Tag Archives: WOWI

Announcement, Blog Post, Don

D.E. Moore – Bummer & Best Wishes!

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Poet Daniel Edward Moore

Bummer news today… I’ve been looking forward to local poet extraordinaire, Daniel Edward Moore, joining the WOWI Team with the official re-debut of the podcast.  Daniel politely messaged me and said he had to decline.

Sadly, this also means we never got to find out what his favourite beverage is to list on his host profile page.  Oh well!

But Why?!?

Daniel his thoroughly involved in his writing and the local poetry scene.  Previously (and currently?) he has hosted a regular poetry workshop at the Oak Harbor Library.  He informed me that he has teamed up with another gentleman with the intention to start a monthly Whidbey Island poetry reading event.  Who knows — once it has some legs on it, that could be a great subject for a WOWI interview.  In any case, CONGRATULATIONS GUYS, with your involvement I’m sure it will go great — and I’d like to know about when it’s going to happen, too!

So what does this do for the WOWI Team?

Stick Figure Sam
This could be you

When co-founder co-host Tom Trimbath moved on from Writing On Whidbey Island, he made a few suggestions for the future of the show — adding to my own ideas.  While I thought to recruit a small team of co-hosts, he suggested balancing the show between male and female personalities.  In a way, this seemed kind of odd to me, however it also made sense.  So …

Writing On Whidbey Island will be looking for a new co-host to add to the team.  So far, all of my new recruits have been past guests.  While this takes a lot of work out of the ‘talent search’, I don’t view this as an absolute requirement.  I have added a page to the WOWI site detailing what I look for in co-hosts.  To be entirely frank — with Lauren and Sarah already on board — I will be looking for another gent to join us, and (this may also seem odd) preferably one who lives on the northern half of Whidbey Island*.  This may be conducted as a ‘lazy search’, taking time to find the right guy — and at the same time, if a fellow contacts us and something goes together soon… all the better.
* If you get the position, this will be explained later.

Best of luck to everyone going forward!

~ Don

D.E. Moore Links

Author Website, Profiles & Social Media

Books

Don, Tom, WOWI Session

Writing On Whidbey Island (WOWI) – First Anniversary

I didn’t expect to finish our first year of the Writing on Whidbey Island podcast by being interviewed for another site in the UK. (Tom and Don interviewed by Pen To Print) Evidently, we’re doing something right, or at least notable. The tough challenge was finding a succinct way to summarize what we’ve done so far. Don did a good job of answering that call. I was glad to mostly sit by and watch. One bit of good news, our intent that we described in one of our first posts remains. Check back for a comparison. (WOWI episode 1 – Hello and Welcome!)

“Origin stories are in style, and this first episode recorded Don and I as we talked about who, how, why, where, and what inspired us to begin this series.
The who is easy: the rest of the writing community of Whidbey Island,…
The how is keeping it simple…
Why is easy; we like the community and the island…
Where is wherever we can,…“

As with any first drafts, we do things a bit differently now; though many may not notice the changes. The bigger change was the one we’re all experiencing. That “Where is wherever we can…” changed from three people around one microphone in one location, to one computer per person with all the varying background sounds and technical issues that includes. Again, thanks to Don for managing that part. 

The podcast is about the writing community on Whidbey Island, which is more than writers and authors. Writers have a support group on the island that includes librarians, teachers, book sellers, book collectors, editors, workshop organizers – some of whom we’ve interviewed. We also hope to include publishers, illustrators, publicists, whoever else is considered to be part of the party.

Even within the bounds of ‘writers and authors’, we’ve listened to people talk about memoir, fantasy, poetry, reference guides, nature – and of course cookbooks and music (Don), and travel, personal finance, and photography (Tom). 

And we’ve only just begun. We’ve yet to find a complete count of how many writers on the island have books for sale. One measure is that, as a community, we’ve overwhelmed the local libraries and bookstores. They have a tough time keeping up with what has been produced. 

