We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Shannon had an anti-victory. The anthology he submitted two pieces to will not be going to publication as they didn’t have enough material. The magazine has traditionally be associated with the local ICON sci-fi convention which has an aging demographic and less interest in recent years..

Reading Victories

Personal Victories

Literary News

1. Jane Yolen, author of 450 books, died on Thursday, June 11. She began her career in 1963 with “Pirates in Petticoats” and was best known for her award-winning Holocaust novella “The Devil’s Arithmetic.” Her final, 450th book, “Terror Birds,” will be released posthumously on July 14.
2. Marjane Satrapi, a French-Iranian author, illustrator, director and activist has died aged 56. She was best known for her graphic novel series and film “Persepolis.”

Schedule

July 2
Jered
David
Robyn

July 9
Jeff
Xander
Dylan

July 9
Ben Linn
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Ciuin gave her middle school English teacher, Mr. Fogle, “Chessmaster’s Pawn” and the first 60 pages of “Bishop’s Decoy” for him to critique. He said he is both invested in the characters as people (which doesn’t happed to him often), and that he is fascinated by her creativity. Ciuin was surprised and pleased with his comments as he was a strict teacher and not easily impressed.
2. Jered has purchased his ticket to Brandon Sanderson’s Dragonsteel Nexus 2026 convention in Utah, this December. He has booked his flight, as well as reservations at an Airbnb. He also hopes to be selected to be on the set up crew for the event, allowing him to do more networking.

Reading Victories

1. Jeff is about a third of the way through “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte, and enjoying it better than “Wuthering Heights,” written by Charlotte’s sister Emily. He had some reservations as WH was only okay.
2. Xander, who doesn’t read much fiction, finished “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut and, to his surprise, enjoyed it. He plans to read another novel this summer, but isn’t sure which one.

Personal Victories

Literary News

Schedule

June 25
Robyn
Ciuin
Ben S.

July 2
Jered
David
Robyn

July 9
Jeff
Xander
Dylan

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Ciuin quickly revised a piece to submit to fill in.
2. Jered was pleased with the results he saw from a four day writing conference he attended in Minneapolis a couple of weekends ago. He had some great conversations that generated ideas for blog posts and more writing. He presented the first two chapters of “The Bubblegum People” to one group and received not only encouragement for his novel, but also some good comments. He came up with an elevator pitch for the same piece. Way to go, Jered!
3. Robyn is finally able to do these weekly postings without opening Bill’s instructions. She’s rather proud of herself.

Reading Victories

Personal Victories

Literary News

Schedule

June 18
Jeff
Ciuin
Dylan

June 25
Robyn
Ciuin
Ben S.

July 2
Jered
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Dylan met his writing obligation of getting out 10,000 words.
2. Ben S. has been writing for the first time in four or five months and feels like what he’s producing is good.

Reading Victories

Personal Victories

1. Bill’s wife, Karen, is feeling much better than she has in years. The treatment the Mayo Clinic came up is definitely working.
2. Ciuin announced that the grand opening of Dottie’s Ice Cream and Soda is on Saturday, June 6. Once the oldest Dairy Queen in Cedar Rapids, and located in the 3400 block of First Avenue NE (near the Starlight Room and the Heartland Animal Hospital). The previous owner, the third generation to run the store, passed away last August. A former employee purchased the business and opened it as Dottie’s.

Literary News

1. David said the Cedar Rapids Library opens their Summer Reading Program on Saturday, June 6. The program includes all ages and asks readers to track their reading hours. Prizes will be offered throughout the summer. See the Cedar Rapids Library website for details.

Schedule

June 11
Laura
Jered
Xander

June 18
Jeff
Ciuin
Dylan

June 25
Robyn
Ciuin
Ben S.

July 2
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Amy has been writing on her nearly completed “Oceans” novel and her autobiography.
2. Xander wrote an eleven page resignation letter to Coe College. The job they expect from him has not matched the description he was given when he applied. He is thinking about pivoting his career to science communication and reviving his YouTube channel “ARTexplains” as a paid enterprise.
3. Shannon polished up his tribute piece to Nick and submitted it to the anthology he’s been published in the last several years.
4. Xander wrote an outline for his story “The Hooblity-Gack.”
5. Amy’s short story, to be published as a graphic novel, was picked up and currently is having the scenes drawn and the dialogue written. She will soon be recording a podcast about it.

Reading Victories

1. Adriana saw the movie “Project Hail Mary” in the theater and is now listening to the audiobook. While she enjoyed the movie, she is enjoying the book even more. She noticed, while listening, that the scenes set in the past are written in past tense, and the parts set in the present are written in the present tense.
2. Jeff finished “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and found it an excellent book. He especially admires the author’s command of language.

