“Writers Block” Debated at CCWC Writer’s Night Out, May 21, 2014

by Artistic Director on May 26, 2014

The Cape Cod Writers Center’s Writers Night Out on Wednesday, May 21 at Uno’s Chicago Grille in Hyannis was an event to remember.

First, Charles Coe, distinguished poet and program officer of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, met with members of the CCWC, then stayed for the evening’s presentation. With thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their annual grant which enables the CCWC to provide programs like Writers Night Out.

photoIs Writer’s Block s’ a myth or a malady? Four CCWC authors debated the issue and shared their experiences with the 30 member audience. Moderated by Executive Director Nancy Rubin Stuart, the panel included CCWC’s business/marketing manager Janet Gardner, members Dwight Ritter, Eva Shegulla, and Arlene Kay.

Unanimously, the four authors concluded that the creative affliction known as writer’s block is not only a myth but one often used as an excuse to avoid writing.

After their presentations, the discussion was opened to the membership for a q & a session.

Now there’s no excuse…back to our desks!

 

Join us for Breakfast with the Authors

by web editor on May 23, 2014

breakfastCCWC is pleased to present our next
Breakfast with the Authors
Friday, June 6, 2014, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am
at the Resort and Conference Center
35 Scudder Ave., Hyannis.

The $15 cost of this event ($12 for Cape Cod Writers Center members) includes a continental breakfast, book talks by three authors, Q and A, and a book signing.

 

nature's ambassadorThoroughly researched, beautifully written, and rich with historical illustrations, Nature’s Ambassador: The Life and Legacy of Thornton Burgess by Christie Palmer Lowrance is an enchanting overview of the life and writing of the children’s author and ardent conservationist. A long-time resident of Sandwich on Cape Cod, Burgess entertained generations of children with his stories and illustrations of animals and the natural world in which they lived. But he was also far ahead of his time, understanding the fragility and beauty of our planet decades before the modern environmental movement made his ideas mainstream.

class reunionsIt’s the night before Carol Andrews’s fortieth high school reunion at Mount Saint Francis Academy, and preparations for the big party are going well…until the dead body of a classmate is discovered in Carol’s hotel room. The title of Susan Santangelo’s latest novel says it all: Class Reunions Can Be Murder. Midwest Book Review calls the novel, “an especially well-crafted and entertaining mystery that plays fair with the reader every step of the way.” This is the fourth in Santangello’s Baby Boomer Mystery Series.

CB_Q&F Cvr v8.inddNew York Times bestselling author Chip Bishop’s latest book is Quentin and Flora: A Roosevelt and a Vanderbilt in Love during the Great War, the charismatic true story of Quentin Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt’s youngest son, and his secret fiancée, Flora Payne Whitney. Told in rich and absorbing detail by an expert storyteller, it is a moving tale of courage, heroism and young love, set against the backdrop of Theodore Roosevelt’s lofty expectations for his sons and his own tragic demise.

Reserve your space at Breakfast with the Authors by e-mailing writers@capecodwriterscenter.org or calling 508-420-0200.

Cape Cod’s Talented Youth Attend the CCWC’s Tomorrow Writers Today Program May 17, 2014

by Artistic Director on May 19, 2014

Eleven talented writing students from the public schools of Cape Cod participated in the Cape Cod Writers Center’s Tomorrow’s Writers Today program on Saturday, May 17th at the Barnstable Intermediate School.

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James Kershner, a former editor at the Cape Cod Times and a professor at the Cape Cod Community College, instructed the students on writing nonfiction. Candy Hammond, a journalist and novelist, tuaght the students about the rudiments and challeges of writing fiction.

Here’s a  sampling of student comments about the day’s program:

“I liked that all the activities were hands on. I had a chance to share and improve my writing with others who shared my same passion. I loved it!”

“I learned new ways to write. The teachers were very kind.”

“I really loved both of my teachers. James made me like writing nonfiction when I usually only liked fiction. He inspired me with his outside walks and rustic videos.”

“I liked the diversity of what we learned. The instructors covered everything I needed and wanted to know about both fiction and nonfiction.”

“I liked the freedom it gave for creativity.”

“They taught me how to be a better writer.”

“Everything was great ! I liked meeting kids like me who like to write. I liked learning how to be better in creative nonfiction and nonfiction.”

This tuition-free program was funded through a  grant from Sovereign (now Santander) Bank.

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CCWC Executive Director Nancy Rubin Stuart on C-Span 3

by Artistic Director on May 16, 2014

Cape Cod Writers Center’s Executive Director Nancy Rubin Stuart recently appeared on C-Span 3′s broadcast for a panel on “Revolutionary Women” related to her books  THE MUSE OF THE REVOLUTION and DEFIANT BRIDES on behalf of the newly- restored Abigail Adams Birthplace in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

Here’s the link to the video for  “Revolutionary Women” 

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Other panel members included Michelle McCoughlin, director of the Abigail Adams Birthplace: Sara Martin, assistant editor of the Abigail Adams Papers  and Bonnie Hurd Smith, director of the Judith Sargent Murray Society.

