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2025: Prepare for an amazing year of COFW Programs
January
Date: January 18, 2025
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Community Room at the Burkhardt Library, 4704 Burkhardt Ave., Dayton, OH 45403.
Speaker: Rene Gutteridge, Zoom
Topic: The Writer’s Identity
One of the biggest moments we can experience as writer is to use the word to describe ourselves: I am a writer! But if we’re not careful, this can become a slippery slope of our core identity. In this class, Rene will explore how to keep your identity strong and protected while navigating the extremely tumultuous world of rejection and rebound called the writing life.
About our Speaker:
Rene Gutteridge has been writing professionally for over twenty years, with expertise in fiction, non-fiction, comedy sketches, novelizations and screenwriting. She is the multi-genre author of 24 novels plus several non-fiction titles. Her indie film SKID won deadCenter’s Best Oklahoma Feature, and her novel My Life as a Doormat was adapted into the Hallmark movie Love’s Complicated. Rene is co-director of WriterCon in Oklahoma City, senior contributor at Writing Momentum and is the head writer at Skit Guys Studios. Find out more at ReneGutteridge.com.
February
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, small group workshopping on your novel or work in progress
Location: Zoom and Columbus-area library TBD
Facilitator: Leah Lore
Come with your book ideas and get ready to brainstorm/plot in small group sessions, Each person has a turn to share where they could use group help brainstorming anything. For example, are you:
- Stuck somewhere?
- Got a plot hole that swallowed a bus and want ideas how to drive out of it?
- Need ideas for events to occur in the plot?
- Worried about your characters’ wound and whether it’s strong enough to drive the novel?
- Want a general sounding board?
About our Speaker: Leah Lore is our 2025 Programs Chair. Her debut release, To the Stars, is a sci-fi novelette in ebook that has received Amazon best-seller status.
March
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Dayton Metropolitan Library, Vandalia Branch, 330 South Dixie Drive. Community Room
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
April
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Columbus-area library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
May
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker via zoom.
Location: Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
June
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Columbus-area library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
July
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
August
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Columbus-area library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
September
Time: Noon-3 p.m
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
October
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Columbus-area library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
November
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
December
Date: Saturday December 6, or Sunday, December 7, 2025
Time: noon-3
Location: Private Event, members only.
Topic: Celebration of all things COFW and writing romance. Awarding pens to our members publishing their first novels, and awarding our member of the year.
Details for this event will be available through the COFW Google Group email and the Facebook page.