Just one post for December – it’s time to give you all a break!
First, join me and 63 other Connecticut authors for a holiday celebration on Saturday, December 21 from 11-4pm at the Westbrook Outlets in Westbrook, CT. We’ll be part of their annual Connecticut Christmas Market, so it’s a great chance to do your last-minute holiday shopping. And books always make a great gift! I sign and gift-wrap my books for you – so the work is done. I include a couple of little extras too… More details here
Arvon is a British creative writing center. They have four houses, in Devon, Shropshire, Yorkshire, and their virtual house Arvon at Home. their courses and retreats, led by highly acclaimed writers, span poetry to playwriting, song to screenplay, and fact to fiction. In the new year, you can join their free 5-Day Poetry Writing Challenge with 2025 Writer in Residence, poet Daniel Sluman. Each day, from 13-17 January, they’ll email you a writing prompt with supporting materials. Each of the five days represents a singular idea or notion that is part of writing contemporary poetry. They include background reading and poetic examples, so you can dip into each day’s exercise, or go deeper if you like. Full details here.
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n addition to their regular schedule of classes, the Fairfield County Writers Studio is now offering evening and weekend classes to make it easier for writers who can’t make daytime sessions. Among them are Writing the Short Story, on Thursdays from 10-noon or 7-9pm (beginning January 14), Writing Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror with Nina Kiriki Hoffman (evenings and Sundays), Writing for the Screen, Thursdays on Zoom 7-9pm ET. Starts February 6. And if you need more targeted help with your novel, you can book one-on-one sessions with Stephanie Lehmann, to help you sort things out. $125 per hour. More details and registration here.
On January 16, from 1-3pm ET, Writers Digest University is running an online webinar on How to Get Published in 2025 with Jane Friedman. Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for one year. You do not have to attend the live event to get a recording of the presentation. Attendees have the ability to chat with the instructor during the live event and ask questions. A link to the webinar presentation recording will be emailed to you as soon as possible after the live webinar. It may take 24-48 hours to process. $99. Register here.
Meeting authors in person is a great way to find out how they became successful published authors. On January 16, from 6 to 7:30pm at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, CT,The New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, will be discussing her latest novel, The Stolen Queen, centered on the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its famed Met Gala while, for the first time, exploring a territory beyond New York City—Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. A light reception will open the presentation; book sale and signing hosted by Elm Street Books will follow. Tickets here $15.
Writing Day Workshops is planning the in-person 2025 Connecticut Writing Workshop — a full-day How to Get Published event in New Haven, CT on Friday, March 28, 2025. This is a wonderful opportunity to get intense instruction over the course of one day, pitch a literary agent or editor (optional), get your questions answered, and more. Note that there are limited seats at the event (125 total). Full details and registration here. $169
The Westport Writers Workshop has put together an interesting selection of workshops for you this winter. They include: How to Write a Thriller, Mystery or Suspense Novel with Elise Hart Hipness, Upper Level Genre Fiction with our own Libby Waterford, Refining Your Memoir’s Arc with Amanda Parrish Morgan, and more. Full details of all their classes here.
If you live or work in Connecticut, don’t forget to enter the CT Press Club’s Annual Communications Contest for work produced in 2024. There are 64 categories in which to enter, which cover a lot of creative endeavors. Entries are capped at three per entrant in any given category. Entrants can submit up to ten entries in total across all categories; Entrants cannot submit the same work in more than one category or subcategory. The fee is $25 for the first entry and $15 for each additional entry for CT Press Club members. The non-member fee is $30 for the first entry and $20 for each additional entry. Early-bird deadline – January 29, at noon EST. Final book deadline – February 5, at noon EST. Last chance deadline February 19, at noon EST. For full details and to enter, click here.
Written Word Media has compiled the results of a survey about indie writers that you might find interesting. The article, titled Insights into Self-Publishing For Authors, includes responses to topics like how authors are publishing in 2024, Income, genres, book formats, editing, marketing insights and more. When you’ve got a minute, take a look.
Have a happy festive season!
