Category Archives: Announcement

announcements, Announcements, An-NOUNCE-ments!

Announcement, Upcoming WOWI Session/s

The Future of Writing On Whidbey Island

10 Comments
author
Have you seen this man?

Yes — sad but true — founding host Tom Trimbath has departed from Writing On Whidbey Island.  He helped start something great, and he will be missed — first and foremost by me — and I look forward to seeing what develops for him as he continues his writing and publishing journey!

However, you might be asking yourself …
What is the future of WOWI?

And I might reply … that I don’t have a whole lot of time to go into that right now — but … as the saying goes … The Show Must Go On!

Tom has handed Writing On Whidbey Island over to me.  With this, I see an opportunity to bring some new elements to the show — many of which are things Tom and I have wanted to do, but just haven’t had the time to develop.  I intend to have guest hosts  join me to discuss writing topics and to interview individuals from our island writing community.  The suggestion has been given to include unique intro and outro music to the show — something I was already looking into!  In time, I plan to move the audio to a podcast platform so that more people may become aware of and benefit from WOWI.  How about WOWI merch — stickers, T-shirts, etc?  I hope to also create and maintain a few social media profiles — probably Twitter and Facebook.

And the future of WOWI will happen … In The Future!

Hello, my name is Don, I’ll be your Highland bagpiper for today.

As you’ve heard in our earlier podcasts — this is the beginning of my annual seasonal work — otherwise known as my Busy Season.  Typically, Tom has done most of the heavy-lifting behind the scenes at this time of the year.  Right now, I am unable to juggle work and rolling from 50% production of the podcast to 100% management — so I need to take a little break!

My plan is to resume Writing On Whidbey Island later this year — probably around Fall.  Meanwhile, I intend to work on my plans above and begin to put these new show elements into place.

Please enjoy the past episodes in the meantime, and I look forward to you rejoining WOWI in the coming months.

~ Don

Announcement, Tom and Don, WOWI Session

Tom’s Farewell to WOWI

Leave a comment

Nearly four years ago, Tom and I took action on a somewhat thought out semi-crazy idea.  We met at a park in Coupeville, WA, and hiked down a winding dirt path to the beach below.  We sat down on some rocks, and I fired up my recording unit.  What followed — in addition to the sounds of waves, seagulls, and local jets — was our first two Writing On Whidbey Island podcast episodes.
(Episodes One & Two)

Tom Don bagpipe presentation Scotland speaking
Playing Scottish smallpipes before Tom presented his book “Walking, Thinking, Drinking Across Scotland”.

Our recording sessions have taken us all over our beloved island, and we’ve had the pleasure of spending time with several magnificent people from our local writing community.  During this time our show has grown in meaning and listeners — even gaining recognition beyond the greater literary community here on the island.

A little over a week ago, Tom and I met at the Coupeville Library for a special show — moreover, one that was bittersweet for me.  For personal reasons, Tom announced his departure from Writing On Whidbey Island — chiefly, it’s because he’s a busy guy!

authorIt was great to spend time with Tom, discussing our earlier episodes, what the show has developed into and contributed to the community, and getting to talk about the future of Writing On Whidbey Island.  I couldn’t have started this podcast without Tom, and as a founding member of WOWI he has set the show on its unique path.  With any luck, Tom will rejoin the show as a future guest with one of his next book releases.

Tom, my friend, Thank You and Good Journeys!

~ Don

Writing on Whidbey Island (WOWI) episode 45 – Tom Trimbath, – Author, WOWI co-founder emeritus

Links:

Amazon Author Page (non-fiction and sci-fi)

Blurb (for photo essays)

Lulu (books for fundraisers)

Twitter

LinkedIn

Announcement, Tom and Don, Workshop, WOWI Session

WOWI – 3 Years Running!

