MAY 16, 2017,  VOLUME 23, ISSUE 9
EDITORIAL
There are many benefits that go along with being the editor of this newsletter. I get my own official printed name tag to wear to meetings. I get to boast that "I'm on the Board" of the CWC. But best of all, every month, some of the stuff I write is finally getting published. - DDC
GENERAL MEETING

Tuesday, May 16, 2017,  7 p.m.   
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C. 28211

SPEAKER FOR MAY, CARLA DAMRON

With the publication of Keeping Silent (2001) and Spider Blue (2005), the reading public got itself a magnificent new mystery novelist in Carla Damron.  Keeping Silent , published in hardbound by Write Way Publishing and in mass market paperback by Worldwide, was named a "paperback best bet" for 2002 by Overbooked.org and has received impressive reviews from many mystery reviewers and newspapers. 

Spider Blue (Bella Rosa Books, 2005), the second Caleb Knowles novel, was reviewed by the Charlotte Observer:

South Carolinian Carla Damron brings us her second novel starring Caleb Knowles,  a social worker with a delightfully dry sense of humor. Business is booming at Knowles' small office, which is handling the therapy for a local mill that just experienced a multiple shooting. Caleb is also trying to help a 4-year-old girl whose mother was stabbed to death. 

Damron has a nice little series shaping up here. Her own experience as a clinical social worker lends authenticity, and I especially enjoy how she works in the character of Caleb's brother Sam, a deaf artist. Bella Rosa Books released Spider Blue in a trade paperback edition in 2006.
 
For more about Carla, please visit the Calendar of Events page on our website.

NEWS FROM UNC-Charlotte
You may remember the recent CWC short story workshop led by Bryn Chancellor. Here's something else she's involved in that may interest you.  
UNC Charlotte has an outstanding M.A. program with an emphasis on creative writing. For more info on their program, go to: http://english.uncc.edu/graduate/ma-english/creative-writing

OUTREACH OPPORTUNITY

As a premier resource for writers, the Charlotte Writers' Club receives countless requests for advice and assistance each month. Nurturing writers and using our literary skills to serve the community are at the heart of the club's mission. Among those we hear from are incarcerated men and women who have discovered an interest in writing.
 
Recently, we have been receiving quite a few requests from inmates asking for critiques of excerpts from their work and for writing advice. If you are interested in providing assistance and encouragement, contact Gina Carroll Howard for further information. 

MEET-A-MEMBER: HOWARD RAY WHITE
Howard is a native of Nashville, TN, a graduate of Vanderbilt University (chemical engineering), and has been married to Judith,  a musician, for 58 years. His current passion is history. Here, in his own words, is a brief account of what he's been up to. 

"I have been active in the presentation of history in several ways.  Over 10 years ago I began producing and hosting a weekly television show, 'True American History,' on Mecklenburg's Time Warner Cable public access channel.  Three years ago I co-founded the Society of Independent Southern Historians.
 
 But my major endeavor is writing history that enables the reader to grasp a truthful understanding of events -- the what, when, where and how of course, but most importantly the "why" of it all.  Most notable is my four-volume work: Bloodstains, an Epic History of the Politics that Produced and Sustained the American Civil War and the Political Reconstruction that Followed." 
 
He also edited and published his late mother's book: Springfield Girl, a Memoir.  And, for lovers of poetry and  family history:  Understanding Granddad through his Poetry. 

ABOUT CWC MEMBERSHIP
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 singles, $ 50 for couples, 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


In This Issue
General Meeting Location
Providence United Methodist Church
2810 Providence Rd.

Click here for a map of the location.
Contest notices:
Visit the CWC Contest page for contest rules.  

CLOSED
Closes: March 31, 2017 
Announce Winners:  
May 16, 2017
Poetry of fewer than 50 lines; haiku excluded.
***********************************
Elizabeth Simpson Smith Contest
OPEN
Closes: May 16, 2017
Announce Winners:
September 18, 2017
A short story between 1500-4000 words.
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Notes on writing
Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it. 
Lloyd Alexander

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. 
Louis L'Amour

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. 
Pablo Picasso


Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.
Ray Bradbury


When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth. 
Kurt Vonnegut


Qapla'! (Klingon for Success!)
-
Worf, son of Mogh
Quick Links
 


  

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CRITIQUE GROUPS
Anyone having an interest in participating in or forming a critique group, please contact Lorraine Fico-White  or Susan Wilson.

 
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.  Click HERE for Charlotte Lit Calendar of Events.