2021 August Newsletter



Next Meeting:

Wednesday, August 11

6:45 to 8:45 PM

McCallum Room, 4th floor

Frisco Public Library

6101 Frisco Square Blvd.

Frisco, TX 75034





Change of Date and Place





Our meeting dates will be the second Wednesday of each month.

We will meet in the McCallum Room on the fourth floor.

These changes will begin in August with that meeting being a hybrid in-person/Zoom meeting. Mark your calendar for August 11 at 6:45 – 8:45 PM. Doors open at 6:30. Look forward to seeing you then!

All are welcome to attend Write Club meetings….no formal invitation needed. Write Club meeting information can be found on the Frisco Library web site and on the club's Facebook page (Frisco Write Club). Additionally, every month, in advance of the meeting, Rich Blazevich (richblazevich@gmail.com) will send an invitation by email to the active members.


Anybody who has attended a Write Club meeting is automatically subscribed to our newsletters. At the top of each newsletter is a notice of our next meeting.








President: Rich Blazevich

Secretary, Newsletter: Linda Baten Johnson

Vice President, Social Media: Kevin Mann (this role includes Write Club web page, Google Docs and Facebook)

Vice President, Critiques: Jennifer Evans

Presidents Emeritus: Gary Thornberry, Fergal O'Donnell

**Other contributors:

Zoom meetings: Donna Anderson

Backup Facebook administrator: Ari Frick





Our Website: FriscoWriteClub.org






Our Facebook Page: Frisco Write Club | Groups | Facebook






Shared Writing Hint from Gary Thornberry:





Always have word read the text back to you. You’ll be surprised at the errors you’ll find.





Shared Writing Hint from Reedsy:





These are twenty tips from best-selling authors. Go to the Reedsy blog of Feb 11, 2021 for the fleshing out of these points. Next month, the second ten will be posted.

  1. Actually write

  2. Watch out for repetition (and annihilate it)

  3. Weed out clichés

  4. Aim for clean, filler-free prose

  5. Read: the literary equivalent of osmosis

  6. Read again, with a pencil in hand

  7. Choose personal over formulaic

  8. Experiment to keep your style fresh

  9. Sharpen your opening and ending

  10. Never forget the big picture





DFWCon is back!





October 23-24, 2021 at Hurst Conference Center

Dallas Fort Worth Writers Conference, also known as DFWCon, is a program of the DFW Writers’ Workshop, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that specializes in helping writers improve their work and has been operating since 1977.

DFWCon is the premier multi-genre writers’ conference in the Southwest which includes: includes:

  • a top-notch educational program

  • hands-on workshops

  • access to literary agents and editors from around the country

  • opportunities to grow your professional network





Successes






Trudi Taylor was published in Fiction Southeast. Here's the link to Trudi’s fabulous story.

https://fictionsoutheast.com/stealing-oranges/

Tara Carnes shared some of her amazing poetry from her chapbook accepted for publication. Her reformatted and edited chapbook is due back to The Poetry Box editor by August 15th. The cover has not been designed yet, but the publisher will be doing all the promotion, so I will have some promo links soon. As soon as have this I will share this with you.





Here's an Opportunity for You!









On the Premises Short Story Contest #38 closes September 3. The subject is Monster.


MONSTER

For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which someone or something is considered to be a monster… and maybe that’s accurate! Maybe you’re writing a straightforward horror story. Or maybe the “monster” label is terrible and undeserved. Or is the truth somewhere in between? That’s entirely up to you.


SPECIAL NOTE: Famous mythological monsters from history, religion, or folk tales are fine. True, we say below that pastiches/parodies of (or other uses of) other authors’ fictional worlds are not acceptable, but we meant specific fictional worlds created by known authors after, let’s say, the 1750s. Vampires are fine. Bram Stoker’s “Count Dracula of Transylvania” is not. Large, dangerous plants are fine. Triffids from John Wyndham’s “The Day of the Triffids” are not. We hope these guidelines help.


GENRE RULES: No fiction aimed at readers younger than 12, no exploitative sex, no over-the-top grossout horror, and no stories that are obvious parodies of (or otherwise use) existing fictional worlds/characters created by other authors. Other than that, we’ll take anything from the most super-realistic literary drama to crazy farces (real-world or otherwise) to any variant of science fiction or fantasy you can imagine. Read our past issues and you’ll see.


Deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern US time, FRIDAY, September 3, 2021.

One entry per author. There is no fee for entering this contest.

Remember to take all identifying information out of your story! Tell us who you are in the space provided in the web form cover letter you get when you click on the “submit” button, NOT in your story! No headers, no bylines… just the story.




If you have questions, ask us at Questions@OnThePremises.com.






Another Free Contest:





The Writers’ Mastermind is holding a short story contest for writers of all levels and all genres. Entry is free.

  • 1st prize – $100 Amazon Gift Card or Cash and a free spot in the Writers’ Mastermind for 6 months.

  • 2nd prize – $50 Amazon Gift Card or Cash and a free spot in the Writers’ Mastermind for 3 months.

  • 3rd prize – $25 Amazon Gift Card or Cash and a free spot in the Writers’ Mastermind for 1 month.

Contest Details

  1. Open to writers of all levels and all fiction genres worldwide, excluding children’s and erotica.

  2. Short stories must be in English.

  3. Entry is free, and all rights to the short story remain the property of the author.

  4. Stories must be from 1,000-5,000 words.

  5. One entry is allowed per person.

  6. Stories will be judged by an anonymous panel.

  7. Top 5 entries will be published on our site and promoted on our social media and email list.

  8. Chapters and excerpts are not permitted. Complete short stories only.

  9. Previously published stories are acceptable if author has rights to republish.

  10. Failure to meet requirements will result in disqualification.

  11. Contest closes 9/01/2021

Send your short story as an attachment to submissions@letsgetpublished.com.

Please include: full name, title of story, genre word count.

If you have any questions about this contest, email christa@letsgetpublished.com





Presentation Format for Members Presenting Work for Critique:





Please email an electronic copy of your presentation to our critiques vice president, Jennifer Evans (dallaswestie@gmail.com) by the Saturday before the meeting. At the meeting, the presenter will be allowed twenty minutes. Many choose to read their submission and devote the rest of the time to comments from those attending.

  • Word Length: 2, 500 words (longer permitted, but 2,500 for reading at our meeting)

  • Font Size: 12 points (to aid those with visional limitations)

  • Font Styles: Times New Roman, Arial (but not Comic Sans)

  • Spacing: Double spaced

  • Line Numbering

If you wish to receive feedback by email from the Write Club members, please add your email address at the top of the first page.






Blogs from Our Members