Way way back in 1999, there appeared in the Coffs Harbour Advocate an ad, placed by one PAUL LAWSON. Paul at the time was a member of the COFFS HARBOUR WRITERS GROUP, who meet at what can be inconvenient times. Inconvenient - that is - to people who had to do mundane things - like work, look after kids.
There had been talk between a few of the members of starting up a splinter group, affilliated with the day group, but who would meet at nite at the SCU bar (coz - explained by the aforementioned PAUL - writers and drinking seemed to go together. Look at Hemmingway, Hunter S Thompson, Stephen King) and begin a group dedicated to the task of helping each other GET PUBLISHED!!
And so it began. On a dark and stormy nite, at the SCU bar with security guards and bar staff casting eye-born daggers at us, the first meeting was held. It was kinda quiet, kinda tame, but it was GOOD! The group gelled, and it became a working writers group, focussing on critique, not criticism. The aim was to help, and help they did. There have been mainstream publications, self publications, small publications. You name it. We've done it.
Nine years later, we have an active group still going strong. Some faces have changed as people moved home, state or focus. We have a member at 84 years young who writes true stories from his youth that are almost a history lesson that makes you laugh so much you'll wet yourself. We have another who writes historical fact, fiction and faction. We have a writer who writes text for children through the day and erotic stories for mum and dad at nite. We have poets, and songwriters, and novelists, short stories creators, those who write the facts as they've seen them happen, and those who write speculation on what might come.
This is NITEWRITERS. Come and set a spell. Join us if you like. We don't bite.
Yet.