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January 1st, 2020 VOLUME 27, ISSUE 5
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Tuesday, January 21st, 2020, 6:30 p.m.
Providence United Methodist Church (Room 104)
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28211
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George Hovis
Suspense Novelist and Gaston County native, George Hovis will discuss strategies for finding the mysterious, the surreal, and the sublime in everyday landscapes. He will explore how setting gives birth to characters and plots--and how, in turn, the actions of characters define a place.
With a look at how he happened upon the Gothic side of Charlotte while writing his debut novel
The Skin Artist (2019), Hovis will challenge us to discover the mystery lurking in our own stories as CWC continues to explore the mystery of writing by genre.
Hovis is professor of English at SUNY Oneonta in Upstate New York but before becoming a writer and teacher, he worked as a process chemist at several ink factories in Charlotte. His novel,
The Skin Artist, is published by SFK Press, and his stories and essays have appeared widely, most recently in
The Carolina Quarterly, The Fourth River, and
North Carolina Literary Review.
A Pushcart Prize nominee and former President of the Thomas Wolfe Society, Hovis earned a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has attended the Sewanee Writers' Conference. His monograph
Vale of Humility: Plain Folk in Contemporary North Carolina Fiction was published in 2007 by University of South Carolina Press.
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Meet-a-Member - Jenifer Ruff
USA Today Bestselling Author Jenifer Ruff writes dark and twisty thrillers
.
Her fast-paced, thought-provoking novels showcase
 contemporary issues and bring complicated characters to life. An avid fitness enthusiast and hiker, Jenifer lives in Charlotte
with her family and a pack of greyhounds.
When and where do you write best?
Anyplace quiet where I can sit with my laptop
and be
surrounded by my dogs.
A favorite writing tool?
Discipline -
more important than
great idea
s or incredible talent.
Best writing advice you've received (and actually taken)?
- T
he advice that most changed how I
bring scenes to life
involves w
riting through my POV char
acter
as that character would experience the scene
with minimal backstory and
eliminating filter
words (noticed, heard, saw, etc.)
and
interruptive explanations from the narrator/author.
And
the most helpful advice
I can provide is
to find
a
solid
network of
encouraging
authors
in your genre who are willing to collaborate and continually share ideas and knowledge
A favorite writing resource -
The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. There are several similar books out there. In
the first draft
of my novels
, I'm mostly getting the story down and much of it is quite telling.
I also
use
dialogue tags -
he said, she said
.
In subsequent
revisions
, I replace most of the
dialogue tags with beats
to
make the scenes feel more real
and
I focus on showing
my character's body language
and reactions
so readers can figure out for themselves what i
s happening.
The Emotional Thesaurus can be helpful when I'm stumped
for a new way to
convey
emotions.
Number one thing you'd like help with
- I always want as much honest feedback and constructive criticism
as I can get
on my
work
before publishing.
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Hello CWC! We love to
Meet-a-Member!
for the format and questions.
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Poetry Workshop, Led by David Radavich
January 25, 2020, 1pm - 3:30pm
Providence United Methodist Church (room 104
)
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28211 
David Radavich is a socially committed author and scholar. His latest narrative
collection, America Abroad: An Epic of Discovery (2019), is a companion volume to the earlier America Abroad: An Epic for Our Time (2007). Other recent poetry collections are Middle-East Mezze (2011) and The Countries We Live In (2014). His plays have been performed across the U.S., including six off-Off-Broadway, and in Europe. In terms of music, Radavich plays soprano and alto recorder and sings bass in his church choir.
Making Music in Your Poetry
This workshop explores ways to make the aural and visual rhythm of your poems emphatic and persuasive, communicating ideas, impressions, and emotions more forcefully. We will examine sample poems whose verbal structures and strategies became memorable and distinctive. Participants are asked to bring one poem to share that they would like to enhance.
To register and pay please click
Here
Members $30.00 - Non-members $40.00
Note: Members will need to LOGIN to the membership software to get the membership price.
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Ek
phr
astic Art Exhibit!
Poets, see your words through the eyes of an artist. Charlotte Writers' Club North and Mooresville Arts are seeking poets and artists to participate in an Ekphrastic art exhibition.
Selected poems will be featured along with artists' interpretations at a reception on September 11, 2020 at the Mooresville Arts Gallery. Poets and artists will have the opportunity to socialize with one another and comment on their efforts and interpretations.
This event is a non-judged, non-compensatory exhibit. It is not a contest.
