Welcome and Group Guidelines

Welcome to Magic Hour Writers.  Thank you for joining us, we are happy you are here! At the beginning of each month these guidelines will be reposted for your convenience.

Meeting Times:  We meet on the second Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Borders Bookstore in Merrillville, IN.

Our Mission:  To encourage and promote excellence in writing for children through friendship, education and peer support to writing colleagues.

About Us:  Magic Hour Writers formed in early 2010 after several of Sharon Palmeri's students decided they wanted to continue to meet on a regular basis to share their current works and projects as well as report on any progress, successes, and frustrations. Many also wanted to share and discuss any information they found to be of interest to fellow group members. Magic Hour Writers is affiliated with Write-On Hoosiers, an established writer's group that has been meeting in Northwest Indiana for over twenty years.

What you can expect...  We are a diverse group of individuals with very unique education, life experiences, and interests. Our main common goal is to write quality materials for children. This includes but is not limited to: board books, picture books, early readers, poems, articles, and young adult novels. Each of us has the duty to provide constructive criticism and offer suggestions and ideas. We plan to have guest speakers that will provide additional support as we build our craft. We will discuss and further explore topics of interest on occasion and take votes if necessary to reach a decision deemed in the best interest of the group.

Many of our members have additional websites. Check out the links on this site.

Dues are $20 a year  and are non-refundable. Members dues will be collected at the beginning of each calendar year. Any remaining balance will be carried over into the next calendar year. The acting treasurer will report on the balance of our budget and inform members of any income and expenses upon request.

Every meeting we pass around a reading sign-up sheet. On this sheet you will put down the title of any personal work you would like to share and if you would or would not like feedback from the group. You can share a chapter from your book, a poem, or a short story - no more than 5 minutes in length and appropriate in content. Please bring 10 copies of your work so there is enough copies for each member to follow along. These copies will be returned back to you upon your request.

Visit as our guest:  A guest may attend two meetings before membership will be required.

Contact us:  If you are interested in attending one of our meetings as a guest, or would like additional information please feel free to contact us via email at: magichourwriters@rocketmail.com