Events

See Jane Move

Ironically, one of the best things that have come out of the #bloglikecrazy project has nothing to do with blogging.

Throughout the month members of See Jane Write who have participated in the challenge have been sharing links to their posts on See Jane Write Facebook group page. Through these posts we quickly realized that many, if not most, of us have a strong interest in fitness.

So Tanya Sylvan had the great idea of organizing See Jane Move — an event to both celebrate the completion of #bloglikecrazy and help us all in our quest to stay or get in shape.

On Saturday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. we will meet at Railroad Park, 1600 1st Ave. S., Birmingham, for a walk/run. Feel free to roller skate or dance or do whatever you please. Just keep moving.

Bring a healthy snack to share. After exercising we will sit down and enjoy a little picnic brunch.

I hope those of you in Birmingham this weekend will join us. You can RSVP here or leave a comment on this post letting me know you’ll be there.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: why should writers care about fitness? You can’t write a best seller or an award-winning blog if you’re dead!

Cross-posted at The Writeous Babe Project. 

What FoodBlogSouth is cooking up for 2013

Guest post by Shaun Chavis 
When Jason Horn and I started FoodBlogSouth three years ago: 

I thought it would be a one-day workshop with about 50 to 75 people. 

I didn’t think we’d have a sell-out crowd the first year. 

And I had no clue how many great friendships and opportunities it would create… not just for me and Jason, but for the bloggers, speakers, and sponsors who have been a part. 

High Road Ice Cream of Atlanta served ice cream samples at the last FoodBlogSouth Conference
and they’ll be back in 2013!



Jason and I started FBS for two reasons: Reason #1, most of the food blogging conferences were either in New York or somewhere on the West Coast. If you’re in the South, you can easily spend $1000 or more to attend a 2-day conference in either of those spots. We wanted something we, and our other food blogging friends in the South, could attend without breaking the bank. We also felt like Southern food bloggers in general have something unique to contribute to the entire food blogging world, and we wanted a conference that could support and call attention to that. And we realized Birmingham had a lot of great resources to be able to do it. The talent here alone is a hidden incredible gem.

Reason #2: We wanted to support a local non-profit children’s writing project that was just starting up, Desert Island Supply Company (DISCO).

So here we are, just a few months from our third event! For FoodBlogSouth 2013, we’ve got three tracks. A half-day beginning track, a full day creative track, and a full day tech & business of blogging track. If you attend, you don’t have to stick to one track, you can hop back and forth. 

The Pecans Project from Greensboro, which helps high school dropouts learn business skills,
served spiced nut samples and pecan butter samples at FoodBlogSouth 2012. 

Ready for the highlights? 
  • Our keynote speaker is J. Kenji-Alt Lopez, of Serious Eats. His Food Lab posts are great, and he’s got a Food Lab 2-volume book coming out in 2013. 
  • Bloggers told us they wanted more about how to be unique and creative, and I don’t think any blogger does that better than Adam Roberts of The Amateur Gourmet (any food blog fan who’s been around a while remembers his Janet Jackson Cupcake post after the infamous Superbowl halftime wardrobe malfunction —that post got him a few minutes on CNN).  He’ll talk about writing. 
  • We’ve got two photography sessions: #1, a camera phone session with Beau Gustafson, a local freelance photographer who’s done a lot of work at Southern Progress Corporation. (If you’ve ever tried to take a picture of a restaurant dinner with nothing but a candle on the table for light, this is the session to attend!) #2, an advanced photography session, led by two previous FBS attendees—Helene Dujardin (Tartlette)  who is a professional photographer, awesome blogger, and author of Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography and Styling. She’s working with Tami Hardeman of Running with Tweezers, who is a professional food stylist. 
  • We’ve got a fun twist on recipe writing this year, and it’s starting with a game for bloggers that’s already starting (wanna play)? The game is called Recipe Telephone, based on the game Telephone (remember that game as a kid)? Bloggers are taking turns changing a Roast Chicken recipe one at a time, and passing it on to the next blogger. No telling what it’ll turn into! Cookbook author Cynthia Graubert will use the recipes from the game in her recipe writing session. (And, the recipes will be published in a chapbook.) 
  • Martie Duncan, of Martie Knows Parties, and a contestant on Food Network’s “The Next Food Network Star,” is doing a session about How to Cook on Camera. 

