October means more than shopping for Halloween candy or getting ready for the annual Florida-Georgia beat down. It's a time when writers throughout the state gather for one of the best writers conferences of the year, the FWA Writers Conference. And this year marks the 10th anniversary of FWA, so you know the conference will be extra special. It's not too late to join your fellow writers in Lake Mary, October 21 - 23. Visit the web page to check out all the writerly activities, from Steve Berry's daylong workshop to benefit the Florida Writers Foundation on Thursday, October 20, to the RPLA Banquet Saturday night. You won't be disappointed.
You also won't be disappointed in the quality of the FWA meetings scheduled for this month. Check them out.
- River City Writers meets Tuesday, October 11 at 7PM at the SE Branch Library. Contact Gregg Golson for more information.
- Ancient City Writers welcome literary agent Holly McClure to its Saturday, October 15 meeting, 10:15 a.m. at St. Augustine's Main Library. Holly will talk about what agents really want. So before you sit down to pitch the agents and editors at the FWA Conference, you might want to get some inside information.
- Amelia Island Writers returns to Books Plus Bookstore in Fernandina Beach on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:00 p.m. to hear from Ben Walker, author of Winds of the South. Ben stumbled upon his great-great-grandfather's journal and turned it into a novel. Contact group leader Maggie deVries for more info.
- If you've ever wondered how a critique group works and how you'd fit into it, then you should motor to the Clay County Writers group meeting on Wednesday, October 19 at 6:15 p.m. at the Fleming Island Library. Melissa Kosciuszko, Nancy Payne, and Lamar Thames, three longtime members of the Clay County Fiction critique group will explain how they operate to help one another become better writers. Maureen Jung has details.
- First Coast Christian Writers, an affiliate of FWA, meets each Thursday evening at 6:45 p.m. at the Webb-Wesconnett Branch Library. Contact Tracy Redman for more information.
- Ponte Vedra Writers will meet the week following the FWA Conference on Saturday, October 29, 10:30 a.m. at the Ponte Vedra Library. If you missed the ePublishing Seminar at August's UNF Writers Conference, you missed a fine presentation by Tony Timbol he calls E-Book Primer. Not to fret, Tony is the guest speaker at this month's meeting and he'll present a how-to based on the lessons learned during his forays into the independent publishing of Cybil Raven Beginnings, a novelette serving as the lead-in to a series of Cybil Raven ebooks. Tony will give you the benefit of the hard lessons he learned in case you're thinking of jumping into the digital publishing pool.
Other happenings of interest to NE Florida Writers:
- First Coast Romance Writers presents two workshops this Saturday, October 8 at the Jacksonville West Regional Library on Chaffee Road. At 10:45 a.m. author Ava Milone presents, "Getting Your Muse to Come When You Call." And at 1:15 p.m. marketing strategist Maria Pinochet provides tips on "How to Brand Your Storytelling Online" and connect with your readers. Click on the link for more info.
- Ancient City Romance Writers meet on the 4th Saturday of the month at 12:30 p.m. at the SE Branch Library.
- For 35 years, Frank Green has hosted The Bard Society, quite a feat, not to mention that more than 50 published novel, many short stories, and a collection of short stories that won the Iowa Prize has emerged from the group. They meet each Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at 1358 Tiber Avenue. Frank can be reached at 410-5775.
- Jacksonville's Community Read program has focused on The Power of Half during September and October. The book by Kevin Salwen is the story of how one family gave away half of what they had to help others. Salwen will make an appearance at Jacksonville's Main Library Hicks Auditorium on Thursday, October 20 at 11:00 a.m. The event is free if you register online.
- The Florida Literary Coalition Seventh Annual Other Words Conference, November 10 - 12 at Flagler College, pays homage to two Florida Literary Lights, Jeanne Leiby and Stetson Kennedy. The conference includes workshops for writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, panel discussions and readings by a variety of authors. More information can be found here.
And writing instructors are fond of telling their students to "show, not tell." But perhaps Chekhov said it first and best.
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ~ Anton Chekhov
See you in Lake Mary,
Vic
Victor DiGenti
FWA NE Florida Regional Director
3 comments:
If we are interested in attending a local meeting, do we just show up? Or do we need to RSVP somewhere? Also wondering about how long the average meeting runs? Thanks!
I wanted to thank you for your "Spicing Up the Plot" presentation! Not only did I write down a lot of notes that will help me in creating characters and dialogue, but I learned a lot of information I can pass on to my English students!
I wanted to thank you for your "Spicing Up the Plot" presentation! Not only did I write down a lot of notes that will help me in creating characters and dialogue, but I learned a lot of information I can pass on to my English students!
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