Cec Murphey loses house, son-in-law to fire

Cec Murphey, who has visited RCWW, has lost his home and son-in-law to a fire. Keep him in your prayers, and click the link to find out how to donate.

Extended Deadline, Good Morning Christian Writer Devotion

Dear Tom,
I have just received a reply from Crystal Murray, who is still planning to publish Good Morning Christian Writer, "a compilation of 366 daily devotions for Christian writers, each of which will be followed by a short writing exercise. The devotions will run from 150 to 250 words and the exercise from 150 words" (quoted from the email you forwarded to us on 8/3/06).

This is the one I mentioned Sunday at RCWW. The deadline has been extended beyond the February 27 that I reported.

According to Crystal:
"I will go ahead and re-date the deadline to April 30th if you tell your group and I will try to get the blog updated to reflect that tonight."

Check her blog: Good Morning Christian Writer for guidelines and samples. Her email is: morningwriter@gmail.com.

Because I followed up, I learned that my submission has been accepted:) Hooray! Crystal was gracious enough to crit my devotion and send it back for me to consider her suggested revisions. Can't beat that! I just KNOW that there are many others in our group who could provide contributions. Especially your Marble Movers. (This means that Marti Berger and I both have been accepted. Maybe others about whom I do not yet know.) :)

For anyone who wants to learn how to use the Track Changes method of electronic editing for Microsoft Word (that Crystal uses as well as many editors):

http://web.pdx.edu/%7Emmlynch/mword-tutorial.html

I am forever grateful to Gina Welborn of RCWW for providing this tool. It's a MUST tool for writers, in my opinion. Once you use it you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. And it was there all the time!

Thanks for a great meeting. Isn't it wonderful to have so many people and bask in their knowledge and encouragement?!

Love,
In Christ,
Judi Reid

Local American Christian Fiction Writers Group

Tom:

I have been a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) for almost three years. It is because of the education I received from the ACFW members that I completed my manuscript. ACFW has grown to over 1,000 members in the past two years and because of that growth is establishing local chapters for ACFW members, authors, to personally connect and support one another. Stacy is coordinating and leading the Richmond chapter which we are just establishing.

I would personally encourage your members who are seriously pursuing writing to come check us out.

American Christian Romance Writers changed to American Christian Fiction Writers a couple of years ago, which is why we have grown and continue to grow. The change opened the door for many men to join also.

ACFW has a conference every fall, September, that is one of the largest and best offered.

We have many successful Christian fiction authors as members who help educate and support all of us newbie authors. IMHO there is no better or stronger group of Christians to be a part of.

Blessings,

Donna Inge

February Meeting Notice

Richmond Christians Who Write

"Write the vision, and make it plain..." Hab. 2:2

12114 Walnut Hill Drive
Rockville, Virginia 23146
Telephone: 804-749-4050
FAX: 804-749-4939

E-mail: mailto:RichmondCWW@aol.com
Blog: http://rcww.blogspot.com/

Rev. Thomas C. Lacy
Founder - President

Barbara Baranowski
Membership

Marie Corso
Advisor

Michael Rew
Blog Master

February 18, 2007

FEBRUARY MEETING NOTICE: Note change of Meeting Room 219

Our next meeting will be February 18th, 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Grove Avenue Baptist Church. NOTE: Enter the rear entrance on the Parham Road side of the building. Look for the elevator on your left, go to 2nd floor, turn right getting off the elevator, go to Room 219.

SPEAKER 2:45 to 3:45: Karen Hannon

"I'm the owner/developer of a new faith-based web site in Richmond, SpotlightRichmond.com. We have a Faith & Values section on the site. We would welcome stories, poems, etc. from your RCWW members. We officially launched at the end of September - had 92,000 hits in October.

"I'll explain the mission/vision of SpotlightRichmond.com, and invite all interested writers to contribute as they feel led. There are a lot of writing opportunities.

They can contribute their own work that we'd put under the Christian Author section on faith and values, content on any of the special areas of family, health & wellness, business (making dreams happen), book reviews, scripture reflections and Making A Difference stories about local people and groups. We are also open to new ideas/new sections for the site.

"I plan to talk about the Random Acts of Kindness Celebration going on now. I need help with this journal and am hoping RCWW members will be interested in helping with this short-term project."

