Members, please review the January minutes for approval during the February meeting.

Northern Virginia Writers Club

January 2024 Meeting Minutes

01/20/2024 1:00 PM

1. Call to order – Club Pres. Michelle McBeth.
2. Roll Call
   1. Names and types of writing (length and genre)
      1. In person: Pres. Michelle McBeth (Science Fiction), Vice Pres. Jason Maddux (Sci-Fi/YA), Secretary Darius Jones (Horror, Poetry), Treasurer AJ George (Mystery-Thriller, Horror), Traci Carter (Historical Romance), Donna Davis (new writer), Bryan Nowak (Horror), Brýn Grover (Horror), Casie White, Isabelle Missud, Jim Thorne (SciFi), Kevin Connor (short stories). Dennis Finley/Turner Grant (memoir), John Wren (Thrillers, Mystery, Sci-Fi) and partner Lois Wren, Rick Hodges (novels, screenplay, short stories), Bob Scates (Sci-Fi). 17 total.
      2. On Zoom: Vee James (speculative fiction), Tom Dewitt, Susan Picerno (flash and essay), Kerry Stoeck (Spec Fic), Carolyn McBride (women’s fiction, novel), Carolyn Klein (Dark Fantasy, SciFi), Suzanne Davenport (women’s suspense), Karen Paley (essay), Amanda LaMonica (SciFi), Jane (Science Fantasy), Mark Roddy (historical fiction, Romance), Jennifer Milder (novels), Paula Weiss (apocalyptic fiction). 13 total.
   2. Triumphs and failures:
      1. McBeth: Submitted final book in SciFi trilogy to first editor.
      2. Bryan Nowak – My new Horror book is ready to go.
      3. Karen Paley – Essay she wrote was published in Stirring
      4. AJ George: Finished new Horror/mystery short story.
      5. Dennis Finley: 59 reviews on Amazon for his memoir.
3. Approval of minutes from last meeting
   1. November meeting minutes—Live walk-through of November minutes.
   2. Approval – Darius moved to approve the November meeting minutes as presented. Dennis seconded. Motion passed unanimously/approved
4. Officer’s Reports
   1. President – McBeth
      1. Upcoming meetings
         1. February 17: “Book Formatting” with Larry Issa
         2. March 16: Veterans/government panel, details TBA.
      2. Virginia Writers Club (VWC) Journal Submissions.
         1. 1. Due March 31.
      3. VWC Board of Govs.
         1. Meeting Feb. 8.
         2. Contact: Chuck Tabb through their website, if interested.
      4. NVWC (our) critique groups.
         1. Lori E. is organizing 2^nd group due to high demand. Contact her, if interested.
   2. Vice President/Membership Chair Maddux:
      1. Renewals are coming in, day by day.
      2. We have reached 96 members total—a new record.
   3. Treasurer George:
      1. AJ: The club has a $5,152.14 current balance, 12/31/23.
      2. AJ: Get dues in by 2/29 or you will be stricken from the list.
   4. Secretary Jones:
      1. No report. Taking notes.
   5. Social Media Coordinator Carter:
      1. Still posting on Facebook and Twitter.
      2. Will have page on key dates soon up on website.
5. Old Business
   1. Annual NVWC Board meeting minutes will be on website soon.
      1. Board was created with current club officers last year.
   2. Upcoming writing resources/contests:
      1. Nowak: Horror Tree is looking for swamp/marsh-themed Horror stories for its anthology.
         1. Details here: https://horrortree.com/taking-submissions-the-cellar-door-marshland-horror-5-early-listing/
      2. Susan Picerno: Odyssey writers’ workshop deadline are coming up.
         1. Details here: https://www.odysseyworkshop.org/about-the-workshop/
      3. AJ: C3 Conference
         1. Will be held in Colombia, Maryland in Sept.
      4. Darius: StokerCon/SFWA conferences in California this year in May and June.
         1. Good opportunity for speculative fiction writers.
   3. Treasurer: New Dues
      1. Get them in – please!
6. New Business: All introduced by Pres. McBeth.
   1. Elections
      1. Nominations from the floor:
      2. 2024 officers, as elected, are:
         1. President – Michelle McBeth.
            1. Motioned by AJ, seconded by Bryan.
            2. Approved by voice vote with no objections. Passed unanimously.
         2. Vice President – Passing on for right now due to lack of candidates.
         3. Secretary – Darius Jones.
            1. Nominated by Michelle McBeth, Seconded AJ. Passed unanimously.
         4. Treasurer – A.J. George.
            1. Nominated by Michelle McBeth. Seconded by Darius. Passed unanimously.
      3. Other volunteers (non-officers) needed:
         1. Golden Nib coordinators.
            1. Suzanne Davenport volunteered.
         2. Membership chair:
            1. Isabelle Missud
         3. Snack providers: (Bringing refreshments/snacks for meetings):
            1. Traci Carter and Casie White offered to help.
7. Business from the floor.
   1. Programming ideas for the year (round-robin brainstorm):
      1. Bring in Robin Sullivan again on self-publishing success.
      2. Something on the craft of writing.
      3. Paula: Nate Brown on short fiction writing and the publishing industry. Could talk about submitting short stories to magazines for publication.
      4. Traci C: Speaker on self-promotion for writers on social media. Darius: With discission after on how we as members do this.
      5. Brian: Bring in Scott Ellis on creating and crafting an audiobook.
      6. Jason Maddux: Bring in Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts to give advice for writers on how to protect/represent their literary creations.
      7. Darius: Lets hear from NVWC critique groups on what they’re working on. Bryan: Or have a meeting on “Themed” Critique group. Group: Let’s do one meeting that’s just a Critique group download.
      8. AJ: Don’t forget the needs of aspiring writers.
   2. Other programming ideas:
      1. Donna: Find a way to codify/tag which meeting are relevant to me/not.
      2. Darius: Conduct a membership survey.
         1. Ask Members what they think.
      3. Create membership directory.
         1. Michellle: Website has something like this now…but it’s not in a table format. We do have a list we (officers) own, but that’s not public.
8. Final thoughts.
   1. Darius: Thanks to Michelle and Jason for their ongoing leadership this past year.
9. Adjournment – 2:09 p.m.