August 29, 2011

Dear Members,

Our August meeting was a busy one and there were a few announcements of coming events that were missed. Please note the following:

*Alliance for the Arts will be holding its fall affair, Fall for the Arts, on Saturday October 22, at the amphitheater grounds on the corner of Colonial and McGregor from 10am to 3pm. Your GCWA will reserve a number of tables to offer writers spaces for introducing and selling your books. We will have ten tables available, accommodating two writers per table. The cost for each writer is $20 on a first come basis. Contact Becky Elam, stitchrje@aol.com with your reservation.

*Ken Feeley, Special Projects, announced that plans are in the works with Bell Tower Shops to host a GCWA event, Meet the Writers Day, tentatively Saturday, Dec 3rd from 10am to 4pm. Six tables in strategic spots around the concourse of Bell Tower, with two members at each table would share a shift of three hours, thereby allowing a total of twenty-four members to participate. Cost of participation to be determined, probably from $15-$20. We won’t start to take reservations as yet until the plans are finalized with Bell Shops.

Ken has been searching for a way to expose our writers to a high traffic area and the Christmas shopping season at Bell Tower looks like just the ticket. Stay tuned.

*It is time for members to be planning for participation in the annual GCWA annual writing contest. Poetry, fiction and non-fiction are the categories with the contest closing on January 31st 2012. Winners will be astounded by the valuable prizes! Details later.

*A new coffee shop in south Ft. Myers, The Coffee Cup, is organizing Friday and Saturday night events for local authors/poets/musicians to perform from 7 to 9pm. This open mic event would be another chance for those of you uninhibited in front of an audience to recite your stories, poems or sing a song. Check out The Coffee Cup web site www.coffeecupftmyers.com for additional information.

Contact owner Jaime Hewitt jaime_hewitt@yahoo.com to reserve your spot on a program.

Don’t forget to check out the web site www.Gulfwriters.org for more exciting events.

Regards,

Tom Nelson, President.

Dear GCWA Members,

If you’re looking for a cool place to spend with good company, a morning of enlighten instruction, please plan on joining us at this months meeting, August 20th. Mt. Zion Lutheran Church at 10 am.

Professor Marty Ambrose will be our August speaker sharing the nuances of plotting and devising characters in writing the traditional mystery. With four published books to date, Ms Ambrose should be able to help the rest of us solve some of our own writing mysteries.

Last month Tim Jacobs gave us an enthusiastic rendition of the techniques of research, inquiry and investigation. Tim was aptly rewarded with a big bear hug from Doug McGregor for a job well done––we do go out of the way to appreciate our speakers.

Good news; comments and winners have been posted on the website (www.GulfWriters.org) for your May submissions. Bad news; we still need additional comments and voting in the coming months as your submissions for prose and poetry come in.

Your club has always encouraged members to join our guest speakers for lunch at the conclusion of the Saturday meeting. It is a relaxed way to personally thank them, as well as an opportunity to get better acquainted with fellow members. Come join us for good food and conversation one of these months, you’ll like it. (Dutch treat of course.)

See you on the 20th.

Regards,

Tom Nelson

Dear Members,

I trust you have enjoyed the 4th of July holiday and are now looking forward to this months Gulf Coast Writers meeting July 16th at 10:00 am.

Seventy members and nine first time guests attended our June affair with four new members joining. This was a great turnout for an early summer meeting. Although we were tightly squeezed in the temporary quarters, Sandra Yeyati’s message was enthusiastically received. She offered tips for those of us preparing for future book publishing.

July’s meeting will once again be in our regular site at Zion Lutheran Church fellowship hall. After a few years absence, our own Tim Jacobs will be returning to the podium to review techniques of research and all those others hints of writer’s inquiry and investigations you always wondered about; but have been too shy to ask.

During the remainder of this year we will be looking to fill some Executive Board positions for the coming 2012 year. Contact a board member or myself if you are interested. (Volunteers are welcome, before the selective draft board convenes and you receive a call.)

As always we will be encouraging members to report their good news come Saturday, and enjoy the networking and fellowship of your fellow writers.

Regards,

Tom Nelson.