Wouldn’t those good friends Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren be surprised to learn that their friendships have so much resonance today !

 

 

CCWC Partnership with Books By The Sea

by web editor on May 13, 2014

BBTSThe Cape Cod Writers Center announces the continuation of our highly-successful partnership with Books By The Sea bookstore in Osterville, MA. Throughout their existence, Books By The Sea has been committed to supporting local authors, providing local talent an audience for their work.

What is the CCWC/BBTS partnership?

This partnership between participating CCWC members and a respected retail establishment provides distribution, retail shelf space, and active promotion of members’ books. A substantial section of the store is totally dedicated to the Writers Center and its members, housing only CCWC members’ books, and promoting upcoming events, members’ bios, news, etc. BBTS e-newsletters (currently reaching about 500 customers), also includes CCWC events and news on an on-going basis. It offers entry into additional partnerships with libraries, cultural centers and other literary organizations (e.g., ALLI, Adult Life Long Learning).

What are the benefits of participating?

When you join the partnership, Books By The Sea will:

  • Stock and sell your books on a 75%/25% consignment arrangement (75% to author/ 25% to store), vs. the standard 60%/40% split.
  • Place high impact “Local Author” and “Autographed Copy” stickers on your books.
  • Host and heavily promote a CCWC Local Author Event at the Osterville Library on Saturday, June 28, from 1-4 pm, as part of the Library’s Summer Festival. All participating CCWC members will be asked to join this event.
  • Display your most recent book face-out, and shelve author’s other books beside it.
  • Display your most recent book in front window of store and in a prominent place in-store for a period of 2 weeks.
  • Host at least one book signing per year for your latest book, and promote it via e-newsletter, press release and posters.
  • Announce your books to other potential venues for additional signings and readings.
  • Provide initial free consultation with BBTS Business Manager on book marketing.
  • Monitor book sales regularly and issue quarterly payments.

How do I take advantage of this partnership?

This program is only available to active, fully-paid members of the Cape Cod Writers Center. The cost of this partnership is $100 per year for new participants, $80 for renewing participants. The CCWC provides and promotes this partnership as an exclusive member benefit, but the contract is between individual authors and Books by the Sea. If you have any questions or would like to sign up for the program, please email Karla at the store (booksbythesea@verizon.net).

“Developing Your Poetry Manuscript” Class Sold Out!

by web editor on May 13, 2014

smaller-cover-page-001Registrations are pouring in for the 2014 CCWC Conference, August 7-10 in Hyannis. In fact, the three-day course “Developing Your Poetry Manuscript” with Kathleen Spivack is now sold out!

Plenty of room remains in the our great classes and workshops, covering diverse topics in fiction and non-fiction, finding an agent, effective use of social media, and more.

Find out more by downloading the conference brochure here, or register online for the conference at this link!

A Book in the Hand meets May 12 in East Dennis

by web editor on May 9, 2014

abithABITH (A Book in the Hand) will meet on Monday, May 12, from 7 to 8:30 pm, at the Jacob Sears Memorial Library, 23 Center Street, East Dennis. Reading from their published books will be Cape Cod authors Jamie Cat Callan and Susan Santangelo. To find out more about the event, follow the link provided below and click on “this month at ABITH.”

A free raffle will award two lucky winners a signed copy of the authors’ work. The meeting is free and open to the public.

A Book in the Hand meets monthly to celebrate the printed page and the spoken word by sponsoring readings by Cape Cod authors of published prose. For information, or if you are an author interested in participating as a reader, call or email: 508-432-5907 or elizabethmoisan@yahoo.com. Please visit their web site: www.abookinthehand.jimdo.com.

Calliope Poetry Readings at the West Falmouth Library

by web editor on May 6, 2014

Calliope Pic

Calliope Poetry Readings
7th Season Finale!

Sunday, May 18th 2 to 4 PM, (note earlier start time)  
Open Mic Sign-up, 1:45 PM, $5 suggested donation.

Featuring:

James Arthur’s first book, Charms Against Lightning (Copper Canyon Press, 2012) was the Lannan Literary Selection.  His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Brick, Poetry, The New Republic and  The American Poetry Review.  He has received the Amy Lowell Travelling Poetry Scholarship, a Stegner Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, a Discovery/The Nation Prize, and a residency at the Amy Clampitt House.  James grew up in Toronto and now lives in Baltimore where he teaches in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.

