• There will be NO meeting on July 4th due to the holiday.
• Our next in-person meeting will be July 18. Our speaker will be Neda Renee Kellog, Project Diva International.
• Volunteers are needed for the People's Patchwork Community Garden Watering for the week of 6/26. Please see Lori Thrune's email for sign up.
• The Brewing Better Futures event will take place from 5:00--7:00pm on June 21 at Wildflyer Coffee, 3262 Minnehaha Ave S, Minneapolis. See Irene's email for details.
• There will be Swallowship at Fat Pants on June 29 from 5:00--7:00pm.
• Sharon talked about The Rotary Foundation and the good work that it does. Paul Harris pins were presented to John Goergen and Tim Conners.
• If you have not paid your current dues, please do so by the end of June--the end of the Rotary fiscal year. Thank you!

Heather Boschke was our speaker for our June 20, 2023 meeting. She shared her journey as a first time author with us.

Heather lost her job in 2019. During Covid, she became re-interested in drawing. Heather began drawing birds in January 2021, then starting naming the birds she drew, and eventually became an official “birder”. Heather found that she was learning so much about birds that she decided that she would like to educate children about birds.

Heather researched the process of publishing a book. She stated that there are three options for publishing: 1. Traditional publishing where you work with a publisher and have an agent, 2. Hybrid publishing whereby you work with a group to get help with illustrations, printing, etc. but you do the marketing yourself, and 3. Self Publishing where you form your own team to get your book published. Heather self published her book.

The process for publishing a book includes (in order) writing & illustrating, copy editing & proofing, designing & final files and, lastly, uploading & proofs. Heather said that the illustrations took her about 1 ½ years to draw. The book was written in six hours over two days in July, 2022. She was done with the final uploading and proofs by January 2023. Her book is “Little Birdie Buddies in Minnesota” and is on sale through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Heather shared some of her life philosophies on how to live a rich and fulfilling life:

• Don't underestimate the ability to positively change your life at any time.

• The plan for your life is greater than you can imagine.

• Listen to your heart when it won't be quiet.

• You'll get thrown off the wheels that are not meant for you.

• You can't do your life wrong.

Heather's next writing project is another book-- “Little Birdie Buddies of Wisconsin”.