FWA Maitland Writers Group

November 2011 Maitland Writers Group Meeting

2011-11-01T04:19:00.003-12:00

We skipped the October meeting because it was the same weekend as the conference. I did not attend the conference this year, but have heard wonderful reports from those who did. (I chose instead to run the Apalachicola Marathon.)

Our November meeting will be on the 18th. I plan to review rules of grammar and common mistakes. For those of you who have not been in an English class in a long time, this will be a good opportunity to recall things such as "comma splices" and "misplaced modifiers."

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods. Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

May Meeting, Friday, May 20

2011-05-16T04:32:00.001-12:00

Please join us this Friday as we welcome our guest speaker, Trent Duncan.

After receiving a degree in Film Production Technology, Trent Duncan served 5 years in the United States Navy. During that time he was deployed to the Middle East and Europe three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His military journeys inspired several Documentaries, which can be seen on the Discovery and Military Channels. Afterward, Trent spend some time in Hollywood, California, working in the entertainment industry where he produced and directed several short films, web-series, and music videos. Trent now operates a successful videography business out of Orlando while continuing to produce and direct short and feature films.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods. Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

Speaker for April 15 meeting

2011-04-11T03:45:00.002-12:00

Our speaker for the meeting this Friday will be Kathleen Summo. She will talk about log lines--the short 1-2 sentence pitch. Come prepared with paper and pencil, because she'll have us all write a log line, and then dissect them and improve them.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods.

Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

AJ Robinson this week

2011-03-16T03:45:00.002-12:00

We are excited about having our regional FWA director, AJ Robinson, at this month's meeting on Friday, March 18. He will talk about using the "Dr. Seuss method" of creating a story. We hope you can make it.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods. Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

Good February meeting

2011-02-23T11:00:00.003-12:00

We had a great meeting on Feb. 18. We invited people to read to the group, and heard some nice things. As usual, responses spawned interesting discussions.

Our next meeting will be on March 18, and our presenter will be AJ Robinson, the FWA regional director for Central Florida. We hope you can join us.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods. Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

Next meeting Nov. 19, 6:30

2010-10-26T03:57:00.002-12:00

Our next meeting will be on November 19, 2010. We'll talk about what we learned at the FWA Writers Conference held last weekend. Please bring your notes and your memories and share with the group what you took from the weekend. I'll have my notes and reports ready, too. See you then.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods. Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

July Meeting

2010-07-12T10:30:00.001-12:00

Our presenter for the July 16 meeting has bailed on us, so we're going to critique again. If you'd like to receive feedback from the group on 5 or fewer, double-spaced pages, come join us Friday at 6:30. We were fairly civil last time, leaving readers mostly intact--not too much bloodshed. For even more objectivity about your writing, have someone else read.

I'm still working on getting speakers for August and September, so I'd welcome suggestions.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32792. From Maitland/Casselberry/Altamonte, go south on SR 436 and turn right onto Winter Woods. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on SR 436 and turn left onto Winter Woods. Once on Winter Woods, you'll the office at the end of the 2nd building on the left.

July Meeting

2010-06-29T13:58:00.002-12:00

I just found out today that the speaker we were expecting for the July meeting will be unable to be here. We'll probably invite people to read and be critiqued again. We all seemed to enjoy that at the May meeting, and fewer than half were able to read. So bring those pages back and we'll hear them in July.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd, Winter Park, 32792. From the Altamonte/Casselberry area, go south on SR 436 and turn right on Winter Woods. The office is at the end of the second building on the left. From Orlando/Winter Park, go north on SR 436 and turn left on Winter Woods.

June 18 meeting, 6:30

2010-06-04T09:50:00.002-12:00

We're going to try something different at the June meeting. We invite you to bring 4-5 double-spaced pages to read aloud for critique by the group. This has not been the format for this group before, but we've gotten requests, so we're going to give it a try. Don't worry, we'll be gentle.

I look forward to hearing what people bring. See you then.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd., Winter Park, Fl 32792. From Altamonte/Casselberry, go south on Hwy 436 (Semoran Blvd). Turn right onto Winter Woods Blvd. It's the first light south of Howell Branch Road. From Orlando/Winter Park, go north on Hwy 436 (Semoran Blvd.). Turn left onto Winter Woods Blvd. It's the second light north of Aloma Ave.

Soon after turning onto Winter Woods, you'll see two long office buildings on the left. We're at the far end of the 2nd building, ground floor.

