passed along by Melba Burns:

WANT TO WRITE?

“Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.” W.B. Yeats
This writing group will light your fire!

Ever thought you could write a book — but have no idea how to start?

Want to get re-motivated on that story that’s been flitting through your brain?
What about all those experiences your friends keep telling you to write about?
You say? “Oh, later… One of these days, I’m too busy right now…I need more time.”
What about NOW?

· You will be re-motivated to write that book or story
· And achieve the goals you set for yourself.
· You will let go of blocks to your creativity.
· You’ll begin to trust that what you want to write you can, &
· You’ll gain more confidence in your writing.
· You’ll learn to write amazing characters too.
· You’ll be in a community of supportive, like-minded people.
· You’ll get to read at a literary cabaret.
· You will have the opportunity to be published on my new website.
· I invite you to join us in a great Writing Workshop.

It will nurture your soul and you’ll be amazed at your own creativity!
Please call Melba Burns, Ph.D.
604-736-6789
(soulwrites AT telus DOT net)
Tuesday, September 23rd, 7-10 p.m. for 12 weeks
St. Mark’s Anglican Church, 1805 Larch Street in Kitsilano.
$450
Or, Wednesday, Sept. 24th, 1-4 p.m. for 8 weeks, in False Creek
$300
(Post-dated cheques are acceptable – whatever works for you.)
Melba has been writing for over 40 years; articles, poetry, educational scripts for Disney, feature films,
a 13-week TV show, short stories & nonfiction books: she just completed Woo Your Writer Within Like
a Lover. She believes that the soul needs expression to be fully alive. For 20 years, she has encouraged
thousands to tap into their ‘natural writer,’ strengthen self-confidence, keep on writing, & get their
work out there.

This month we’ve moved our meeting to Monday so that we can have the brand-new Shebeen all to ourselves. We’ll play host to Sylvia Taylor, President of the Federation of BC Writers, who will give us an overview of the Fed and what it can do for its writers. Some of you will remember Sylvia from a our June meeting, when she spoke on memoir writing and editing.

Welcome to all the first-time Shebeeners! Our meetings are a convivial gathering of literary types of all sorts: editors, writers, publishers, booksellers, and students as well. All are welcome.

Go into the Irish Heather GastroPub, then through the back door to The Shebeen Whisky House,
212 Carrall Street in Gastown. If you get lost, staff can show you the way.

Note that this is across the street from the old location.

Meet and Greet 7-7:30

Listen and Learn 7:30-8

Signups, networking, and complaining about agents 8-9!

Walking on Water, the second book of short stories by local author Jancis M. Andrews, has had its publication by Cormorant Books pushed back to Spring of 2009. Contact Cormorant Books directly to pre-order.

Walking on Water, the latest short story collection from award-winning author Jancis M. Andrews, searches for the intimate moments of life that reveal the fantastic amongst the mundane. In these nine stories, Andrews explores the jutting coasts and heaving mountains of British Columbia, crawls through the communities of poor Vancouverites, and brings to life characters fully imagined with tender care and aplomb. In each story, characters face a turning point in which they are forced to succumb to the suffocating crush, or rise above and walk away. The opening tale, “Big Girl,” is the story of Betsy, a pubescent teen growing up in the socially stifling 1950s. Barraged by conflicting ideals and virtues from her stringent mother and her voluptuous Marilyn Monroe look-a-like aunt, Betsy comes to understand the price a sexually mature woman sometimes has to pay. In “Balancing,” a destitute mother of two and abused wife must deal with her inner demons to find a constructive release for the fear and frustration she faces daily at home. And in the chilling, autobiographical “Country of Evil,”Andrews leads the reader through a chaotic night during the London Blitz to question the origin of evil and if it can be contained within any set borders.

Just a reminder to all literary types that this Tuesday will be our first Shebeen Club meeting in Ye New Shebeen, directly across the street from Ye Olde Shebeen. The theme for this meeting is new horizons, and I will be presenting a selection of readings and discussion topics for your delectation. If you have a reading, quotation, or exercise on the topic to contribute, please contact me by email before Tuesday, so I can work you into the schedule.

Join us and check out the Irish Heather and the Shebeen in their brand-new home. As always, $15 includes a fabulous dinner and a refreshing beverage, and the full menu is available to order from additionally.

Meet and Greet: 7-7:30
Listen and Learn: 7:30-8:00
Gossip and Algonquian One-Liners: 8:00-9:00

The Pivot Legal Society-sponsored Justice Rocks festival is coming up, and they’re looking for volunteers. Hey, there’s swag in it for you, not to mention the chance to schmooze with the impecunious, yet famous, staff of the Pivot Legal Society and the future Mayor of Vancouver, semi-notorious rock god and blogger Dave Eby.

