Online Blogging Class for Members, Jan. 17 @ 7:30 p.m.

HOW, pray tell, does a “FREAK SNOW STORM” sneak up on professional weather forecasters? Well, when it did on Monday, Jan. 9, we discovered CCW’s inclement weather policy has some holes in it.

We did cancel the meeting on our webpage www.ccwriters.org, but several of our members travel quite a distance (bless you LYLE for driving 2.5 hours to reach Gunnell House)! Our speaker and CCW newsletter editor, Sarah Hamaker, met us at Truro, but on top of everything else we were LOCKED OUT! Nine hardy souls trekked over to Panera Bread in Fairfax where Sarah gave her presentation with the help of her husband who sent her notes to Lyle, who had his laptop with him! How’s that for collaboration?

We’re compensating CCW members with a free webinar in which Sarah will reprise her "It's a Blog World" talk and Stephanie Buckwalter will supplement with some additional information related to blogging. The online class will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 17, starting at 7:30 p.m. Simply email your request for the class link to shamaker@verizon.net. This class is for current CCW members only.

But in the MEANTIME, here is our NEW and IMPROVED “cancellation policy:”

1.   If Fairfax County Public Schools cancel for inclement weather, we will cancel too. They usually cancel school before the sun rises on such days.

2.   If inclement weather arrives AFTER 12 noon, (AFTER “early release” in Fairfax County schools) on the Monday of a meeting, we will post any cancellations on our blog at www.ccwriters.org as well as on CCW’s contact number 703-803-9447.

Thanks to Sarah, Lyle, and ALL the members who made the absolute best of a ridiculously bad situation.

And bless you one and all. =)

Betsy for CCW

Jan. 9 Meeting Canceled

CCW will not be having our Monday night meeting on Jan. 9. We will reschedule "It's a Blog World" this spring.

Meeting: “It’s a Blog World" on Jan. 9

MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012

author/blogger

Sarah Hamaker

“It’s a Blog World”

Since its inception as an online diary in 1994, blogs have become popular ways to share information. SARAH HAMAKER will talk about two popular, free sites (Blogger and WordPress) and how to create your own. She will also discuss what makes a good blog and how to drive traffic to your blog. Sarah is scheduling guests for the CCW blog—a great way to get started as a blogger or to expand your audience! Be sure to add your name to the list on January 9!

Visit Sarah’s work-from-home blog at http://www.sarahhamaker.com/. She also guest blogs on www.stageoflife.com in the parenting section and on http://makinghomeworkblog.blogspot.com/.

THE LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL PERSONAL ESSAY CONTEST

From the fourth quarter Ink and the Spirit newsletter, which has contests, writing opportunities, conferences, articles of interest, and member news. Join CCW today to receive the quarterly newsletter.

THE LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL PERSONAL ESSAY CONTEST

Deadline: Dec. 13. Prize: $3,000. Entry Fee: Free. Sponsored by the Ladies’ Home Journal. The entries must be first-person narratives of personal growth, such as a life lesson or personal challenge. Length between 1,500 to 2,500 words. Entries must be original, unpublished and have not won any other prize or award. For more information, visit www.lhj.com/lhj/file.jsp?item=/contests/Personal_Essay/PersonalEssayOfficialRules. 

Travel Blog from Phil Barth

Phil Barth mentioned a travel blog he had written about his travels with his father over the summer. Since several CCW members were interested in reading the blog entries, here's the link: http://www.danieljosephson.blogspot.com/ . The road trip entries were posted in May and June 2011, under the title: "Finding Fritz, Sr."

Your Book's Two Stories

Did you know your book has two stories? Author Trish Perry reminded us of that and gave tips on how to craft those two stories during our bi-monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 14.

If you want to see what those stories are and how to use them in your writing, check out my notes from the meeting at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mUEU7VgWcl5hNzFUKnoIlCsZ1FzMmX0DWRA6KwnaI1A/edit?hl=en_US#.

Our next meeting will be January 9, 2012. Check out the website for speaker information and other news.

Sarah Hamaker

Join the fun with NaNoWrMo

It's not too late to join November’s National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWrMo, as it’s affectionately called, can be a blessing or a curse to a writer, depending on how you look at writing a 50,000 word novel from scratch in a month that has a major holiday. But it can be a great way to jumpstart that project you’ve always been meaning to write.

Come join the fun and let us know in the comments section of this blog what you're working on this month!