June 2010 Meeting

The Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women met on Wednesday, June 2, at Mama Maria's in Salem.

The program was an update on member activities.

Becky Mushko, Vice President, chaired the meeting.

Elena DeRosa reported that she is nearing completion of her manuscript. Her memoir should be ready for submission in the next few months.

Mildred Sandridge, currently a student at Hollins University, said an independent study with Professor Jeanne Larsen was invaluable in assisting her with her book, which is a multi-generational work.

Ethel Born reported that her nonfiction book, From Horse 'n Buggy to Hi Tech, which is about the rural postal service in Virginia, will be presented to the postal society later this month.

Meg Hibbert, a guest, noted that she is writing steadily for an online magazine and is editor of The Salem Times-Register and The New Castle Record.




Becky Mushko reported that she has participated in numerous book readings and author events in order to promote her book, Ferradiddledumday.



Margaret DuBois has been working hard to create her arts of oil, pastel and enamels. Her work was for sale recently at the Roanoke Sidewalk Art Show.

The group will take a hiatus and will meet again in September.

Meeting Dates for Fall 2010

The Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women will meet on the following dates this fall:

September 8

October 13

November 10

December 8

These meetings will be held at the Roanoke Coop in Grandin in Roanoke. Anyone interested in joining the group can contact President Peggy Shifflett at pshiffle@radford.edu.

Programs will be announced at a later date.

May 5, 2010 Meeting

William Spillman, winner of the Roanoke Valley Pen Women's Poetry Contest in 2009, was the guest speaker at the group's May 2010 meeting.

Spillman spoke about the writing process and how he learned to write better poetry through study and persistence. He also read a number of his poems.



Members in attendance included Mary Tousman, Peggy Shifflett, Margaret DuBois, Elena DeRosa, Gail Lambert, Ethel Born, Becky Mushko, Beth Rossi, and Anita Firebaugh.



Margaret DuBois and Becky Mushko.

With permission, the group is pleased to present Mr. Spillman's award-winning poem:

Garden of Stones
By W. B. Spillman, Jr.

This is a garden of stones
whose shadows never touch,

not the long shadows of winter,

not the small shadows
of summer noon.

It began as Japanese,
but its plan decays
as western thoughts intrude.

The wind likes this place
and its unexpected confusions.

I sit on the largest stone
and arrange my thoughts
like the notes of a flute,

no meaning, only emotion.

Twilight joins me.
After awhile,

The world loses color.

March 2010 Meeting

Members of the Roanoke Valley Pen Women met on March 3, 2010 for the first monthly meeting since December, thanks to snow.

The membership had a show-and-tell day. Each person told about their latest projects and current artistic activities.



Mary Tousman (standing), the group secretary, reported that she has found much enjoyment in a autobiography/memoir that she has started writing and illustrating.

Peggy Shifflett (sitting), the group president, said her self-published book, The Living Room Bed, will be released later this month. She noted that fellow Pen Women member Anita Firebaugh assisted her with editing.



Margaret DuBois, left, former group president, showed off her enamal on copper paintings. The pieces are fired, some as many as 10 times, before the piece is complete, she said.

Beth Ann Rossi, right, has been in the process of building a new home. She has kept and documented every aspect of the project. Her documentation and scrapbooking has taken up several journals and albums.



Gail Lambert, right, reported that she has been published in Senior News and other places.



Ethel Born, second from right, reported that her book From Horse to Buggy to High Tech, which is about the postal service, has been completed and is ready for distribution.

Judy Ayylidiz, first on the right, reported that she was a visiting reader at Marshall University and recently reprinted her book, Nothing But Time, among other projects.

Becky Mushko, third on the right, the group vice-president, reported that her book, Ferradiddledumday, has been released by Cedar Creek Publishing. She is currently marketing the book.

Anita Firebaugh, not pictured, noted that she is working on a booklet about Cloverdale and continues to publish articles in local newspapers.

June 2009 Meeting

Amy Tate gave the Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women an enthusiastic talk about her work on her book at the June 10 meeting at The Daily Grind.

Tate, who blogs as The Virginia Scribe, received the Branch's annual scholarship for the second year in a row.

The Roanoke Valley Pen Women will meet again on September 2.

May 2009 Meeting

Pulitzer-nominated journalist Rex Bowman, author of Blue Ridge Chronicles, delighted members of the Roanoke Pen Women during their May 13 meeting.

Rex Bowman reads from his work.

Bowman served as the Southwestern Virginia correspondent for The Richmond Times-Dispatch for over a decade. He is now a book author.

The writer spoke to the Pen Women about the secret of writing. He called that "surprise," saying that writers must surprise their readers by saying something new and surprising or saying something old in a surprising way.

He offered a number of rhetorical devices as part of a writer's toolbox and urged the writers in the Pen Women's group to review this methodology for the apt and appropriate turn of phrase.

Other suggestions included ensuring that landscapes have people in them, using sensory detail (the five senses), writing in the author's voice, writing intimately, using the imperative voice, using periodic sentences instead of loose sentences, and using language appropriate to the story.

Gail Lambert, Judy Ayyldiz and Pat Bijwaard listen to Rex Bowman talk.

The Pen Women discussed their lack of scholarship applications (no one applied) and determined to pass along the $100 prize money to last year's winner, Amy Tate, who is continuing her education again in the upcoming year.

The Pen Women will receive the Perry F. Kendig Award in June for their work to promote the arts.