1st COWC Read-Around, A Mighty Success!

To those of you were unable to make it, you missed out. There was plenty of wine, and fun to be had by all. Of course original works were shared and discussed as well. I finally had an audience for something I've been working on off and on for years, aside from my cat, that is. It was good to get a couple of different reactions and opinions. We heard and discussed everything from a cheery, columny article about back porch gardens to an intricately devised creation mythology constituting the background for a metaphysical Sci-Fi plot in the works. All in all, a mighty success. We accomplished what we had set out to do and had some fun to boot.

Stay tuned for our next Read-Around event.

COWC Read-Around Tomorrow at 7pm!

See you all there! I will be sharing a couple of sections of a fiction novel I've been toying with for some time now in hopes of getting some inspirational feedback from the group. If you are interested in attending this event and need more information (location, directions etc), email us at centralohiowriterscollective@gmail.com. We'll set you straight, sho' nuff.

2008 Columbus Jazz & Rib Fest is this Weekend.

I have always loved the Jazz & Rib Fest. Just saying.

-Brad

July Read-Around: 7/29, 7pm

For lack of any objection, our July Read-Around will be held on Tuesday the 29th, 7:00pm at the gracious Natalie's house on the Northwest side of town. Directions will be delivered soon to all registered members via an email from our COWC google group email account. Please, bring a selection or two of your original works (finished or in progress) for the group to discuss and analyze.

As always, COWC welcomes anyone from the general Central Ohio population who has a genuine interest in what we are doing to participate in any and all of our events and activities, be they online or in person.

Feel free to add a comment to this post or email us with questions at centralohiowriterscollective@gmail.com.

A Poem, By James.....

Here's a little poem I've been rolling about in my head for a few days.....

Kobolds Ate My Baby

Kobolds ate my baby, on a dark and moonless night;

They came in through the floorboards, and gave me quite a fright.

They gnashed their pointy teeth and swished their lizard tails;

I called for the constabulary, but alas, their courage failed.

I hit one with a rolling pin, I chased one with a broom;

But one creature slipped behind me, and slunk into the baby's room.

A scream of horror escaped my throat as I went through the bedroom door;

A kobold licked his lips and my baby, my precious baby, was no more.

Scheduling the Read-Around

We are in the process of scheduling our first group Read-Around. If you would like to participate, post a comment with a convenient date and time for you to meet. If you can think of a decent location for this meeting, your suggestion will be very much appreciated. This 'Read-Around' will involve all of us getting together in some comfortable, conducive spot to share with the group selections of our own original works for which we wish to receive feedback and constructive criticism. We will read, discuss, and constructively critique to our hearts content.

My suggestion for Date/Time/Location:

Tuesday, 7-29 / 7:00pm-? / Not my house until I've finally had a chance to sort out the post-wedding mayhem.

COWC Kick-Off Party, A Success!

JD and I would like to thank everyone who came out to the Kick-Off party last night to meet, mingle, and learn more about this little collective of ours. We were very pleased with the turn out considering our non-existent advertising budget. Of course, had only one person attended the event, it would still have been a success in our eyes. Fortunately, we were happy to meet with several local writers, even a musician or two, interested in the COWC. Now we are officially off and running and the real fun can begin!

Although Barley's was quite a bit more crowded on a Sunday evening than I had expected it to be (perhaps due to the simultaneous closing of the North Market Food & Ohio Wine Fest., which I was somehow unaware of until last night), we were eventually able to commandeer an eight-top in a sizeable nook near the bar so that we had the option of more than four people sitting together at once. By 10:00pm, however, our gathering had dwindled to only myself and JD, so he and I decided to call it a night. We risked the assumption that since 10pm is relatively late for a Sunday evening that everyone who had intended to show up for the Kick-Off had already come and gone. Our sincere apologies to anyone who came between the hours of 10-11pm and were dissappointed to find no evidence of the COWC Kick-Off party. We truly are interested in your participation and involvement so please, stay tuned for details about future live gatherings, events, and activities.

The COWC is definitely off to a promising start and I look forward to meeting even more prospective members very soon as we begin scheduling more group events and activities. I also look forward to reading any works you wish to post to the blog for public review, which you all may feel free to do at any time, whether you attended the Kick-Off party or not. Simply take a look at our 'REGULAR & RECURRING..." section for instructions on how to submit your work to the blog.

JD and I will contact those of you who we met at the Kick-Off party and left your names and email addresses on our contact sheet by the end of this week to start talking about a convenient date, time and location for our first Read-Around session, which everyone seemed keen on. During a Read-Around we will all take turns sharing our own original work with the group which will then provide direct feedback and constructive criticism.

Below, is a list of planned group events and activities the COWC intends to organize on a regular basis. Please, feel free to add a comment to this post with thoughts and/or suggestions about group events and activities you may be interested in.

Thanks!


List of live, in-person COWC event/activities:

Read-Arounds & Staged Readings
Open Mic Poetry
Group Attendance of Local Lit. and Writing-Related Events (Workshops, Readings etc)
Book Clubs

Tonight! The COWC Kick-Off Party!!

7-11pm at Barley's Pub in the Arena district. We hope to see you there.

Big and Hairy - By Brad for Public Review

(I found this in one of my high school notebooks. I probably wrote it during class while board.)

Big and hairy
Short and scary
None named Larry
They like to go to the mortuary
I read that in the library
The picture in the book was funny to Mary
Because it looked like her brother Barry
They’ll say they like you but on the contrary
Most will bite your derrierey
They are mean because they can’t find work anywherey
Except for the old tooth fairy
She owns a dozen yellow canaries
And buys the best silk underweary
Her favorite snack is chocolate cherries
Once I trapped her in a snarey
She became irate and started to sweary
The words she chose were not ordinary
That is why I tossed her into the airy
And grabbed my pistol and shot her

Yeah for America! And Yeah for the COWC Kick-Off Party this Sunday!!

Just a reminder...

The COWC Kick Off Party!

July 13th, 7pm-11pm

Barley's Pub Downtown (Arena Dist. by North Market)
http://barleysbrewing.com/downtown

Come prepared to mingle, eat, drink, discuss literature, writing, and upcoming COWC initiatives and events in a completely low-key, no-pressure atmosphere. Meet Brad and J.D. (COWC co-founders) as well as other people like you who wish to have some fun, collaborate, and communicate in the interest of improving as writers.

J.D. and I will literally be sitting at a table (or perhaps the bar) drinking next to a little sign that reads Central Ohio Writers Collective. There will be no raffle, name tags, introduction games, or anything at all like that. If you are curious to know more about COWC, just stop over and say hello to us. We won't bite...hard.

This will be the first public meeting of the Central Ohio Writers Collective. Following this event, COWC will be organizing semi-regular events and activities and updating the COWC blog accordingly. As always, all are welcome to participate in COWC events and activities regardless of publication history, genre interests, experience, race, gender, and so on.

We hope to see you there!