WordShine Writers’ Retreat 2026
Calling All Writers:
Grab your pen and get ready to be INSPIRED at the 2026 WordShine Writers’ Retreat!
Enjoy a day of creative community, inspirational guest speakers and hands on workshops. Featuring presentations by Rev. Maggie Alderman, Mindy McVay, Linda Chubbuck, and Barbara Hadley. Writers of all genres and experience levels welcome. The annual WordShine Writers’ Retreat is hosted by members of the WordShine Writers’ Group, a volunteer run affinity group of Unity Arts Ministry.
This year we’ve added a fabulous WordShine Raffle Basket to our event – with LOTS of goodies in it. Your ticket purchase gets you a raffle ticket along with an immersive day with our four inspiring presenters.
- Saturday November 7th, 2026
- 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
- Village Commons, 1901 NW Blue Pkwy, 100 Bldg. Unity Village MO. See map below.
- Tickets: $50
- This is a fundraiser event in support of the mission and vision of Unity Arts Ministry. Thank you for your support!
- Lunch is not included. Please bring your own non-perishable lunch or plan to purchase your lunch at the Fillmore Cafe.
Registration
Please use the form below to pre-register for this event. A limited number of seats will be available at the door.
Meet Your Presenters
Rev. Maggie Alderman is a writer, storyteller, and Unity minister who believes the most meaningful words are the ones that help us recognize something true about ourselves. As Director of Silent Unity Prayer Ministry, she writes and speaks on spirituality, prayer, and the wonderfully messy experience of being human. Her work has appeared in Daily Word, Unity publications, booklets, and other print and digital spaces. A lifelong lover of stories, Maggie brings curiosity, humor, and a deep appreciation for the power of an ordinary voice to make an extraordinary connection.
Mindy McVay is the Founder and CEO of Midnight Garden Publishing House LLC, a Kansas City-based hybrid publisher providing independent authors with tailored business solutions, proprietary software, editorial services, education, and community support.
A mother, wife, poet, writer, and community organizer, Mindy brings a rich, multi-faceted background to her work. Raised in a successful family tech business and a fourth-generation farmer from the Amarugia Highlands in Cass County, her cumulative experiences uniquely blend technical ingenuity, entrepreneurial drive, and grassroots community building.
Mindy has written for various nonprofits and has hosted her flagship writing group, Writers in Residence, across three states over the past decade. In addition to running Midnight Garden, she collaborates with local KC businesses on marketing initiatives and works as a freelance copywriter. She also teaches online gardening lectures through her Facebook group, Reviving Victory Gardens One Friendship at a Time.
Her recent creative work includes publication in the 2025 KC Anthology of Bards Against Hunger, an upcoming screenplay, and two poetry collections scheduled for release in Spring 2027 under her pen name, Nikola DeLanie.
More than a Press, More than a Page: How Midnight Garden Publishing is Nurturing Kansas City’s Writing Ecosystem
Publishing a book is often treated as a solitary journey or a transactional business deal. When Midnight Garden Publishing House LLC was founded, the vision was fundamentally different: to create a home—not just a publishing house—that supports, educates, and elevates independent authors across Kansas City and beyond.
In this presentation, Founder and CEO Mindy McVay shares the origin story of Midnight Garden Publishing, detailing how a fourth-generation farmer raised in a family tech business merged her heritage, technical instincts, and decade-long community organizing to craft a unique hybrid publishing model. Attendees will discover how combining author entrepreneurship tools (like the proprietary K.C. Software) with grassroots community support (such as free in-person and online writers groups) breaks down creative silos and transforms a solitary craft into a thriving regional arts movement.
Linda Chubbuck is a native plant gardener, a writer and an educator. She’s also a singer, and founder of the small group Green Spirit Band. Retiring from public school music teaching, she turned her attention to her own gifts and talents and began learning more about gardening, then native plants. She has a blog called Quench, and manages a double lot called Seeds of Life Gardens, with close to half of those lots being native plants. Linda loves to teach others and is republishing her first book, called WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Writing From the Heart
Barbara Hadley is an expressive artist who values the process of creativity. She is attracted to color and form as a way to express the spontaneous arrival of wisdom from the subconscious mind and create personal archetypes to bring about healing. She is an enthusiastic presence with a passion to guide individuals and small groups through this discovery processes. A Unity minister, certified SoulCollage® facilitator, and instructor at the Unity Arts Ministry Studio, Barbara’s workshops lead to greater self-
awareness and provide tools that deepen participants’ intuition, insight, relationships, and experiences. Barbara is actively involved in community development in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri and she and her husband, Tom (48 years!) love to foster dogs for Wayside Waifs.
Author Trading Cards
Enjoy an interactive creative writing workshop where you will learn how to make one of a kind author trading cards. Get ready to express yourself and share your creative voice through a participant swap. All materials provided.
UNITY VILLAGE MAP
We will be meeting in the 700 Building in the Village Commons. It is located near the Unity Bookstore and behind the Fillmore Cafe. You will see a sign above the entry door that reads “Village Commons.”
Hourly Schedule
Saturday Nov 7th
- Nov 07 2026
- 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
- 50.00
- 1901 NW Blue Parkway, Unity Village, MO 64065