Leave a comment
Happy Birthday cake three years old
Click the cake to help us blow out the candles …

Wait — WHAT — WOWI is 3 years old?!?  Yeah — that’s right — 3 years ago Tom and I sat down and recorded our first Writing On Whidbey Island episode!  I remember it fondly … a beach in Coupeville … with waves, and seagulls, and jets.  This past Wednesday, Tom and I sat down — this time at a picnic table (we’re moving up!) — meeting for our 3 year anniversary show … with seagulls and near the water of Oak Harbor … with the potential for overhead jets … so, actually, not much has changed.

Oak Harbor’s newly remodeled Windjammer Park served as our backdrop.  Our audience was a flock seagulls, while our special effects were ash and smoke that smelled like charming pipe-tobacco emanating from the southern Washington forest fire.

From Inspiration To Publication Self-publishing workshop writer author book

Tom and I discussed how the show has grown over 3 years, where it’s going, what we each have been up to in writing lately (*See Links Below*), and our upcoming From Inspiration To Publication workshop .  This 1-day workshop will be co-presented in Coupeville WA October 15th 2022 by Tom and myself — See You There!

Tom has two new books recently published!  Check out …

 

Online, Tom and Don, Upcoming WOWI Session/s

The Show Must Go ON!

Leave a comment

200314_quarantineCONTRARY to my recent WOWI blog post saying that Tom and I may need to put a hold on the show, we’re devising an idea how we could go forward during the Cornonavirus quarantine!

This past Monday I rigged-up my gear and met Tom in a video chat — our intention being to record a 1-off WOWI episode — both to see how using this medium might work and to discuss how how being in quarantine affects writers.  Frankly, going into this … I didn’t expect much — and yet, what came out of it was an intriguing show running over an hour long!

“How do the adjustments we are making and disruptions we are dealing with make for opportunities, affect work and art later on, what is yet to come for the world of the day-job worker?”

ce0ba7e2e67ce08adf162de05c2f03bb
The “Yellow Jack” or “Lima” signal flag is flown on ships in harbor to indicate that a vessel is under quarantine.

On Wednesday I e-met with Tom again with two purposes in mind.  One was to test an improved set-up with my gear — which produced technological success.  The other was to further discuss continuing the show from QuarantineVille.  Our aim at this point is to try and host 1 to 2 guests each month over video chat — and we each have a few authors in mind to ask.

If you are Whidbey Island writer/author, editor, bookstore owner, graphic artist or illustrator, marketing guru — or whatever as long as your work is part of the publishing industry — and you think you’d be a fit for a WOWI episode … PLEASE CONTACT US!

We’ll talk with you soon! ~ Don

Did You Wash Your Hands EDIT

Announcement, Uncategorized

WOWI vs COVID-19

Leave a comment

Hello — Don here, messaging you from QuarantineVille!  Yes, we are weeks … months(?) … into this Cornonavirus thing.  All of us are seeing some changes in our lives from this crazy deal.  For Tom and myself one of those is we’ve had to put the brakes on WOWI for the time being.  I’m here to tell you — we may be down for the moment, but we’re not out!

Tom and I are each juggling our personal lives with the adjustments; for the time being our schedules, and ‘social distancing’, have precluded us from recording the next WOWI episode.  We have done some brainstorming about how we might hold an interview under the current conditions ….

  • One idea has been to arrange a meeting time and location with an author … each person walking into the location from separate directions (kinda like that Clint Eastwood spaghetti western …. no, the other one), do the interview while keeping our distances, and then safely back out.  Dramatic and amusing!
  • Or, more simply a video-meeting or 3-way phone call.

None of it seems worth the bother right now, and for Tom and myself our priorities have us drawn (if not also quartered) elsewhere.

Our intention is to hold the next WOWI interview when folks can safely shake hands again, without threat of the viral-apocalypse or residential-gulag or whatever.  So please enjoy our current collection of episodes, and keep an eye here for updates.

Take care, Talk soon ~ Don

8a67a2472cf2739961239d86d58e1f50
The Good, The Bad, and The Dusty (1966)