May meeting, Julie Compton

2010-05-12T08:51:00.002-12:00

We're excited to have Julie Compton as our speaker for the May 21st meeting. She is the author of "Tell No Lies" and "Rescuing Olivia." She will speak on backstory, and answer questions about the publishing process.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks.From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood. The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

2010-01-15T10:40:00.002-12:00

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, 2228 Winter Woods Boulevard, Winter Park, 32792.

From the intersection of Hwy 436 (Semoran) and Howell Branch Road, go south on 436 to Winter Woods and turn left. From the intersection of Hwy 436 (Semoran) and Aloma Avenue, go north on 436 to Winter Woods.

Once on Winter Woods, you'll soon see two office buildings on the left. Wise Owl is at the end of the 2nd building.

We're a small group, but enjoy hearing our speakers and discussing various topics. Come join us!

2009-08-10T06:16:00.002-12:00

The August meeting will be held on August 21 at 6:30. The program this time will be writing to one or more prompts. We've done this a couple of times before, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. (I'll be out of town, but Alan Southerland will chair the meeting in my absence.) Have fun!
Bettie

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks.

From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood.

The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

New Meeting location, starting Feb. 15, 2009

2009-01-17T11:05:00.003-12:00

NEW LOCATION!

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the office of Wise Owl Tutoring, Winter Park.

1) From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on Hwy 436 (Semoran) to Winter Woods Blvd. (Winter Woods is the first traffic light south of Howell Branch Road.) Turn right onto Winter Woods.

2) From south on Hwy 436, turn left onto Winter Woods Blvd. (Winter Woods is the second traffic light north of Aloma Ave.)

3) From Maitland, take Horatio/Howell Branch to Hwy 436. Turn right onto Hwy 436, then the next right onto Winter Woods Blvd.

Once on Winter Woods, you'll see two office buildings on the left--Howell Park Executive Center. Wise Owl Tutoring is at 2228, which is at the far end of the 2nd building.

We hope to see you soon.

August meeting a week late

2008-07-21T13:11:00.003-12:00

Our next meeting will be on August 22, which is the fourth Friday of the month. We normally meet on the third Friday, but I'll be in Alaska on the 15th (Yeah!), so we're going to meet a week late.

We invite you to bring up to 8 pages to read for critique. For those of you who do not or have never belonged to a critique group, this is your opportunity to see what it's like. You might be inspired to form your own group.

I hope to see you then.

Bettie

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The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks.

From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood.

The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

Next Meeting Feb. 15, Maitland Civic Center

2008-01-21T11:02:00.001-12:00

Our next meeting will be on February 15, 2008 at the Maitland Civic Center. And we LOVE our new meeting place. We have more space (and inside bathrooms).

Those of us who attended the Florida Writers Conference in November will pass along the highlights.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Civic Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92. Turn right on Maitland Avenue.
From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue.

The Civic Center is on the left just past Lake Lily. Turn in the second entrance. Enter the center door and go straight ahead to the Rotary Room.

2007-11-12T06:04:00.000-12:00

We meet this Friday, November 16th, at our new location--the Maitland Civic Center, Maitland, FL.

Our speaker will be Marcia Rankin, journalists, short story writer, mystery writer, and motivator. She'll talk to us about writing short shorts and fillers--and how to get them published. If you need inspiration or motivation, you'll want to hear Marcia.

For our December meeting, we'll invite those who attended the Florida Writers Conference this past weekend to share with the group highlights from the conference. That meeting will be on December 21.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Civic Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Horatio. Turn right on Horatio, then left on Maitland Avenue. Just after the railroad tracks, Maitland Avenue turns left. In the turn is the Civic Center on the right.

From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Look for the Civic Center on the left.

Our meeting is in the Rotary Room of the Maitland Civic Center.

New meeting place; Opportunity to perform

2007-10-08T06:22:00.000-12:00

Good news! Beginning in November, we will meet at the Maitland Civic Center, right on Lake Lily in Maitland. For the October meeting, we'll once again meet at Bettie Wailes' office, 2228 Winter Woods Blvd., Winter Park.

The Barnes & Noble in Altamonte Springs has offered to host our writing group. We plan to read from our writing on a Sunday soon. The October meeting will be devoted to a "rehearsal" of our reading. So come prepared to read from 6-8 minutes, or come prepared to listen to your fellow writers and provide gentle critiques.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Civic Center.

From the intersection of Hwy 436 and 17-92, go south on 17-92. Turn right at the traffic light at Maitland Avenue. From Lee Road and 17-92, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). The Maitland Civic Center is on the left just beyond the lake.

