Friday, December 22, 2023
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; lt;img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-420" src="https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/DSC01606-300x225.jpg" alt height="225" "https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/DSC01606-300x225.jpg 300w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/DSC01606-1024x768.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"gt; amp;nbsp; Is there a connection between writing and wellness? Where do great writers get their stories? Has anyone ever suggested to you that you should write a book? Believe it or not, these questions are related to each other. If you or a member of your family have served in the military, a great opportunity to improve your writing skills and tell your story is coming to Groton, CT on Thursday, September 14, 2023.lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; The lt;a href="https://www.mwsadispatches.com"gt;Military Writers Society of Americalt;/agt; (MWSA is a non-profit organization) will hold a free workshop taught by award-winning authors from 9am to 3pm on 9/14/2023 at the Submarine Force Library amp;amp; amp;nbsp;Museum, 1 Crystal Lake Road, Groton, CT. Lunch and snacks are included, compliments of MWSA and The Rolling Tomato.lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; In the 1980s, psychologists and sociologists started paying attention to the fact that writing is healing and we should write about what keeps us awake at night. Or perhaps you just have a great story you'd like to share.amp;nbsp; Writing is a powerful tool for self-discovery and healing - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Your story may help others - and it may become a book!lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp;The seed for MWSA was planted in 1998, when Vietnam Veteran and author Bill McDonald built a website presence for his old Army unit (The 128th Assault Helicopter Company) called the "Vietnam War Experience."amp;nbsp; That original website began with just poetry and stories, a humble reservoir of war memories that Bill had written during his tour of duty in South Vietnam. He eventually expanded the website to include the writings of dozens of his brothers-in-arms. In the first six months, website traffic increased to over 17,000 visitors a month, eventually peaking at close to 275,000 a month after he participated in the making of the war documentary film (from Arrowhead Films) called lt;a href="http://www.intheshadowoftheblade.com/"gt;In the Shadow of The Bladelt;/agt;.amp;nbsp; The Vietnam Experience website eventually surpassed 30 million total visitors in 2008. They no longer track the total.lt;img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-398" src="https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Dave-on-tank-300x195.jpg" alt height="195" "https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Dave-on-tank-300x195.jpg 300w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Dave-on-tank.jpg 954w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"gt;lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp;Those early contributors to that website, whose prose and stories were posted for others to read, became the foundation of the Military Writers Society of America lt;a href="http://www.mwsadispatches.com/"gt;www.mwsadispatches.comlt;/agt;amp;nbsp;in 2003.lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp;The early goal of MWSA was simple: provide a safe community where writers with a military affiliation or those interested in writing about the military would be welcomed, appreciated, and could improve their writing.amp;nbsp; There were no restrictions as to genre.amp;nbsp; McDonald also wanted to help veterans with PTSD through the artistic expression of storytelling, memoir writing, and poetry. The organization grew to include the granting of book awards, reviews, scholarships, writing seminars, distribution of books to VA hospitals, a quarterly magazine (Dispatches) and anamp;nbsp; annual anthology of member's writings. Currently the MWSA is expanding its membership and looking for even more ways to serve the military community. The Military Writers Society of America will be holding its annual membership conference in New London, CT this year on September 15 and 16.lt;img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5385" src="https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/100_0046-1-300x225.jpg" alt height="225" "https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/100_0046-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/100_0046-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/100_0046-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/100_0046-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/100_0046-1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"gt;lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp;On Friday evening, September 15, 6pm, at lt;a href="https://www.banksquarebooks.com"gt;Bank Square Bookslt;/agt; in Mystic, CT, four award-winning MWSA authors will participate in a panel discussion and book signing. I will be there as moderator, local author and MWSA Education Ambassador.lt;/pgt;
lt;pgt;amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; amp;nbsp; There are still spaces available for the writing workshop on Thursday, 9/14, but they are going fast. If you are interested in writing your story and learning more about fiction, nonfiction, dialogue, plot, story crafting and more, send an email to lt;a href="https://ruthcrocker.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4235302b36273b2d373031362d303b022f3531236c212d"gt;lt;span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8dfaffe4f9e8f4e2f8fffef9e2fff4cde0fafeeca3eee2"gt;[emailamp;nbsp;protected]lt;/spangt;lt;/agt; or sign up through the Military Writers Society of America website: lt;a href="http://www.mwsadispatches.com/"gt;www.mwsadispatches.comlt;/agt;. You must be pre-registered for the workshop to attend and you'll have a wonderful experience with great teachers who are published, prize-winning authors!lt;img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-5781" src="https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bermix-studio-E6A1DWI-IXM-unsplash-1-300x200.jpg" alt height="200" "https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bermix-studio-E6A1DWI-IXM-unsplash-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bermix-studio-E6A1DWI-IXM-unsplash-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bermix-studio-E6A1DWI-IXM-unsplash-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bermix-studio-E6A1DWI-IXM-unsplash-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ruthcrocker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bermix-studio-E6A1DWI-IXM-unsplash-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"gt;lt;/pgt;