Local Writers Hone Their Craft in Free Weekly Workshops

Several years ago, a group of writers came together under the leadership of Val Dumond, a local editor. These writers met twice a month at our local . Eventually, this group created and published an anthology of short stories, essays and poetry.  A second anthology, Stories That Won't Put You To Sleep, followed a few years later.

This group, The Tacoma Writer's Roundtable, still meets twice a month at the Garfield Book Factory in Parkland. Members of this core group have moved on to write and have published their own books. Two of these local authors are Tom Martin (The Ultimate Survivor's Guide), and Janelle Meraz Hooper (A Three-Turtle Summer).

Writers-In-Action is an offshoot of the Roundtable, composed of a few original members. They meet weekly at the Lakebridge Forza coffee shop. Meetings are held at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. These writers challenge each other weekly during workshops to help develop their literary skills.  Any people interested in exploring new writing experience are invited to join this group on any Saturday. 

The meetings are casual. Newcomers are invited to drop in at any time. Although the group follows an agenda, it is informal and welcomes interested people to sit in on workshops. Visitors to the meetings are invited to bring a writing sample to share, (five to six copies to be distributed to members is recommended).

The ultimate ambition of these writers is publication. Group members suggest suitable venues for submission of work to appropriate magazines or contests.  The writers aim for the goal of one submission per month.