I’m going to keep the intro short this month, since there’s a lot of ground to cover. Wednesday saw another great meeting, with old hands and new faces, and many successes to report. And here’s what’s coming up in the writing world of Fairfield County and environs:
This Saturday, January 19, Brian Hoover will be leading his monthly memoir writing workshop from 10:30-12:00, in the Bridgeport History Center, located in the main branch of the Bridgeport Public Library. Free.
The Connecticut Press Club is wrapping up submissions for this year’s contest. Anyone who lives or works in Connecticut is eligible to enter work published in 2018. Fees: $25 for the first entry and $15 for each additional entry. Deadline: midnight EST, January 22.
The Moth Mainstage comes to the Westport Playhouse on Friday, January 25, at 7:30PM for a one-night-only performance. Five storytellers, including Westport residents Jane Green, the New York Times best-selling author, and Dan Woog, writer of the “06880” blog, will take to the stage to share true personal stories from their lives.
January 26, at 3pm at the Westport Library, author Susan Ross will be talking about her new book for children: Kiki and Jacques, which was inspired by experiences of Somali refugees in her childhood home in Maine.
January 27, from 1-3pm, WestportWRITES! Is offering a mini-conference: How to get Your Work Published. Literary agent Cynthia Manson and editor Caitlin Alexander will demystify the process by giving you information and answering your questions. Topics will include: how to find the right agent for your work (and when you don’t need one), what publishers are looking for, the many different publishing options available, what you can start doing now to build your platform as a writer, and more.
Indie publisher Atthis Arts is looking for stories across fiction genres for a new anthology. Stories must meet two basic criteria: they must take place over a span of five minutes, and they must take place at a specific era, location, and time of day within the rooms or grounds of the fictitious Hotel Stormcove. See the extensive guidelines, which can be downloaded in PDF format, for further details. Deadline: 31 January. Length: Up to 4,000 words, Pay: $0.06/word
A new creative writing space for writers is opening in Westport. Story Lab, a new venture from The Fairfield County Writers’ Studio, will open February 1, with a grand opening on March 1, and will offer space, time and everything a writer needs to get down to writing. Including coffee, and somewhere to mingle with other writers. Put yourself on their mailing list to get the latest news.
Here’s a one-week course for those of you writing a novel. Novelist Jessica Speart will be teaching How to Tackle Your Novel from February 18 – 22, 10:00 – 1pm at the Westport Writers’ Workshop. The course will cover a different element of the novel each day.
Fairfield, Connecticut’s choice for One Book, One Town this year is Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson, author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders and children. The Meet the Author event will be held on Monday, March 18 at 7:00 pm at the Quick Center at Fairfield University. Tickets go on sale on March 1, and sell out fast.
The AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference & Bookfair will be held at the Oregon Convention Center from March 27–30, 2019. The AWP is the largest conference in North America. Find out more about it here.
The Connecticut Center for the book is holding an Author Expo and Book Fair at Torrington Library on May 4 from 12-4pm. The applications deadline is March 15. Acceptance into the expo announced by April 1, and the $5.00 participation fee is due by April 15th for accepted authors.
Writers Digest runs a series of contests throughout the year, including one for self-published authors. Information at the link above.
The Westport Library offers free tech help every Monday from 2-4pm and Fridays from 3-5pm. They can help you with virtually anything.
BookTrib, a site for book-lovers and new writers, has just begun offering a special discount for our Promote Your Book program: $375 gets a book review on the BookTrib home page, an Author Profile Page, social media, giveaway and newsletter mention. Take a look if you’re planning your book promotion
Authors Publish, the free weekly newsletter, has published a list of places that are looking for submissions in the speculative fiction genre, stories about gods, and on the theme of Birth. Their newsletter is worth signing up for so you know who’s looking for what.
And here’s an article by Dana Sitar, on The Write Life site, about the 100 best websites for writers. There’s bound to be something there that will help you with your writing life.
As ever, write on!