- River City Writers meet on Tuesday, September 12, 7:00 p.m. at the Southeast Regional Branch Library. Group leader Gregg Golson asks, "Are you ready for some plot?" The meeting will cover turning story into plot, and plotting with the Freytag Pyramid. Think about attending this meeting if you have trouble with your plots.
- Back on their home territory, the Ancient City Chapter meets Saturday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Augustine's Main Library. Guest speaker Belea T. Keeney, author of The Tiger Whisperer, presents "Five Editing Mistakes You Should Know About."
- The Clay County Writers gather at the Orange Park Library on Wednesday, September 20 at 6:15 p.m. Contact group leader Maureen Jung for more information.
- Writers by the Sea meets Thursday, September 21 at the Amelia Island History Museum, 233 S. 3rd St., Fernandina Beach. Join them at 6:00 p.m. for social time and announcements,. The program starts at 6:30. The topic is: "Crime Fiction: CSI Lies!" presented by Catherine J. Mausolf, retired Special Agent in Charge, GA Bureau of Investigation.
- The Florida Heritage Book Festival takes place on the same day as the Ponte Vedra Writers meeting, and because two of our potential speakers will be at the book festival, we're going to take a break and encourage people to attend the festival. We'll be back October 28 with a special mystery writers panel discussion, "Who Dunnit? Writing the Mystery," with four award-winning mystery writers.
And in other news:
- Speaking of the Florida Heritage Book Festival, Steve Berry will be honored as the festival's 2017 Literary Legend on Friday, September 22, 6:00 p.m. at the Marriott Courtyard in St. Augustine Beach. Click here to register. Steve, as you probably know, will also be celebrated at this year's Florida Writers Conference as the Florida Writer of the Year. He will deliver the Friday evening keynote address and present a two-hour craft of writing workshop. Steve and National Guest of Honor David Morrell are also donating the use of a character's name to be used in a future novel or short story. Those will be auctioned off at Friday's and Saturday's luncheons. Click here for conference information and to register.
- Florida Sisters in Crime welcomes Detective David Young and his wonder dog Fresca of the Florida State Fire Marshall's Office on Saturday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. They meet at the Southeast Regional Branch Library.
- First Coast Romance Writers welcome Connie Mann speaking on “Making Time to Write,” and “Navigating the Stormy Seas of Publishing” to its September 9, 2017 meeting, from 10am to 2:30 p.m. at the West Regional Library located at 1425 Chaffee Road S. Visit http://www.firstcoastromancewriters.com for more information.
- The Amelia Island Book Festival announces their 3rd Annual Murder Mystery Dinner in support of Authors in Schools. Mark your calendar for Fri., Oct. 20, 2017, at The Golf Club of Amelia Island for a delicious, delightful and dangerous evening with a performance of “Any Body for Tea?” For tickets and more information, please visit www.ameliaislandbookfestival.org.
- James O. Born, mystery writer; Allan Marcil, a creator of screenplays; and Andre Frattino, illustrator of graphic novels and children’s literature, will give workshops at the St. Johns County Convention Center at the World Golf Village, on September 22, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as part of the Florida Heritage Book Festival's writers conference. Visit the website for more information.
And as I watched another birthday fly by recently, I remembered this quote from Mickey Spillane—and hoped he was right.
“If you’re a singer you lose your voice. A baseball player
loses his arm. A writer gets more knowledge, and if he’s good, the older he
gets, the better he writes.”
Thanks, Mickey. Let's keep on writing,
Vic
Vic DiGenti
FWA Executive Vice President
FWA Regional Director for NE Florida
