Brandon Christian Writers Provide Support, Inspiration

After searching for an inspirational writers group in the Brandon area, Ruth Ellinger, award-winning author, continued to come up short. It was only after attending the American Christian Writers Conference 11 years ago that she was challenged by the director to start her own localized chapter in the area.

“I felt the need for this type of group in our community," Ellinger said. “I felt strongly this would be a blessing to our community, so I started Brandon Christian Writers (BCW), and the rest is history.”

According to Ellinger, writing genres vary among the group, but most are faith-based and inspirational. Interests include humor, nonfiction, fiction, historical and contemporary writing, poetry and a wide variety of article and journalistic writing.

“As the originator of the group, my goal was to form a support and fellowship group that was not only instructional, but would also offer inspiration to aspiring writers and published authors,” explained Ellinger. "I wanted writers to feel challenged and readers to have wholesome entertainment. As BCW progresses, the needs of writers sometimes change, and we try to accommodate the needs of the group and their present writing projects.”

According to Ellinger, members unite to teach writing techniques and offer critiques on projects. They also celebrate their successes and failures while offering each other inspiration and support throughout the publication process, which is a vital element of the writing process.

“I have been blessed to see BCW members go from nonpublished writers to successful published authors,” Ellinger said. “Many are writing regularly for magazines, anthologies, local community newspapers, and others are publishing their books, both nonfiction and fiction. Some members are steadily building writing platforms by speaking and offering writing workshops and critiques. I am very proud of our member accomplishments.”

BCW chapter 3029 of the American Christian Writers has about 50 registered members, 20 of which attend the monthly meetings, held at 7 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church's Family Life Center in Room 305, 3315 Bryan Rd., Brandon.

“We view each meeting as an opportunity for aspiring writers to hone their writing skills, share publishing information, marketing tools and the inspiration to follow their dream," Ellinger said.

Writers of all genres are welcome to sit in on a meeting to see if the group is a good fit for their writing experience. To join, membership is $20 per year, which enables the group to host guest speakers throughout the year.

In October, the fourth annual Florida Inspirational Writers Retreat, founded by Ellinger and fellow author and co-director Debora M. Coty, will take place at the Cedarkirk Retreat and Conference Center in Lithia. Guest speakers, workshops geared toward all writing levels, cutting-edge publishing industry information and lots of networking opportunities will be offered this year.

Early-bird registration is available until Sept. 15 for $95. After Sept. 15, registration is $115. The deadline is Sept. 20. Those interested can e-mail BCW’s treasurer, Sandi L. de Laski, at sandi1280@aol.com.