Abilene Writers Guild – July 27, 2006

Ginny Green called the meeting to order. Minutes of the last meeting were approved. Ginny passed out words for each of us, since our theme for this year is "Word Play."

Guests were welcomed: Rebecca Williams and Chuck Galco. Susan Turner, our newest member, was introduced.

The Books & Boots luncheon is Saturday, Sept. 23. Contact Gail to purchase tickets for $25. AWG will have a table; members who have published books may display them on the AWG table at the Civic Center. The sale opens at 9 am, so please have your books there by 8:30 am. If you want your own table, the cost is $15 per half table.

Financial Report: We have $1,883.49, with 53-55 members. The final Newsletter will be sent in August to those who have not renewed their membership.

Planning Retreat Report: The board met for the annual planning meeting on July 13, 2006, at ACU. We would always welcome ideas and suggestions from the membership. We welcomed Rita Rasco and John Matthews as our newest board members.

• Diane Lyell had a story and photos published in RV Journal.
• Lynn Davidson sent 3 queries and had 1 rejection. He is speaking at the Haskell County Historical Society meeting in August.
• Barbara Darnall’s son finished his 3rd day of the bar exam.
• Barbara Rollins got cover art for "Syncopated Summer" and will have photos on display during in the West Texas Photography Society exhibit.
• Brandon Davis says he wasted time on contest entries, but got his column submitted about 2 am!
• Sharon Ellison got an email from Naval Magazine concerning her submission. They wanted to make certain it had never been published before and are reviewing the story and photo for a "special" edition.
• Nancy Mastersbragged on contest entries from members as well as from about 33 states and one from Sao Paulo, Brazil! The man from Brazil has also joined AWG.

October Workshop: Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Newsletter Deadline: Please get them to Barbara R. by August 9.

Program: Nancy introduced our guest speaker, Mitchel Whitington, from Jefferson, Texas. Mitchel has published several books and has stories published in magazines such as GMC and Las Vegas Life. He shared his "formula" for ghost stories with us and suggested that we all be open to writing in varied genres. He shared some failures as well as his successes and encouraged all of us to be on the lookout for new avenues in which to write.

The meeting was adjourned with refreshments provided by Jim Johnson & Rita Rasco.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Sharon Ellison, AWG Secretary