February Speaker - Kim Cool

  Books By Kim Cool

Our February speaker has a really “cool” name – literally!  

Kim Cool, along with Lynn MacDonald, a fellow author and publisher, developed a course about the various forms of publishing available to would-be authors. She talked about what goes into a book, from writing to getting it into the stores and try to help people stand back and take an honest look at what they really need to accomplish. Since then, she has condensed that class to a 30- to 60-minute barebones talk.

Read More about Kim Cool…….

  Meeting Date: February 6th - 6:30pm Selby Library Sarasota

January Meeting Announcement

   General meeting info!

This month’s guest speaker is N. H. (Nicole) Kelby. The NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author has written several books including  Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar and Grill (forthcoming Shaye Areheart/ Random House), Whale Season (Shaye Areheart/ Random House), In the Company of Angels (Theia/Hyperion), and Theater of the Stars (Theia/Hyperion).

Read more ….

Date: Wednesday, Januray 2, 2008

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Selby Library, Sarasota

Don’t miss this special evening with Nicole Kelby!

Summer Contest Winners Announced

SFW Members Only Annual Short Story

Competition Winners Announced! 

 Each year the Sarasota Fiction Writers conducts a series of writing workshops during the summer.  The workshops are designed to help writers focus on specific areas of writing, such as creating dynamic characters, or an interesting setting, or a mood, etc.

This year our workshops focused on the archetype character.  In conjunction with the workshops, the club also sponsors a writing contest for the members.  Information learned from attending the current year’s or earlier workshops is then put to practical use in the form of a short story.  This year’s contest guideline was to  1.) create a story that involved a “Road Trip,” and to  2.)  maintain a word count of no more than 1750 words.  Several entries were submitted, which were professionally judged by a nationally recognized award winning author.  

For those members who were unable to attend this year’s Christmas party, the winners of the 2007 Members Only Short Story contest are:

        Bill Carrigan  

Click Here to read the winning entry: 

 To Windmill Hill    

Second Place:

   Nadja Bernitt

Story Title:  The Gun 

Third Place: 

    Jack Scherer

Story Title:   Every Cloud has a Silver Lining

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated!

SFW Decemeber Schedule

      Christmas Party!!!!!!!There will not be a general meeting this month at the Selby Library, however the club will hold its annual Christmas Party on December 16th.  Please click on the following link for detailed information about the party.  All paid members and their guest are invited to attend.  History suggests that a good time will most certainly be had by all.

Christmas Party Information

———————————————— 

The monthly critique meeting will be held as normal (third Wednesday at Books A Million in the Gulf Gate Plaza near US 41 and Stickney Pt. Road) for any member wishing to attend.

To all SFW members, have a safe and happy holiday season.

November Speaker – Leslie Glass

SFW is excited to announce that best-selling author Leslie Glass will speak at our next general meeting on November 7th, 6:30 p.m. at the Sarasota Selby Library.

Read more about Leslie Glass…

October Meeting Announcement

       New Meeting Time!!!!!!

Please note that beginning this month SFW meetings held at the Sarasota Library will now start at 6:30 p.m.

October Guest Speaker:

JUNE CUSSIN of Pineapple Press will discuss the boutique publishing industry, on Wedensday, October 3rd at 6:30 p.m. at the Selby Library.

Also, this meeting is the deadline to submit your short story for the members only contest.  The winner will be announced at the Christmas Party.

September Workshop Info

SFW Annual Summer Writing Workshops!  

 

In preparation for our “Road Trip” contest this summer, we’re going to have a workshop on Wednesday, September 5th concluding our study of the Hero’s Journey. We’ve been studying archetypes this summer to try and improve our writing. In July we looked at the Hero’s Quest, in August we examined some of the heroes and heroines — their strengths and flaws. The September workshop will look at some of the other characters that populate stories. We look at villains, mentors, sidekicks, allies, and tricksters, using the work of Christopher Vogler and Joseph Campbell.  

For those who can’t make the workshop – you snowbirds and other traveling fiction writers — Andrea will be glad to e-mail you the workshop notes any time after September 5th. Just send her a note at: ALHAGNER@aol.com and request them.

Workshop Meeting Date:

Wednesday, September 5th - Selby Library 2nd Floor Conf. Room

Our regularly scheduled critique meeting will be held at Books A Million gulf Gate on Wednesday Septemeber 19th at 7:00 p.m.

2008 Contest Announcement

SFW Annual Open Short Story Competition! 

Win BIG prize money!

 

 

Winner-take-all grand prize: $500! Woo-hoo!

For details click on the Contests Page from the list of pages to the right.

August Meeting Schedule

The August meeting schedule is as follows:

Wednesday August 1st -  Workshop  7pm Selby Library

Wednesday August 15th -  Critique 7pm Book A Million Gulf Gate

Also, if you have not already done so,  don’t forget to visit our companion web site at:

www.myspace.com/sarasotafictionwriters

We hope everyone is enjoying a fine summer and having fun crafting their short story entry for this years contest.

Christmas Note:  It looks like we will be having our annual Christmas Gala on Sunday December 16th.  Please keep this date open.  More details will be released in the future.

July Meeting Update

Due to the Fourth of July Holiday our meeting schedule for July will be:

Wednesday July 11th - Workshop:  (Selby Library 2nd Fl Conf. Room - 7:pm)

Wednesday July 18th - Critique Meeting: Books A Million Gulf Gate (7pm)

Workshop Information - July 11th

In preparation for our Road Trip contest this summer, we’re going to have a workshop on Wednesday, July 11 to study the Hero’s Journey.  There is a theory, arising from the works of C.G. Jung and Joseph Campbell, that every good story is a trip – literally.  We’re going to see how protagonists, ever since the days of Homer, have set forth on adventures (internal, external or some combination thereof).  We’ll examine the sorts of obstacles and detours they should encounter and discuss the roles of the supporting character along the way.  We’ll talk about what makes a story satisfying and why we put some books down with a sigh and a smile, while others we want to toss across the room.

For those who can’t make the workshop – you snowbirds and other traveling fiction writers –  I will be glad to e-mail you the workshop notes any time after July 11.  Just send me a note at : ALHAGNER@aol.com  and request them.