Here’s the call for volunteers in full:

In case you haven’t heard: on August 30, 2008 Pivot is hosting Justice Rocks, a free, all-day music festival in East Van’s Strathcona Park! Justice Rocks aims to bring together all things progressive: social and environmental justice movements, independent music, and, of course, Vancouverites!

There are two important ways you can help make Justice Rocks a huge success: purchase a virtual ticket and/or sign up to volunteer.

Virtual Tickets:

Here is how it works - we have partnered with GiveMeaning to offer virtual tickets to Justice Rocks. Virtual Ticket holders will receive a Justice Rocks t-shirt and a tax-receipt, as well as a special invitation to the Justice Rocks AfterParty - join the band members, volunteers, and organizers for the party that starts after the concert!

We will also be awarding fabulous prizes to the top three people who get their friends to purchase virtual tickets, so get your friends to buy their tickets today!

Volunteers:

We’re looking for site volunteers, organizers, promoters, videographers – you name it – to help with the lead up to the event, the concert, and the after-party.

Aside from connecting with other awesome folks who are also volunteering, and helping to launch the first year of a great event, Justice Rocks volunteers will also receive a free Justice Rocks t-shirt, 2 tickets to the after party, and special identification at the event.

To take part in this fantastic festival of social change fill out this form or visit the Justice Rocks website and let us know how you’d like to help!

If you have any questions about virtual tickets, volunteering or if you’d like more information about the event feel free to email pwrinch AT pivotlegal DOT com for more information.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Peter Wrinch
Pivot Legal Society
604-255-9700
www.justicerocks.org

As some of you are aware, there’s a large power outage in the downtown area; this has affected the Irish Heather and the Shebeen, so unfortunately we have to reschedule our meeting. It will now be on the 29th, two weeks from tonight.

I’ll head down there and redirect people who don’t get the message in time.

When: 7-9pm, Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall

How: reserve @ lorraine.murphy at gmail.com

How Much: $15 includes dinner and a drink

What: The Moon Project with Virginia Gillespie

Who: For more info contact: lorraine.murphy at gmail.com

The Shebeen Club is pleased to present The Moon Project with White Rock poet, author, songstress, and maverick Virginia Gillespie. The author of Taoist Inner Tube Rider will be launching her innovative new Moon Project, a year-long, cooperative artistic challenge in which she invites all artists to participate.

This will be a very free-wheeling, possibly musical event which will cross the barriers between artistic disciplines and encourage audience participation.

Bio: Taoist Inner Tube Rider began as a metaphor to describe the Author’s style of writing that has evolved into a book and CD. It is created to bring the words alive and to inspire people to engage with poetry.

Through word, sound and image revelations  are presented as a lyrical journey through time and  as a cyclical ride through nature.

The writing spans four decades. The geographies are desert, forest, waterways, and  sky represented in wind, weather and sound waves.

A woman rides through them all - flowing through vistas and deep feelings to find meaning and purpose.

Meet and Mingle 7-7:30
Presentation 7:30-8
Summer of Love reminiscences 8-whenever

FYI:

Hey all, our June 17th meeing is set. We will be hosting White Rock editrix, writer, literary coach, communications consultant, blues-groover, cultural creative, and BC Federation of Writers President Sylvia Taylor, who will be presenting on the subject of memoir.

With everyone from Dave Eggers to James Frey to Socks the Cat jumping on the memoir bandwagon, it’s more important than ever to understand what makes a good story stand out. And of course, there’s always the thorny issue of literal versus subjective truth; when is it a novel and when is it autobiography?

Sylvia Taylor is an award-winning freelance writer, editor, instructor and literary coach in Metro Vancouver, with a passionate commitment to communication and the arts.

Through her business, Sylvia Taylor Communications, she writes articles and commissioned works, coaches authors of all levels and ilkes, consults with business and not-for-profits, and edits in all genres.

She is President of the Fed of BC Writers, and when not teaching in conferences and writing programs, she’s dancin’ up a storm somewhere.

Tonight will be a free-form evening where we simply catch up on one another’s projects. There are also lots of great events coming up, and if you know of one please bring details so I can post it later.

Next month will be Sylvia Taylor on Writing Your Life: crafting the memoir. That should be a very popular one, as I seem to be the only person not memoir-ization-ing lately! Perhaps I’ve missed a trend?