Write Your Memoir with Nylda Dieppa!

Nylda Dieppa writes:

Hello, memoirists!

As a student working on a certification as a Memoir Book Coach with Author Accelerator, I am offering a FREE coaching opportunity for a writer beginning to consider, organize or write a memoir. I love to work with passionate writers dealing with social justice topics, LGBTQ+ and/or Women’s issues, cross-cultural experiences, healing from religious trauma, and more!

If you have an idea for a book you want to write and need some help getting started or getting unstuck in the writing process, the practicum I’m working on would be perfect for you. We will work through a series of exercises to lay the foundation of your book. I will provide feedback on them and coach you on a phone/video call. With your permission, Author Accelerator’s editorial team will review my work (and therefore see your work.)


If you would like to have FREE professional guidance to bring your memoir into the world, check out my testimonials at www.nyldadieppa.com/book-coaching and send me a direct message on FB or email me at info@nyldadieppa.com. I’ll provide you with more details and answer any questions you may have so we can see if this is a good fit.

Brad & Darlyn Kuhn to read at Second Sunday

For seven years, Darlyn and Brad co-directed the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival. Come to Happy Medium and hear them read their work! The first half of the reading will feature Brad and Darlyn reading separately from their individual books. The second half will bring the sizzle as they read their call-and-reponse poems from Three Houses.

Brad and Darlyn Kuhn, founders of the PR & Marketing firm Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC, have ghost-written more than a dozen books together over the past twenty years, but their favorite collaboration so far has been Three Houses, a novella in verse, written in 2005 to celebrate their passionate meeting and subsequent marriage in the little house in Orlando, Florida where Jack Kerouac wrote The Dharma Bums.

Brad Kuhn has been a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, The Orlando Sentinel, and Orlando Business Journal. He has been honored with several Telly Awards for video journalism for the Beacon College series, A World of Difference. He is an award-winning poet and the author of I Hate My Banker, a tongue-in-cheek business book. His latest book, Dirty Work, co-authored with Captain Richard Vaux, chronicles Vaux’s secret mission to “steal back” a 727 hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.

Darlyn Finch Kuhn, a retired journalism instructor at UNF and a retired composition instructor at FSCJ, is the author of the poetry and short-story collection Red Wax Rose. Her novel, Sewing Holes, a coming-of-age story set in Jacksonville, won the 2015 Royal Palm Literary Award, presented by the Florida Writers Association. Her poems have been featured on NPR and read by Garrison Keillor on The Writers’ Almanac.

Driving Naked is an Audiobook!

Driving Naked is now an audiobook read by the author, Katherine Vaccaro.

Preview and order it here – and spread the word!

It’s 1980 in Orlando, Florida.
Kathy, a recent college grad, drives to a Fourth of July barbecue. She’s scared because she won’t know anyone. Her host, Eddie, soon becomes the love of her life.

They set off on a road filled with quirky people, nude beaches and pocket-rocket cars. Along the way, they encounter plenty of twists, turns and detours.

And one big stop sign.

Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore to direct JaxbyJax

We’ve got news! Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore is the new Director of JaxbyJax XI.

One thing to love about the Jacksonville writing community is the way its members step up to serve the community when needed. Life happens, and recently Brooks Decker (after working hard to make sure the applications for the 2024 JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival were solicited, received, and in the hands of capable anonymous judges, plus coordinating the venue location plans) has made the difficult decision to pass the torch to another young, energetic Jacksonville writer – Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore.

​Kathleen Shelton Gilmore began hosting and organizing poetry open mics in the spring of 2017. She has been an active member of the literary community, hosting events at venues such as Chamblin’s Uptown Books and Rain Dogs. She is the founder of the spoken word poetry open mic What’s in a Verse (formerly Kes Poetry Night) and the creator of Blue Monday Literary Zine. She worked for Hope at Hand facilitating workshops for teens, and assisted in the 2019 Jax Poetry Festival. Kathleen studied English and Creative Writing at the University of North Florida. She is an avid reader of poetry, inspired by Anne Sexton, bell hooks, and Denise Levertov. She is happiest rummaging thrift stores, estate sales, and hanging out with her family. Kathleen just completed her first chapbook titled Sticks, Stones, and Charlatans, which is set to release at the beginning of October 2024 by local independent publisher, City Bus Print.

With many thanks to prior directors Tim Gilmore, Jo Carlisle, Brad Kuhn, Darlyn Kuhn, Erica Saffer, and Brooks Decker, Kathleen Shelton is eager to make the 11th annual festival fresh and exciting for writers, readers, and lovers of literature alike. Stay tuned for updates as they happen.

Kathleen can be reached via email at jaxbyjax@yahoo.com

Check the website for updates: https://www.jaxbyjax.com/