Audrey Henderson’s work has appeared in the collection of short stories, Tales to Tell (St. Andrews Press) and in the poetry journals Magma, The Midwest Quarterly, Tar River Poetry and in the 2012 anthology, FutureCycle.  She was a finalist in the 2008 Indiana Review 1/2K Award and was chosen as a Special Merit Poet in the 2009 Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award.  Originally from Scotland, she was a frequent contributor to BBC Radio Scotland and graduated from the University of Edinburgh.  Audrey lives in Jamaica Plain and is a member of the Jamaica Pond Poets.

Sheila Whitehouse’s poetry collection, Flint and Needle was published in 2006.  Nominated for a Pushcart Prize by the Aurorean, her poems have also appeared in the South Carolina Review, Orphic Lute, and the Cape Cod Poetry Review.  She holds an MFA from Vermont College and ran the Guyer Barn Poets Workshop for twenty years. Happily retired after a long career in public education, she has most recently studied poetry with Mark Doty, Fred Marchant and Terrence Hayes.  Sheila lives in Hyannis, MA.

Directions:  From Bourne Bridge.  Rt. 28 south to Thomas Landers Road exit, right off ramp to Rt. 28A south (left), about 1 1/2 miles.  Just past Old Dock Rd., on right, West Falmouth Library is on the left, with parking.  From Woods Hole.  Woods Hole Rd. to Palmer Ave. to Rt. 28 north to Brick Kiln Rd. exit, left off the ramp to Rt. 28A (stop sign).  Take a right, and go less than I mile.  West Falmouth Library is on the right, with parking (before the library, across from the Quaker Meeting House).

For more on the Calliope Poetry readings, including the eighth season, which will begin in September, check out their website: www.calliopepoetryseries.com.

Member News Roundup for May

by web editor on May 5, 2014

Here’s a roundup of our members’ latest writing news:

Bill Burbank has published his second book and has begun distribution of Reflections from the Cape Cod Canal. The book will soon be available in area bookshops, and Bill will have a book signing at Titcomb’s Bookshop in Sandwich on May 17 from 2-3 PM.

Anita Ann Caruso has two author events coming up in May: Tuesday, May 20th at Chase Library, Rt.28, West Harwich, Ma. at 2PM and Wednesday May 28th at Brewster Library, Rt 6A, Brewster, Ma. at 2PM to talk about her memoir: “As Ever, Pudd”- A Love Story That Never Ends Told in Letters. www.anitaacarusobooks.com.

Jeannie Coco is happy to announce her novel Rocks Through My Window is now available at 3 local stores: Titcomb’s Bookshop, Books by the Sea, and West Winds Bookshop. She will be featured on the Books And The World television program and will make local appearances May 13 at the Brewster Ladies Library and May 15 at the Canton Public Library. For more info visit jeanniecoco.com.

Author/Journalist K.R. Conway taught a wild, 3-day Fiction Craft class to 80 Sturgis West students and has been invited back in the fall to roll her class into the award-winning high school’s curriculum. Her debut novel, Undertow, was awarded a coveted spot on Sandwich High School’s summer reading list. She will be teaching story boarding at Marstons Mills library on May 18th (please register as spots fill quickly). She blogs at www.CapeCodScribe.com.

Marie S. David, author of Sacred Heart Songs, will be hosting a Labyrinth Meditation Walk on Sunday, May 18 at 1;00pm,  at Evensong Retreat & Spirituality Center, 326 Lower County Rd, Harwichport. Marie will introduce the walk with the experience of releasing stress to make room for balance and peace. More info at www.evensongretreat.com or 508-737-2883.

Gina Fava announces the upcoming publication date of May 21 for her new novel, The Sculptor, about Mara Silvestri, an American graduate student stalked by Rome’s most notorious serial killer, The Sculptor. She must uncover the family secrets that draw him to her before he claims her as his most prized masterpiece in his collection.

Jan Krause Greene will be the featured storyteller at Zen Mothra in Hopkinton, MA on May 30th. On June 14th, she will participate in a panel discussion “From Inspiration to Publication” at Burgundy Books in Westbrook, CT.

Debra Lawless is the author of Provincetown: A History of Artists and Renegades in a Fishing Village. The sequel, Provincetown Since World War II: Carnival at Land’s End, has just been released from The History Press and is now available in local bookstores and online.

Christine Lajewski has been posting a blog on her web site. An excerpt from her novel Jhator is available under “Conversation with a Doe” at Christine-lajewski.squarespace.com.

David Litwack’s second novel, Along the Watchtower, has won the 2014 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Literary Fiction. Find out more about David and his work at his website: www.davidlitwack.com.

