Our Inaugural project for 2011

We are free to throw another log on the fire this year and watch the snow fall(or watch the surf roll in three blocks from here) because of the selflessness of our veterans.  One such veteran, Sergio Santos, attended our recent writer’s workshop with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jonathan Freedman.  While on break, Sergio told me about a group of veterans who have been meeting locally to learn what they can about the craft of writing, for the clearest of meanings:  They have stories to tell.

Over the last month this encounter with Sergio has morphed into a plan and an invitation.

A Word with You Press is pleased to announce that writers from his group, and any other veterans who have a story to tell, are invited to read-and-respond sessions twice a month, starting January 22 at 11:00 at our clubhouse at 802 South Tremont Street in Oceanside. The meetings will be informal, but professionally moderated, with the clear goal of getting these stories print-worthy by summer, at which time we will publish them in an anthology of their own.  Bring your work, get both peer and professional feedback, and become a published writer.

We have a lot of you to thank for helping us get into a position to do this. Your volunteer efforts have help us renovate our building, and your patience and participation creating our first anthology, where over a hundred of you contributed stores, have helped us create an infrastructure to produce anthologies for publication as hard copy.

Do you know a veteran local to the San Diego area who might want to participate in these workshops?  They are completely free, and we are rounding up sponsors so that the vets who attend will  share a hot meal and receive a travel stipend.  In addition to this, every vet who attends and does the heavy lifting required to get into the anthology will be rewarded with ten copies of the final edition, and half the profits from the sale of the books will go to support  “Wounded Warriors.”