Two crime writers and one researcher will talk about their craft and their methods. Stephen G. Hoffius, co-author of “Upheaval in Charleston: Earthquake and Murder on the Eve of Jim Crow,” will discuss reconstructing historical true crime. Mark I. Pinsky, author of “Met Her on the Mountain: The Murder of Nancy Morgan” and “Drifting into Darkness: Murder, Madness, Suicide and a Death Under Suspicious Circumstances,” will talk about contemporary true crime writing. Together with longtime St. Simons Island resident Rick McBride, Hoffius and Pinsky will discuss their current joint project about their investigation of the 1938 murder of the Rev. Charles Lee, rector of Christ Church, which has not until now been solved. The working title of the new book project is: “Murder in the Rectory: An old killing, tied to race, haunts one of Georgia’s Golden Isles.”

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Thanks to GJ Ford Bookshop for providing books for sale.

Melissa visits to talk about her latest book, Flight of the Wild Swan, a majestic novel about Florence Nightingale, whose courage, self-confidence, and resilience transformed nursing and the role of women in medicine.

Melissa is the author of twelve books and has received numerous awards, including the Flannery O'Connor Award, the Carl Sandburg Award, and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino – Room 108

Author website – Melissa Pritchard

Thanks to Righton Books for providing books for sale.

Jennifer writes enchanting novels inspired by the everyday magic and whimsy in the world around her. She is the bestselling author of the magical realism “Mystic Water Series,” “The Baker’s Man,” and “The Magic All Around.” She visits to talk about her latest book, “The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds” (publishing January 14, 2025), a spellbinding journey through time and emotion, sure to capture the hearts and imaginations of readers filled with magic, history and the unbreakable bonds of family.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino –Room 108

Author website – Jennifer Moorman

Thanks to Righton Books for offering books for sale

USA, 1964, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is often debated as one of the director’s best or worst films. Come and judge for yourself in this psychological romantic thriller, a case study of a woman, Marnie (Tippi Hedren), who is a hater of men, a pathological liar, and a kleptomaniac. She’s caught robbing her boss, Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), and is blackmailed into marrying him.

If you like Hitchcock, please see our Film Talks scheduled for January 23 and 24.

120 minutes

Rated PG

Watch the trailer –Marnie

No reservations necessary

$3 suggested donation

Closed-captioning will be turned on

Film historian Gary Olsen returns with a series on the great director – Alfred Hitchcock. Known as the “Master of Suspense,” Hitchcock’s early films from the 1920s until 1950 will be discussed.

Born and raised in England, Hitchcock developed his craft beginning in the silent film era before transitioning to talkies, using sound as an extension of his thrilling visuals he had developed early on. He was British cinema’s premier director in the 1930s, producing such classics as “The 39 Steps” and “Sabotage.”  Hired by David O. Selznick, he established himself in the United States, where his reputation soared with releases of such classics as “Rebecca,” Hitchcock’s personal favorite.

Little-known secrets of Hitchcock’s life will be detailed, along with his work habits and clips from his most famous films during that era.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Middle Period: 1945-1956. Once British director Alfred Hitchcock arrived in Hollywood from England in early 1940, he released a string of movie thrillers that made him one of the top directors in cinema. He worked with some top actors, with Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in “Notorious,” Grace Kelly and James Stewart in “The Rear Window,” and Henry Fonda in “The Wrong Man.” This was also the period Hitchcock experimented in his movies. He employed surrealist painter Salvador Dali for his “Spellbound” and created “Rope” with one seamless camera shot throughout the entire film. Hitch’s style of directing during this period will be explained and demonstrated by shown selected clips from his most important movies during his middle period.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

A St. Simon’s Writer’s Group Event

Hadjii Hand will share details about the screenwriting process and how it can help you be a more creative storyteller! Learn about world-building and character development, followed by outlining techniques using the 3-Act and 8/9-Act Structures. Stick around for a Q&A session to get your burning questions answered.

About the Speaker:

Hadjii Hand is a writer, producer, and filmmaker who burst onto the scene with his Sundance feature turned critically acclaimed TV series, SOMEBODIES. Hadjii has also written and produced for Adult Swim, IFC, Disney XD, FOX, TBS, and Smosh TV, as well as contributed to Adult Swim’s Black Dynamite and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. 

This event is free, but registration is required ➜ https://forms.gle/Y7fwoyUP9VFu3otb7

Joy is the author of many bestselling books, including “A Tangled Mercy” and “Under a Gilded Moon.” She served as a Baptist chaplain at Harvard University and has taught writing and literature at Tufts University and Baylor University. She is visiting to talk about her latest book, “Echoes of Us” — the story of three men who met in a POW camp during WW II and reunited years later on St. Simons Island.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Room 108

Author website –Joy Jordan-Lake

Thanks to Righton Books for offering books for sale

Author Claire Cook is the bestselling author of over 24 books. Her target audience is “40 to forever women,” but in 2002, she wrote a book that had a universal appeal, which continues to this day. “Must Love Dogs” is now an eight-book series, and the film, starring John Cusack and Diane Lane, is a Hollywood classic. Claire will introduce the film, provide some “behind-the-scenes” stories about dealing with Tinsel Town, and discuss her future writing plans.

