Name This Newsletter See details on page 4 WLOV Newsletter for May 2021 www.writersleagueofthevillages.com Who lived here? (Page 12) Above, WLOV’s Barnes and Noble kick-off on April 10. See more starting on pages 6. Scary Musings Event (Page 4) Wine and Words (Page 10) The Nation’s Greatest Songwriter (Page 16) …and so much more. Scoll down for the T of C. 1 Table of Contents for May 2021 Page → → Click on any item to go right to that item. Message from Your Newsletter Editor 2-3 Upcoming Events 3 Scary Musings Event - Call for Submissions 4 Name This Newsletter Contest 4 Message from Your President 5 July Beach Book Bonanza 6 WLOV Authors in Barnes & Noble – Books & Pictures 6-8 Writing-Related News 9-11 Mark Newhouse speaks at Holocaust Remembrance Day WLOV Authors at All Booked Up The Wine and Words Club The Villages Songwriting Club Print News Items about WLOV Members Remembering Brenda Shea 11 Which Famous Author Lived Here? 12 Recurring Items of Interest 13 Great Courses Videos Pay 2021 Dues Online WLOV Book Catalogue New WLOV Business Cards Writers of the Villages Group on Facebook Village Neighbors Magazine Cartoons 14-15 Appendix: Songwriting and Irving Berlin 16-17 *** Message From Your Newsletter Editor By Larry Martin [email protected] August 11th! We are getting closer to a live meeting, currently planned for August 11th, at Laurel Manor. Meanwhile, we’ve been busy with Zoom and a couple of local ‘get togethers’ at Barnes & Noble in Lake Sumter Landing. In the coming months it’s likely all critique groups will be meeting live. Wannabes, Rick Greenberg’s Monday morning critique group. has been doing hybrid sessions for the past two months; on May 3, Wannabes will resume in- person-only meetings, at Lake Miona Rec Center. 2 WLOV’s April 14th general meeting was attended on Zoom by 36 people. After a short business meeting we were treated to a great talk by Becca Syme, on “Seven Productivity Myths and Why You Should Stop Believing Them.” If you missed her talk, click here to see her slides and for other “Links for WLOV.” As to links, the is the first newsletter where every item listed in the T of C and on the cover is linkable to the that specific item inside the newsletter; it works with a single mouse click. The links have been tested in the pdf format on my pc, but it’s possible they may not work on some other devices. If you have difficulty with any link, please let me know, and include the specific link and which device it does not work on. There will be a newsletter hiatus until August, when WLOV will have its next general meeting. In the meantime, if you have something for this newsletter that you think will interest our members, please send it to me. Upcoming Events • Wednesday, May 12, 9-11 am via ZOOM. General Meeting. Shutta Crum, author, storyteller, keynote speaker and educator, will present: “Oh those Voices – Finding your Writer’s Voice.” • Monday, May 17 at Colony Plaza, 10 am (also on Zoom) Monday, May 24 at Savannah Center, 10 am (in-person only) Civil Discourse Club of The Villages. Presentation on “Self-Publishing: The Good and the Bad,” by Larry Martin, WLOV’s Newsletter Editor. • July 25-31 - BEACH BOOK BONANZA – Online book promotion. For details see page 6. • Wednesday, August 11, 9-11 am – General meeting, Laurel Manor Rec Center • Wednesday, September 8, 9-11 am – General Meeting, Laurel Manor Rec Center • Thursday, Sept 30 – 6 pm - SAVE THE DATE! Scary Musings (See Page 4) Laurel Manor Rec Center. The evening event will also feature a silent auction. • Sunday, Jan 30, 2022 – Book Expo – Tentative location will again be Eisenhower Rec Center 3 Call for Submissions: Scary Musings Event By Rita Boehm, WLOV President Sharpen those writing quills and channel your inner Edgar Alan Poe or Alfred Hitchcock. Maybe even find a raven for inspiration… whatever it takes to create a scary poem or short story. Something you’d read at night with all the lights on…because you never know what might be lurking in the dark. Rules for submission Eligibility: Limited to Members of WLOV Submission period: June 1 through July 31, 2021 Submit to: [email protected] You will receive notification of receipt within 2 days. If you don’t receive notification, please resend to [email protected]. Again, you should receive notification within 2 days of receipt. Your Name: Do not include your name on actual entry. However, make sure your name and the title of your entry are included in the email. Entry Definition: Short stories and poems appropriate for a scary Halloween reading Length: Short stories – maximum 1500 words; Poetry – maximum 1000 words Format: MS-word (single or double-spaced) Note: This is not a judged contest event. Selections will be chosen based on a) appropriateness for this particular event; and, b) time limitations. There are a limited number of selections that can be read in the allotted time frame. Save the date: THURSDAY, SEPT 30, 2021 TIME: 6 – 8 PM Location: LAUREL MANOR RECREATION CENTER *** “NAME THIS NEWSLETTER” CONTEST By Paula Howard, WLOV Past President You could win a spotlight interview and a gift card prize if your name is picked! The WLOV Board of Directors is looking for a name for our newsletter. Names should be no longer than 20 characters and be a positive reflection of our organization. Submit up to five (5) entries along with your name and email address to [email protected] no later than June 15, 2021. Send each entry with NEWSLETTER CONTEST in the Subject Line of your email. Just remember, you are ALL winners with us! 4 Message From Your President Rita Boehm Hi everyone: Wow! What a busy month it’s been. Hard to find time to take a breath, but I’m thrilled to be able to report on exciting news about Barnes & Noble. I hope you’ve had a chance to visit the Lake Sumter Barnes & Noble store over the last few weeks. We’ve developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the store that’s allowed us to feature eight of our authors thus far. Managing and nurturing this relationship has been time-consuming. It’s also incredibly gratifying to see our talented local authors featured in the store. Our first event ended on April 23rd and featured WWII-themed books. A total of 27 books were sold. Our current two-week event featuring thriller and crime novels ends on May 7. The kickoff get together for this event was a phenomenal success! Initial inventory of books by Mel Harrison, Phyllis Walters, J.J. Clarke and Ann Heathman sold out quickly and had to be replenished twice. See more about Barnes & Noble, incuding pictures, starting on the next page. There will be a two-week hiatus, so our next book display at Barnes & Noble will begin on May 28th and will feature memoirs. Stay tuned for more info. Participation is restricted to WLOV members. This is just one of the many benefits of membership. General Meetings: April 14th meeting: Turn-out for Becca Syme’s insightful workshop on Seven Productivity Myths and Why You Should Stop Believing Them was the highest we’ve had for a Zoom meeting. Becca provided a link for access to her presentation slides which I’ve shared on our Facebook page (It’s also on our website). May 12th meeting: Shutta Crum, author, storyteller, keynote speaker and educator, will present: “Oh those Voices–Finding your Writer’s Voice.” Don’t miss it! Check out the FWA blog for more info about this very important topic for all writers: https://floridawriters.blog/oh- those-voices-part-1. SUMMER HIATUS – There won’t be any meetings – or newsletters - in June and July. However, we are not folding our tents and stealing away to the beach. Your Board will still be working hard. July 24-31 we will be holding our online Beach Book Bonanza (see page 6). Throughout June and July we will be accepting your stories and poems for our September 30th SCARY MUSINGS event. Information about how to submit your work for this event is provided on page 4, and will also be sent out via email. When next we meet again it will be IN PERSON! I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center on August 11th at 9 am. New Year’s Resolution Member Challenge: Don’t forget my New Year’s Resolution Member Challenge. Go to https://writersleagueofthevillages.com, select a book from one of your talented fellow WLOV authors, read the book and write an Amazon review. I just finished reading Mel Harrison’s exciting thriller, The Ambassador is Missing (book two of the Alex Boyd series) 5 and I’m in the middle of Dick Stoebel’s enjoyable memoir, I’m Almost History. I highly recommend both of them and will be writing reviews soon. New Book? If you’ve released a new book, please remember to forward the pertinent information to Paula Howard at [email protected] for inclusion on the website. I welcome your ideas and comments. Please contact me either at my personal email at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Stay safe. Happy writing. Rita GET READY FOR JULY BEACH BOOK BONANZA! By Paula Howard, WLOV Past President WLOV is having our second book promotion this summer: BEACH BOOK BONANZA online from July 25 to 31 at writersleagueofthevillages.com All members are allotted one book to be listed at no charge as a member benefit.