~ John Coltrane
Music often accompanies me while writing. I'm listening to a Dave Brubeck classic—Blue Rondo a la Turk—at the moment, which may be why this is the second blog post referencing specific songs. Either that or a dearth of ideas. In July I focused on Summer Songs, and since we are about to enter the month of September my one-track mind naturally went to the classic, September Song. There are many September songs, including September by Earth, Wind & Fire, Wake Me When September Ends, by Green Day, and the haunting Pale September by Fiona Apple. I'm sure you can name others, but to people of a certain age (that means old) September Song voiced by the one-and-only Frank Sinatra reigns supreme.
Here's the opening stanza :
Oh, it's a long, long while from May to DecemberBut the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game
Admittedly, this is rather melancholy but it tells us that time waits for no one. We can't sit around hoping for the muse to arrive like an Amazon package on your doorstep. As Jack London was purported to have said, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” With that in mind let's get down to business.
- The Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library hosts the first in-person meeting of the Ponte Vedra Writers in nearly two years. We'll come together on Saturday, September 11 at 10:00 a.m. This is a special date for a special program where we welcome developmental editor and writing coach Heather Whitaker discussing The Opening Fifteen Pages. Heather tells us, "The opening pages of your story are the most important “real estate” in your manuscript. They are your first impression on agents, editors, and—most important—your readers. Not surprisingly, they have the most work to do. In addition to introducing the world and main character(s) of your story, they need to set the tone and hook the reader." We'll begin early for Heather's jam-packed presentation. All are welcome.
- The River City Writers are back! Join new group leader Kathy Bain at the SE Regional Branch Library off Gate Parkway on Tuesday, September 14 at 6:30 p.m. for another instructive program for writers. Kathy is the author of multiple novels and is well-prepared to talk about Your First Paragraph Hook. In this interactive meeting, Kathy will show a video on the subject, lead the discussion and help critique your first paragraph. To participate, send the first paragraph of your WIP (up to 100 words) to kathrynbain@comcast.net no later than Sunday, September 12, 2021, at 5:00 p.m.
- The Clay County Writers next meeting is on Wednesday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Orange Park Senior Center at 414 Stowe Avenue. Group leader Melanie Pronia reports they will be discussing Self-Publishing and Marketing. "We will go into detail about Book Traliors, Blogs/Vlogs. Facebook Author Pages, book format, editing options, and book cover design. We will also be discussing our short writing assignment related to something that we have dreamed about."
- The meeting of Ancient City Writers takes place on Saturday, September 18 at St. Augustine's Main Library at 10:00 a.m. Yours truly, Vic DiGenti, is the guest speaker and I'll address one of the most important tasks a writer has—revision. My workshop, Attacking the Revision Process, rolls out specific strategies to make the process more efficient and productive while enhancing your manuscript.
- The Amelia Island Writers are back in action for their quarterly meeting on Tuesday, September 28 at 3:00 p.m. at the Story and Song Bookstore Bistro. Emerging from 2020, the theme of First Impressions continues. The program topic is the All-Important Cover Design, led by Nancy Blanton. Nancy's book covers are rich in color and detail. In addition to her award-winning historical fiction novels, find out how to Brand Yourself Royally in 8 Simple Steps by purchasing Nancy's quick guide to create your very own brand.
The beat goes on ...
- You may have heard by now that the 2021 Florida Writers Conference has been canceled due to Covid-19 concerns. This had to be a difficult decision for the FWA Board after the tremendous amount of work that went into the planning of the event. Having been the conference faculty chair for two years I know about the months of behind-the-scenes effort by so many people, particularly the longtime Conference Chair, Chrissy Jackson, to pull together all the disparate strands that make the conference possible. Hats off to Chrissy and all the others for their work.
- The cancelation announcement stated, "We ask for your patience as volunteers process full refunds for conference registration fees, guest meals, interviews, and headshots, and we remind you to cancel your hotel reservations." Also that the RPLA Awards will be announced in a virtual ceremony on October 16, 2021, via Zoom. Stay tuned for more details.
- And speaking on canceled conferences, Bouchercon 2021 was canceled this month. The mega-event for mystery writers and readers was to take place in New Orleans earlier this month, where in normal times it would have attracted close to two thousand people. But Bouchercon is making available a conversation between bestselling novelists Alafair Burke and her father James Lee Burke. You may watch it tonight at 7:00 p.m on this YouTube channel: James Lee Burke and Alafair Burke: https://youtu.be/qQF-CDc-zW0 Next year, if all goes well, Bouchercon 2022 will be held in Nashville, TN starting on September 1.
- A Gathering of Poets is on the move due to the heat and rain bombarding the library's gazebo. For details of future meetings shoot an email to Sharon Scholl at sharonscholl527@comcast.net.
- And speaking of poets, Pam Jam Jax features poets from North Florida Poetry Hub sponsored by Hope at Hand paired with artists from the Art Center Cooperative to present the Jax Showcase, October 3 - 29 at the Art Center Cooperative in San Marco. PAM Jam PVB features poets from A Gathering of Poets paired with artists from The Art Center Cooperative at the PVB Showcase at the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library, November 1 - 30. Click here for more information.
- Congratulations to all writers in our region for being selected as semi-finalists in this year's RPLA. Be sure to tune in to the virtual awards ceremony next month.
- Congrats to Kathryn J. Bain on the release of her latest in her KT Morgan suspense series, Sucker Punched. It's now available on Amazon.
- Science fiction author and military historian Chris Berman has released his latest military history adventure, A White Star in a Red Sky. You can find it on Amazon.
- The Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors, is at it again. In The Light Fantastic, the nine authors unite to bring laughter, giggles, guffaws, and amusement to the masses amidst speculative twists and turns. In this collection, the authors explore every facet from dark humor to slapstick, deadpan to satire, dry humor to parody. The featured stories fall into fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres, but they do get up again and brush themselves off. This is the sixth project by the Alvarium Experiment, and individual stories will be available for Kindle readers in a few days with the anthology launching via a special Facebook launch party on September 9. I only mention this because one of my favorite authors, Parker Francis, contributed one of the stories.
Here's another music-related quote. One I'm sure they wished they could take back.
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." - Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
Cheers,
Vic
Vic DiGenti
FWA Regional Director
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