August 2026
Joanne Anderton
On Saturday, Joanne Anderton took us through how to carve a story from lived experience.
Joanne described a scene from her work trip in Japan that gave her a momentary spark and how that helped her to create a short story.
The method she described as moment/structure (spine)/detail had the attendees think of moments that triggered feelings in them, helped to expand these moments into a workable structure, and then to fill in the detail.
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After the workshop that had everybody busily writing, two members of the audience shared their moments and what shape their story structure would look like and listed some of the detail that may be in their stories.
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Thanks to Joanne for her guidance through the workshop and the attendees for participating.
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July 2026
Melissa J Scott
Many thanks to our guest speaker Melissa J Scott at the July event. With more than 30 years in business, Melissa has evolved from a starry‑eyed graphic designer into a website designer and developer – then into a social media manager, blogger, video producer, speaker, webinar presenter, marketing coach, online course creator, podcaster and avid content creator. She shared the ins and outs of personal branding, including why it matters for all writers and how to promote yourself without feeling fake, pushy or self‑conscious. Melissa explored what makes your voice and work distinctive, the role of your values, story and deeper ‘why’, and how to build familiarity and trust before asking someone to buy your book.
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She also spoke about working through imposter syndrome and the fear of being seen, along with simple ways to become more visible both online and in person.
June 2026
Book Launch Panel and
Cathryn deVries
Our June event featured a panel or authors who presented their newly launched books while Vijay Fitzgerald posed questions about their inspirations, characters and storyline. Member and visitors felt inspired by the panellists' answers, their stories and challenges in creating their work.
After a networking break Cathryn deVries took the audience through the formulae that a character is required to go through to make a compelling book. Each book, chapter, and paragraph should consist of a statis, disruption, attempts to return to statis, a tipping point, choice, action and finally a new statis. A well written character as outlined by Cathryn, should have a goal and what they would give up or avoid to reach that goal.
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During the workshop Cathryn gave the participants a piece of her work where they were to identify points of crisis, the protagonists, antagonists, tipping points, the protagonists goal, as well as other crucial parts of a well-structured chapter and book.
May 2026
Lesley Synge
Our May event featured poet and author Lesley Synge, who took us on a journey to find our poetic voice. She began by showing how she documented her travels using haiku – a traditional Japanese form of three unrhymed lines – demonstrating how concise language can capture vivid moments with clarity and emotional depth.
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Lesley then led us through the Gold Coast hinterland, illustrating how a poetic voice shifts with place, becoming more relaxed, reflective and connected to nature.
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During the workshop, she invited participants to write poems in three different voices and to experiment with anchoring a poem in a specific place. These exercises encouraged writers to explore emotion, perspective and freedom of expression, inspiring the group to approach poetry in new and unexpected ways.
April 2026
Jack Roney
At our April event, Jack Roney, now retired after 33 years as a police officer and detective, shared how factual events and real‑life experiences sparked ideas for his historical mystery and crime fiction novels. Drawing on decades of frontline work, he spoke about the genre often called ‘faction’ – fiction based on fact – and how weaving truth into story can create authenticity, tension and emotional depth.
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Jack also discussed how entering writing competitions helped him get noticed and eventually led to his first traditional publishing deal. He encouraged writers not to fear their early work, noting that cringing at old pages is actually a positive sign: it means you can recognise your growth.
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He spoke openly about the questions he asked himself once his books were published: What is my niche or expertise? What is my point of difference? How can I market myself as a brand? This part of his talk focused on what authors can do after publication to build visibility and momentum. His advice was practical and encouraging – be proactive, build relationships, think outside the box, put yourself out there and, as he says, ‘just have a crack’. These small, consistent actions helped him overcome imposter syndrome and eventually led to opportunities such as speaking at libraries and community events.
March 2026
Stephen Hipkiss
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Our March event featured Stephen Hipkiss from Hipkiss Publishing House, who guided us through the common pitfalls of launching a book and how to avoid them. He shared practical advice on everything from defining your genre and designing a strong cover to planning your launch, building momentum through marketing and engaging your writing community.