A common comment that arose unprompted has been that almost everyone relies on someone else somewhere along their project’s path. A writer working on their book can also be the editor for someone else’s book. Marketing benefits from shared experiences. Cross-marketing, particularly through social media, amplifies our voices. Inspiration is accelerated. 

One story in particular is the reminder that success doesn’t require decades of effort, advanced study, or dozens of drafts. Our most popular podcast so far has been Invisible Pollution, written, illustrated, and compiled by students from John Del Prete’s 4th Grade Class at Crescent Harbor Elementary School. This was a serious production associated with NOAA. Writers are not required to wear grey hair.

The podcast continues. Covid is editing our style, for a while. As we said in this, our anniversary episode, maybe next year we can meet again, first in our original formula of three people in one place, and eventually in more public places, again. Any brewpubs, libraries, wineries, or bookstores interested?

Writing on Whidbey Island (WOWI) episode 18 – WOWI’s First Anniversary

Announcement, Blog Post, Don

WOWI vs COVID-19

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

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

 

Guest Interview, Upcoming WOWI Session

October 2019 Podcast Topics

Want to know a secret? … PODCAST

Okay — we’ve been keeping this kind of quiet, but here it is …  PODCAST

Tom Trimbath and I have started a PODCAST!

 

It’s TRUE — Tom and I have started a PODCAST.  Take 1-part portable recording gear and add 2 guys energetic about writing,  and mix with a look at all-things-writing as it pertains to Whidbey … and you get “Writing On Whidbey Island“* — or WOWI!
(*Present web location, subject to change)

Our show is new — presently we have about half-a-dozen recordings, each around 40 minutes long.  Three of these have been interviews with Whidbey Island authors.  Our show is not a hard Q&A, it’s a conversation about the topic we pick — a guest talking about their book, a bookstore owner discussing their approach to the book business, online marketing, you name it!  This month Tom and I have 2 recordings tentatively scheduled — here’s what’s coming up! PODCAST

October 12th — Maribeth Crandell’s Latest Book

The 14Sep2019 copy of the Whidbey News-Times presented an article on Maribeth Crandell and her second book “Hiking Close to Home“.  In her latest book, Maribeth presents all the hikes here on Whidbey Island.  Her approach has included not only features of the hikes, which ones are wheelchair accessible, and also which ones you get reach using the local bus service — which is free by the way!  That Saturday she was presenting her book at the Coupeville library — she and her book sounded interesting so I attended!  Maribeth was passionate about her topic and full of character — and at the end of the presentation I invited her on WOWI.  She will be holding another release party a few weeks following in Anacortes — if you’re local, don’t miss it! PODCAST

October 28th — 1st Year Publishing Lessons Learned

Make Your Own Darn Good CookiesOur guest for our October 28th recording will be ….. ME!  A week ago Tom pointed out that my first book “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies” was published one year ago on Amazon. Since then I’ve presented my book, published the Amazon and Smashwords e-book versions, started my next book projects, and learned more than a few things I didn’t know before.  Tom suggested that we discuss the experiences, lessons, and tips of a writer (me) the first year into being a self-published author.  *Stammer*Stammer* … uh … now that I think about it, YEAH, there are things that I can share.  I’m looking forward to talking with Tom about it and sharing with our listeners! PODCAST

Now, a few more things about WOWI

Tom and I live on opposite ends of Whidbey Island.  For our WOWI podcast this is a blessing and a curse.  The ‘curse‘ is that it is inconvenient to get together, so our recordings don’t take place on a regular schedule. The ‘blessing‘ is that we have to coordinate our schedules when we are going to be at the same end of the island.  This helps us to meet with myriad authors, writers groups, bookstore owners, ETC here on Whidbey Island.  We’ve worked this into the character of the show — recording in different places, featuring some of the audioscape of our beloved island in the background.  So far we have recorded outdoors, and the weather is beginning to turn on us.  We will soon be looking for indoor locations that will host us.  If you are a business this may work to your favour because we always say where we are recording from — for the use of a warm room, a little bit of electricity, and perhaps a few other comforts, we will GLADLY plug your Whidbey Island business! PODCAST