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Thursday, December 09, 2010

Holiday Happenings


Even though December is crammed with social activities, holiday shopping and family visits, there are still FWA meetings planned and upcoming events for writers. Let's take a quick look at some of them.

FWA MEETINGS IN DECEMBER:
  • As usual, the First Coast Christian Writers meet each Thursday at 6:45 p.m. at Christ's Church on Greenland Road. Contact Tracy Redman at tls172@yahoo.com for details.
  • River City Writers meet Tuesday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the SE Branch Library. It's rumored that Jennifer Swanson is the speaker. Group leader Gregg Golson has the details, gtgolson@comcast.net.
  • Clay County Writers Group leader Maureen Jung is the presenter for this month's meeting, Wednesday, December 15 at 6:15 p.m. at the Fleming Island Library. Maureen's topic is "The Reader Profile: Who Reads, How They Read, and What it Means for Writers." Sounds like a good one. Email Maureen at mjung@wordspringconsulting.com.
  • Amelia Island Writers will not be meeting this month.
  • Award-winning author Elizabeth Sinclair will present her "First Chapters" workshop at this month's meeting of Ancient City Writers, Saturday, December 18 at 10:15 a.m. at St. Augustine's Main Library. Elizabeth is the author of 20 romance, romantic suspense,and paranormal romances, including Baptism By Fire, which won the 2007 National Reader Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense novel. In the workshop you'll learn about inciting incidents, how to hook the reader, and whether your story needs a prologue, among others things.
  • And because the Ponte Vedra Writers regular meeting date falls on Christmas Day, we'll take another vacation and urge area writers to attend one of the other group meetings. But the Ponte Vedra Writers return in January with a special program TBA.
LOOK FOR THESE UPCOMING EVENTS:
  • Award-winning author Joyce Sweeney, and Woodstream Writers director, Jamie Morris, present an intensive 3-day workshop titled, "The Next Level: Creating Scene & Building Structure," February 4 - 6. The workshop will be held in the St. Augustine home of Linda Eadie, and includes snacks and dinner on Friday, breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday. For details, contact Jamie at 407-644-5163, or email her at jamie@woodstreamwriters.com.
  • The Amelia Island Book Festival is planned for February 18 & 19 at various locations on the island. The Friday workshops will again be held at the Betty P. Cook Nassau Center of Florida State College. Workshop leaders include Bob Morris, Laura Castoro, Daniel Schafer, Laura Hope-Gill, Vic DiGenti, and more. A special fundraising author's reception will be held that evening at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation featuring food, jazz, and a keynote by New York Times bestselling author, Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Call 904-652-1665 for information on the reception. Saturday's free signings and workshops return to the campus of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. The Author's Luncheon is on Saturday with keynote talk by bestselling author, Rick Bragg.
  • The Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America knows how to throw a great conference. If you haven't been to Sleuthfest, then check out the website for all the details of the 2011 conference, March 3 - 6 in Deerfield Beach, FL. Guests of honor are Dennis Lehane, Meg Gardiner and SJ Rozan. BTW, they'll have a movie night, showing Gone, Baby, Gone, with author Lehane there to talk about the book and the movie.

Until next time, best wishes for a happy holiday season.

Vic

Victor DiGenti
Regional Director