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Gulf Coast Writers showcased these titles as memoir-writing encouragement. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Walking into a meeting of the Gulf Coast Writers Association may feel like walking into a room of new old friends.\n<\/p>\n
The GCWA began in 1995 and continues to represent a collection of regional writers who share inspiration, community and education through online networking and in-person monthly gatherings.\n<\/p>\n
In the room of nearly 50 faces, everyone was either a published writer or on the path toward near publication.\n<\/p>\n
Entering a gathering of individuals who value words, creativity and books can be the coming-home style of welcoming for writers joining this a community of accomplished wordsmiths.\n<\/p>\n
Among the Southwest Florida authors were:\n<\/p>\n
Pilot Charley Valera, who wrote \u201cMy Father\u2019s War,\u201d a story, he said, of overdue gratitude for the veterans of World War II.
\nPatti M. Walsh, author of \u201cChick Stories\u201d \u2014 soon to be accompanied by an adventurous YouTube channel devoted to ladies and \u201cbrave gentlemen.\u201d
\nMiddle-grade writer Theresa Siller, whose book \u201cMeredith\u2019s Triumph\u201d is part of the Lee County library system.<\/p>\n
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Author Patti M. Walsh is creating a YouTube channel called Chick Stories. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Current president Christie Zarria introduced the Gulf Coast Writer\u2019s Association as the region\u2019s \u201clargest and liveliest writing community,\u201d and the meeting with its writing workshop format proved her descriptive adjectives.\n<\/p>\n
Mary Charles, former GCWA president, led the energetic memoir-writing workshop \u2014 a genre she deemed \u201cimportant writing through which life endures.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Fellow authors Valera and Walsh also addressed the group.\n<\/p>\n
From battle stories to Barbie\n<\/p>\n
Valera, the son of a World War II veteran, spent the previous eight years interviewing 18 veterans of WWII. After completing and self-publishing his book, \u201cMy Father\u2019s War,\u201d a compilation of his veteran interviews, Valera also produced a documentary from the same stories.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI had roughly 20 hours of raw footage,\u201d Valera explained. \u201cI finished editing the entire project in February of 2026.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He took the microphone to thank the local group for their support. The documentary \u201cMy Father\u2019s War\u201d is Valera\u2019s benevolent effort to thank the veterans of World War II for their devotion to America.\n<\/p>\n
On June 6, the anniversary of D-Day, Valera planned a showing of his completed movie in his hometown of Leominster, Massachusetts.\n<\/p>\n
Members of the GCWA are not simply writers. These individuals are also entrepreneurs and filmmakers, among the numerous roles they play in society.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIn April, I started putting teasers about the documentary on Facebook. I hoped 25 or 30 people would show up,\u201d Valera shared.\n<\/p>\n
On the first day of sales, 55 tickets were sold\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI was astounded,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Valera hoped the last living veteran from his original group of 18 interviewees \u2014101-year-old Charlie Sanderson \u2014 would attend. The war hero had not answered Valera\u2019s recent calls.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew he was alive and well. I did not know if he would make it to the premiere,\u201d Valera said.\n<\/p>\n
On June 6, 101-year-old Sanderson, accompanied by his granddaughter, did show up to the documentary premiere of \u201cMy Father\u2019s War.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
So did 200-plus others.\n<\/p>\n
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Memoir enthusiast and public speaker Mary Charles addressing the Gulf Coast Writers meeting with a theme of memoir writing. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Ticket holders offered a standing ovation inside the theater in Sanderson\u2019s honor. Valera was humbled to share his success with GCWA, an outwardly supportive group that next made time for Walsh to discuss her projects.\n<\/p>\n
Walsh is an ageless spirit, comfortable in front of a crowd, and eager to tell a story.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI am, after all, a storyteller,\u201d she told me.\n<\/p>\n
Walsh\u2019s book, \u201cChick Stories,\u201d is a collection of 47 essays from the author\u2019s childhood and beyond. In the description Walsh wrote for Amazon, she said her book contains \u201ctravesties, tragedies and comical calamities,\u201d along with the detail that Barbie helped Walsh discover her own sexuality.\n<\/p>\n
From WWII heroics to a firsthand retelling of growing up as a girl in mid-1950s America, the diversity of the authors who collectively make up GCWA is palpable. Walsh next plans a YouTube channel dedicated to women, like herself, with stories to tell.\n<\/p>\n
Charles,\u00a0 then continued the memoir writing workshop. The former Association president is currently in charge of communications for the organization.\n<\/p>\n
Making a memoir\n<\/p>\n
Early in her career, Charles said, \u201cI told tales of Fortune 500 companies.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
She had not spent much energy, if any, considering the value of memoir writing then.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMy life is not for the pages on someone else\u2019s shelf,\u201d she teased.\n<\/p>\n
It was not until her parents, in their 80s, gave Charles the gifts of loose-leaf binders containing their life stories, that the writer began to take an interest in memoir writing. She said the notebooks of memories \u2014 handwritten by her mom and dad \u2014 were the least expensive and most valuable gifts she had ever been given.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMemoirs are a curated set of moments \u2026 and the opportunity to really let the reader trust you,\u201d Charles told the participants.\n<\/p>\n
She filled her presentation with notes on how to start \u2014 and finish \u2014 writing a provocative memoir.\n<\/p>\n
First, Charles suggested an effective memoir writer must establish the scene, an atmosphere, including smells and feels.\n<\/p>\n
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Gulf Coast Writers Association members gather monthly. -CASEY BRADLEY GENT \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
\u201cSetting the scene and creating a theme are important differences between just journaling and writing a memoir,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile journaling is day to day, memoir writing is more reflective. Memoir writing encompasses a block of time.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Charles also said that any great writer must treat their work as a job, and that developing a memoir requires the writer to allocate intentional time for their story.\n<\/p>\n
Another message Charles repeated throughout her workshop was: Do not stop at your awful first draft.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery first draft,\u201d she said with empathy, \u201cis awful.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The workshop leader teasingly inserted the Ernest Hemingway quote: \u201cWrite drunk. Edit sober.\u201d Her audience rumbled.\n<\/p>\n
The GCWA is committed to providing educational workshops and a community inspired by both words and action. Monthly meetings of the GCWA are held in Browning Hall of St. Hilary\u2019s Episcopal Church in Fort Myers.\n<\/p>\n
The organization invites fellow writers to connect at gulfcoastwriters.org<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n In The KNOW:<\/p>\n Gulf Coast Writers Association\n<\/p>\n