Who we are:

Whether you’re just learning the writing craft, spending much of your time working on a literary project, or writing for a living, you’re a perfect fit for our group.

We are a not-for-profit writers’ group dedicated to providing networking opportunities, feedback, education, and motivational support to our members. With a few exceptions, we meet every fourth Saturday of the month. The business meetings start at 9:00 (members only) and the presentations begin around 10:15. The annual cost to members is $30, which defrays speaker fees and other expenses. Our diverse membership includes published and not-yet-published authors of all genres. Every few months we gather for group critique sessions. We encourage people to check out a meeting and/or presentation for free before signing up to become a part of our network.

BookBub

BookBub is a free service that helps millions of readers discover limited-time deals on acclaimed ebooks. Members receive a personalized daily email alerting them to the best free and deeply discounted titles matching their interests as selected by our editorial team. BookBub can be used with all major ebook retailers and devices.

Sidelined by Steroids

BarbaraHelene Smith just published Sidelined by Steroids. The second Connie Murphy Mystery e-book, available on Amazon.com.

Pro tips for writing and publishing speculative fiction

All fiction is speculative to some extent, posing a “what-if” question, which serves as the premise and drives the plot. But for fantasy author Kij Johnson, winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Award, the specific genre of speculative fiction adds its own special writing challenges: “A brilliant speculative story is harder to write than a brilliant realistic story, because it must do all the same things mainstream literature does – characterization, language, theme, and all the rest – and also, it needs to meet the requirements of the genre: accurate science, plausible worldbuilding, and the physiological triggers essential to a horror story.”

Book writing service gives veterans a way to preserve their stories

Story Terrace is giving vets a discount so that they can write books based on their lives and experiences. The company is calling it the "Speak and Listen" campaign. "My grandfather was in the resistance in the Netherlands (in WWII), and I regret not recording his stories," says Story Terrace CEO Rutger Bruining. "That's why I think it's really important for the entire family that these stories are kept and retold, so people remember what happens."

How to Get the Most Out of National Novel Writing Month

Embrace your messy first draft and commit to NaNoWriMo’s boot-camp vibe. Four years ago, Jasmine Guillory was an aspiring novelist with an idea and an outline, but she was stuck in a creative rut. When a friend asked if she would be up for a writing challenge of putting 50,000 words down in one month, she immediately said yes.

"The book was difficult" - Kelly-Eve Koopman on writing 'Because I Couldn't Kill You'

Before writing this book, I was not a fan of creative non-fiction. I put fiction on a pedestal. When I started writing the memoir I realised how close fiction and memory are and how they can be one and the same thing. I am a South African, born just shy of free. You'd think I'd realise how easily fabricated narratives become history. For me the experience of navigating through the personal was a lot like this. I felt like a magpie of my own consciousness, scavenging through things.

25 Creative Writing Prompts

Don’t you just hate writer’s block? Some say it’s a disease that only creative workers succumb to. Some say it’s a curse. Others argue that it doesn’t exist at all. But just about everyone has been there–sitting in front of a blank screen, fingers itching to create a masterpiece. And nothing happens.

Book Writing and Screenwriting Parallels

Storytelling is Storytelling! “Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.” – Billy Wilder

How to write accents and dialects: 6 tips

Learn how to write accents and dialects in your stories because it will help you write about crosscurrents between people and places. Regional dialects help to convey a sense of local character speech in stories.

8 Tips For Writing A Mystery Novel

There are so many different sub-genres of mystery. You’ve got your cozy mystery, you’re courtroom drama, whodunit stories, and much more. Which sub-genre does your mystery fall under? Sure, you can mix them up, but it always helps to define what kind of mystery you’re writing about.

The Only Book You Need if You Want to Write a Nonfiction Book

Writing a book can be one of the smartest things you do for your career if you're a professional, CEO, or entrepreneur. More and more successful professionals are realizing this. Most are also realizing that the purpose of these books is not to be "bestsellers" or to sell millions of copies. Instead, the purpose of these books are to powerfully speak to their niche audience, to get high-priced clients, or to position themselves or their business differently.

Find Your Voice and Keep It

The writer’s goal is to evoke emotion. To ensure the audience smiles laughs, cries, becomes angry or hurts for the characters that they’ve created and the storyline they’ve developed. All writers/authors hope to fulfill this role successfully. Success can mean many things; dollars as in unit sales, emails from fans, parents reaching out and aspiring writers looking for tips and advice, book signings, and paid speaking engagements.

Top 10 tips on writing a first novel by Gaby Koppel

Having just released her debut novel Reparation, Gaby Koppel wants to inspire other budding authors. She's poured her heart and soul into this emotional tale, and is now here with ten essential pieces of advice for when it comes to her fellow writers publishing their first novel.

7 Things Separate Those Who Write That Book Inside Them From Those Who Only Dream About

It's something many dream of. Ask around your office who wants to write a book someday, to share (and monetize) their knowledge, and you'll be astonished. I've written several business books and I remember an editor telling me: "80 percent want to write a book--only a fraction actually do."

20 Inspiring Writing Podcasts to Subscribe to Right Now

For writers looking to bust writer’s block, hone their craft or spice up a boring commute, there’s no shortage of podcasts from amateurs and experts alike. Here, we’ve compiled 20 writing-related podcasts worth subscribing to ...

Death by Dysfunction

BarbaraHelene Smith published Death by Dysfunction, the first in the Connie Murphy Mystery series. Connie is an FDA investigator, who is dedicated to protecting public safety. While conducting seemingly routine inspections ...

Easy guide on how to write a book review: Steps you need to follow

A book review is a critical analysis and evaluation of a work written in a scientific, literary, or journalistic style to ...

New Venue to Showcase My Books

According to their website "Hometown Reads is digital author platform focused on showcasing books from local authors across the United States. We want to highlight authors in their hometowns, while inspiring local readers to discover hidden treasures in their hometown. We desire to create a collaborative author community, where authors exchange local book marketing advice, engage in cross-promotion of one another, and network with community organizations."

Observations of Alex Perch

Was the stoplight really green? From which way was the wind blowing from this morning? When was the last time you located the Big Dipper in the evening sky? In this hectic world of ours odds are you were not able to answer any of the above questions.

Writing Contests 2019

Discover the finest writing contests of 2019 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays and more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters.

31 Free Writing Contests: Legitimate Competitions With Cash Prizes

When I was about 12, I saw an ad in a magazine for a poetry contest that sounded fancy and impressive, something like “International Library of Poetry.” I bled poetry at that age, so I crossed my fingers and sent in a poem I’d been slaving over for weeks.

Weekly Writing Contests

Free Writing Contests is your source for a listing of 2019 writing contests that you can enter. The largest collection of writing contests - hand-picked for writers of all skill levels. Your online location for an updated list of writing contests from around the world delivered daily.