- River City Writers meet Tuesday, April 10 at 7PM at the SE Regional Branch Library off Gate Parkway. Contact group leader Gregg Golson for details.
- Clay County Writers meet on Wednesday, April 18 at 6:15PM at the Orange Park Library and ask the question, "To Outline or Not to Outline?" Vic DiGenti is the speaker and will review the ongoing debate between pantsers and plotters. He'll cover the pros and cons of both sides, and says, "You'll leave this workshop with newfound apprciation for the writing process, whether you write with your pants on or not—metaphorically speaking, of course."
- Writers by the Sea gather at the Amelia Island Museum of History on Thursday, April 19 at 6PM. Query group leader Nadine Vaughan for more information.
- St. Augustine's Main Library is the venue for this month's Ancient City Writers meeting, Saturday, April 21 at 10AM. Elizabeth Sinclair (aka Marge Smith) will talk about Point of View. Contact Judy Weber for details.
- Ready to get inspired? Attend the Ponte Vedra Writers meeting on Saturday, April 28, 10:30AM at the Ponte Vedra Beach Library to hear Kathryn J. Bain, an author of award-winning Christian, mystery, and suspense novels. Kathy will talk on the subject of "Reaching, Not Preaching: Writing Christian Fiction Without Alienating Readers."
And in other news:
- April 28 is the date for the first of FWA's two Focus Days this year. The focus is on Craft with workshops covering Pacing, Arcs, Tropes, and World Building/Setting. The HiltonOrlando/Altamonte Springs plays host once again. Click here for details and registration information.
- It's not too early to sign up for Chuck Sambuchino's FWF Celebrity Workshop on Thursday, October 19. The former Writer's Digest editor will cover a broad range of topics in his presentation, "Everything You Need to Know About Agents, Submissions, Queries and First Pages." Chuck, (pictureed here) who wrote and edited several writer's guides to finding agents, has taught this course at conferences across the country, helping many writers get established. An additional benefit of attending this course is that you may bring your query letters and first pages for Chuck to critique live during the workshop. More information can be found here.
- Elizabeth Sinclair is the guest speaker at the Northeast Florida Sisters in Crime meeting tomorrow, Saturday, April 7 at the SE Branch Library. The meeting starts at 10AM, and Elizabeth will speak on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict.
- The Florida Heritage Book Festival has scheduled two excellent day-long workshops next month, both of them at the Ponte Vedra Beach Library. On Saturday, May 12, novelist and writing coach Janice Hardy presents "How to Turn Your Idea into a Novel." Janice was one of the featured faculty at last year's Florida Writers Conference, and received glowing evaluations. She writes series for both teens and adults, and runs the popular writing site, Fiction University. More information and registration can be found on the website.
- FHBF has also scheduled a memoir workshop, "Telling a Story That Matters," on Thursday, May 17, also at the Ponte Vedra Beach Library. FSU Panama City Creative Writingt Professor, Dr. Melinda Jay Stephenson, guides you through the process of turning family stories into fiction. She is the author of Annie Laura's Triumph, a fictionalized account of her great-grandmother. As above, details can be found on the website.
ETC.
- If you're into real-life mysteries, particularly what really happened to Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan, you might want to attend author Mike Campbell's presentation based on his book Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last. Mike will provide visual and oral details revealing what he calls, "the long suppressed truth about the Amelia Earhart mystery." He appears on Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ponte Vedra Beach Library.
- Jeff Klinkenberg, the former award-winning columnist for the Tampa Times, will discuss his newest book, Son of Real Florida: Stories from My Life, at the Ponte Vedra Beach Library, on Monday, April 16 at 6:30PM.
- The Amelia Island Book Festival is bringing New York Times bestselling environmental author Mary Alice Monroe to Fernandina Beach on Wednesday, May 23 for a conversation at Art on Centre Street. Tickets and details are available at the festival website.
- Steve Berry discusses his newest Cotton Malone novel, The Bishop's Pawn, tonight at the BookMark in Neptune Beach. The book follows Berry's pattern of weaving historical fact with speculative, but believable, fiction, this time about the assasination of Martin Luther King, Jr. He'll be at the BookMark tonight at 7PM.
And that's all folks.
Vic
Vic DiGenti
FWA Executive Vice President
NE Florida Regional Director
