MAY MONTHLY MEETING: Hands-On Activities to Give Your Idea Legs @ BookPeople
May 09, 2026
BookPeople 603 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78703
Come with ideas, leave with inspiration. Author, poet and Typewriter Rodeo member Rebecca Bendheim and author and filmmaker Marissa Macy both struggle with having too many ideas and no clue where to start. This presentation will include a host of brainstorming and plotting exercises along with opportunities to share that will help writers and illustrators figure out which ideas most excite them, what form those ideas could take, and what steps to take first to go from idea to finished manuscript.
Gather at out May Monthly Meeting! Come with ideas, leave with inspiration. Author, poet and Typewriter Rodeo member Rebecca Bendheim and author and filmmaker Marissa Macy both struggle with having too many ideas and no clue where to start. This presentation will include a host of brainstorming and plotting exercises along with opportunities to share that will help writers and illustrators figure out which ideas most excite them, what form those ideas could take, and what steps to take first to go from idea to finished manuscript.
Marissa Macy is an author, filmmaker, and improviser based in Austin, TX. Her debut middle-grade novel, SPELLS TO MEND BROKEN HEARTS, is set to be released in fall 2026 by Scholastic. In addition to her fiction, Marissa has been making DIY films since 2011, including the award-winning film BED EATER: THE MOVIE and the forthcoming feature EASY DIGGING. If she’s not lost in a story, Marissa can be found recommending movies to people at We Luv Video, a non-profit video rental store that she helps manage.
Rebecca Bendheim is a poet, middle school teacher, and author of the middle grade novels WHEN YOU'RE BRAVE ENOUGH and HOW TO TAKE A RISK, forthcoming from Viking. She holds her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and types poems on Texas NPR and around the country with Austin's Typewriter Rodeo poetry troupe.