St. Louis Catholic Writers Guild Meeting

Last Saturday I attended my first meeting with the St. Louis Catholic Writers Guild. It was the second time the group has met. My friend Dianna Graveman forwarded an e-mail to me about the group, and we both decided to check it out. The logo below is from the national organization's website.

Denise Montgomery led the meeting at the Saint Charles Coffee House (in the back room) on McClay Road in St. Peters. About ten people attended ranging from teenagers to senior citizens. Both writers and illustrators were in attendance. Among the goals of the local group is to encourage writers through prayer, as well as networking and discussion and possibly critiques.

Right now the group is an unofficial chapter of the CWG. Denise, who is writing a women's contemporary fiction novel,  began the meeting with this prayer from the Catholic Writers Guild:

Holy Family, Guide our minds, our hearts, our hands,
as we write, speak illustrate --
help our words to live in union with the Word.
Teach us discipline and skill to use the talents God gives us.
Give us also insight and courage to convey God’s love through
our craft, and humility to be open to His divine will, shaping
our lives, in loving loyalty to His Church. In Christ’s name,
Amen.

After going around the table and introducing ourselves, we had an open discussion. Denise shared with us details about the conference she attended in August and next year's conference which will be held in Dallas, TX. We also heard a bit about Michelle Buckman and Sophia Instutute Press.

Denise also told us about the publication The Messenger from the Missionary of the Holy Family and gave out beautiful photographs of the Blessed Mother holding the Infant Jesus.

Dianna Graveman shared her experiences with the group about the magazine St. Anthony's Messenger, where she has published fiction (and won awards), as well as Liguori Press, where she served as an editor. Dianna also asked for suggestions for the Spring courses she will be giving through the St. Charles School District Adult Education Program.

What I liked about the group was the enthusiasm, yet sense of peace, of the members. Maybe it's because, as Denise put it, "our hearts are coming from the same place."

The next meeting of the St. Louis Catholic Writers Guild group will be Saturday, January 14 at 10:00 a.m. at the Saint Charles Coffee House on McClay Road in St. Peters.

If you decide to attend you might want to get there a few minutes early because the line to order beverages was long last Saturday. Also the tables we sat at were high and had tall chairs I didn't have a problem sitting on a tall chair, but people with short legs or mobility issues might.

Denise asked us to pass the word that any area Catholic writers are welcome to attend. If you are interested in finding out more about the group, e-mail Denise at dymontgomery (at) gmail.com.