Free Writing Class at North Branch Library

FWA St. Pete is proud to present this FREE Writing Class for members and non-members alike!

Hurting Your Characters

Speaker: M.J. Carlson

Join us for this FREE writing class called "Hurting Your Characters: Writing Believable Injuries from the Character's Point of View." Award-winning Author M.J. Carlson will be speaking.

About the Class
Attendees will come away from the lecture with a basic understanding of the most common injuries in fiction, in everyday language. This includes the immediate effect of the trauma on the body, and its physiologic response to trauma. M.J. Carlson will help attendees gain an understanding of why a given injury hurts, including a superficial overview of the physiology of acute pain in easy-to-understand terms and ideas. He'll conclude with an overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.

WHEN: Saturday, March 26th from 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

WHERE: North Branch St. Pete Library, 861 70th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33702 (Ph: 727-893-7214)

COST: FREE

Limited to 40 participants. Please RSVP to this email fwastpete@gmail.com if you plan to attend.

BIO:

M.J. Carlson is an FWA member and fiction author. His futuristic suspense stories have received honorable mentions in 2013 and 2015 WRITERS OF THE FUTURE science fiction contests and been finalists in the 2010 RPLA short story and novel categories. He’s authored articles in THE FLORIDA WRITER and short stories for The Prometheus Saga and In Shadows Written.
Two of M.J.’s novels, Changed and Indigo Man are currently available, and he’s working on the book You Broke What? -- The Writer’s Guide to Believable Injuries.

www.mjcarlson.com

Great Sept meeting, a peek at October

At our September meeting last Thursday, author Ford Easton spoke about Targeting Your Audience. He had a wonderful presentation where he went through some of the steps he took to create his book, Stock Car Racing in the 50's, a self-published non-fiction work that has sold over 2,000 copies so far. His niche market has helped him be able to reach the people who want to buy his book. His passion came out during his talk as he shed a few tears while sharing some of the feedback he has received from readers who are overjoyed with the final product. This passion project, a labor of love, as he called it, was built on a lot of hard work and smart choices. While he shared what he learned with us, many people commented on how much they got out of his talk.

Next month on October 8th, author and FWA St. Pete Group Leader Bria Burton will be speaking about the craft of writing. Her topic: Writing and Running: Improving Craft Through Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Stay tuned for more details.

FWA Meeting April 9th with T.J. Waters

April St. Pete FWA Meeting

For our upcoming meeting on Thursday, April 9th, T.J. Waters will be speaking. As usual, we meet at the Main Branch St. Pete Library at 6 PM. Networking begins at 5:30 PM. This meeting is always open to the public.

Topic: Social Media in Simple Terms

As writers, we need to use social media, but how many of us know what to post, and where?  It’s how we keep in touch with fans, but how can we maximize our social media bang for the time-based buck we have to spend doing it?

Author T.J. Waters will offer tips as well as the basics of what you need to know about the landscape of social media, and the way to best utilize social media tools to connect with fans and potential readers.

BIO

Author T.J. WATERS resides in St Petersburg with his wife and their two children. He previously worked as a Senior Consultant in Intelligence Operations for U.S. Special Operations Command. Prior to that he was a Sr. Counterintelligence Analyst for U.S. Central Command, served undercover for the Central Intelligence Agency, and was Vice President for an intelligence consulting firm. He enjoyed a successful private sector career before his government service, including with Celotex Corporation, Lexis-Nexis, and BASF.

Waters spent five years as an adjunct professor in the Intelligence Management and Analysis program at Eckerd College. When he's not working, he enjoys volunteering with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay.

Website: www.tjwaters.com