Pikes Peak Writers December Events

December Write Brain

What:  Cooperative Storytelling and Improv Writing
Who:  Michael Haspil

When: Dec 15, 6:30-8:30 pm

NEW LOCATION Where: Venue@21c (upper floor, to the right if coming in the upper entrance) of Library 21c, 1175 Chapel Hills Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80920

More Information: Come learn about improvisational writing exercises and some tools to generate writing prompts. Michael will also discuss cooperative storytelling techniques, such as round-robin stories and story games detailing how a writer might leverage the vast resources of role-playing games to aid in subject research and punch up their writing.

About the Presenter: Michael F. Haspil is a geeky engineer and nerdy artist. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he had the opportunities to serve as an ICBM crew commander and as a launch director at Cape Canaveral. The art of storytelling called to him from a young age and he has plied his craft over many years and through diverse media. He has been writing original stories for as long as he can remember and has dabbled in many genres. However, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror have whispered directly to his soul. When he isn’t writing, you can find him sharing stories with his role-playing group, cosplaying, computer gaming, or collecting and creating replica movie props. Lately, the bulk of his hobby time has been devoted to assembling and painting miniatures for his tabletop wargaming addiction. He is currently working on his third novel.Facebook Event: Want to see who else is coming? Check here.

Free Writers Night 

Location: Kawa Coffee

Address: 2427 N Union Blvd, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909

Fourth Monday of every month Dec, 28, 2015

6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Join fellow writers for PPW Night  on the fourth Monday of every month.

PPW Night is two full hours of discussion, laughter, and fun with other local members of Pikes Peak Writers.

The direction of the meeting is decided by the participants and can include discussions about query letters, obtaining and working with an agent, writing conferences, or other specific points of the craft.  If nothing else, we talk about books!

If you have any questions, or if there is a specific topic you’d like to get on the agenda, send an e-mail to the host, Deb Courtney, or call her on her cell phone at 719-337-9049.

Meetings are scheduled to start at 6:30 and run until about 8:30.  These are drop-in meetings, so feel free to attend all or just part of them.

See you soon!

Please note that Michael Shepherd’s November Write Brain Session on Voice, which was cancelled on account of weather, will be January’s Write Brain Session.

What: Find Your Voice…Then Use It!
Who:  Michael Shepherd

When: Jan 19, 6:30-8:30 pm

NEW LOCATION Where: Venue@21c (upper floor, to the right if coming in the upper entrance) of Library 21c, 1175 Chapel Hills Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80920
More Information: This topic is treated with near-reverence by those who seek the mythical ‘voice’, but a distinctive author’s voice is already within you. Find Your Voice…Then Use It will encourage writers to confidently allow their personality–their unique voice–to shine through in their writing. Writers often feel they must discover a distinctive pattern and tone to write in–usually on the heels of a best-seller’s style–but ‘voice’ can’t be contrived; it is an individual pattern of thinking, feeling, and expressing ourselves as writers. This workshop will explore the unique author’s voice in all of us.
About the Presenter: Michael Shepherd learned to write at an early age, and there are those who still say he hasn’t significantly advanced his craft in the intervening years.  He is a product of the State of Maine school system, where the official motto is: “If the minimum isn’t acceptable it wouldn’t be the minimum, now would it?” It’s on the state flag, you could look it up.

He survived a 29-year career in the military and, when they didn’t lock the back door after he retired, snuck back in and found a job as a government employee specializing in international relations. If that’s not enough to keep you up at night…
He has published two novels: Easy Street, about a private eye in the throes of a mid-life crisis, and Hell with a Gun, a Western. He is currently working on a Mexico-based novel about human trafficking, entitled Pieces of One.