‘Wild Atlantic Writing Awards’ launched, 500 words max. flash fiction or creative nonfiction inc. memoir and travel. Deadline: midnight Irish time, Thursday, September 30. See details at https://www.irelandwritingretreat.com/post/new-awards-launched-exciting-writing-retreats
I started my writing career in journalism as a reporter, producer, and news anchor at KQ2 News. I worked there for three years before joining the WBTW news team in Myrtle Beach, SC, as a digital reporter and producer. My portfolio includes several published features, investigative, and breaking news stories for multiple online news channels. I now work as a copywriter for a digital marketing agency in Fort Myers. However, I’m also in the beginning stages of writing a first manuscript for my sci-fi/fantasy novel.
The 2021 Paris Book Festival has issued a call for entries to its annual competition honoring the best of international publishing.
The 2021 Paris Book Festival will consider major publisher, independent publisher and self-published works in the following categories: non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children’s books, cookbooks, compilations/anthologies; young adult, how-to, photography/art, unpublished stories, business, poetry, spiritual/religious, travel and the wild card (anything goes!).
Entry fee $50. Deadline August 25, 2021.
Panel: Hunter Leake, Christie Zarria, Bob McCarthy, and Jen Yontz-Orlando
Topic: The Features and Benefits of Being in a Critique Group
August 21, 2021, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Zoom & In Person meeting
Location: Fairfield Inn
7090 Cypress Terrace
Fort Myers, FL 33907
August’s meeting features four members of the Gulf Coast Writers Association who have developed and refined their critique group experience. They will share what they have learned about being a member of a critique group.
The panel will be composed of Hunter Leake, Christie Zarria, Bob McCarthy, and Jen Yontz-Orlando. Their presentation will highlight the features and benefits of belonging to a critique group, including the importance of group diversity, trust and rapport, and the “Do’s and Don’ts” of analyzing a member’s written work. They will also provide personal anecdotes on how their participation in a critique group has affected their writing.
Interested in joining a critique group? Fill out the Critique Group Request Form and we’lll get back to you. Visit our Critique Group page.
Jen Yontz-Orlando, MBA, MLIS
Since birth Jen was constantly switched back and forth between farms in rural Ohio and living with her wealthy grandparents in Cali, Colombia.
After many years in the corporate world and a severe health scare, Jen now dedicates her time and energy to writing. She credits the GCWA Critique Group with helping her and says, “Bob, Hunter, and Christie are fantastic writers as well as supportive and knowledge editors. Their support has been invaluable.”
Today she writes memoir about how living in these two extremes forged her identity and values.
Jen’s themes include culture, class, language, family dynamics, education, religion, mental illness, alcoholism, and the transformational power of love.
Currently Jen is working on a podcast series about her life with OneC Productions called Heal Me. That podcast comes out in early September.
Our general meeting is the 3rd Saturday of each month except December. Below is the current location where we meet for executive committee meetings and general meetings. You can click the map or the link to be taken to Google Maps.
Mariott Fairfield Inn
7090 Cypress Terrace
Fort Myers, FL 33907
Claudia has been writing personal essays and other short pieces since 2010. Her work has appeared in The Lindenwood Review, The Louisiana Review, River Teeth’s Beautiful Things, Hippocampus Magazine, Adelaide Literary Review and others. She has a BA in English and an MS in Finance. She moved to SW Florida from NW South Carolina in February 2021.
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is an exciting opportunity for writers achieve publication and reach new readers. The Award also some with a Prize package of memberships, mentoring and total prize money of £5,000 (£2,500 for Poetry and £2,500 for Fiction.)
The Award is hosted by the international art and culture publication Aesthetica Magazine. It celebrates excellence in Poetry and Short Fiction, supporting new writing talent and is a way for writers to further their involvement in the literary world.
Publication is awarded within an inspiring anthology to a shortlist of 60 writers, as well as a £5,000 cash prize, a consultation with literary agency Redhammer Management, Full Membership to The Poetry Society, a subscription to Granta and books courtesy of Vintage.
Silly Sally
Illustrated by Mary Lou Williams
Silly Sally loves her beautiful tail.
It is indeed a gorgeous tail.
She thinks more about her tail more than she does about anything else, even her friends.
Then something happens that teaches Sally what’s really important.
But is it too late for her to win back her friends?
To Purchase a copy please contact Mary Lou Williams [Click Here]
Ten Fractured Fairy Tales
By Mary Lou Williams
Table of Contents
The Story of Ugly Cindy and the Magical Glass Slippers
Kermit, the Frog Prince
The Princess and the Pea That Felt Like a Bowling Ball
The Fisherman and His Wife—Updated
Sleeping Beauty and the Rude Awakening
Rapunzel and the Helicopter Witch
The Rumpelstiltskin Rap Beauty and the Beast:
A Tale of Transmogrification
Hansel and Gretel and the Witch Who Was on a High Protein Diet
Snow White and the Seven Vertically Challenged Persons
