Author Archives: WOTA

December will kick off with WOTA hosting a table at the downtown Muscatine Holiday Stroll, an annual event that brings residents and out-of-towners to enjoy the open air, refreshments, entertainment, and the goods and services of local businesses sporting their best holiday attire. We’ll be located at Trinity Episcopal Church, which will have its door open for their annual soup supper. We will have copies of both our recent anthologies for sale, and the soup is really good.

Then, join us for our annual meeting on Tuesday, December 12 in the Student Center lounge at Muscatine Community College starting at 6:00 p.m. We’ll have holiday treats to sweeten you up as we run elections for the new board members. Then, for the most important part of the evening, we’ll share our work. This month’s challenge is to incorporate the following words into any piece of your choosing: angelic, majestic, archangels, relatives, memories, festive, nostalgia, Tannenbaum, humbug, and Scrooge. Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Available from Amazon if you’re looking to get into the holiday mood:

Join us on Tuesday, November 14 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Student Center at Muscatine Community College (152 Colorado St., Muscatine) for the next monthly meeting. We’ll talk books, NaNoWriMo, new projects, and—of course!—writing.

If you’re up for a challenge, write something using these words: masticate, sleepwalk, facetious, promulgate, beguile, sauerkraut, pigeon, entice, hornswoggle, statuary, and dew. Whew!

Keep spreading the word that our anthology Climbing the Hill of Life is available from Amazon.com in paperback at $12.95 or for Kindle at $2.99. Paperbacks are also available from any WOTA member. Use the contact form on this site if you’d to order copies. All sales directly fund WOTA’s efforts to support local writers and the literary arts in and around Muscatine.

Writers on the Avenue is delighted to announce the release of our latest anthology, CLIMBING THE HILL OF LIFE: Stories and Art to Inspire and Uplift. This amazing and heartfelt collection of stories, essays, poems, and art features writers of all ages and walks of life sharing messages of hope and wisdom, offering solace for the troubled heart, or simply celebrating the simple beauty of the everyday. Lighthearted and soulful, tender and profound, this book will lift your spirits, soothe your hurts, strengthen your courage, and soften your heart.

The collection is available in paperback or Kindle version, and all proceeds benefit WOTA’s work to support local writers and foster the literary arts in and around Muscatine, IOWA. We appreciate your support!

Get ready for some treats (no tricks) from Writers on the Avenue this October! Our monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 10 (that’s right, 10/10) starting at 6:00 pm in the Student Center of Muscatine Community College. Join us to swap work, ask advice, give pointers, share inspiration, and just generally enjoy the creative spirit and bonhomie that always accompanies these meetings.

On Saturday, October 14, there’s scads of fun in store: Musser Public Library will be celebrating Indie Author Day, and that evening, the Second Saturday series will conclude with two of our favorite authors sharing their books and their writing advice at the WOTA table: historical novelist, poet, and writing coach Jodie Toohey (otherwise known as the Wordsy Woman), and fiction writer Tom McKay. Stop by to get your books signed!

And just take a look at the word challenge for this month: We decided to challenge ourselves with the biggest, Scrabble-winning-worthiest, gum-cracking words we could find. Just see how your imagination stretches with these beauties. Bring your work to the meeting, or post it here as a comment – we’d love to see what you come up with!

October’s tongue-twisters: hirsute, defenestrate, prevaricate, supercilious, anarchy, odiferous, contempt, geotherman, discombulated.

Enjoy, and happy writing!

Fall is upon us already, and that means two things.

One, we’ll have new authors at our WOTA table at the Second Saturday event in downtown Muscatine from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on September 9. Stop by to visit with the authors and get a signed, personalized copy of their books!

Two, our monthly WOTA meeting will be held Tuesday, September 12 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Student Center at Muscatine Community College. Bring a pen, bring a friend, and bring something to share! If you don’t have something else you’re working on, the words for this month’s word challenge are listed below. Write a poem, a story, an essay, a meditation—whatever moves you.

September words: compassion, composure, whimsical, tassel, canopy, coalesce, barn door, creamy, adapt, colorful, feckless, esoteric, zucchini

Join us Tuesday, August 8 from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Student Center at Muscatine Community College for our regularly monthly meeting! Writers of all ages, styles, genres, and levels of experience are welcome to drop in and join the fun.

If you’re interested in the monthly word challenges, here’s the list of words to work into a story, essay, poem, song, or other short piece of your choosing: independence, loving, pressing, frugivorous (we had to look this one up), heavenly, distance, horrendous, strength, eraser, driving, ennui.

Then on Saturday, August 12 stroll down Muscatine’s Second Street to see what’s going on during the Second Saturday event from 5 – 8 p.m. We’ll have a table at the corner of Iowa Ave. and 2d St. showcasing some talented local authors. Stop by to buy books, get them signed, or just say hello. Hope to see you there!

Writers! Join us on Tuesday, July 11 between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. at the Student Center at Muscatine Community College for our regular monthly meeting. We’re always happy to see new faces, old faces, and returning faces, and we’ll do our best to answer questions, give pointers, and provide a supportive, reflective, productive audience for your writing.

If you’d like to participate in the word challenge, write a story, essay, poem, or something else using these randomly generated words: indigo, intern, robust, anonymity, mushroom, popinjay, befuddle, lake, kayak, rip-off, cultivate, catnip, and chimera.

And don’t forget to stop by the WOTA table at Muscatine’s Second Saturday event on July 8 between 5 and 8 to say hello and check out the wonderful area authors who will have their books available for sale and signing. See you there!

We’re excited that Writers on the Avenue will have a table at this year’s Second Saturday season in downtown Muscatine! The first event kicks off June 10, and will continue on July 8, August 12, September 9, and October 14. Each event begins at 5 and lasts till 8 p.m.

Second Street gets blocked off so that pedestrians can wander beautiful historic downtown Muscatine, peek into shops and restaurants, browse the vendor tables that line the sidewalks, and listen to music that fills the air while eating good food and watching the Mississippi River roll on by. There’s something for everyone, and it’s a diorama of all the wonderful things that Muscatine has to offer.

Our table will feature local authors selling and signing their books, and members will be there peddling WOTA anthologies and swag. This is just one part of our not-so-secret mission to support local authors and advance the literary arts in and around Muscatine. See you there!

Hello, writers!

The next monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 13 from 6 – 8 pm in the Student Center at Muscatine Community College. Join us! We’ll talk about Second Saturday events, have updates on the progress of the inspirational anthology, and, of course, have lots of time to share our work and spark some conversations.

If you’re looking for a challenge this month, write a poem, story, essay, song, or whatever kind of literary piece you wish using these words:

special, forever, spiral, flag, artichoke, elaborate, mimic, bookend, archaic, rustle, investigate, obsession, brilliance

Good luck, and have fun!