The League's Website Has Moved

Please visit us at www.leagueofvermontwriters.org

Our new site has information about and registration forms for the April meeting with mystery writer Nancy Means Wright, documentary filmmaker Holly Stadtler, and a special celebration of National Poetry Month. Also, the May Poetry Workshop with David Weinstock. And, of course, our July conference, "Timeless Craft, Timely Skills." Check the new website often for updates.

LVW Current Board Members

The League is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected from the active membership. Officers and board members are elected at the LVW annual meeting in January. Board members serve one year terms for a maximum of three consecutive terms in a single position. They may be elected to serve in other offices. If you are interested in serving on the board, please contact a board member, new minds mean new ideas!

The following slate of officers and members was elected in January, 2009:

• President: Pat Goudey O'Brien pgo@warrenslittle.com

  started out in publishing working in the college book editorial department of Prentice-Hall, Inc., full-time and freelance from 1971 to 1978. She has been writing professionally for newspapers and book publishers since 1981, has written magazine articles and profiles for the All American Crafts group of publications, and has been managing editor of community newspapers in Massachusetts and Vermont. She is the author of The Unofficial Guide to Beating Stress, published by John Wiley & Sons, and she is co-author with Marie Tedford of The Official Price Guide to Collecting Books (currently working on the sixth edition), published by Random House. Pat edited and published The Carnie Kid Tells All, by Ilan Fisher, released through her own imprint, The Tamarac Press. Pat is now a full-time freelance writer and book consultant.

• Vice-President: Linda Cruise partners@writingconsultantsnetwork.com

  is the Founder and Managing Partner of Writing Consultants Network LLP , a home and web-based business, in Indiana, Michigan, and Vermont. As such, she is a full-time writer, editor, instructor, researcher, and multimedia consultant (e.g., photography, graphic design, and marketing), with over 20 years of experience, including time spent as editor of the esteemed literary journal, The Louisville Review. She is a member of the Richmond Area Business Association.

  Having earned her M.F.A. in Writing (Spalding University), M.A. in Anthropology (Binghamton University), and B.A. (Rutgers University), Linda is also a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and featured artist of the Vermont Arts Council, as well as a member of the Assoc. of Writers & Writing Programs, Society of Children Book Writers & Illustrators, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Red Pines Honor Society (Rutgers). Her published work includes fiction, creative non-fiction, literary criticism, journalism, poetry, biography, and photography; it has appeared in Public Republic, Tecumseh Herald, The Times Ink!, The Hinesburg Record, Vermont Catholic Tribune, and League Lines. In addition to the above, Linda has served actively in her home community, Richmond, as a coach, religious-education teacher, and trained Wish-granter for Make-A-Wish of Vermont.

• Treasurer: Dan Close 11highmeadow@comcast.net

  serves on several non-profit boards and is the author of What The Abenaki Say About Dogs.

• Secretary: Katherine Quimby Johnson kmquimby@sover.net

  who writes for children as Katherine M. Quimby, is a full-time freelance writer and editor. Her areas of interest include the arts, the environment, and education. Her work has appeared in Vermont Magazine, Vermont Life, and Vermont Quarterly, several local newspapers, and in the publications of non-profit organizations. A poet and novelist, with one video documentary to her credit, Kathy also teaches copyediting at Champlain College and offers workshops for children in writing rhythmic poetry and in crafting trickster tales.

Directors At Large:

• Organizational Strategy and Marketing: Paula Diaco paulaannie@comcast.net

• Publicity: Deb Fennell dfennell21@myfairpoint.net

  has a day job where she is fortunate enough to be able to swim in the summer and ski in the winter, as well as do a fair amount of work-related writing. Her first professional submission was a short piece for Ski magazine in the 1970s. When she turned 50 she decided to join the League of Vermont Writers and devote more time to writing. Since then she has written articles on sports, business and community organizations for local Vermont papers. She is also working on two middle-grade children's books.

• Joanne Palmisano contactjoanne@aol.com

  is the author of The Vermont Wedding Resource Guide (sold rights in 2005), Kidding Around Burlington (sold rights in 2008) and Camps, Cottages and Cabins. She is also a freelance writer, marketing consultant and a part-time designer for a design/build firm.

• Rob Sussman robsussman@yahoo.com

  has a day job working in the trenches of the Vermont criminal justice system. In his time off, he works on dark fantasy stories. He is currently putting the finishing touches on his first full-length novel.

• Karen Boushie karen.boushie@gmail.com

  is in the public relations department at one of Vermont's finest ski resorts.

The board is always grateful for extra hands. If you can help with one of the four yearly member meetings, the Burlington Book Festival each fall, and occasional publishing projects, we'd love to hear from you!

The board would like to thank the following League members, who have stepped down from the board, but continue to serve the League of Vermont Writers: