Welcome to the President’s Corner
Each month, our GCWA president shares fresh thoughts, inspiration, and updates to keep our community connected and moving forward. It’s a place to celebrate our writers, highlight opportunities, and encourage creativity.
January 2026
Welcome, GCWA, to 2026 and New Beginnings
| Resolutions are tricky things. As writers, we come equipped with goals: Be more productive. Increase your volume. Try a new genre. Find a publisher. The list goes on. But up until now, not one member of Gulf Coast Writers has met this goal: entering the annual GCWA Writing Contest. VP of Special Projects Claudia Geagan reports that she has entries from Florida, Texas, and Europe – but not one from members of GCWA. This writing challenge is how we showcase our work and garner credit. Judging is blind. No judge will know whose work they are reading. Please enter. The contest closes March 15. While it’s gratifying to see entries from afar, we expect a majority to come from our own members. Please be one. See the submission guidelines on our website. And use this opportunity to spread your literary wings. It’s been nearly two months since our last meeting. I miss you. Will you join me at 10 AM on Saturday, January 17? We’ll be in our regular location: Browning Hall behind Saint Hilary’s Episcopal Church, 5011 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. Our new program director, Lori Swick, announces an intriguing feature for January: Adult Programming Coordinators at the Lee County Library system will present the library’s offerings for local writers. Bibi Cruz, Senior Librarian, and Kristen Marshall, Electronic Resources Librarian, will discuss programs and resources the Lee Public Library offers for local writers, including the Southwest Florida Reading Festival and Fandom Fest. Please come. Let me know if you’ll bring cookies or water, or if you’ll help greet arriving members and guests. We appreciate our volunteers! See you next Saturday, January 17. At that meeting, I hope to announce many member entries into the GCWA writing contest. Mary |
December 2025
Dear Gulf Coast Writers and Friends
What a month just ended for GCWA! On the first day of November, we honored our 30-year history with a well-attended celebration. Then, two weeks later, the membership came together to speak up about their hopes for the future of our organization.
One thing emerged from both meetings: members are expressing huge enthusiasm for the promise of Gulf Coast Writers Association.
As we celebrated our heritage on November 1, Robert Macomber’s keynote address challenged us to commit to the writing life. At our November 15 member meeting, our youngest member spoke for her team to ask for renewed support. And our newest member represented her team with forward-looking ideas.
Now it is December. The hurricane season is over. And our energies are refocused. You have challenged our organization to step up our commitment to helping each member excel. Thank you for urging us to rise up. We’ll ask each of you to help us do so.
Keep writing. And look for new initiatives in the coming year. Happy holidays to each of you. Keep your ideas coming. Reach out to me or any of your executive committee members.
Mary
November 2025
Dear Gulf Coast Writers and Friends
Saturdayʼs meeting resolved so many questions facing our organization:
- Yes, you want snacks.
- No, you do not care about snacks.
- Yes, you want back-to-basics brush-ups on grammar and style.
- No, you want high-level literary improvement.
- And so much more.
Thank you to all who weighed in at Saint Hilaryʼs and via Zoom. To the eight in-person teams who produced excellent suggestions, and to those who offered their thoughts on Zoom, you have given the Executive Committee so much to think about and implement in the coming year.
And to those who bravely spoke on behalf of their tables, big kudos. From Joyce Faith Blevins, our youngest member, to Marty Ambrose, our newest member, to Laura Fuller, our most reserved member: you rock. Each one of the eight spokespersons did themselves and your “idea tablesˮ proud.
Saturday, Ginger Wakem gave a bang-up recap of all that GCWA accomplished in 2025. Scroll to the Spotlight section.) The list is immense, and we all share in the pride of achievement.
And to the 64 of you who became members in 2025, thank you – and please give us your wish lists for the organization. Our Newcomers account for over a third of our total membership. You are important to us. We want to hear from you.
