National League of American Pen Women
Denver branch, October 4, 2025
Minutes
- President Linda Volin called the meeting to order at 9:40 AM.
- Members present were Diane Chambers, Kelly Ann Compton, Ann Klaiman, Eleanor Binnings, Atlanta Sheridan, Risa Waldt, and Marion Mike.
- Guests included Deborah Smith, Michelle Carr, Maryn McMillan, and Denise Gard.
- Inspirational Reading: Risa read a segment from Unknown Presence by Bev Doolittle.
- Minutes from the September meeting were approved.
- Kelly Ann read the treasurers report. Our current bank balance $125.16.
- Committee Reports
- Membership: Diane Chambers welcomed our newest member, Marion Mike, a children’s book author and mystery writer. Marion brings a wealth of writing experience and knowledge. She was a former speech therapist and lives in Thornton, Colorado. Diane also reported on the possibility of other new people joining our branch as she has invited many new authors from Colorado to join us in our various upcoming book signing events at craft fairs. She believes these are great ways for us to meet new people and are opportunities to encourage them to join our branch.
- Programs: Diane reported on programs in place of Rachael who was not in attendance. Diane said that she and Rachael have been gathering You Tube video presentations on various topics on writing to possibly show after our business meetings. These would be free programs that would allow us a chance to rebuild our treasury.
- Zoom Master: Kelly Ann reported that we recently paid our zoom renewal fee of $170 and everything as far as Zoom is going well.
- Webmistress: Virginia Small sent in her website report saying that everything is going well. Recently our website went down three times for unknown reasons but were fixed each time and currently it’s working fine. Linda encouraged our guests to check out our website
- Critique Group: Eleanor Binnings reported on the critique group saying that they meet every other Friday at 4:30 PM. Marion asked for more details on the critique group. Eleanor explained that two people are critiqued each session and the two submissions together are limited to 15,000 words. Kelly Ann added that the critique group is open to members only.
- New Business: Linda announced that there will be a memorial service for our member, Carol Ehrlich who recently passed away. The service will be on October 7th at 4 PM at Christ the King Catholic Church at 860 Elm St. in Denver. Linda said that anyone who plans to attend needs to contact Carol’s son as there will be a limited number for attendance.
- Upcoming Events: Linda announced the Windsor Gardens craft fair for which we have registered to have a table to sell our books, which will be held on November 14th and 15th. Currently we are on a wait list because so many people want to participate. Linda has been having a problem getting a hold of the organizer to find out if we are going to be accepted to participate. Sue Luxa has arranged for us to also participate in a craft fair on November 7th from 10 o’clock to 1:30 at WindCrest, in Highlands Ranch. Please contact Linda if you are interested in participating.
- Other Announcements:
- The Pen Woman Magazine is announcing upcoming contests. Please check the magazine for contacts if you are interested in entering a contest.
- The NLAPW’s biennial conference will be held in Washington DC on April 24th – 26th in 2026.
- The editor of Pen Woman Magazine is asking for members to submit artwork or stories of 600 words or less. The magazine also needs volunteers to be book reviewers.
- Risa asked what kinds of things we would like to hear for Inspiration. Diane explained that Andrea, our previous inspirational reader, was a former librarian and she often would pick inspirational messages that had to do with particular themes of each month, but added that we are open to anything that Risa would like to present.
- Marion had a suggestion of a friend she knows who is a musician, a pianist and pipe organist, who might like to join our branch, as we had mentioned the different categories we have for membership. Our guest, Deborah Smith, said that she published a novel last year. She does not live in Colorado but we let her know that we meet on zoom and we accept individuals to join as members even if they do not live in Colorado.
- Ann Klaiman announced that next week is National Banned Book Week and if anyone wants more information they can find it at the littlefreelibrary.org
The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 am followed by a presentation by Beth Barany on writer’s block called “How to Ignite Your Work Creativity.”
Respectfully Submitted,
Diane Chambers