Maryland Writers' Association













Monthly Meetings

Regular meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, from 7:30-9:30 pm in the annex building of the Chesapeake Arts Center, 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, Maryland 21225, 410-636-6597.

Each meeting features a guest speaker from a writing-related field. Past speakers have included writers of mainstream fiction, romance, science fiction, historical fiction, poetry, plays, nonfiction books and articles, screenplays, advertising, and children's books. Accountants, editors, publishers, attorneys, agents, and computer experts have also addressed the group. MWA's relaxed, informal meetings give you the opportunity to ask questions of speakers, chat with MWA members, and share news and tips.

Meetings are free to members and first-time guests. Nonmembers who have already attended once are asked to pay $5.00 at the door.

Interested in being a speaker? Like more information about our meetings? Contact Denise Camacho.

Directions to the Chesapeake Arts Center

Wednesday, May 14, 7:30-9:30

African Americans have lived and worked in Baltimore County for the 300 years that the county has been in existence, yet in all those years there has never been any written history of their communities until Louis S. Diggs researched and published his books.
Louis S. Diggs is a historian and the author of nine books on the history of African Americans in Baltimore County. Retired from both D.C. public schools and the military, he is also one of the founding members of The Black Writers' Guild of Maryland, Inc. Mr. Diggs will be discussing the research and writing of local history, as well as how he received grants for each of the books. Visit www.blackwritersguild.org and louisdiggs.com for more information.

Monday, May 19, 7:00-9:00

The May meeting of the Baltimore Chapter of the Maryland Writers' Association, co-sponsored by the CityLit Project and the Write Here, Write Now workshops at the Creative Alliance, will be an open mic night. MWA members will have a chance to read from their latest or favorite works. Ten minutes per person, first come first read (there will be a sign-up sheet under the MWAB sign).
At Ukazoo Books, 730 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson. Directions are available on the Ukazoo website. Please note that, because of Memorial Day, the meeting is a week earlier than our usual fourth Monday.

Wednesday, June 11, 7:30-9:30

2008-09 officer elections and awards for the 2008 Novel and Short Story Contests.

Monday, June 23, 7:00-9:00

The Baltimore Chapter, co-sponsored by the CityLit Project and the Write Here, Write Now workshops at the Creative Alliance, presents Working the (School) System.
Have you got the "My Advance Don't Pay the Bills" Blues? Many writers supplement their incomes by marketing themselves to schools. Schools are a lucrative market, and you don't have to be an educator to set up a visit. Learn how to translate your writing strengths into a hand-on classroom workshop. Get tips from Laura Shovan, Maryland State Arts Council Artist-in-Education for poetry, on making your author visit a success. Learn more about Laura's work in the schools at www.laurashovan.com.
At Clayton Fine Books & Cyber Cafe, 317 N. Charles Street, in downtown Baltimore. (410) 752-6800. The owners have graciously offered to extend the store hours to accommodate our meeting, and will be providing food and drinks. In exchange, they have asked that each person please consider contributing $5.

Wednesday, July 9, 7:30-9:30

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the . . .
Do you feel the urge to write but you're out of ideas? Thomas S. Pessini (T.S. Pessini) sheds some light on the origin of ideas and where he finds them. Hear how being receptive has led him to about five different book ideas. Tom will discuss venues writers can get ideas from such as music and newspapers.
Tom served twenty-three years in the U.S. Army in Military Intelligence and Military Police. He has an A.A. in Criminology, a B.S. in English Education with a minor in Creative Writing, and teaches a course in Creative Writing for the Continuing Education Department at Garrett Community College. He wrote as a journalist for one year, and has three short stories published in literary magazines. He creates his stories from ideas, which come to him through an abundance of sources. "Ideas are everywhere," he says, "a writer has to be receptive to those ideas which generate stories."
Currently, he is promoting is first novel of his political espionage series, Traitor in the White House, and works as an Instructional Assistant at Northern High School in Garrett County, Maryland where he writes, usually surrounded by his eight dogs. "And that," he says, "is another story."

Monday, July 28, 7:00-9:00

Speaker details to follow.

Wednesday, August 13, 7:30-9:30

Would you like to turn your novel into a bestseller? Join Austin Camacho as he discusses "The Joy and Challenge of Marketing Fiction."

With no obvious target market or news hook, new fiction can gets lost in the sea of books published every year, no matter how well written. To give your novel a fighting chance, Camacho will offer proven tips and ground-breaking strategies from his new book, Successfully Marketing Fiction in the 21st Century. These are winning tactics he has personally used to get his six novels onto the shelves of major bookstores and into the hands of thousands of readers.

Austin S. Camacho is the author of four detective novels in the Hannibal Jones series: Blood and Bone, Collateral Damage, The Troubleshooter, and Damaged Goods, plus two action adventure novels, The Payback Assignment and The Orion Assignment. Active in several writers' organizations, Camacho is a past president of the Maryland Writers' Association, and teaches writing at Anne Arundel Community College. After a career as a military news reporter on the American Forces Network, Camacho is now a public affairs specialist for the Defense Department. Camacho lives in Springfield, Virginia with his lovely wife Denise and Princess the Wonder Cat.

Monday, August 25, 7:00-9:00

"Soft Launch Party" for the MWA Anthology. Details to follow.

Wednesday, September 10, 7:30-9:30

Speaker details to follow.

Monday, September 22, 7:00-9:00

Lois Szymanski, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, speaks on planning a successful author visit. Speaker and topic details to follow.