Tag Archives: greater lehigh valley writers group

Easton Book Festival

The Easton Book Festival will take place the weekend of October 25-27, 2019 at various locations throughout downtown Easton, PA.

As part of the festival, the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group is sponsoring a series of writing workshops, presentations, and discussion panels on Saturday and Sunday at the Easton campus of Northampton Community College on the corner of 3rd and Pine Streets (adjacent to the Crayola Experience).

At this time, the topics have been selected, but the schedule is still tentative. I will present a one-hour session on self-editing called “Trim Your Story” on Saturday at noon and  another one-hour session called “Time Management for Writers” on Sunday at 1PM. I’m also slated to participate in  a discussion panel called “Writing in the 21st Century” on Saturday at 2PM.

Other authors will present topics on writing memoir, poetry, biographies, historical fiction, cover design, traditional publishing, and much more. I will post the final schedule when it becomes available.

In between all of that, I will have a table where my books will be available.  Looking forward to a weekend dedicated to the love of literature. Hope to see you there!

Call Me the Tin Man…

Anniversaries have been on my mind over the past few years. Last September, my wife and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary while November marked my 25th year as an IT support tech—a career that I hope to change as soon as humanly possible before it destroys my health.

Traditionally, each anniversary is symbolized by a specific, unique material.  Appropriately, these materials increase in strength, resilience, or value with each passing year. For example, first anniversaries are associated with paper, fifth with wood, 25th with silver, 50th with gold, and so on.

Tenth anniversaries are marked by aluminum or tin. That being the case, you can call me the Tin Man in 2019, although I’d like to think that I have a heart.

As I reach my first decade as a published author, I am immensely grateful to the critique partners, mentors, editors, publishers, and fellow writers who helped me along the way. While writing is a solitary endeavor, publishing is a team effort.

Deepest thanks to Steven H. Wilson, Howard Weinstein, Aaron Rosenberg, Robert Greenberger, Paul Kupperberg, Nancy Sakaduski, Weldon Burge, Joanne M. Reinbold, Susanna Reilly, Stuart S. Roth, and all of my fellow members of the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group.

Below is an image of every book I have written or contributed to over the past ten years. I never dreamed my writing would take me this far.  With three novels and nearly two dozen short stories out in the wild, I hope to continue crafting powerful fiction that changes lives and inspires readers as well as young writers.

 

 

The Write Connections

While at the Write Stuff Conference today, I picked up my dozen copies of The Write Connections, the latest anthology from the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group.  It includes my vignette, “Once More with Feeling,” in which a dying man has a final conversation with his guardian angel.

Always excited to add another publication to my bibliography.

 

The Write Connections Paperbacks

 

The Write Connections anthology

Writing The Compelling Short Story at the Write Stuff

I will be presenting “Writing the Compelling Short Story” at the Write Stuff conference at the Best Western Hotel in Bethlehem, PA on Saturday, March 25. As part of ongoing conference promotion, I was interviewed for the Write Stuff blog. Apparently, they thought I had something interesting to say.

Click here to read the interview!

Click here for more information about this terrific conference!

Write Stuff Conference

Write Here, Write Now!

I am proud to announce that my essay, “You Will Live Through It: A Letter to My Younger Self” will be published in April as part of Write Here, Write Now. This is the second anthology published by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group.
The book will premiere at the Write Stuff writers conference, April 7-9, 2016 in Bethlehem, PA. It will be available initially in paperback, then Kindle a few weeks after.
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Write Here Write Now Cover
 

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Chuck Wendig and Kristen Lamb eviscerate Huffington Post for exploiting contributors. Kathryn Craft encourages writers to consider how much they’re willing to give away.

Eric Wecks ponders a better info dump while Chris Winkle guides us from concept to story and Larry Brooks leads us even further to story structure. Jane Friedman explains the purpose of author websites, and Konrath dissects Lee Child regarding Amazon’s brick and mortar bookstores.

All that, and a little more. Enjoy!

***Please note that this will likely be the last installment of About This Writing Stuff for at least six months as I have become far too busy. My publisher and I are releasing a new anthology in July, I have a novella coming out after that, and I am writing the first draft of a science fiction novel.  

Additionally, I need to pass two more Microsoft exams to achieve my MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert). I work in the IT field and–as with writing and most other areas of life–continuing education is critical to success and longevity.*** 

Scream It Until Their Ears Bleed: Pay the Fucking Writers by Chuck Wendig

Shame on You AOL/Huffington! NO More Literary Booty Calls by Kristen Lamb

How Much Will You Give Away? by Kathryn Craft

Info Dumps Aren’t Evil by Eric Wecks

Lee Child on Amazon’s Real-Life Bookshops-and Why We Should Be Worried by Lee Child

Fisking Lee Child by Joe Konrath

How to Turn You Concept into a Story by Chris Winkle

Let’s Address a Common Misunderstanding About Author Websites by Jane Friedman

A Kinder, Gentler Perspective on Story Structure by Larry Brooks

Visiting the Oldest Bookstore in America–and its Resident Ghost by Gregory Lee Sullivan

Coming Soon: The “Write Stuff” Writers Conference in Bethlehem, PA!

 

Write Stuff 2016 Conference