What is it: The Northern Ohio Writers Guild is a group of, you guessed it, writers from northern Ohio.
How it started: Emilia Rosa never thought she’d become an author.
“I had poetry published and won a Huron library contest, but that was as far as I always thought I’d go,” Rosa says. “And now I’m writing my third novel.”
She’s also building a community of writers.
“I recently found that there are many authors locally,” Rosa says. “Last year I started inviting authors to join me in book signings. I noticed people attending enjoyed the opportunity of meeting more than one author. Early this year our little group was baptized — Northern Ohio Writers Guild. And now we even have a poster advertising our name, created by Wendy Fedan.”
Guild members: It began with just three one year ago. To date, there are 23: Alexi Penehal, Alison Lanza Falls,
Andi Lawrencovna,
Anne Sauter-Lieb, Breshea Anglen, Cliff Anthony,
Darlene Kuncytes, Emilia Rosa, Holly McCain,
Jim Bollenbacher, Joel Rudinger, Karina Bartow, Kathleen Stefancin, Larry Smith,
Linda Eyerman, Liz Ferro,
Pat Antonelli, Patrick Lawrence O’Keeffe,
PJ Grondin,
RJ Norgard,
Ron Rude, Tonya Sullivan and
Wendy Fedan.
Meeting times and locations: “Although we only meet during events, we are in constant contact,” Rosa says. “Our book signings are held in different venues, like bookstores, libraries, cafes, wineries, boutiques, etc. The advantage of gathering several authors in one place is that it attracts more readers. For the venues, these kinds of events are an opportunity to support indie authors; it also offers their customers a product they would not normally find and increases foot traffic. As a very diverse group of writers, readers coming to our group book signings will most certainly find something to their liking.”
How to get involved: There are no dues; authors can just contact the group and start attending joint book signings. The group can be found on Facebook under their pen names. Some group members also are on Twitter and Instagram. To find out more, email Rosa at
[email protected].