Meetings – Third Saturday of the month at 1:00 pm. At regular meetings we discuss/practice writing techniques, review our projects, motivate toward our goals, and more. Meeting location alternates between Byron (Ogle County) and Rockford (Winnebago County). Note date exception in December for our annual holiday dinner.
Sweetbean Cafe in Byron: Jan., March, May, July, September, November
Meg’s Daily Grind, Alpine & Guilford, Rockford: Feb., April, June, Aug., Oct.
December, Fri., 12/7: Holiday Year-in-Writing Dinner

Critique Group – We’re working to launch a critique community in 2016 to allow members to support each other with feedback and encouragement. If you’d like to participate in this please email us at owlswrite@gmail.com.

Mentoring Program – Lightly structured, one-on-one mentoring for specific projects or personal skills development. Sessions are private, one hour in length, and ideally scheduled before or after regular meetings. Writers work with one of the OWLS founders—Dawn Johnson is a published author and a writing and editing professional, offering editing, critique, and other services (www.word-edge.com and fictionclinic.com); Sarah Hernandez is a published author who earned a master’s in writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2015. Each session is $10–schedule one or schedule a series. We’re happy to help you with a specific project, general skills development, or anything in between. Contact Dawn or Sarah at owlswrite@gmail.com for more information.

On-site Chat – Brainstorm, weep, cheer, or just hang out and share. Available for our mentoring program.

Contests – 2016 brought our inaugural writing competition, The Only Story, for fiction and poetry. Look for details about our 2018 competition soon! Submission deadline TBD. When available you can visit the Contest Entry page for details and entry form.

Publishing – We’re hoping/planning publication of the first OWLS’ Anthology in December 2018. Come back soon to hear how we’re doing on our goal!

Special Events – Inspirational field trips, writing retreats, membership events, and more. Check here and in OWLS’ communications for announcements and details.