I drove into Salem on Thursday night for the first official meeting of the Salem Chapter of Willamette Writers, the largest writing organization in Oregon. I've been on the mailing list out of Portland and received news of this meeting. I have been a member in the past and have attended meetings once in awhile in Eugene and Newport.
I'm so glad I went. It was glorious to walk into a large room crowded and buzzing with writers. I knew that everyone would be fun to talk to and that everyone had a great story. I knew that I had something in common with everyone there. I knew that everyone loved words and creating stories. I felt comforted being in their midst.
The speakers were two agents from Baker's Mark Literary Agency in Portland--Bernadette Baker-Baughman and Gretchen Stelter. I was grateful to be in the audience. I was impressed and inspired to listen to them. They are what every writer hopes an agent will be. I spoke briefly with Bernadette Baker-Baughman and wanted to talk to Gretchen Stelter but so many people were crowded around her. They are young and brilliant, like my own children, with great drive and ambition to work hard to promote writers. I'm glad I was there.
I need an agent. I need someone to care about my writing and about me. I need someone to give me a kick in the ___ once in awhile to keep me on track. But maybe that isn't the job of an agent. Maybe I just have to care about myself and keep myself on track. It's hard to be a writer and go it alone sometimes, especially when there are so many choices in the world of other ways to spend your time and when life throws you curve balls. I love writing. In my opinion, writing could never be boring, for the possibilities are endless. There is no greater power than to create an original story or write down your own thoughts. Words in books have changed the world and have inspired for centuries.
A screenwriter will speak at the next meeting of Willamette Writers in Salem and I'm excited to attend. The meetings for the Salem Chapter of Willamette Writers meets in West Salem at Roths on the second floor--the grocery store with the bakery that makes the best chocolate frosted donut in the entire world!
www.salemchapter.com or salemchapter@aol.com
Why are all Willamette Writer meetings on Thursday night though? If I wanted to attend a meeting in Eugene, I would have to make a choice.
1 comment:
Hey Wendy, I came across your blog talking about the Salem Chapter of Willamette Writers. Glad you had a great time at the first meeting. I thought I would let you know that Eugene and Salem do not have meetings on the same Thursday each month. Eugene is the first, and Salem is the second. Eugene's January meeting was held the second Thursday merely because of the New Year's holiday. I don't think there's another holiday that will interfere. One of the requirements for new chapters is no interference with other chapter meetings. Willamette Writers members can attend any and every meeting with all chapters for free! =) Salem Rep Marilyn Ebbs
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