Minutes of the Denver Branch of the National League of American Pen Women
October 3, 2020
Members Present: Atlanta Sheridan, Diane Chambers, Kay Taylor, Kelly Ann Compton, Andrea Antico, Ann Klaiman, Ray Cober, Linda Volin, Karen Gonzales, Cindy Massey, A. Marie Kriss
Diane opened the virtual meeting on Zoom at 9:35am.
Inspirational Reading: Diane read some humorous quotes about quarantining during this time of Covid 19.
Introduction of Guests:
Diane welcomed the guests and asked each of them to introduce themselves.
Sydney Popovich said that she and her husband write together and that she is looking for a place to both grow and contribute.
Adrianna Voss, a children’s author, wants to be around other writers.
Sharan Volin, Linda Volin’s daughter, joined the meeting from Montreal.
Approval of Minutes: Ann moved to accept the minutes as written and Kelly Ann seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously by the members.
Treasurer’s Report: Kelly Ann reported an expense of $117.46 to pay for Zoom. The balance in our account is now $841.08. Kay approved the motion. Andrea seconded. It passed unanimously.
Committee Reports:
Website: Virginia, our web-mistress, reported that the theme does not have to be changed on the website. She has made calendar updates through June, 2021 and she will update the calendar as needed. Karen asked that the awards presented to Andrea Antico and Laurel Becker be noted on our website.
Virginia checked into updating an outdated part of the site called the theme. The theme controls the basic look and functioning of the site. It turns out that the theme does not have to be changed at this time, although it will need to be done in the future.
All calendar events have been posted until June 2021. Further details will be filled in as soon as they are received. Routine maintenance and updates continue to be performed.
Membership: Linda Volin and Aimee Guerts are in the process of becoming members of our branch of Pen Women. Diane did not place a notice on Denver Meetup for this meeting. Many men responded to the Meetup notice the previous month.
History:– Diane noted that Aimee Giest has expressed an interest in being the group’s historian.
Outreach: Diane reported the DSA is excited about winning the tapestry contest and that they will receive the tapestry panel sometime in the near future. Diane picked up the remaining tapestry boxes from Kelly Ann, which included the panel designed by Salida High School. Ann will deliver that section of the Tapestry to the school. Ann was delighted to inform the group that the same art teacher who helped students at the school to design the panel is still teaching at the school.
Programming: Diane announced that today, Caitlin Berve, a Boulder editor, will make a presentation on how to write effective descriptions and settings. In November, Trai Cartwright will make a presentation on “How to Turn your Book into a Screenplay.” Kay reported that Anthony Powell, the artistic director of Stories on Stage, will present in January. She proposed several questions for him to address including how stories are chosen, how the actors rehearse their readings and what his greatest challenges are in producing the shows. She asked that members attend one of the monthly shows virtually or view one on the Stories on Stage website. Ray volunteered to try to contact a friend of his who is a Pushcart Poetry winner for a future meeting. Ray and Karen will brainstorm some ideas for our December meeting.
Wednesday Evening Critique Group – Atlanta reported that so far four members have expressed an interest in joining the group. The group is usually capped at eight. Atlanta hopes the group will convene within a few weeks. There was some discussion about doing a separate poetry critique group but it was agreed that poetry should be critiqued within the larger group which has worked well in the past.
Old Business: Diane asked if anyone attended the Midwest Pen Meeting. No one attended it from our branch. Diane will send a notice to our group giving notice of the next meeting of the Mid-West group.
New Business: National is has a new Facebook page where members can get additional exposure for their work. Pen Women Press is being revived. National is seeking editors, layout artists and others interested in working on a publishing team for the Press. Diane also alerted us about an internet scam which is being promoted using Pen Women as a guise.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:19 am.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kay Taylor