A Word From the President

Dave Collins

Last week the weather changed in a minute. Or so it seemed. Warm one day, cool the next. This week we turn the calendar to a new page confirming what our senses have already told us. Fall has arrived. And thanks to John McGillicuddy, who has been doing some research on the history of the club, fall is no longer just another season to me: It’s the season in which the Charlotte Writers Club had its first meeting.

     October 3rd, 1922 to be exact. Before we knew that, we scheduled Sarah Archer’s conversation with Therese Fowler at the Mint for October 2^nd. So close! Anyone remember Shakespeare’s Hamlet? “There is a providence that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.” If you haven’t yet bought tickets to the October 2^nd celebration that marks the second part of our centennial celebration, you have a day or two to do so. And I hope you will!

     John’s research into the history of the CWC has sent me in another direction as well. He learned from a second article in the Charlotte Observer that not long after the club was founded its members began to get acceptances from publishers. They wanted to see their work in print.

     I think a lot about different kinds of writers. The classic “pantsers” v. “plotters” dichotomy comes to mind. How about writers who love promoting what they’ve done v. more introverted types for whom self-promotion is agony, writers who feel the act of writing is satisfying enough and are content to put their work into a drawer v. writers who can’t rest until their work has been accepted and printed.

     Like the first members of the CWC, I fall into the latter group. Yes, writing is sometimes therapeutic. And that’s a good thing. But in my mind, writing is all about communication—and there has to be someone to communicate with. I’d encourage you to emulate the charter members of the club. When what you’re writing is done—when you've tried it out on family and friends, other writers, the members of your critique group—send it into the world.

     Maybe enter a contest? Start with the Charlotte Writers Club’s own contest. Flash Fiction is open now and will remain open until October 18^th. Our nonfiction contest opens the day Flash Fiction closes. No question about it—start close to home. Charlotte Lit’s nonfiction contest is open and will remain open until November 1^st.

     Not a contest person? Send your work to a literary journal. Looking through the back pages of Poets and Writers or Writers Digest will help you to find out who is looking to publish what. If you want to cast your net a little more widely, think about a subscription to Duotrope (duotrope.com), an absolutely exhaustive list of opportunities.

     Sure, you’ll get rejected more often than you’ll get accepted. It’s part of the game. But getting those acceptances feels so very, very good! 

A.J. Hartley,

on Adaptation and Working with Sources (Human and Textual)

 A.J. Hartley (AKA Andrew Hart) is the New York Times bestselling author of 24 novels in a variety of genres including mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, paranormal, children’s and young adult. He has written adaptations of Macbeth and Hamlet with David Hewson (the latter winning Audible’s book of the year for 2014), and UFO mystery/thrillers with Tom DeLonge of Blink 182.

The first book of his Steeplejack trilogy won International Thriller Writers’ YA book of the year for 2017.

His most recent book is a playful, time-traveling fantasy adventure called Burning Shakespeare. Learn more about  A J Hartley online, and about his presentation at the CWC Events page.