Chesapeake Bay Writers

Make Your Reservation Now
for the CBW Dinner Meeting
Wednesday, June 20th

"How to be a Rock Star at PR"
Olivia's in the Village, Gloucester

Presented by Alice Osborn

How do you stand out from the crowd and make others remember who you are? Through your personal brand! Alice started her own successful writing and editing services company over a decade ago and is here to share her secrets with you. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to build your brand by highlighting what makes you different from the crowd through your personal story, how you show up, and how you network/volunteer your time. Alice will also discuss how your brand is vital to get readers who don’t know you yet to like and follow you. She’ll also share how your branding must be consistent in all of your printed and online materials to include your website, social media networking, and business cards. Ultimately, a powerful brand will help you attract, engage, and retain new readers and fans as it builds the loyalty of your current ones.

Alice Osborn’s past educational and work experience is unusually varied, and it now feeds her work as a poet/book editor and singer/songwriter on acoustic guitar. In the past decade, Alice has taught writing workshops to thousands of aspiring fiction, poetry, and memoir authors of nearly all ages from 9 to 90 both around the corner and across continents. Heroes without Capes is her most recent collection of poetry. Previous collections are After the Steaming Stops and Unfinished Projects. Alice is also the editor of the anthologies Tattoos and Creatures of Habitat, both from Main Street Rag. A North Carolina Writers’ Network, North Carolina Poetry Society, and North Carolina Songwriters Co-op board member and a Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has appeared in the News and Observer, The Broad River Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Soundings Review and in numerous journals and anthologies. Alice is the musician-in-residence for the Western Wake Farmers' Market. She is also an Irish dancer who plays Celtic fiddle and bluegrass banjo. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, two children, four birds and one messy guinea pig. Visit Alice's website at www.aliceosborn.com and check out her music at www.reverbnation.com/aliceosborn.

Reservations List as of June 17, 2018
Carol J. Bova
Dawn Brotherton
Grace DeLeesie
Ellen Dugan
Joel Emerson
Eileen Gedicke
Dara Haynes
Sarah Honenberger
Jackie Ingram
Dianne Jordan
Tracy Lanum
Carlton Melton
Frank Milligan
Alice Osborn
Olen & Mary Montague Sikes
Ann & Rama Skelton
Susan Williamson

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CBW Second Monday Radio Show June 11
Sharon Dillon on XTRA 99.1 FM, 8:05 AM
Gemstones and Dimes

Sharon Dillon will be interviewed by Neal Steele on June 11th about her new work, Gemstones and Dimes, a compendium of several writing genres.

She includes humorous stories, other fiction, and thoughtful, serious essays varying in length from short one-pagers to several pages. Her stories derive from her life experiences and topics that she considers worthy of discussion or that may provide a few laughs.

Her book is available at Amazon.

CBW Second Monday Radio Show
Xtra 99.1 FM, Monday, May 14, 8:05 a.m.
Carol J Bova - Chestnut Springs

Neal Steele interviewed Carol J. Bova about her novel, Chestnut Springs, on the CBW Second Monday Radio Show on Xtra 99.1 FM WXGM, Monday May 14. Chestnut Springs is about a business woman who loses her job at 55 and moves from Los Angeles to a modern off-the-grid cabin in West Virginia while she job hunts online. Instead of another job in a big city, she finds a place for life, love and second chances. It's an upbeat story of small town life and friendships. The interview will be posted soon on our CBW podcast page.

Carol found a new lifestyle as a writer in 2004 after moving from California to Mathews. In 2014, she wrote a nonfiction book, Drowning a County. to unmask the urban myths the Virginia Department of Transportation created to explain decades of inadequate state road ditch maintenance. Carol is a columnist for Chesapeake Style magazine and a past president of the Chesapeake Bay Writers. She has three works in progress--a new novel also set in Chestnut Springs and two nonfiction books.

Great Program at CBW Meeting
April 18, 2018

Essex Public Library, Tappahannock

Writing for $$$: 5 Steps to Getting Published in Magazines

      If you love to write, it is possible to turn that skill into a fulfilling and even lucrative second career. Ann Eichenmuller will introduce you to the world of freelance magazine writing and share from her own experience the possibilities and pitfalls of getting paid for what you write.
      Learn about the markets available to writers, the kinds of articles magazines want, and how to research, develop, and pitch winning ideas. Become familiar with the business side of this kind of freelance writing, from contracts and invoices to payments to kill fees. No matter what your age or interest, there is an audience out there waiting to hear from you.
     The library is located at 117 N. Church Lane, Tappahannock, to the right off US 17N, between Tappahannock Elementary School and Queen Street (Route 360). There is no charge and non-members are welcome to attend.

About Ann Eichenmuller
     Ann Eichenmuller is an award-winning educator and writer and creator of Motorhome magazine’s popular “Classic Ride” series. A regular contributor to Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Chesapeake Style, and the Caribbean All at Sea, her articles were recognized at the 2016 and 2017 Boating Writers International Annual Awards. She is a former recipient of the WashingtonPost Agnes Meyer Award for Excellence in Education and the author of two mystery novels, Kind Lies (2017) and The Lies We Are (June 2018). Ann has recently completed her first non-fiction book, The Writing Cure, about the healing power of writing.

Check Events Page for New Listings

Dan Duke, of The Virginian-Pilot
spoke at the CBW Meeting on February 14 on
"Fake News and
Non-Fiction"

Dan is entertainment editor at The Virginian-Pilot, directing coverage of arts and entertainment and the Flavor section. In 23 years at The Pilot, he also has worked as a copy editor, copy desk chief and assistant business editor, while staying busy outside the newsroom as, at various times, a Cub Scout den leader, a youth soccer coach, a writing and editing teacher and an amateur musician trying to do right by his 1981 Gibson ES 335.

Apply Now for 2018 CBW Second Monday Radio Interviews with Neal Steele!

We are looking for members with recently published books to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to be interviewed by Neal Steele on XTRA 99.1 FM. Email Tracy Lanum at tracygl@cox.net or call (804) 815-9954 to get a copy of the show guidelines and discuss scheduling an interview.

How to Join Virginia Writers Club

VWC Membership is independent of CBW Chapter Membership and requires a separate application and dues payment. If you wish to join the Virginia Writers Club (VWC), click here.

Make Your Reservation Nowfor the CBW Dinner MeetingWednesday, June 20th