Schedule and Location

Our group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Nokomis Fire Station. From Sarasota or North, proceed a few blocks south of Albee Road on US 41 (past Matthews-Currie Ford) to Pavonia Road. Turn right (West, toward the bay) at the Fire Station's flashing yellow caution traffic light. From the south on US 41, we are two blocks north of Dona Bay. Turn left onto Pavonia Road at the flashing yellow caution light. At the Fire Station, drive to the fire hall's far end or west side; PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE FIRE DEPARTMENT DOORS! We gather in the training room at the far end of the complex for a meet and greet at 6:00 pm but call the Meeting to order at 6:30 pm and take a Ten-minute break at around 7:50 pm. Meeting Adjourns: 9:00 pm

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Frankie McGuire for her first published fiction in the Florida Weekly! Available online at:
http://charlotte.floridaweekly.com/news/2014-10-09/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/WRITING_CHALLENGE.html


George Mindling's first foray into fiction will be available for free download from Oct 16th to Oct 18th at from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OBQB422


The writing season is on!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Gulf Writers Association Writing Contest.


Writers!

Once again, the Gulf Coast Writers Association takes great pleasure in encouraging writers from Southwest Florida to enter the Gulf Writers Association Writing Contest. Original works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry will be awarded prizes of 100, 50 and 25 dollars for first, second and third place in each category. The contest is open to members and non-members.

Fiction and nonfiction works (adult and children's) must be no more than 1500 words. Poetry is limited to 40 lines or less.

The contest will be open for submissions on October 1, 2014 and deadline for submissions is December 31, 2014. Winners must be present to receive their awards at the March 21, 2015 meeting.

The contest will help GCWA fulfill its goal of assisting Southwest Florida writers to stimulate and improve their skills. GCWA expects a high level of contest participation.
The following are links to download the pdf files for entry, guidelines and judging criteria.
Gulf Coast Writers Association

http://www.gulfwriters.org/contest/ContestAnnouncement2015.pdf

FOR BEST FICTION, NONFICTION, POETRY, AND CHILDREN'S
Entry form:

http://www.gulfwriters.org/contest/EntryFormGCWAcontest2015.pdf
Guidelines for entries:

http://www.gulfwriters.org/contest/ContestGuidelines2015.pdf


AWARDS OF 100 DOLLARS OR MORE IN EACH CATEGORY
[Thanks to Kerri for the tip]
_____________________________________________________________



http://www.gulfwriters.org/

Friday, October 03, 2014

Kick Off Meeting

Our Fall/Winter guest speaker program kicked off Wednesday, Oct 1st, with FWA member and supporter Julie Ann Howell, founder and publisher of Peppertree Press, as our guest speaker. Julie Ann's great presentation on publishing and on Peppertree Press was warmly received by 20 attendees, 10 of whom are FWA members. Julie gave out four gifts, selected by drawings, at the end of her presentation. We will ask the popular Julie Ann back again in the future.

 Our winter residents began trickling in as several of our "snowbirds/sunbirds" returned for the first time since last spring. We had a short break following Julie Ann's presentation, and listened to two, short readings before wrapping up the evening.

We were fortunate to have Weslynn McCallister join us as well. Wes is a lifetime member of the FWA and one of the original founding members.

 Congratulations to Kerri Dieffenwirth for being a 2014 Nominee for Still: The Journal annual BEST OF THE NET ANTHOLOGY for her piece "A New Bitterroot." Winners will be announced in late October. Congratulations Kerri for the nomination.

Our next guest speaker will be Ryan G. Van Cleave, writer, speaker, & Professor at Ringling College of Art + Design, on Wednesday, November 19th. Ryan is the author of Memoir Writing for Dummies and The Weekend Book Proposal.

Next Sarasota Writers Group meeting will be Oct 15th. See you there.