True Story! Bill Eleazer Reveals the stuff Stranger than Fiction

Professor emeritus Bill Eleazer (Stetson), spoke about the lessons he learned while writing his first novel, including naming at least 3 of his characters with names beginning with the letter J. In addition to sharing his experiences, he also included tips and websites that helped him and are great resources for writers. (Email me to get a copy - I'm scanning it in and will send out when I'm done. - fwastpete )
Bill was entertaining and talked about a scene in his first novel that was entirely true, but that a reader remarked was too far out to be believable! He had some great ideas for those not willing to accept rejections from the big publishing houses, and I can vouch for many of his tips as I have found them to be accurate in my own work.
I apologize for those who missed it due to the change in scenery - we had to move to the diner due to a lack of planning in securing the room at the library. I'll be more diligent in the coming year! (Anyone interested in helping please contact me!)

Memoir memories

Sheila and Jan went back and forth like the seasoned team they are, covering many aspects of writing a memoir, including their own personal experience. I kept waiting for them to break out into a Saturday Night Live skit with Alec Baldwin, but we couldn't get him to appear. [ Note: We didn't even try! ]

The crowd of over 20 people remained spellbound and attentive as Jan shared from some letters she found that her father had written to her during the war. They discussed several writing techniques to help one get started in putting their thoughts down, and added excitement to writing memoirs - something that isn't easy to achieve.

They run a story circle up in Safety Harbor that you can find from a link on the right side of this page. Overall a well-received and enjoyable evening.