News from the Maitland Writer's Group

2007-07-05T04:46:00.000-12:00

Woohoo!! I finally got back on the blog. For reasons I don't completely know or understand, I have been virtualy locked out of access to this blog for months. But I'M BACK!!!

We have exciting news. First, we're very hopeful that we'll have a new meeting place starting in August. The Maitland Art Center has been generous and gracious to us, and we appreciate having had the use of a meeting room there for the last three or so years. However, twice this year we had more people than would fit into the room. So we've been looking for a new place to meet and we are hopeful that we've found it. We hope to get confirmation from the Maitland Civic Center that we can meet there beginning in August. It's just around the corner and we won't have to reconsider the name of the group. So, we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Second, we have appreciated and enjoyed the unselfish speakers that we've had in the past. As much as we enjoy them, we don't want to impose on them for repeat performances, so we've been trying to find speakers that we've not already heard. We were graced with Toni Gitles in June, who talked to us about public speaking. Our July 20 speaker is Russel Stacey, former Rollins English professor-turned-freelancer. He'll tell us about his mid-life career change, and his freelancing life.

We hope to have Marcia Rankin join us for the August 17 meeting. She, too, is a freelancer, but with much different experience. She also writes a lot of humor, and will include that in her discussion.

For September 21, Julie Compton is scheduled to speak to us. She had recently published her first novel, Best Intentions. She has also had an award-winning short story published.

Please join us.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks.

From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood.

The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

It's a second try for Editing!

2007-03-09T08:46:00.000-12:00

Our meeting on March 16 will be devoted to Editing your Manuscript. Bettie Wailes will present the basics of grammar and punctuation, and explain the errors most frequently found in the manuscripts she's edited.

We welcome everyone from novice to experienced. You do not have to belong to FWA.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks. From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood. The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

This group is led jointly by Frances Ellen, Matt Dicker, and Bettie Wailes.

2007-02-21T07:53:00.000-12:00

Our meeting on Feb. 16 was enjoyable, although not what we expected. We were pleasantly surprised by the presence of Dan Griffith, FWA president. We had invited him to speak to us for the January meeting. Unfortunately, he relied on MapQuest directions and, alas, ended driving around for an hour, until he gave up and returned home.

I had planned to invite him back again in the next few months, but (because we didn't actually discuss this), Dan assumed the invitation was repeated for February. We had planned a program on editing and formatting your manuscript. So...we'll offer that topic for our March meeting.

If you'd like to learn about common mistakes of grammar and punctuation, and learn the basics of manuscript formatting, please join us on March 16.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks.

From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood.

The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

This month it's grammar and format

2007-02-14T14:24:00.000-12:00

Yikes! This is short notice, but we ARE meeting this Friday, February 16. Bettie Wailes will talk about editing your manuscript, from the grammar and the commas to the format and font. Please bring your questions.

The Maitland Writers Group meets the third Friday of each month at 6:30 pm at the Maitland Art Center. From Altamonte Springs/Casselberry, go south on 17-92 to Packwood (the next light after Horatio). Turn right on Packwood and go two blocks.

From Winter Park/Orlando, go north on 17-92. Turn left on Maitland Avenue (at Lake Lily). Turn left on Packwood.

The Maitland Art Center is a collection of buildings. Our meeting room in on the right. Look for signs.

Record number at meeting

2007-01-20T08:39:00.000-12:00

Wow! For our first meeting of the year, we had a record number of attendees last night. By the sign-in sheet, we had twenty-eight people present. More would have been there, but left because of limited room capacity. Even though our scheduled speaker didn't make it (that's another story), we improvised and enjoyed a round-table discussion of where we find our motivation to sit down and get it done.

I hope we are forced to find a larger meeting room. I came away feeling motivated and inspired, and enjoying the positive energy of the group.

Remember the third Friday! Next meeting is Friday, February 16 at the Maitland Art Center.

2006-11-12T13:07:00.000-12:00

The Florida Writers Association Maitland Newbies writing group next meets on Friday, November 17 at 6:30 pm. We meet at the Maitland Arts Center on Packwood Avenue in Maitland, FL, on the third Friday of each month.

Our speaker this week will be Tina Marie Smith, author of Tea and Witchery. She has just presented excellent workshops at the FWA Writers conference. We're fortunate to have her join us.

This group, originally moderated by Chuck Dowling, is now being moderated by Matt Dicker, Frances Ellen, and Bettie Wailes.

Come join us. We'd love to have you.