Goo Goo Cluster was a proud sponsor of FoodBlogSouth 2012.
Can you think of a more iconic Southern candy?

We’ve also got sessions on how to brand yourself as a blogger, how to write your own cookbook, a session where experienced bloggers share how they juggle blogging and the rest of everyday life, SEO and tools for bloggers, and more. Plus there’s going to be some good food: Look for some delicious cheeses for breakfast, and we’ve got a crew of chefs from Baton Rouge coming to cook for our after-party. 


FoodBlogSouth has always had another mission, too: Proceeds support the Desert Island Supply Company (DISCO), a non-profit children’s writing center in Birmingham. FBS 2012 raised $13,000 for DISCO, which just had its grand opening the weekend before Thanksgiving. I’m on the board of DISCO, and anyone who knows me knows I have personal reasons for supporting DISCO. My paternal grandfather was illiterate—as an adult, he couldn’t write his own name. No one should grow up without knowing how to read and write. Knowing how to write and communicate ideas on paper is power. And, my other reason is that reading and writing has always meant so much to me. I grew up an Army brat, which meant moving around a lot and losing friends. (No email, Facebook, Skype, or FaceTime back in those days!) Books and writing were the companions that I’d never lose, no matter where we moved.

I hope you’ll join us for FBS 2013… for the sessions, for the chance to meet other bloggers and make new friends, and to support a place that gives kids opportunities to write. We’ve had great support from bloggers all over the South, from the City of Birmingham, from colleagues at Southern Progress / Time Inc., and from Alabama businesses. All of our speakers have been great, too. 

If you plan to sign up, use the code “SeeJane” to get 10% off your registration. 

See Jane Write founder to be honored by the Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham for being “innovative”

The Women’s Fund asked for a photograph, so I sent this one. 
Don’t I look smart surrounded by all these books?


Did you like that serious, hard news headline? I figured it was in order considering this post is about the fact that the ladies over at the Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham actually think I’m smart.  

Next month the organization is honoring 12 Birmingham-area women for their “innovative” work and ideas and I can’t believe I’ll be in the mix. To be in a group that includes the director of the Birmingham Public Library, a successful lawyer, and a space archaeologist — just to name a few — is both humbling and shocking. 

I am being recognized for the work I do with See Jane Write, which I founded in March 2011. 

We will be honored at the Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham’s inaugural “SMART Party.”

The Birmingham Business Journal describes the “SMART Party” as an event that will include “tweets, tags, pins and check-ins from attendees and video ‘virtual’ messages from guests from around the world.”

The SMART Party is a fundraiser for the Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham. Lin Carleen founded the organization in 1996 with a mission to “encourage the full participation of women and girls in the community by creating opportunities for education, physical, emotional, social, artistic, and personal growth and empowerment.” The group’s major focus for the past five years has been on domestic violence. 

The SMART Party will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 11 at WorkPlay and I hope you’ll join us. I’d love to see you there! For tickets and more information, click here. 

See Jane Eat Drink Read Write



Last weekend I rededicated myself to a promise I made years ago. 

No, I didn’t renew my wedding vows.  I decided to renew my efforts to fall in love with the city of Birmingham. I spent last Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at the Sidewalk Film Festival, an annual independent film festival held in various venues of downtown Birmingham. (I wrote stories on the film Our Mockingbird and the short documentaries produced by University of Alabama at Birmingham students for Magic City Post.) I had a blast and the weekend made me realize that Birmingham really can make me happy if I give her a chance.

So, this fall I plan to attend as many events as I can. Just around the corner is the Birmingham Public Library’s second Eat Drink Read Write Festival, which is set for Sept. 8 – 15, 2012. The Birmingham Public Library has joined forces with several Birmingham food organizations to present this year’s event. Presentations will include good food and good conversation from national and local food and beer experts. All events are free and will feature food tastings, a cooking class, a food documentary and more. Events will be held at the downtown public library, Pepper Place and the Desert Island Supply Co. in Woodlawn.

