Tag: Ames Writers Collective

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Author

William Bortz

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What’s your genre?
Poetry

Are you published?
Traditional publisher

What inspire you to become a writer?
Growing up, I didn’t have anyone to talk to about what I was experiencing or feeling. Books, poetry, and music quickly became a way for me to understand the world around me and my place in it. I wanted to become a writer so I could be that safe haven for anyone needing one.

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Hanif Abdurraqib. He writes with such great intention and appreciation. It makes me look closer at everything that I see.

Name three o four favorite books and their authors
Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
The Wild Iris by Louise Glück

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I believe that most often hope is a small light far away, and it is always worth moving toward that light.

What’s one piece of advice you would give a budding writer?
Read, read, read.

Author bio
William Bortz is a poet and editor from the Midwest. He is the author of Many Small Hungerings (Andrews McMeel, 2023) and The Grief We’re Given (Central Ave, 2021). You can find his work online and in print in Okay Donkey, Random Sample, Little Death Lit, Lyrical Iowa, and others. William lives with his wife and daughter. He will always be happy to talk about music or basketball. Click here to visit William.

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Author

Stephen Brayton

What’s your genre?
Mystery and horror

Are you published?
Indie press

What inspired you to become a writer?
I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child. At some point, I thought that I could write what I’ve been reading. I created a police detective. Years later, I changed the man to a woman, added in my martial arts experience, and created a heroine. Currently, I have eight books in the series in various stages of completion

What authors do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
H. P. Lovecraft—The mythos he’s created has inspired writers for decades. I became a big fan of horror writing and keep him in mind whenever I write short horror. I even mentioned him in my novel, Night Shadows.

Franklin W. Dixon—While not a “real” person, this team of writers created The Hardy Boys (and Nancy Drew). I latched onto this series and became a mystery fan as a child. The two brothers who never age throughout the series have stayed with me, and I still read them.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
At The Mountains Of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft
Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Killing Floor by Lee Child

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
I’m a Sixth Degree Black Belt and certified instructor in taekwondo with over 30 years experience.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writer?
You can do all the research and outlining and character profiling you want, but at some point, you have to turn off the distractions, put pen to paper or fingers on the keyboard and WRITE. If it’s important, you’ll make the time. If it’s not, you’ll make excuses.

Author Bio
Stephen L. Brayton is a Sixth Degree Black Belt in the American Taekwondo Association and a Marketing Associate for a software company.

He began writing as a child; his first short story concerned a true incident about his reactions to discipline. During high school, he wrote for the school newspaper and was a photographer for the yearbook. For a Mass Media class, he wrote and edited a video project.

Current publications include Alpha, the first of his Mallory Petersen action mystery series, and Night Shadows, the first in a supernatural series featuring a homicide detective and an FBI agent.

He is the editor and contributing author of The Peace Tree Mystery, a story set in the Knoxville, Iowa/Lake Red Rock area.

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Author Uncategorized

Charles Kniker

What’s your genre?
Currently, I am a political writer writing about saving democracy

Are you published?
Traditional and indie press.
Books include: Raising America: Building a More Perfect Union (co-editor and author), Myth and Reality, Teaching Today and Tomorrow, You and Values Education, Spirituality That Makes a Difference

What author do you admire and how have they inspired your writing?
Since I first began writing as a high school paper sports editor, I liked those who could make sports “live.” In time, I came to like Hemingway. Perhaps not surprisingly, with my religious background, the authors of various biblical books are some favorites.

Name three of your favorite books and their authors
Because of my current interests, I have been moved by:
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Yuval Harari’s works (because I disagree with him on many points, but respect his perspective).

What’s one thing readers should know about you?
That I survive with humor. As serious as life and world conditions are, we need release and humor as a way of putting things in context so we can learn new ways to deal with consequential matters.

What one piece of advice would you give to a budding writers?
Know you rarely get it right the first time. Discover a time and method that helps you revisit what you have written.

Author Bio
Charles Kniker is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He has served congregations in Illinois, Missouri, California, New Jersey, Iowa, and Texas. Now retired, he lives at Green Hills Retirement Community in Ames. As a hobby, he has written texts for over sixty hymns.

Charles served as a professor of education at Iowa State University from 1969-1993. While there, he founded the journal, Religion & Public Education (now Religion & Education). He left Iowa State to become president of Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri, in 1993. In 1996, he became pastor of Faith United Church of Christ, Bryan, Texas. He returned to Iowa in 1998 as Associate Director of Academic Affairs for the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

In 2022 he authored Spirituality That Makes a Difference, his seventh book. During his academic career, he wrote numerous articles on moral and values education, teacher preparation, and was co-editor for several reference works. Currently, he teaches courses for the Iowa State University Alumni Association OLLI (College for Seniors) program.

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups

Join us on April 13th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.
We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.
Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.
Join us! Happy Writing!

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups

Join us on May 11th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.
We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.
Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.
Join us! Happy Writing!

Writing Circle Mondays | John Stoddard Cancer Center

Writing Circle Monday sessions are sponsored by Stoddard Cancer Center as part of the Charlie Cutler Healing and Wellness Program and inspired by the Amherst Writers & Artists  method, which believes that everyone is a writer.

Each session participants create a safe space, and then write together for timed intervals to writing prompts. Writing prompts inspire stories from participants’ lives. After each timed-writing session, participants will have the opportunity to read their stories to the group, which is healing on many levels.

Cancer patients and survivors are welcome to sign up for one to eight sessions. Registration is required, as each session will cap at 10 writers. For questions or to register, call (515) 241-8505 or email Gina Mandernach at Unity Point at [email protected].

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups

Join us on March 9th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.
We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.
Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.
Join us! Happy Writing!

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups

Join us on February 9th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.
We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.
Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.
Join us! Happy Writing!

2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups

Join us on January 12th for the 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Group held from 2 to 4 PM at the Ames Public Library. We are scheduled to meet in the P.E.O. room, but check monitors incase the location changes.
We supply notebooks, pens and other materials to prompt and inspire stories. This Sunday, Ana McCracken will lead the Swift Youth Writers group. She looks forward to writing with those of you who can join her.
Swift Youth Writers Groups are an Ames Writers Collective FREE community outreach program held in partnership with the Ames Public Library. The Ames Writers Collective community outreach programs are funded by grants and generous donors.
Join us! Happy Writing!

CANCELED | 2nd Sunday Swift Youth Writers Groups

CANCELED | CANCELED | CANCELED

Join us again,

on January 12th (the 2nd Sunday in January) from
2 to 4 PM in the PEO Room at
the Ames Public Library