Come and hear Karen outline these writing opportunities and tell of her need for regular submissions (of all kinds) for SpotlightRichmond.com and more!

Critique Session 4:00 to 5:00

It has been some time since we've had a critique session. If you have a short article, portion of a large article or excerpt from a book, bring six to eight copes, typed, double-spaced. We will divid the group into as many small groups as space will permit. This procedure may allow us to give more in-depth critique to more people.

Feedback from January Meeting

At this meeting I asked for those in attendance to send me a brief statement of the suggestions they offered. It is my intentions to review these suggestion and take them to our next planning committee. To date, only four have responded. Joe Anderson suggested taking all the suggestions and use them as a basis for planning an entire year. This is the ideal, but I need to hear from more of you as to what you want/need from RCWW.

If you have suggestions, please e-mail them in the body of an e-mail or pdf attachments only. My Mac will not open most PC attached files. If you are not on line, please mail them to my house. Or bring them when you come to our February meeting.

APRIL 14, 2007 POETRY WORKSHOP

This poetry workshop will be held April 14, 2007, from 9:00-Noon. Our speaker/instructor will be Florence Rosie Givens, local author, editor and publisher of three books of Poem Collections.
(Specifics to follow.)

2007 Meeting Schedule

Here are the remainder of the dates for 2007: Mar. 18, Sat. Apr. 14 1/2 day poetry workshop, May 20, June 10 (2nd Sun. to avoid Father's Day), July 15, Aug. 19, Sept. 16, Fri. & Sat. Oct. 19-20 possible writers conference or Sun. Oct. 21, and Nov. 18.

Normal Monthly Meeting Format (unless otherwise stated)

2:00-2:15 Sign In and Fellowship
2:15 Opening Prayer
2:15-2:45 Introductions and Announcements
2:45-3:45 Speaker or Workshop
3:45-4:00 Refreshments and Fellowship
4:00-4:55 Speaker/Workshop or Critique Session (Announced Monthly) (Bring 20 copies, typed, double spaced)
4:55-5:00 Closing Prayer

DUES

Dues, in the amount of $20.00 will cover membership from January 1st through December 31, 2007. They may be paid at our monthly meetings or mailed to: Richmond Christians Who Write, 12114 Walnut Hill Drive, Rockville, VA 23146.

WRITERS CONFERENCES

If you know of writing conferences, workshops or any events of interest to writers, please send me complete details so the information can be passed on to our members.

February 15-18, 2007
Jerry B. Jenkins, Christian Writers Guild: www.ChristianWritersGuild.com

March 9-10, 2007
Kay Walsh, Shenandoah Christian Writers group: jsparrow474@yahoo.com

March 16-17, 2007
American Christian Writers Conference: www.ACWriters.com

BECOME A MARBLE MOVER

To date only about four have signed up for this writing challenge. My goal is to sign up 20 Marble Movers, but that is not to say it is limited to 20. Last year I did not accomplish my goal of enrolling 10, but riding on the heels of the success of the seven who did sign on (six were published for pay and one entered a legitimate major poetry contest that will not be judged until Spring) I doubled my goal.

3 STEP PLAN TO BECOME A RCWW MARBLE MOVER:

1. The ultimate aim is to take Five Action Steps, however small, FIVE DAYS EACH WEEK that will move you toward the accomplishment of your main goal. TO BE PUBLISHED FOR PAY by June 30, 2007.

2. Commit to practice the rule for five consecutive days then ask yourself: What could I accomplish if I moved five marbles daily?

3. Tell me about it.

Listen carefully to my guidelines. If you don't follow them, you will disqualify yourself from being a Marble Mover. My aim, however, is not to disqualify anyone, but if you are not committed to the program you will not accomplish your goal. Now may not be the time for you to be a Marble Mover, but try it for five days and see how well you do. Only then can you rightly decide if you are ready for the challenge.

My goal is to motivate at least 20, unpublished, dues-paying, RCWW members to publish one or more articles for pay by June 30, 2007.

I'm looking for unpublished-for-pay RCWW members who are committed to applying this principle by consistently moving three or more marbles, on a daily basis, from one pocket to the other toward getting paid for publishing one or more articles by June 30, 2007.