I would love for some of the ladies of See Jane Write to join me at some of the Eat Drink Read Write Festival events such as Food Stories, set for Wednesday, Sept. 12 at the Desert Island Supply Co., 5500 First Ave. North. For this event participants will have five minutes to tell a true, personal story about food. No notes allowed. This presentation is modeled after National Public Radio’s “The Moth: True Stories Told Live.” Birmingham Originals member restaurants will provide refreshments. Reservations are required so visit http://foodstories2012.eventbrite.com/ to register today. Then RSVP at the See Jane Write Facebook group page to let me know you’re coming. 

And please join me Friday, Sept. 14 at Bards & Brews. It’s really a shame that I have yet to attend the library’s popular poetry performance and beer-tasting event. On this night, Chef Corey Hinkel of MIX Bakery and Cafe will discuss beer and cheese pairings. Chef Chris Dupont of MIX Bakery and Cafe and Cafe Dupont will prepare appetizers, using ingredients donated by Whole Foods Market. There will also be a poetry slam and prizes to the top three winners. Avondale Brewing Co., Back Forty Beer Co., Bell’s Brewery and Good People Brewing Co. will furnish the beer. The Reflections, a band made up of library employees, is also set to perform.

Reservations are not required for this event, but please RSVP at the See Jane Write Facebook group page to let me know you’re coming so I’ll keep an eye out for you. 

Click here for a complete list of events.  

See Jane Write presents A Ghost Story

Are you looking for new ways to earn money as a writer? 
If so, you need to mark your calendar for the next See Jane Write event, set for Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m. at Matthew’s Bar & Grill. 

Author and freelance writer Nancy Dorman-Hickson will present “A Ghost Story: My Life as a Co-Writer and Print/Web Writer.”  She’ll include fun experiences she’s had as a writer such as the strangest places she’s taken her laptop or conducted an interview; techniques for capturing a personality; and the ego-boosting (and ego-crushing) acts of creating personal bios and author photos and participating in book signings. 
Before freelancing, Dorman-Hickson was an editor for Southern Living and Progressive Farmer magazines during which time she received praise for her writing from Harper Lee, Pat Conroy, Naomi Judd, Fannie Flagg and many more. She is the ghostwriter of a book on family violence and the co-author of Diplomacy and Diamonds, the best-selling memoir of Texas socialite Joanne King Herring, who was portrayed by Julia Roberts in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War. You can learn more about  at Dorman-Hickson at http://www.NancyDormanHickson.com.
Ghostwriting may be something you’ve never considered because there’s no fame or glory in this line of work. “In fact,” Dorman-Hickson said, “ghostwriters sign contracts agreeing not to tell anyone that they worked on the book at all, thus the term ‘ghost.'”

So why would anyone want to be a ghostwriter? For the money, honey! 

“It can be a lucrative field,” Dorman-Hickson said. “The figures are all over the board. I’ve heard everything from $2,500 to $100,000, but those high-figures come about only after a writer has deep experience and a lot of luck.”
Still, if ghostwriting is completely out of the question for you, there’s always collaborative writing, such as Dorman-Hickson’s project with Joanne King Herring. On the cover of that memoir you’ll also find Dorman-Hickson’s name. 

“It can mean good money in a time when writers are having a hard time getting assignments and being paid adequately for their work,” Dorman-Hickson said. “Also it is fulfilling to complete a book, especially when it bears your name.”
For those wondering if ghostwriting or collaborative writing is for you, Dorman-Hickson said, “If you are a writer who enjoys knowing what you’re going to be writing and what you’re going to be working on for a long period of time, book-length projects are ideal. They provide security in the topsyturvy world of freelancing. You use the same skills you use with other types of writing. You just use them for a longer period of time focusing on the same subject.”
Dorman-Hickson will have copies of Diplomacy and Diamonds for sale (cash or check only) for $25 at the event. 
In addition to information on ghostwriting and collaborative writing, Dorman-Hickson will also discuss how to freelance for magazines, websites and other publications and how to build your brand as a writer.

See Jane Write August Event 
What: Nancy Dorman Hickson presents A Ghost Story: My Life as a Co-Writer and Print/Web Writer
When: Tuesday, August 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Matthew’s Bar & Grill, 2208 Morris Avenue, Birmingham, AL 35203

This event is free, but registration is required. Register by visiting aghoststory.eventbrite.com

Special thanks to our venue sponsor Matthew’s Bar & Grill. Please support Matthew’s by purchasing food and/or drinks at this event.