- Find out what group leader Gregg Golson and the River City Writers are up to when they meet on Tuesday, November 13 at Jacksonville's SE Branch Library off Gate Parkway at 7PM.
- The Clay County Writers group has worked on an anthology of Clay County stories for well over a year. Now their labors have born fruit, and group leader Maureen Jung announced they will hold a book launch party on Wednesday, November 14, from 6:00 to 8:00PM at the Orange Park Library. The book, Embedded in Clay: A County in Northeast Florida, was written by 14 local writers who focus on the rich history of Clay County. The book introduces readers to the memorable characters and events that formed the heart of the region. Come and meet the authors, and purchase a book. There will be refreshments and door prizes for the taking.
- The Amelia Island-based group, Writers by the Sea, has disbanded, with long-time group leader Nadine Vaughan Williams stepping down. Fear not Nassau County Writers, Marla McDaniel has stepped up and with her fellow writers is forming a new FWA group to be called Amelia Island Writers. As of now it looks like the group will focus on critiques and interactive learning, and will meet at Story and Song Bookstore Bistro on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Look for a new website and more information in the new year. Our thanks to Nadine and her helpers for their years of service to FWA.
- Mystery writer M. W. Gordon visits the Ancient City Writers group on Saturday, November 17, 10AM at St. Augustine's Main Library. In his presentation, "Ask Not for Whom the Pen Writes, It Writes for Me," Gordon will discuss his writing/publishing journey and offer insights into some of the essential tools to help writers write faster and more powerfully.
- As announced last month, the First Coast Christian Writers group, an FWA affiliate, has moved its meeting place to the Oakleaf Christian Fellowship's new facility at 7550 Collins Road in Jacksonville. They still meet every Thursday at 7PM.
- Change has come to the Ponte Vedra Writers group meeting as well. With this week's closing of the Ponte Vedra Library for major repairs, the PV Writers group takes a two-month vacation. They will return in January 2019 at Christ Episcopal Church in Ponte Vedra Beach, only a few blocks from the library. The library isn't scheduled to reopen until March, and the group will meet at the church until then. More information will follow in the next two months.
And in other news ...
- The NE Florida Sisters in Crime chapter will not meet this month, but invite you to join them on December 1 for a holiday social, 10AM at the SE Regional Branch Library.
- The 17th Annual Florida Writers Conference was an outstanding success, setting a new attendance record with well over 500 people registered over the course of the conference. Both National Guest of Honor Linda Fairstein and Heather Graham, the Florida Writer of the Year, lived up to their honorifics, contributing in many ways on panels, with workshops and discussions, and by donating the use of a character name in a future book. Auctioning off those opportunities raised $1,700 for the Florida Writers Foundation. And what did bestselling author Linda Fairstein think about her experience? In writing to thank us for inviting her to the conference, she said, "The FWA Conference is far and away the best writers conference I have ever attended. I loved the people - all smart and sincere and working their hearts out; I have so much respect for the faculty members I met. And I really enjoyed the camaraderie and interest in writers being their best." And thank you Linda for being such a great Guest of Honor.
- Congratulations to the many RPLA winners from NE Florida. If you attended the banquet you saw a number of familiar faces marching up to the winners' table to pick up their awards. Among them were Walter Schenck, Jr., who took home three RPLAs, plus the Dahris Clair Memorial Award for Best Play. Other local prize winners were Joan North, Brad Kuhn, Laura Holian, Margarita McCarthy, and Will Merrill. Let me know if I left anyone out from our region. Be sure to enter the 2019 competition and maybe you'll see your name added to the list of winners.
- As the curtain came down on the conference, it was announced that Sherrilyn Kenyon will be the 2019 National Guest of Honor, and Delilah Dawson the Florida Writer of the Year. Also, bestselling suspense/horror writer Jonathan Maberry has been tapped to present the Celebrity Workshop. The 18th Annual Florida Writers Conference is already shaping up to be another destination event.
- Have you heard that FWA's annual book signing event, I (Heart) Books, is scheduled for Saturday, May 11, 2019, at the Main Public Library in downtown Gainesville. This promises to be HUGE. as some car dealers like to say, and many authors are already signing up. Visit the web page for details and registration information.
- The closing of the Ponte Vedra Beach BranchLibrary has also affected other organizations meeting there. One of them is Sharon Scholl's A Gathering of Poets, which met there on the first and third Thursday of the month at 2PM. They have found a temporary home at Chabad at the Beaches, across from the library at 421 A1A North. It's the mustard colored building with a menorah out front. The meeting days and time remain the same. All poets welcome.
That's all for this month. Enjoy these balmy fall days, and keep writing.
Cheers,
Vic
Vic DiGenti
FWA Regional Director
No comments:
Post a Comment