Tag: The Astoria Bookshop

Drop-In Creative Writing Workshop

Kelly Jean

The Astoria Bookshop drop-in creative writing workshop continues every other Sunday via Zoom. Next up, 11/7 at 4 pm!

11/7: Beings + Things: Objects in the Time of Covid
Did the pandemic give an ordinary object new meaning?
How can that object tell the story of your state of being?
We’ll inspire some writing by sharing the “stuff” that got us through.
Click here to register.

11/21: Give Me a Deadline: Feedback Workshop
Have a piece or need a deadline to finish one? We will share screens and read each other’s drafts out loud and provide group feedback. 1800 words (or less).
Participation is limited to 4 people, so click here to register and grab your spot today.

No, YOU Tell It! “Defiant”

Kelly Jean

Our Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend event is in two weeks! We’re teaming up with Lambda Literary again for a night of queer storytelling with a twist.

The four curated storytellers are working together to develop their true tales inspired by the theme “Defiant” on the page.

Come out to Culture Lab in Long Island City on 9/28 at 7 pm and watch as they swap and present each other’s stories on stage. Plus, literary prizes from The Astoria Bookshop!

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2021 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.

Happy Eight Years!

Kelly Jean

Nothing informs your story like hearing someone else perform your story!

Celebrate eight-years of No, YOU Tell It! on May 8th with this special look at last year’s Lambda Literary team-up show by filmmaker Ariel Mahler.

Leave a comment on the featurette on our NYTI page by 11:59 pm (Cinderella time!) for a chance to win a $100 Bookseller’s Choice Book Bundle from The Astoria Bookshop.

Listen to story swaps from our live shows on the No, YOU Tell It! podcast at noyoutellit.com (available on iTunes, AudioBoom, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts).

Bonus! In support of DP TV and sharing in each other’s stories, if we receive over 80 new likes and/or follows on our No, YOU Tell It! Facebook page and Instagram we will donate $100 to our friends at Dixon Place.

We Heart Astoria

Kelly Jean

Lovely to have my creative writing class at The Astoria Bookshop (now online!) featured on We Heart Astoria.

We had three lovely sessions yesterday. Contact me at kjfitzsimmons@gmail.com to sign-up for future Sundays.

I’m also running a special this May on semi-private coaching.

Sunday Online Workshops Continue

Kelly Jean

Earlier this month, I set an intention to make my “online writing workshops and private coaching sessions as open and honest as my in-person offerings.”

Transitioning my monthly class at The Astoria Bookshop to a weekly online offering added a bright light to my Sundays. I’ve loved reconnecting with regulars and meeting new writers. We even added a second session to honor my goal by keeping class sizes small.

If you would like to join us at 3 or 5 pm today (2 spots left in each class!) or be added to my newsletter to receive info on future sessions, contact kjfitzsimmons@gmail.com.

SUPPORT The Astoria Bookshop every day by purchasing books through their Bookshop page or preordering titles/buying gift certificates directly at astoriabookshop.com.

Constructing Powerful Openings

Kelly Jean

A first page is the first impression. The first chance to make people sit up and take notice of your work.

“Marley was dead, to begin with.” A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens.

Join us today at The Astoria Bookshop at 5 pm to kick-off a new year by exploring how to write powerful openings. Through a mixture of discussion and writing exercises, we’ll take a look at various story starter techniques and use them to revise an existing piece of work.

$10 suggested contribution. BYO Pen & Paper!