Steven P. Marini will be talking about his current award-winning novel, Aberration, and his newest mystery, Calculation, on May 10th at the Yarmouthport Library or Rte. 6A. Calculation is the third book in the Detective Jack Contino crime stories, Like Aberration, it is set on Cape Cod in the 1970s.

Diane McDonough’s poem, “After Reading Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard,” has been published in the Spring 2014 issue of The Avocet, A Journal of Nature Poetry.

Olivia O’Neill has just completed her (as yet unpublished) first novel with the second well on its way. She is in the process of finding a literary agent to represent her work. olivia@miamiolivia.com

Robert M. Reece, MD, along with co-editors Rochelle F. Hanson, PhD and John Sargent MD, have published a second edition of their textbook, Treatment of Child Abuse: Common Ground for Mental Health, Medical and Legal Practitioners, with the Johns Hopkins University Press.

Nan Rossiter’s new novel, Under a Summer Sky, is now available: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Summer-Sky. It’s set on the Cape and it’s a lovely summer beach book!

Maxim D. Shrayer is pleased to share that a review of his book I Saw It appeared in Times Literary Supplement: http://fmwww.bc.edu/SL-V/ShrayerReviewISawItTLS2014.pdf Shrayer will be reading from his new book Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story at the Eldredge Library in Chatham on May 31 at 2PM: http://www.eldredgelibrary.org/programs-classes-and-events/

The South Chatham Writers’ Workshop is accepting applications for the July 2014 week-long intensive sessions, to be led by the award-winning author, BC professor and Brookline/Chatham resident Maxim D. Shrayer. For information visit https://www.facebook.com/SouthChathamWritersWorkshop or query maximdshrayer@gmail.com.

On the following May dates, Alice Plouchard Stelzer can be seen in costume as Mehetable talking about her book, Female Adventurers: 10th, 1-3 p.m., Books by the Sea; 13th, 2 p.m., Barnstable Senior Center; 14th, 7 p.m., Enfield, CT Public Library; 15th, 6:30 p.m., East Hampton, CT Public Library; and on the 16th, at 10 a.m. will present a 2-hour workshop on “Writing Family Histories” at Brewster Ladies Library.

The Falmouth Fiction group announces a reception for Alta Mae Stevens, author of And then what happened? Harold Harris and the Early Development of Aviation. Sunday, May 18 at 3:00 p.m. at Denise Terry’s house: 17 Meadow Lane, Falmouth 02540 (for more info, terry.df@gmail.com). The book is a biography of Alta Mae’s father who was the first pilot to save his life using a parachute (1922).

Barbara Eppich Struna’s novel, The Old Cape House is now available across the Cape at over 15 independent bookstores and fine shops. For listings visit: barbarastruna.blogspot.com. It’s also available on the west coast at the famous Small World Books, Venice Beach…one of the locations in her third historical novel. Barbara hopes to see you on May 30, and 31 11–2 at the Hyannis Shanties, where she’ll be selling and signing her book along with fellow authors: Anita Caruso and Yvonne deSousa.

After the WinePress Publishing fiasco in mid-January (Google WinePress for info), when Shirley Pieters Vogel suddenly had no publisher – she is delighted to announce her new publisher, Principia Media where Publishing Director is Dirk Wierenga www.shirleyvogel.com

Joan Walsh and Anne Sessions Barber have a book signing Saturday, May 24, 2014 at Where the Sidewalk Ends Bookstore in Chatham for the book entitled Cape Cod Memory Makers Explore the Town of Chatham.

Ric Wasley’s recent book talk and signing for Candle in the Wind at the South Yarmouth Library was a big success; according to the library director the nearly full-house crowd was larger than usual.

The Coonamessett Inn in Falmouth will feature children’s author Linda E. Williams’s latest work, her memoir, Through The Widow’s Window. The book-launch celebration will take place on Sunday, May 18 from 3-5. All are welcomed.

CCWC Logo Quill onlyCurrent CCWC members are invited to submit their news to the next Member News Roundup, which will be posted to our blog and Facebook page on the first Monday in June. To have your news included, please email a one or two sentence announcement to writers@capecodwriterscenter.org no later than May 30. Write “Member News” in the subject line, and be sure the announcement includes your name exactly as you would like it to appear. We do not have room for longer articles or reviews, but you may include an email or website link so readers may contact you or find further information. If you have multiple events, signings, etc. coming up, the best way to publicize these is with a link to a calendar on your own blog or website. (Please note that we reserve the right to edit any announcement for length or for potentially offensive or controversial content.)

David Litwack wins Pinnacle Book Achievement Award

by web editor on May 1, 2014

pinnacle book awardCongratulations to David Litwack, whose second novel, Along the Watchtower, has won the 2014 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Literary Fiction!

Find out more about David and his work at his website: www.davidlitwack.com.

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