Its My Birthday and I'll Write If I Want To

Writers in Residence is now taking up residence at InterUrban Arthouse on the Fourth Friday of every month. Check out our facebook event for our fourth Fridays writers group: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AD2uoVRBB/

March 27th, 2026 fell into alignment with our Writers in Residence’s Fourth Friday writing group this month and with the CEO and Founder of Midnight Garden Publishing, (me), Mindy McVay’s (No, I will not be admitting any numerical number here) birthday.

I spent the month running from one event to the next, as is my usual routine, to end my month here at the beautiful and inspirational Interurban Arthouse. If you haven’t been you should absolutely check out their website for their next public gallery night. It is a transformative experience walking amongst so many talented artists' works and immersing yourself there to write every month. This is our second month being welcomed by the organization and we had 10 writers come to the table to write in February. March brought 9 writers to the desk to write as well as a few new faces from my personal friends network who were promised cupcakes for showing up to the event.

We premiered a fun new writing prompt that utilized the statement “I’m too old for a futon.” An unexpectedly funny addition to my birthday event. We opened the prompt to the floor for anyone to partake in. We heard Patricia Hartman’s poem, “Too Old For a Futon", a surprisingly haunting interpretation discussing the duplicitous nature of the aging body alongside the eternally young soul.

I recited my variation entitled “Too Old For a Futon; a Francis Bacon Masterpiece” which I wrote while laying on a chiropractic table after being stretched back into good health by Dr. G at Fine Alignment in Kansas City.

The poem really highlights my DDD (Degenerative Disc Disease) and how broken I felt after cleaning my son’s room and editing out all of his outgrown clothes and toys this month. I’m including the inspirational masterpiece from Francis Bacon to highlight the feelings I had laying on the rolling table while waxing poetically.

Jonathan Shepard included a Haiku variation of the writing prompt as well, reminiscing about the recklessness of his youth and the painful futons of his past.

If you would like to attend a Writers in Residence pop up writing group and can not make it to our Fourth Friday group, check out our Second Sunday writers group at the KC Tap & Table inside the airport Marriott Hotel from 2pm-5pm. It showcases a beautiful pond across the way from the airport, great food and drink, and a good atmosphere to write in. Here is our facebook link for Second Sundays: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FfXC83zGL/

If you would like to join our private writers in residence facebook community scan our QR code.

Finally, make sure to check out Midnight Garden’s Poetry Workshop event happening on April 8th at Random’s Coffeehouse in Belton, Mo from 5pm-8pm. https://www.facebook.com/share/1CTherdcKj/d

Mindy McVay, CEO of Midnight Garden Publishing House, is a mother, a wife, a poet, a writer, as well as a community organizer.

She has enjoyed writing for many nonprofits in the past, and has hosted her writing group, Writers in Residence, in three different states for 9 years. She was brought up in a successful family tech business and is a fourth generation farmer from the Amarugias in Cass County. Her cumulative life experiences have shown her how to unify community and business for the benefit of those around her.She is currently partnered with other Kansas City businesses in marketing and works in freelance copywriting. She enjoys gardening with her son and teaching garden lectures in her online group, Reviving Victory Gardens One Friendship at a Time, on Facebook. Mindy is currently writing a screenplay and has recently been published in the KC Anthology of Bards Against Hunger.