"It's impossible to discourage the real writers; they don't give a damn what you say." Sinclair Lewis

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Meeting Idaho Magazine's Publisher


The Blue Sage Writers had a great meeting yesterday, talking, reading, critiquing and sharing industry tidbits for four hours (as well as a lot of stuff that wasn't industry related). Then six of us met at Plum Loco's–a good place for a bunch of loco writers–and, without coming up for air, carried on another two hours' worth of conversation over some fine Mexican cuisine. From there, four die-hards went to listen to Kitty Fleischman, the publisher of Idaho Magazine, talk about her crazy and interesting life.

Originally a Jr. High school teacher, Kitty turned to journalism and has stayed with it for over thirty years. She came to Idaho from Alaska and started Idaho Magazine to preserve the history of the area and its people. When asked to give advice to aspiring writers, her answer was simple: "Write, write, write, write, write."

Those of us in attendance have all sold stories to Idaho Magazine so it was a treat to meet her. In the picture from left to right are Richard Rice, Bill Corbett, Kitty Fleischman, Linda Sandifer, and Karen Finnigan.

--Linda Sandifer
Linda is the award-winning author of thirteen novels and numerous short stories. She received the Idaho Writer of the Year award for her first novel, and wrote the "Spotlight on Rigby" for Idaho Magazine. You can learn more about her books at her website and her blog.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a great get together. Sounds like Kitty has had an interesting life--I love her advice to write, write, write!

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  2. Yes, she's had a very interesting life and we suggested she write her memoirs. After all, she preserves everyone else's stories, she should preserve her own. But she said she wasn't ready to do that yet. "Maybe when I'm eighty," she said.

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