You qualify by practicing this successfully for five days and then telling me by e-mail what you have accomplished. RCWW members not online must call me to register: 749-4050.

I want to help serious writers. I can only accomplish my goal through committed writers.

Disqualification: If you consistently transfer less than three marbles per day you will, in effect, remove yourself as a Marble Mover. Marble Movers most send me a weekly list of their progress.

I look forward to seeing you on the 18th. Bring your ideas. Bring your commitment to be a Marble Mover. Bring a writer friend.

In His Service,

Tom

Karen Hannon to Speak, Feb. 18th

Dear Christians Who Write:

Karen Hannon, developer/operator of SpotlightRichmond.com, will speak to us February 18th. She was looking forward to being with us in January. She asked me to inform you she had a time-sensitive writing opportunity that also involves a community activity. She is tapping into National Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week, February 12-18.

"I wanted to tell everyone about the Random Acts of Kindness Celebration. Details are on the site: SpotlightRichmond.com. Quickly - there are 3 phases: 1. Individuals and/or groups commit to doing 3 acts of kindness during RAK week, Feb. 12-18. 2. They are asked to report, in writing, about past or future acts of kindness projects completed or planned. 3. Then from some of those stories we will create the Metro Richmond Region Random Acts of Kindness Journal.

"Help is needed with the journal. I'm hoping some of your members are interested in taking on this short-term project. We're busy selling sponsorships for the contest. The journals will be sold with 100% of the proceeds going back into the community in support of more acts of kindness projects.

"If successful with securing the sponsorships, there will be money available to pay the writers who help put this journal together. I can't guarantee payment, but I can promise that if money comes in, it will be shared with everyone who contributes their time and talent.
"We're going on faith - praying, listening, trying to act as we feel led. We're excited about this project and keep imagining what Richmond will feel like - look like - if we can get thousands of people choosing to do 3 acts of kindness that week.

"Thrilling - and you know that we can't out give God. Kindness is always returned - so what other outcomes could we see?

"I can't wait.

"This journal will very important as a permanent record - a source of encouragement - and a way of generating $50,000.00 that supports more good works.

"Here's my thinking. Starting Wednesday we need people adding content to the SpotlightRichmond.com site. Individuals and groups need to tell their stories. Now "story" can be a few sentences with or without a picture or a picture with a caption. We are expecting a huge response so we don't want long stories. People get busy and won't send them in if they are expected to write long stories. But if someone called a church or group they are already involved with, and wrote that short story, we could get that on the site and people would be encouraged and maybe get an idea for a new project with people they know. We need your suggestion here.

"I say Wednesday because on Monday pastors will be receiving an e-mail asking them to do this (send us their stories). So if people started calling their church and others on Wednesday, that might be good timing."

For questions and suggestions, call Karen Hannon: 874-4591. Karen will be out of the country until January 28th.

Tom

Christian Writer's Workshop

Kingdom Publishing Group, Incorporated Announces:

The Christian Writer - 101

Register now!

Mary Clark Toots Her Horn

Well, Tom, it's been the longest dry spell of my 25-year writing life. At times in the past 18 months, I thought I'd never be published again. This followed the death of my mother, a part of grief I never would have expected.

In [recent] mail, there was a large envelope from Focus on the Family addressed to me. Normally, they address our mail to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred
Clark. I wondered what was up. When I finally got around to opening the envelope, I was stunned to see a letter addressed to "Dear Author," thanking me for my contribution to this month's Focus on the Family Teen Phases magazine. I looked through the magazine, completely puzzled, having no memory of submitting anything to them. But there on the next-to-the-last page was a paragraph I wrote (who knows when) on "Celebrating heritage." It detailed how our family celebrates "Gotcha Day" each July since that's the month we adopted each of our children, three years apart.

No pay for the piece, but it did more to encourage me in writing than any royalty check I've ever received. Maybe the dam has finally broken and the words will once again start to flow.

I think I may have heard of this writing opportunity on the CWG list ... or maybe from you when you passed it along to us. Do you remember?

Thanks for all you do,

Mary Roberts Clark, writer
"Celebrating Heritage" - Focus on the Family Teen Phases
"Why Me, Lord?" - Cup of Comfort
"Miz Organization" - Homeschooling Today