Savannah Writers Group

Attention all Savannah Writers Group members, and those of you planning to attend a meeting for the first time: We have a new meeting location! That's right! Our next meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 14th Will be held at the Atlanta Bread Company located at the 12 Oaks Shopping Center off of Abercorn. This is the address: 5500 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA Our meeting time is still 7:00 PM. We will join The Poetry Society of Georgia there! Please follow the link to visit their website. That's not all the news that's fit to print. We also have a wonderful speaker scheduled for this meeting. Mr. Jonah Cummings , voice actor and audio book professional, will be explaining a new venture in the arena of education. Click on his name to visit his website. As usual, the Savannah Writers Group meeting is free and open to the public! I look forward to seeing you all as we test drive this new location. Note: Today, 8/13/12, I have updated the

If you are looking for an opportunity to get your short story (any genre) in front of some editors for a chance at publication, this opportunity may interest you. Gemini MAGAZINE   Revolution in Thailand, tears in Tehran, a topless, dental hygienist in New York and more can be found in the Short Story Contest issue of Gemini Magazine .   Denis Wong’s winning, 500-word story set in Bangkok , “Nothing, Everything,” is as powerful as they come. Also: unforgettable short stories from finalists Patricia McNamara, Katy Motiey, Linda Davis and Barbara Mayor. Poetry by Louie Crew and Diana Raab, and a memoir from Diana Woods about a difficult choice in Mexico City . And a great cover photo of singer Willie Nelson with his battered, old guitar.   Our Flash Fiction Contest , featuring a Grand Prize of $1,000, is open through August 31. General submissions remain open year round.   Thanks for reading!   David Bright, Editor Gem

The  next meeting of the Savannah Writers Group will be a social dinner! WHERE: The Exchange Restaurant at 6710 Waters Avenue WHEN: July 24 at 7:00 PM RSVP: Please email Sally Klein at customer (at) coastalnow (dot) net if you can attend. If you cannot, it is not necessary to email. You can find the menu here .

(Re-blogged from the Writer's Digest site...) In her session at ThrillerFest, Catherine Coulter—who has had a stunning 62 New York Times bestsellers—shared her wisdoms on how to “Kill ‘Em Clean: Writing Sharp, Fast and Deadly.” These are the basics, Coulter said, you must master before you worry about finding an agent , or dive too deeply into your book. “Always kill with lean writing,” she said. “Sloppy writing is not acceptable. … You don’t want to end up being a murder victim in your own book.” 1. Nix the adjectives. “Treat adverbs like cloves of garlic,” Coulter said. “A few go a long way.” Moreover, listen to the way your prose sounds—“If you wouldn’t say something aloud, then don’t write it. All you’ve got to do is read it aloud, and therein lies the truth.” Coulter added that nothing any of us write is set in stone—you’re allowed to tear up the bad stuff, and start anew. 2. Avoid other words for “said,” and avoid redundancies. Cut “She joked.” “He qui

I hope to see you tomorrow night at the Savannah Writers Group Meeting! We've been on the hunt for a new meeting location. If you have any solid leads, please share the news with us on Tuesday, July 10th. Nothing has changed yet! We'll gather in the usual place at Barnes and Noble in the Oglethorpe Mall. If you have work you'd like to share, please bring copies to pass around, as well as copies of our Critique Cheat Sheets in order to obtain written feedback. You'll find a copy of this in Sally Klein's last group email. Also, don't forget to participate in our little survey on the right hand side of this blog.

Found on the web: Writing Fellows are being sought for the Fall 2012 Cohort. We are accepting applications no later than 1 August, 2012. Deep is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides creative writing workshops for public school students in Savannah. At the end of each semester, Deep publishes students' work in an anthology-- professionally illustrated, printed, and bound. Deep’s Writing Fellows are a group of local writers who volunteer to help Savannah’s kids tell stories. The Writing Fellows plan and lead ten writing workshops with as assigned co-teacher, in an assigned Savannah public middle school. Fellows attend a two-day training session and lesson-planning workshop prior to the start of the program. Ten 75-minute workshops take place once-per-week, after-school, some time between the hours of 2:30 and 5pm. Specific Responsibilities: •Attend a two-day orientation in September •Plan with a co-teacher weekly, for ten weeks •Co-Lead a 75-minute