Join us in Galax, Virginia, on Saturday, August 14, from 9:30-11:30, for a JoyWriters Workshop, “Writing an Effective Query Letter.” This workshop will be taught by Lynn Merrell and Tammy Carter. Please e-mail for location, more details, and registration: info@joywriters.com

Join us for an evening with author, motivational speaker, and principal Jerry King. JoyWriters meets at Cornerstone Community Church in downtown Galax, VA, at 7:00 PM. E-mail info@joywriters.com for more information.

Donna Triplett will teach the hands-on class, Writing Dialogue,  on Saturday, December 12, 2009, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Class location is in the Family Friendly Schools conference room in downtown Galax, VA. The workshop is free to Joy Writers members, and costs five dollars for visitors. To register and get directions to FFS, email vie@violetwrites.com.

The next meeting of JoyWriters, an American Christian Writers chapter meeting in Galax, Virginia will be on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are held at Cornerstone Community Church located on Main Street in Galax.

Penny Moseley and Mitone Griffith will be the speakers for our November meeting. This mother-daughter duo is the energy and creativity behind The Big Blue, an excellent regional magazine for the Blue Ridge Plateau. They will share a behind the scenes look at birthing and publishing a slick magazine.

JoyWriters meets bimonthly, with occasional workshops held between meetings. A workshop on writing dialogue will be taught by Donna Triplett during December. Please e-mail info@joywriters.org for date, time, and location, and to register. This workshop is free for members and five dollars for non-members.

Here is the speaker schedule for upcoming meetings:

January: Susan Shaw-Snow, freelance magazine writer, past newspaper editor.

March: Jerry King, speaker, author, principal

May: A panel of self-published authors will present their experiences with self-publishing and will field questions from members.

Join us on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 for the next meeting of JoyWriters!

Our guest speaker will be Sharon Ritchie, owner of Chapters Bookshop in Galax. Sharon will talk about bookselling in a brick and mortar store. She’ll share industry terminology such as frontlist, backlist, advanced reader copy, and the infamous remainders! She’ll explain where bookstores get the books they stock, and how they make the decisions for store purchases. Be sure to be there! You’ll get the inside scoop on the bookselling industry.

JoyWriters meets at 227 S. Main St., in Galax, VA, at the Cornerstone Community Church facility. E-mail info@joywriters.com for more information.