President Michael Darling's Monthly Message:

Biography Blitz

All those interested in writing are excitedly invited to attend the TWA general meeting being held Wednesday, February 3rd, at 7pm at the Barnes&Noble on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. Attendees will benefit from John Capouya’s presentation, “Biography Blitz,” where we will learn the steps of how to create a biography. John will use his latest book, Gorgeous George, as a sample for the biography-creating process. Gorgeous George is published by HarperCollins and available in bookstores everywhere.

John Capouya is a professor of journalism and writing at the University of Tampa. He was formerly an editor at Newsweek, The New York Times, SmartMoney magazine and New York Newsday, among other publications. Though he has also been a sports writer, covering pro basketball, he knew nothing of wrestling and didn’t see his first pro match until he became intrigued by the story of Gorgeous George.

Capouya’s previous book was Real Men Do Yoga (HCI Books, 2003), and his most recent magazine work appeared in Sports Illustrated—an essay about Gorgeous George’s enduring impact on today’s athletes—and Travel & Leisure (reporting on a yoga cruise to the Caribbean). He and his wife, artist and photo editor Suzanne Williamson, live part of the year in Tampa and part in New York City.

http://www.booknoise.net/gorgeous/author.html

January’s Speaker

Ours thanks goes to our last month's speaker, Charrie Hazard. She shared her knowledge and inspired attendees how to write an emotionally charged poem at our January meeting. Please visit Charrie’s website: http://www.charriehazard.com/index.html

TWA Elections

Congratulations to the new officers of the TWA! They will be taking command here in February. Please check out the new edition of the TWA newsletter, Write Connections due out in late January for a list of those voted into office by a landslide! Again, congrats to them and thank you for stepping up to take the reins of the TWA for the next two years.

TWA Writing Contest Coordinator

Speaking of brave TWA members coming forward to help the group out in its time of need, there is a great necessity for someone to take over the post of Contest Coordinator this year. Many thanks to Paul DuBose for handling this post last year, but now is the time for someone else to volunteer. Paul can’t do everything. Prospective coordinators will need to contact Paul at mytwa@aol.com or the new president, Chris Taylor, at LTAYLOR190@tampabay.rr.com.

Awards Banquet

See you at the awards banquet on Thursday January 21st at the Golden Corral in Temple Terrace. We will be announcing winners of the 2009 TWA Writing Contest at the banquet. Seating will be from 6:45 pm to 7:15pm. The meal tickets, tan Wordsmith tickets, and red door prize tickets will be handed out at the door. Those TWA members who participated in the Writing Contest and non-members who purchased passes should be receiving an e-mail notification that their tickets will be waiting for them at the door. If you did not participate in the contest and would like to go to the awards banquet, please contact Paul at mytwa@aol.com immediately to purchase passes for the event! If you have an extra guest that you have not paid for yet, please contact Paul to do so ASAP.