April 25, 2013 Volume 12 • Number 17 50¢ Newsstand Price
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Local writers publish third collection The Interior Authors Group is more than a social support group for storytellers. A spirited collective of writers who meet to discuss writing, editing, publishing, marketing, illustration and design, the group serves scribes who want to be published, offering challenging opportunities to stretch and grow with their craft. Each monthly meeting promises a speaker sharing their experience and expertise on a number of trade-related topics, from understanding copyright and taxes for writers, to how to bring characters to life and how to write a critique letter. “When I finally found the Interior Author’s Group after moving to Kamloops, it was exactly what I was looking for,” says president Dana Ramstedt. “The members are goal-oriented and want to accomplish something with their writing, whether it’s to finish a memoir or see their work in print.” Seeing their work in print has become a regular opportunity for many of these writers, having recently published their third anthology Away From Home: Collected Works (2012) this past fall, following the previous volumes Blue River Dark Water (2011) and Collected Works (2010). The current volume – available in some local book stores and from the group themselves at their weekly Farmer’s Market booth – includes a wide variety of stories, from a children’s piece on time travel, to one writer’s emigration from Australia and another’s journey from Hawaii. Most members have found the opportunity to publish through the group in this way to have the biggest impact on their writing. “There is no other way I could gain this much experience while having so much fun,” says Dana who, as the production manager on the group’s recent self-published work, found out just how much goes into taking story ideas to the book shelf. “There has been so much to learn in the process: editing grammar
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use for a North American audience, formatting, scanning images. Our next step is to learn how to publish, market and distribute e-books. It’ll be another big learning curve.” And members will have the chance to learn right alongside, whether by contributing themselves or learning from those who do. All of the works submitted go through a thorough editing process and contributors learn to follow the writers’ guidelines that can be the difference between getting accepted or rejected by publishers. Dana Ramstedt of the Interior Authors Group with three volumes of work the group has produced. Their most recent anthology, Away From Home, was published this past fall.
“You never know what door may open for you or your writing career once you spend time with the Interior Authors Group,” says Dana of the group that has members in all stages of their writing development, from those who are published to those who aspire to be. New members are always welcome, and there is never any pressure to contribute, but for those who want to, the group is already working on its fourth volume, Kaleidoscope. The Collected Works committee works together to create a volume of stories the contributors can be proud of, and these books are a fantastic way for new and experienced writers of all genres to share their work with the added bonus of expanding their own writing portfolios. The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 6:30pm in the Tricia Sellmer Studio in the Kamloops Art Gallery. They gratefully acknowledge the support of the Kamloops Arts Council, whose grants helped publish all three of their Collected Works. Rebecca Stewart
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