Check out our (new and improved) website. Weʼll be posting the names and contact info for everyone on the Executive Committee. Please take the opportunity to email any of us. Have a new idea for Programs? Let Lori Swick know. Want to form a Critique Group? Tell Claudia Geagan. Have general ideas or questions? Tell me.
GCWA came through some dark times at the start of this decade. Our membership dropped to a few dozen. COVID-19 required us to observe social distancing. Then Hurricane Ian made some of us homeless, with more urgent priorities than attending meetings. But 2025 put us back on our feet, with the energy to look ahead.
Thank you for Saturday’s many wise suggestions. Your GCWA leadership is determined to sustain the energy and keep us vibrant and relevant.
And we’re grateful for each of you.
Mary
Contact Us
October 2025
To our Gulf Coast Writers and friends
It is good to see many of your names on the reservation list for our 30th anniversary luncheon on November 1. There are still tickets available, with the order deadline of October 24 approaching. It’s easy to place your order on our website, gulfcoastwriters.org. Or you can reserve your ticket in person at our regular October meeting this coming Saturday, October 18.
The November 1 celebration is also your opportunity to promote your books. Bring 100 of your bookmarks or promotional cards to the October 18 meeting, and they’ll be included in the gift bags to be handed to each attendee on November 1.
Do you know about our GCWA Facebook page? It’s a lively forum for news and conversation. You’ll also find photos from past meetings and announcements about what’s coming. You’re welcome, as are your friends and neighbors. Join by logging on to Facebook, then entering Gulf Coast Writers in the search bar at the upper left of the page.
I look forward to seeing you this coming Saturday, October 18, at 10 am atSt. Hilary’s Episcopal Church, 5011 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers. On that day we’ll be treated to an academic look at Artificial Intelligence (AI), presented by a real live human, Joann Salapska-Gilleri, PhD., Professor of Cognitive Psychology at FGCU.
I wonder if there will be cookies on Saturday. Let me know if you’ll provide them. Or water. Or other items of refreshment.
See you soon.
Mary Charles, President, GCWA
September 2025
It’s a great time to be a writer!
Look around. Listen. Feel. Smell. Taste. Inspiration is everywhere. Ideas jump from every corner. I’ve just returned from a visit to my late husband’s homeland, accompanied by American friends and facilitated by his Norwegian family. One of our group kept a daily journal of our journey. I documented it in photos. Together we have a priceless memoir of impressions, of wonders, of encounters, of discoveries.
And while I was abroad, my fellow GCWA members not only kept the ship afloat but also shined it up spectacularly. They launched our new website. They organized our 30ᵗʰ anniversary gala. They broadcasted our news. They judged our writing contest and announced the winners. We are an
organization of volunteers, and the team steps up to every challenge.
Take a look at the new website: sleek, modern, navigable. Go to gulfcoastwriters.org and poke around. It’s a thing of wonder, created and executed 100% by GCWA members. It will only improve as we members add our input. Make it your home. Use it as your platform. Let it work for you. That’s why it’s there.
Here’s another thing that sets GCWA apart. Our annual celebration of excellence in writing goes beyond ourselves: it honors all entrants whose work excels. This year, our GCWA members will take home 5 awards, while nonmembers will receive the other 4 awards. Honorable mentions included 5 members and 4 nonmembers. It’s a democratic competition. We should be proud. Please come on Saturday, September 20, to honor those whose writing rose to the top of this year’s competition. There will be a reception afterward with food and beverages. Please be there. It is our duty and privilege to celebrate our winning writers.
Your 30ᵗʰ anniversary celebration committee has worked tirelessly to create an event that will inspire us all. Please come on November 1. Reserve your tickets now. Bring your family. Bring your friends. This is a celebration of you and us and the delirious joy of being writers. The keynote speech by acclaimed Florida author Robert Macomber will dare us to surprise ourselves, and we’ll also appreciate ourselves and our many achievements. Come to the lovefest.
