this is my very first solo exhibit in El Paso, and it is thanks to the support of The City of El Paso and the Museums and Cultural Affairs Department (MCAD) that I was able to dedicate the time to this project for the last six months, making the dream of a “one woman show” a reality.

The works on this exhibit reflect my love to this City that has offered me a home.  I was raised in Veracruz, Mexico, but ’ve lived in El Paso for the last 16 years, and El Paso is home for me, what a better way to say “Thanks El Paso”, than to paint the many beautiful scenes that make of this land a great place to visit and to live in! 

What makes this exhibit different? I believe that anything where you put your heart on, should make a difference. While I’ve painted most of my life surreal subjects, I’ve been more conservative this time, which shows a different side to me.  It was a challenge to complete this set of paintings in only six months, as that is usually the time it takes me to normally paint just ONE piece, however, loved the challenge.  Last year I painted a lamp post for Hospice El Paso, two years ago I participated in the First Plein Air Competiton in Las Cruces,  three years ago I did Chalk the Block, and I’ve illustrated six books in the last two years.  I feel that I’ve grown much more in trying new things than staying static in a comfort zone. I always try to go an extra mile and do things I haven’t tried before. I believe that “adopting a style” is something that would trap my creativity, so I rather the freedom to experiment with different materials, themes, techniques, painting one day something abstract and the next day something realistic, depending upon how I feel that day, and whatever my heart tells me to paint. So, hopefully the people that go to see this exhibit would be able to relate to the way I love my life in El Paso, as much as they do too.

This collection includes paintings in Oil, Acrylic, watercolor, Gouache, mixed media collages and photography that represent El Paso scenes in a romantic way, incorporating memories and inspiring the audience to “see” into the details, with the same metaphor and symbolism characteristic of poetry, remarking on the beauty of the City, people, traditions and El Paso’s most recognizable icons.

The Opening Reception is June 7th, 2012 from 4:00-6:00pm, and the exhibit is open to the general public at no charge.
City Hall Hours Monday to Thursday from 9:00am to 6:00pm

Biography
Maritza started creating art as a child and earned a scholarship to go to college.
Her first works included sculptures, castings in metals, wood and linoleum carvings.
She taught art for children and adults until she moved to The US in 1995.
Throughout the years she has participated in many art exhibits and earned numerous awards and recognition.
Her artwork has sold in Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Japan , and all across US and Latin America.

Recent achievements:  
 Nov 2011, Maritza was awarded a grant from The City of El Paso, Museum and Cultural Affairs Department, sponsoring her solo show for June 2012, titled "Romancing El Paso."
September 2011, Painted a 13 feet lamp post donated to The Hospice El Paso and received “Best of Show” and “Top Revenue Producer” awards.
2011, Illustrated the book cover for “Life in The Rearview Mirror” by Nancy Natalicio, an OLLI/UTEP Publication.
2011, created three inside illustrations for the book “Angels Around Us” by L.C. Hayden. 
 2010, Rio Bravo Watercolorists, “Arts of March”, Second Place for "Free Spirit" 
 2009, EPAA “America The Beautiful”, Third Place for “Patriotic Pooch”
September 2010, Maritza created the book cover for “Little Mountain”, a mystery novel by Bob Sanchez.
 September 2010, painting “Viva El Paso” was the featured cover for El Paso Scene and their annual calendars.
October 2010, painting “Family Portrait” was chosen by the City of El Paso to be projected onto the Chase building in downtown during the “Chalk The Block” Street Festival.
June 2009, was a featured artist at Chalk the Block.
2009, 2010 & 2011, Illustrated the Cover and a some poems for “Border Tapestry”, an annual publication by The El Paso Writer's League.

Memberships:
NOAPS- National Oil and Acrylics
Painters' Society
Rio Water Watercolorists
Pastel Society of El Paso
Plein Air Painters of El Paso
The El Paso Writer's League
To learn more about the artist go to:  http://www.maritzajauregui.com

Sisters in Crime
The Sisters in Crime meet the first Tuesday of the month to read works by women mystery writers (for the most part). July 3 P.D James "Death in Holy Orders." Aug 7 Tami Hoag "Deeper than Dead." Sept 4 Margaret Coel "Blood Memory." Oct 2 Susan Wittig Albert "Chile Death." Nov 6 Kate White "If Looks Could Kill."
Location: Eastside Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 9521 Viscount
Time: 7:00 pm
More Information:   
Admission: Free
Name: Marsha Labodda
Phone: 629-7063
The Online MFA in Creative Writing
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is proud to offer a fully online Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Writers can complete the entire degree from anywhere in the world, as there is no residency requirement. This is the only one of its kind.
Our goal is to prepare serious writers for publishing and teaching careers. The degree plan consists of 48 hours of coursework (14 courses) followed by 6 hours of thesis during which the student completes a publishable manuscript in poetry or fiction.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged’
El Paso Playhouse, 2501 Montana, presents the parody of the Bard’s works May 25-June 16. Directed by Vanessa Keyser. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $10 ($8 seniors, $7 military/students with ID). Information: 532-1317, elpasoplayhouse.com.
The wildly shortened plays by William Shakespeare are played by only three actors.