June Speaker — Susan Grunin

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June 2022

Speaker: Susan Grunin
Topic: Hybrid Publishing
June 18, 2022, 10 a.m. to Noon

Susan Grunin

The presentation will look at Using a Hybrid Publisher including:

  1. Defining a Hybrid Publishing Company
  2. The Three Models of Hybrid Publishers
  3. Key to Understanding the Differences between a Hybrid Publisher and a Vanity Press
  4. Ways to Tell is a Hybrid Publisher is Legit
  5. 8 Signs Your Publisher is a Scam
  6. The Guidelines for Recognizing a Legit Hybrid Publisher from the Independent Book Publishers Association (2018)
  7. What type of Author is Most Likely to Benefit from a Hybrid Publisher
  8. Deciding Whether to Use a Hybrid Publisher – It Isn’t for Everyone!

Susan’s sample Author Page. Make your own Author Page and bring to the next meeting.

Susan’s PowerPoint presentation

Dr. Susan K. Grunin is a retired college professor, who taught for over 2 decades for the University of Virginia (UVA) and a number of other colleges and universities. Dr. Grunin also authored a text book for the University of Virginia Graduate School. She is a retired Executive who has been an Executive Coach, a CEO, a Human Capital Consultant and who also worked for the Federal Government, where she served in various positions for the Federal Courts, including over 20 years as a Federal Law Enforcement Officer.

Susan is currently a member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association of SW Florida and is writing a series of children’s books, Life Lessons and Tales of Little MisFit.

More about Susan

Paul McFarlane

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Paul McFarlane

Mr. McFarlane finished a 34-year federal career in 2015. He resides in Millville, DE with his wife, Karen; their two adult sons live in Maryland. He writes memoir, fictional mysteries and enjoys family history research. He facilitates weekly FreeWrites for two other writing groups and plans to offer these to GCWA members.

24-Hour Playwriting Project 2022

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Laboratory Theater
24-Hour Playwriting Project 2022: Jazz Era Cabaret
Oct 22, 2022 8:00 PM

That perennial favorite bucket list event known as The 24-Hour Playwriting project is back for Season 14! The theme for this season, usually a well-guarded secret, is Jazz-Era Cabaret. Directed and coordinated by Char Loomis, playwrights will be assigned a theme, a director, and actors. Within just 24 hours, you will see the fruits of their labor when we present all of their short plays to be judged by a panel of area theater and arts professionals. A hugely popular event!

One-performance only – October 22 at 8 pm.

Playwrights will receive themes and instructions at 8pm on Friday night. They’ll write all night long and then work with directors and actors to produce their work for your enjoyment on Saturday night, starting at 8pm.

Part of your Season Pass! Or purchase tickets for event — $20.

A hugely-popular event – book your seats as soon as possible. Seating is very limited.

The Laboratory Theater of Florida (View)
1634 Woodford Ave
Fort Myers, FL 33901
United States

May Speaker — DJ Kristoff

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May 2022

Speaker: DJ Kristoff
Topic: Writing with a message for young people
May 21, 2022, 10 a.m. to Noon
DJ Kristoff

Fiction in a Nonfiction World – The Evolution of An Author
How dinosaurs, Harry Potter, and Jack Canfield changed this writer’s course of history. It’s a major feat to write a book; it’s a whole other adventure to market it.D.J. Kristoff presents her journey from an award-winning science teacher digging dinosaurs in Montana to being inspired by the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios to writing her first book and having Jack Canfield, coauthor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, show her how to market it.

Kristoff offers her insights on how to write for middle-grade kids based on her world travels and real-life experiences that she brought back into the classroom. “Writing my book was an adventure in itself as I followed the threads of the storyline and researched my new discoveries.”

Other topics include writing with a message, marketing, and making your story relevant in a nonfiction world to sell more than books.

Currently living in Fort Myers, Florida, DJ Kristoff began her education career teaching eighth-grade science in Tempe, Arizona. There she founded and directed the Students for Environmental Awareness Club. Kristoff guided as many as 50 adventurous eighth graders hiking and backpacking into the deserts and wildernesses of Arizona and Utah, teaching geology, biology, anthropology, paleontology, and ethnobotany. Now, as a children’s author, she inspires middle-grade students to love nature and science with her magical books.

GCWA 2022 Contest Winners

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GCWA

GCWA Contest Winners — 2022

Fiction/Children’s Stories (these categories were combined and judged together according to our guidelines, due to the low number of entries in each.
1st — Leah Miller — Terror in December (Children’s Stories)
2nd — Mary Charles — Counterculture ( Fiction)
3rd — Nancy Leake — Susie Spider Looks for a Friend (Children’s Stories)

Nonfiction:
1st — Deborah Burghardt — Dream Your Ink
2nd — Diane Parnell — A Slip of the Scalpel
3rd — Sally Basmajian — The Field

Poetry:
1st — Megan Dalziel — Maritime Muse
2nd — Debbie Watz — Bayou Sunset
3rd — Paul Anthony — Minimum Wage-Brianna

Youth:
1st — Nishini Fernando — Life is for the Living
2nd — Ryan Lee — A Soldier During the Great War
3rd — Keven Lacayo — Death