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In a post last week, I mentioned that, at Becky Mushko’s invitation, I attended a lunch meeting for the Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women.

The group met in the community room at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op on Grandin Road last Wednesday. In that room I found mothers, grandmothers, writers and artists– a wonderful group of women sharing advice, encouragement and friendship through a shared love of writing and arts.

The guest speaker was Sally Roseveare author of “Secrets at Spawning Run” and “Secrets at Sweetwater Cove.” Both books take place at Smith Mountain Lake and are the first two books in a mystery series. She is currently writing the third book.

She started her discussion by talking about where ideas come from. “Ideas come from anywhere,” she said and called “What if” her two magic words. She asked us to pick an item in the room. We chose the vent near the ceiling. Then she weaved a story plot around that vent and a hidden camera.

Roseveare, a North Carolina native, has a beautiful reading voice. She told us how, on a recent trip to Alaska, people stopped her and asked her to speak ‘southern’. Before she began to read the first few pages of “Secrets at Spawning Run” she jokingly asked how southern we wanted it.

I enjoyed her reading not only for her southern drawl, which would make for an awesome audio book, but for the immediate connection I felt for the character Aurora. Though it was a short reading the opening was engaging.

The Pen Women meet the second Wednesday of most months, about nine times a year. Their mission is to promote the arts. They sponsor a poetry contest and offer a scholarship/grant to a woman pursuing artistic interests.

The ladies, members and guests, in attendance were President Peggy Shifflett (author of “The Living Room Bed“), Vice President Becky Mushko (author of “Ferradiddledumday“),  Anita Firebaugh (freelance writer and book reviewer for The Roanoke Times), Cynthia Bertelsen, Meg Hibbert (editor of Salem Times-Register), Ethel W. Born (author of “From Horse ‘n Buggy to Hi-Tech“), Beth Ann Rossi (story teller and feature writer), Margaret DuBois (Salem artist and former president of the Pen Women), Lynne Victorine, Elena DeRosa, Gail Lambert (freelance writer), Barbara Canfield, and Diane Cayton-Hakey (local blogger and photographer).

If you would like more information on the Roanoke Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, check out their website or look for them on facebook.