Artist Initiative
Larson will complete her manuscript, Still Waters, a novel about the German occupation of Norway during World War II. She will hold several public readings at Twin Cities venues.
ACHF Arts Access
As a Minnesota writer, I will expand and develop my artistic abilities by working closely with a writing mentor who is firmly rooted in the literary circle of Minnesota. I will evaluate whether I have accomplished my goal by having a completed manuscript, and a list of agents/publishers that I have submitted the manuscript to for review. 2: I will hold several readings at venues such as The Loft, Friends of the Library, Sons of Norway, and The Center for Victims of Torture, and in rural areas with large Norwegian-American populations. I will create a spreadsheet of all venues where I will hold readings of my novel, including an estimation of the number of attendees.
My goal was to expand and develop my artistic abilities by completing a polished draft of my novel so it could be sent to agents and publishers. I established consistent weekly writing schedule thanks to my childcare funds, and by September 2013, I completed the first draft of the book. I then sent the manuscript to the first of three editors I would hire over the course of my grant. With each editor's critique, I completed another revision of the novel. All three writing mentors indicated the manuscript was a strong candidate for publication. By June, 2014, I had a fully-revised, polished manuscript, as well as a query letter. Having a final, marketable product is the best evaluation of my intended outcomes. However, not only did I complete the novel, I also gained a tremendous amount of knowledge in regards to the craft of writing, and the necessary steps I need to take to market my book. I have started shopping the book out to agents. 2: I held three readings during my grant period. The first was at Nine Mile Creek Senior Living in Bloomington, Minnesota. The second, at the Cracked Walnut Literary Series. The third at The Daughters of Norway Lodge. I had a collective audience of 108 people at these three events. These readings reached people who had lived through WWII, people of Norwegian-American decent, (especially Norwegian women), as well as a broader audience, several of whom were from outside the metro-area. I also found that my day-to-day interactions with people led to conversations about my book, and the arts, and created dialogues that would not have happened without the grant.