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Stephen covered the full spectrum of launch preparation – timing, budget, venue choice, pre‑orders, social media, and what you’ll offer on the day – and emphasised the importance of finishing and refining your manuscript through editing, beta readers, ARC readers and a final pass before publishing. He also highlighted how a book cover sets the theme, encouraging authors to study covers in their genre, seek professional advice and gather feedback from readers, friends and online communities. His guidance on genre clarity and what makes a launch stand out gave members plenty to think about.
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In the second half of the event, three GCWA authors – Bev Jones, Mary Groves and Damian Hussey – were introduced and interviewed by Vijay Fitzgerald. Her thoughtful questions encouraged each writer to share their creative journey, offering tips and insights that were both relatable and valuable to our community. Each author also read an excerpt from their book, showcasing their work and giving members a chance to hear their stories come alive. It was a wonderful new platform for GCWA authors to step into the limelight and celebrate their achievements.
February 2026
Jodie Lane
At Saturday's meeting Jodie Lane presented: Finished your manuscript and not sure where to go next?
It was great to see involvement from the audience on the outstanding narrative she presented about self-publishing.
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Jodie shared about how her travels all over the world influenced the location of her stories and how historic events helped shape the plots.
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She is currently a member of the Brisbane Book Authors and the Queensland Writers Centre. You can contact her about Author Talks for libraries and schools.
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Connect with Jodie at:
January 2026
Lauren Hackney
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It was wonderful to see so many dedicated writers turn up to our meeting last Saturday. Lauren Hackney took us on a deep dive into the domain of self-publishing. One of the stand-out points was the importance of promoting yourself and your work in a way that is intentional, but stays true to who you are as an author, and not comparing to others' methods and results.
Lauren also led us through a few etiquette guidelines when networking with publishers, including suitable timeframes for follow up and appropriate ways to approach them.
Thank you, Lauren for offering your time on Saturday. We all learned a lot from your presentations!
November 2025
Edwina Shaw and Gabrielle Davis
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What a great turnout for our last meeting of the year.
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Edwina Shaw took us through a meditative exercise to help us get to know a character better.
We were suprised to find the character revealed aspects of themselves we had not yet considered or were the opposite of what was expected.
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Gabrielle Davis shared her expertise in social media, how to harness it effectively to build a strong, authentic following.
She provided practical tips on how to increase online visibility, strengthening your brand presence, and making your content work smarter for you.
This was an invaluable opportunity to learn proven strategies for our attendees who are trying to grow their reach and engaging their audience with confidence.
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We look forward to welcoming everyone back on 17th January with an exciting calendar of events for 2026.
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October 2025
Renae Black and Rochelle Agius
What an educational meeting we had this month.
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Rochelle Agius took us through a great writing exercise using character and plot points to move our character from one scene to an entirely new one. Rochelle's wealth of knowledge and training took us through these steps and it was great that we could work in groups and see other writers' characters and how the plot points drove them to different scenarios.
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Renae Black with her social work experience explained the realities of trauma and how these experiences can shape characters and well as story lines.
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Write & Sip
September 2025
Natalie Forbes & Sandra Mayer
Traditionally published Children's Picture Book author Natalie Forbes, author of Saturday, Sunday, Busy Day, Fun Day, with Sandra Mayer self-published author of 21 titles, went through the ins and out of writing a children's picture book. Touching on, character, voice, setting, what appeals to children in language and layout. Lots of resources were shared with attendees as well as examples of writing in rhyme or prose.
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The authors discussed similarities and differences between being traditionally published and self-publishing with all the successes and pitfalls of both.
September 2025
Brian Falkner
Thank you to our members who energetically participated in our AGM on Saturday. We were encouraged by your support towards the endorsement of our new committee for this term. Congratulations and welcome to the new committee! We can’t wait to see where the next 12 months leads us.
Following the AGM, our guest speaker, Brian Falkner, had us on the edge of our seats with his vibrant, humorous presentation of creating suspense in our writing. Brian taught us some engaging suspense techniques to keep our readers glued to the page. He had fantastic examples from his own and others’ writing that left us all inspired to implement these techniques into our own work.
We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on Saturday, 18th October.