Personal Victories

1. Amy was awarded a scholarship to study government for three weeks this summer, at Harvard University.
2. Ciuin is feeling relief that her godson is now out of school. She will not be receiving any email notices regarding

Literary News

Schedule

June 4
Robyn
Ciuin
David

June 11
Laura
Jered
Xander

June 18
Jeff
Robyn
open slot

June 25
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Jered is looking forward to attending a writing conference the first weekend in June.
2. Adriana received a compliment on her writing of a story about her nephew. A friend from her book club who read it, likened it to Virginia Wolfe’s “To the Lighthouse” in style.

Reading Victories

1. Xander, who reads almost exclusively non-fiction, is taking a stab at “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut. He’s enjoying it.

Personal Victories

1. Xander recommended “An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Young to his classes at Coe. He received an unexpected email from one of his quieter students saying how much she had enjoyed the book. She also said his had been her favorite class this semester and thanked him for teaching her more than only classroom material.

Literary News

Schedule

May 28
Jeff
Xander
Tim

June 4
Robyn
Ciuin
David

June 11
Laura
Jered
Xander

June 18
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Bill, Shannon, Jeff, and Adrianna wrote brilliant, very different homages to Nick.

Reading Victories

Personal Victories

1. Xander turrned in final grades for his Coe classes on Wednesday and is now officially on summer break!
2. David now has a tattoo that is thematically related to his book! The Neon Dragon in Marion did it and he’s very happy with how it turned out.
3. Xander finally watched “Galaxy Quest” at Adriana’s suggestion.
4. Jered is using the Google AI Pros tool at his Collins job as a technical writer. It’s proving to be helpful and cutting some of his tasks down to only a few minutes.

Literary News

Schedule

May 21
Robyn
Ciuin
Jered

May 28
Jeff
Xander
Tim

June 4
Laura
Robyn
open slot

June 11
Jered
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Jered has his author’s website up and is working on other social media outlets for his writing. He’s also trying to come up with a pen name as there are dozens of Jered Fitzgerald’s up on Amazon as authors.

Reading Victories

1. Ben S. read “Wired For Love: A Neuroscientist’s Journey Through Romance, Loss and the Essence of Human Connection” by Stephanie Cacioppo and found it fascinating.
2. Jeff finished “Wuthering Heights” and rated it a C+. He was a little put off by the writing style which was a narrator telling the story to another narrator who was telling it to the reader. He also disliked that the villain suddenly became good at the end without much of an explanation. Jeff is now waiting for “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald to be returned to the library.

Personal Victories

1. Bill’s wife, Karen, was up at the Mayo Clinics this week and testing showed that her treatments are already improving her health.
2. Ciuin has been working at controlling her diet, specifically her sugar and salt intake and is at her lowest weight in five years. Lifestyle changes make a difference!

Literary News

Schedule

May 14
Jeff
Robyn
“Homage to Nick”

May 21
Laura
Ciuin
Jered

May 28
Jeff
Robyn
open slot

June 4
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Tim is one step closer to his Master’s Thesis in Systems Engineering.

Reading Victories

1. Adriana is reading Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie.”
2. Jeff is about a third of the way through Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights.” Whether he likes it or not…the jury is still out.

Personal Victories

Bill’s wife, Karen, is continuing with her new course of treatment and they are pleased with how it’s going.

Literary News

Schedule

May 7
Ciuin
Jered
Robyn

May 14
Laura
Jeff
“Homage to Nick”

May 21
Jeff
Ciuin
Jered

May 28
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn

We will meet at someone’s home at 7 pm, and the address will be in the distribution email. Use the contact form if you need me to add you to the distribution.

Discord and Meetups for Noble Pen

The Discord app provides another way for us to discuss. If you want to check it out, ask for an invitation link that will let you join. Also look for Creative Writing on Meetups.com for Cedar Rapids and make us look active there.

Writing Victories

1. Shannon submitted his demon/angel short story to an annual anthology he is typically published in.
2. Jered will be attending a weekend writing conference in Minnesota this spring.
3. Ciuin and Robyn are thrilled to have found a new Friday night writing place at Carlos O’Kelly’s.
4. Jered is stablishing a new writing habit by getting up at 5 am. He tried it at the end of the day but found that didn’t work well as he was too tired. Doing it when he gets up is much better.
5. Ciuin’s former English teacher, Mr. Fogel, continues to beta read “Chessmaster’s Pawn,” and discuss it with her after church on Sunday’s. Though it’s not his usual kind of book, he is enjoying it.

Reading Victories

Jeff finished reading “Rebecca” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” He found Hemingway’s book, due to the subject matter, difficult to read.

Personal Victories

Literary News

Schedule

Apr 30
Jeff
Robyn
Tim

May 7
Ciuin
Jered
Robyn

May 14
Laura
Jeff
open slot

May 21
open slots

Keep Writing!
Robyn