Entries must be submitted between January 4 and February 20, 2020. Only the first 50 poems will be considered of which eight will be selected for artists' interpretations.
Five readers will narrow the selection. One will be a visual artist. A poet/visual artist will select the final eight image-inspiring poems to be published on the Charlotte Writers' Club and Mooresville Arts websites, and the eight selected poets will be contacted. If an entry has been previously published, please include all credits on entry page.
- Poems must be 25 lines or less.
- Multiple entries are not allowed.
- Do not include any identifying information on your poems. This includes name, website, email address, etc.
- Entries should be single-spaced in any standard 12 -point font, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, or Courier.
- Title and number of lines of poetry must appear in the upper left of the first page of the poem.
- Identifying information should be on entry page. Include name of event in subject line, poet's name, title of poem, credit if poem is previously published, date submitted, and email address.
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Essay Workshop Coming Up!
Led by Patrice Gopo
Crafting a Compelling Personal Essay Workshop,
Saturday, February 22, 2020, from 1pm - 4pm
To register and pay please click
Here
Members $30.00 - Non-members $40.00
Note: Members will need to LOGIN to the membership software to get the membership price.
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Last Call!
Closes at Midnight on January 2nd, 2020
Submit those articles and essays!
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Poetry Contest!
Poetry of fewer than 50 lines; haiku excluded
Opens December 17th & Closes February 18th, 2020. click here to
Submit
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2020 CWC Social Events!
We welcome your ideas and your help to plan and carry out socials for the rest of the program year.
Check out
Pics from our events!
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Volunteers Needed
CWC Needs Your Talent for Our Leadership Team, interested in serving the club, see Anshu to learn more about what and how your skills might fit.
Positions open for 2020 include a contest co-chair, workshop coordinator, and treasurer. Paul Reali will leave his post at the end of this program year.
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Congratulations!!!
Winners of the 2019 Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Contest are:
- 1st Place "A Rewrite" - Margaret Cahill
- 2nd Place "Adonai" - Maureen Sherbondy
- 3rd Place "Fortune Favors the Brave" - Ashley Memory
Visit the December 17th Recap page to see what our judge, Ruth Moose had to say about these entries and the contest that carries her name.
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Event Reminder!
Social time, 6:30 to 7 pm, is your opportunity to mix and mingle before each monthly meeting. Come early, greet someone new and/or start conversations to get better acquainted with fellow CWC members.
Business begins at 7 pm
Club and members announcements follow the speaker's presentation. Everyone has 45-seconds each to talk, from club leaders with news/information for the membership to each member celebrating a piece of good news.
Please practice those pitches!
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Open Mic Nights!
Mugs Coffee
5126 Park Rd #1d, Charlotte, NC 28209
to register
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Please "LIKE" our Facebook page to encourage discussion among fellow writers and keep up with the club offerings.
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| Cynthia Stringham-Smith (writing as C.S. Smith) wins two contests |
Opens: October 15, 2019
Closes: January 2, 2020
Announce Winners: February 18, 2020
Nonfiction from 750-2000 words.
Poetry Contest
Opens: December 17th, 2019
Closes: February 18th, 2020
Announce Winners: April 21st, 2020
Poetry of fewer than 50 lines; haiku excluded.
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Literary Latte Podcast - The podcast with a Southern accent on writing.
Your jolt of inspiration and outside-the-book ideas with a Southern accent on authors and publishing industry insiders. Each episode is fueled by conversations that are inspired, informed and infused with real-world advice on the craft and business of writing.
Hosted by literary publicist, Lynda Bouchard. Powered by storytellers. O
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Charlotte Lit is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary arts center, engaging and educating writers and readers, and building a stronger Charlotte through literature.
Click
HERE for events hosted by Charlotte Lit.
Charlotte Lit promotes a deeper understanding of self, community, and world by inspiring and educating readers, developing and supporting writers, and promoting creative, arts-focused conversations that strengthen and transform our community.
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Membership in the Charlotte Writers' Club entitles you to participate in workshops, critique groups, contests, and guest speaker programs. The cost is a modest $35 per year for individuals
and $20 for students.
We welcome writers in all genres and forms to join our Charlotte-area literary community. Your membership in the Charlotte Writers' Club helps support writers, readers, and literacy at a critical time in our nation's and our city's history. Join here.
To Join or Renew click this
Membership Link and follow the instructions.
Charlotte Writers' Club
P.O. Box 220954
Charlotte, NC 28222
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Copyright © 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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