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Greetings

 

The Gulf Coast Writers Association provides a forum for fellowship, education and information among writers in the community. We promote writer welfare and spirit by encouraging members and others to pursue writing for pure joy or for compensation, whichever purpose better gratifies the individual.

 


GCWA has a new reciprocal membership agreement with Marco Island Writers.

Check out our new CALENDAR.

FacebookOur photo pages are now on FaceBook.



(Are you looking for Mississippi Gulf Coast Writers Association?)  

Writers' Upcoming Events

check the CALENDAR and EVENTS for more


The Art/Poems events are over for the year but you can see the artwork and poetry at www.artpoems.org.

Kid's Stuff meets at Edison College, Punta Gorda, June 8, 2013, 10am.

Copperfish Books and The Orange House Wine Bar invite you to a gathering for book and wine lovers at Copperfish Books, 1205 Elizabeth Street, Punta Gorda, FL, Monday, June 10, 2013, 6pm.

Comedy Writers and Humorists Wanted, Cape Coral Library, 921 SW 39th Terrace, Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 6pm. See Calendar for more information.

Pine Island Writers invite you to an Evening of Mystery with Annamaria Alfieri, June 17, 2013, 7-8:30 P.M., at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 7771 Stringfellow Road in St. James City, $5 fee.

Writing Workshop at FGCU Punta Gorda, Course #HC0533, Successful Writing and Self-Publishing, Series fee $30. Thursdays 10 - 1:30am, June 20, 27, July 11, 18.

Lunch and Learn at FGCU Punta Gorda, Series fee $15, learn writing for newspaper, newsletters, magazines and websites. Bring a brown-bag lunch. Thursday June 20 & 27, Noon to 1pm.

Do you have a song to share about our natural environment? Entries sought for CHNEP Song Contest. Deadline August 1, 2013.

Jeanette Batko will be teaching ‘Hands on Writing for Seniors’ at Health Park and also at the new N. Ft. Myers Share Club starting after September. Dates are to be announced in August 2013.

Call for Submissions: Shelf Unbound book review magazine announces the Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Independently Published Book. Deadline September 10, 2013.

Call for Submissions: Maine writer seeking personal essays and poems on grief/grieving for loss of person, pet, of figurative "loss" of some to Alzheimer's - anthology in progress. Deadline Sept 30, 2013. [more]

Midlife Collage is looking for submissions. They run weekly, online writing contests for a cash prize.

[See our Events page and CALENDAR for more events, contests, and announcements.]


GCWA 2013 contest winners:
Fiction:

First Place - Jan Nieman, "My German Pen Pal"
Second Place - Carmine Lombardo, "Love in the Lily Pad"
Third Place - Denise Holbrook, "A Christmas Song"

Non-fiction:

First Place - Gary McLouth, "The Big Tree"
Second Place - Patricia Sheehy, "I Just Want to Know"
Third Place - Martha Jeffers, "Cole's Barn"

Poetry:

First Place - Joan Heller Winokur, "The Bridge"
Second Place - Mary Beth Lundgren, "Study in Gray"
Third Place - Alan Coulter, "Dear New York Times Best Selling Author"

The winners will be published in the Ft. Myers Magazine summer edition and later on the GCWA website.

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Announcements & Good news

See our Good News page for more.

Connie Hope has a column in the Lehigh Acres Gazette called Cooking by Connie.

The front page of the May 29,2013 Florida Weekly features the article about GCWA by Glenn Miller.

Always wanted to teach? Share your knowledge at FGCU Renaissance Academy.

Carmine & Dorayne Lombardo’s children’s book Love in the Lily Pond was read to 7 elementary classes – 5th grade at Hancock Elementary and six 3rd grade classes at N. Ft. Myers Academy of the Arts.

Jan Nieman is the new Columnist for the Lehigh Acres Gazette. You can find her column at Humor by Jan Nieman. She would love to hear your comments.

Gillian Birch has published her 5th travel guide, Days Out Around Fort Myers, available at Amazon.

Gerald Peterson’s op-ed piece was published in the Ft. Myers News Press on May 6, 2013.

Paul Holmes will be given a Charlie Award on June 6, 2013, for services to the Arts and Humanities.

GCWA reached a new high of 204 members in April.

Interested in joining a new critique group?

Jeannie Greider jagfiction@aol.com is interested in members who write mystery/suspense and fiction. She wants to meet either Wednesday at 10:00 or Saturday at 11:00.

Bob Martin mrobert168@aol.com is part time and he has an interesting idea. He would like a group of memoir writers who are also part time. They would correspond by skype when they are away and get together when they are here in Fort Myers.

Tom Miller author of “Irish Short Stories” started a new writer critique group for, poetry, short stories, letters to editors, etc. It will be held on Friday’s from 10am to 12pm at Congregational Church:  8210 College, Ft Myers

Carmine and Dorayne Lombardo are pleased to announce the release of our newly published children's book, LOVE IN THE LILY POND.

It's Published! Cheryl Abney's book, Belle of the Glades, is live on Amazon and iUniverse.

Paul Holmes' book, A Handbook to Heaven & a Guidebook to the Other Place, is now available on Amazon and at Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda.

Carol Kennedy's book A Taste of Chocolate for the Soul will be presented at Christian conference in June.

An article about GCWA by Glenn Miller from a Florida Weekly "EXTRA" supplement.

A nice article about the Port Charlotte Writers Picnic from the Port Charlotte Sun Newspaper.

Thanks to the Lehigh Gazette for posting a complete listing of our Saturday meeting in their online newspaper.

New Book Stores [and more]

Read the newsletter from Arts of the Inland.

Marco Island Writers newsletter.

[See our Good News page for previous announcements about our members.]

Send you books and bios for posting on our website.

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Recent updates to our pages

Read the May 2013 progressive story "When is Daddy Coming Home," by Russell Miller, Marianne Beck, Dave Wilcox, and Teri Kollath.

Read the Serial Poem Creative Inspiration read at April's meeting - By Joan Winokur, Dan England, Lorraine Walker Williams, and Larry Stiles.

Read Lessons Learned from Pat Washington's Poetry Month presentation.

The poetry readings from April's meeting can be seen here.

We have removed the members only login pages from the website. Financial, minutes, and critique group information can be found on the Aboutus page.

See our new calendar here. Members can sign up to add their own events. Contact webmaster.

We need members' new contributions on the Prose and Poetry pages.

We now have 70+ members bio's and their books posted on the website. If you would like to add your books and bio, contact webmaster

Charlotte Harbor Writers group is encouraging all local authors to connect and network with them as part of a communication portal through which events and meetings can be shared. For more information about signing up, please contact Paul Holmes by email or by phone at (941) 833-3337.

Peace River Center for Writers website address has changed to http://www.edison.edu/charlotte/peaceriverwriters/

Amazon's guidelines for Kindle self publishing can be found here. They are also listed under Publishing/Self Publishing and Publishing/Marketing.

Top Websites to Promote Your Book for Free also listed under Publishing/Marketing.

FacebookTim Jacobs created a Facebook page for Gulf Coast Writers Association. It is a good way to network. Members can post about their book signings and other good news and comments. Search for the page (Gulf Coast Writers Association Fort Myers) and click “Like.” Direct Link (There is another Gulf Coast Writer's Association in Mississippi - be sure to look for Fort Myers)
 

Members please send all news, events, etc. for the website to jcloose@looselinks.com


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except workshops & March Awards Meeting