Here’s the logo for a new writer’s group that I’ve been helping to get off the ground in the local area:
As you can see, it’s called Write by the Rails, a nod to the rail line that runs through Old Town Manassas and, I suppose, the train station there that Stephen Stills made famous in 1972, the year I was born. No, really, I’m serious:
Do they even make album covers like this anymore?
Anyway, Write by the Rails isn’t a writer’s group in the ordinary sense, by which I mean a group of like-minded writers who get together and respond to each others’ work. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But what we’re trying to do with WbtR (I’m just trying out that acronym, actually; we haven’t yet decided on a shorthand version of our name and I think it’s important to test drive various options before you settle on a model) is form what I suppose is closer to a writer’s guild. One that serves not only writers who live close enough to the Manassas train station to jog on over and re-create a 40-year-old album cover, but writers who live throughout the region. All of Prince William County, in fact.
The idea, basically, is to create a group that can network and provide one another with opportunities that might not otherwise reveal themselves. We’ve had one very friendly meet n’ greet already, at Okra’s in Old Town Manassas (yes, barely a block from that train station), and we’re planning another one at La Grange winery in Haymarket for September. We’ve also got a pretty cool event planned for October 29, a more networking-oriented meeting that will also possibly include some early brainstorming for an area writers’ conference we’re thinking about holding next year. There will also be some open mic reading and the opportunity for local authors to sell their books. Or, rather, the opportunity for you to buy books written by local authors. If you’re in the area and would like to know more about it, take a look at our flyer:
Feel free to post it elsewhere or forward it on, too.
I should, of course, also mention that I am only one out of an original four who started WBtR (there’s a second acronym possibility) one afternoon around a table at Simply Sweet on Main (also in Old Town and, yes, also near the train station). The one who really deserves credit for the idea is Cindy Brookshire – freelance writer, editor, and director of Prince William Study Circles. There’s also Katherine Gotthardt, founder of Writers for a Cause and author of Poems from the Battlefield; and Sheila Lamb, whose novel Once a Goddess is about to enter the world. Look for it.
Interested in knowing more about WBTR (third choice!)? Look us up on Facebook. No acronyms there; just look for Write by the Rails and send us a message asking to join. Don’t worry, we’re friendly. And if you’re into Stephen Stills, all the better.