author « Robin Writes

Sadly, I’ve not been able to get down to the farm since our work weekend, although I’m going for a short time this coming weekend. My mom’s going to be in town and wants to see the place, so we’ll drive down and back, after she takes some photos.

My husband was there this weekend, though. He got the barn cleaned up and the pit drained—oh, I didn’t mention the pit? We saw it first in the pictures, trying to imagine what it was for; someone suggested storm shelter, another claimed it would make a good wine cellar. Turns out, the guy who built the barn was planning to refurbish old school buses and was going to use the pit for draining oil, etc. Don’t think he ever did, but now it’s full of water. Or was.

He also got the sinks cleaned in the house, and the tub and shower. Yay! Had to heat water, as the water heater itself is kaput. Aside from the fact that when we first turned on the water and the thing leaked from the top—and by “leaked” I mean that it sprayed all over the lean-to which, as I also said, needed a good cleaning anyway. Still does.

So next order of business is a new water heater, and a showerhead. I’m sure those who come down to visit will appreciate both these things!

No, we still haven’t hung the new gate or built out the campsite, but we have all the materials so that’s a good start. The problem, at least during the school year, is having the time to go down in between jobs and school. ‘Cause, oh yeah, the kid got a job caddying at a local club. Which is good, but not so good for several-day adventures!

We’ve also managed to move a fair amount of “stuff.” Have to hold off on more for now, until we can do some building inside the barn, for storage. Most of our camping gear, and things that are duplicates—like tools and cookware and so forth—is already there.

However, the critical chore is breaking ground for the garden. I have seeds and seedlings that need to planted very, very soon. So, yeah, another big project. Think I’ll ask Santa for a tractor this year . . .

Last week, I wrote about why you should join the Missouri Writers Guild, or the guild in your own state or area. Today, I’m going to include a blog I wrote for the MWG website that talks about the improvements and changes we’ve made over the last ten days:

Good morning, MWG members!

I thought I’d take a few minutes to update you on what we’ve accomplished since the Sunday morning meeting at the end of the planning conference:

Newsletters and contest information are available to the public on the website; we’ve added a new FAQ page; whenever Chapter information is added, a new Chapter page is automatically created and can be edited. The new Help page has login instructions as well as screenshots.

Board meeting notes are and have been posted in the Members Only section. Contact information is and has been listed, and Chapter descriptions are and have been available—as long as Chapter members upload that information. Also in the Members Only section is a new page: Planning Conference Results.

The Library is now called the Bookstore, and is searchable. Additional buy links have been added, and the book covers display perfectly fine. If you have an issue, please check your computer settings. If you don’t see your book from the old site, please update. The idea behind this new website is the ability for members to update their own information as it changes.

New additions coming soon to the website include a searchable Members Only directory, social media links added to profiles, a dynamic home page, and the ability of members to upload their photos.

The Conference Committee has been hard at work for the last ten days; Mary-Lane Kamberg is chairing, as per the Bylaws. There is also a new Conference page on the website, which will be updated as information comes in and decisions are made.

We have a new Contest Committee, headed up by Judy Stock. Any contest questions or ideas can be sent to her via contest@missouriwritersguild.org.

On Friday, a post-conference survey was sent to all members on the mailing list, approximately 250 members. Nineteen have been submitted. However, initial results indicate that nearly everyone agreed the location was convenient, that we accomplished a lot, and everyone felt included and that their ideas were heard. Thirty percent had not been to the website this past week. Nearly everyone was optimistic about the future of the MWG, and most were inclined to volunteer in some capacity. When the survey is closed on Friday, April 24, I’ll have the final results.

The MWG Board has been communicating via a Facebook group and is preparing for our first meeting on May 1 at 7:00 p.m. Some things on our agenda include the membership issue and chapter liaisons. And there’s great news too—we’ve had one new Chapter application, and four new member applications in the last ten days, plus quite a few renewals.

Speaking of Facebook: in the breakout session notes from the planning conference, it was mentioned that we could certainly communicate via social media. Since late January, the MWG Facebook page has been very active with posts and news from members and things of interest to Missouri writers, as well as updates to the website and the Guild itself. I encourage everyone to “like” us there, so you, too, can be connected and learn what’s happening. We also have a Twitter account and will likely be adding other social media sites.

A new feature on Facebook is a forum. Anyone can post a question or answer or start or add to a discussion. I encourage you to take a look, maybe drop a line or two.

Another concern from the conference was the MWG logo. Some time ago, a contest for a new logo was announced. I’m sorry to say, we had no entries and little interest. According to the Bylaws, “The official emblem of The Missouri Writers’ Guild shall consist of a quill-like pen and shall be under the control of the Board of Directors. Its custodian shall be the Treasurer.” So, if anyone would like to submit a logo which includes a “quill-like pen,” the Board would be happy to consider the change.

So there you have it—this is what we’ve been doing since the planning conference. Please feel free to comment and/or ask any questions at all; we’ll be happy to answer and respond!

Now, if you are a MWG member, you’ve just learned what’s happening; if you are not, and you are a resident of Missouri or any of our neighboring states, hop on over to the website and join us. If you live elsewhere, Google your state organization and sign up today.

Why? Go back and read last week’s Writer Wednesday . . .