Watch the trailer – Must Love Dogs

PG 13; 98 minutes

Closed-captioning will be turned on

Author website –– Claire Cook

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

A Celebration of Pat Conroy. Jonathan Haupt is the co-editor of the anthology “Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy,” and winner of 17 book awards. He will talk about Beaufort’s Conroy Center and Pat’s rough entrance into being a published author and how those experiences compelled him to be a champion and mentor to so many of his fellow writers from that point onward. He’ll also discuss Pat’s creative process and the Lowcountry as his setting, muse, and character. 

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino – Room 108

A St. Simons Writer’s Group Event

Jonathan will talk about the rocky road writers have to navigate in the publishing world and why he is happier in the business of saying yes than he ever was saying no. In a roundtable discussion, he’ll share his lessons learned while in the publishing business and his advice for aspiring writers. Jonathan will also talk about Pat Conroy’s very rough entrance into being a published author and how those experiences compelled him to be a champion and mentor to so many of his fellow writers from that point onward. 

About the speaker:

Jonathan Haupt is the executive director of the nonprofit Conroy Center and the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, where he created the Story River Books fiction imprint with Pat Conroy. He is co-editor with Nicole Seitz of the anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy, the recipient of a dozen book awards. 

This event is free but registration is required ➜ https://forms.gle/Co4nCR9YyCyAdz686

Jennifer is a USA Today bestselling author of four contemporary women’s fiction novels. Two of her novels were chosen as winners in the Best Fiction category of the San Diego Book Awards. She visits to talk about “The Girls of the Glimmer Factory” (publishes January 25, 2025), the story of childhood friends who meet again as adults during the making of the Nazi propaganda film Hitler Gives a City to the Jews. Hannah is a Jewish prisoner, and her former friend, Hilde, is now working for the German Ministry of Propaganda. When the two face off, they discover who they truly are--and who they are meant to become.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Room Theater

Author website –Jennifer Coburn

Thanks to Righton Books for offering books for sale

Jen has a B.A. in advertising, but her passion for books drew her to teaching English Literature. Her writing has been published in Southern Coastal Weddings, Savannah Magazine, Mamalode, Literary Mama, Noteworthy, PS I Love You, and elsewhere. In 2018, her short story “What He Carried” was a semi-finalist in the William Faulkner Society Short Story Contest. “The Good Bride,” where the wedding of the year turns disastrous in a twisty family drama full of lies and betrayals.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Room 108

Author website –Jen Marie Wiggins

Thanks to G.J. Ford Bookshop for offering books for sale

Paul was the director of the Ossabaw Island Education Alliance from 2005–2017; he now serves as director emeritus. He earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Oxford, an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.A. from Princeton University. He co-edited “Coastal Nature, Coastal Culture: Environmental Histories of the Georgia Coast” and “African American Life in the Georgia Lowcountry: The Atlantic World and the Gullah Geechee.” He is the author of “On the Rim of the Caribbean: Colonial Georgia and the British Atlantic World.” His latest is “A Southern Underground Railroad.”

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Room 108

Thanks to Righton for offering books for sale

Norway, 2022, directed by Joachim Trier. Renate Reinsve, who plays the main character Julie, won Best Actress at Cannes. This dramady follows Julie from her mid-20’s to her early 30’s. She’s exploring life, both educationally and emotionally. All just long enough to know that this isn’t what she wants. She’s still searching.

In Norwegian with English subtitles; 128 minutes; Rated R.

Watch the trailer –The Worst Person in the World

No reservations necessary

$3 suggested donation

A St. Simon’s Writer’s Group Event

Masterclass Series #1– Show, Don’t Tell – Dialogue that Beguiles

Attendees will receive instruction on Dialogue, Author Voice, and Scene Setting. Please bring a laptop or writing method, plenty of ideas, and a learner’s spirit. Grow your ability to use descriptive language to set the tone of your stories.

This program is the first in a series of three Saturday sessions. Each program will feature a different topic and speaker.

ATTEND ALL THREE SESSIONS, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT ALONG WITH A CELEBRATION AT THE END OF THE MASTERCLASS.

About the Speaker – Laura Kelly Robb:

Laura Kelly Robb grew up in New York, the fifth of six daughters. She earned a BA from the University of Toronto and went to work in Vigo, Spain. She lived in a small village and studied part-time at the University of Santiago. Returning to the US, she taught Spanish and History in Seattle Schools. After attending an Iowa Writers Workshop summer session, she began to submit short stories and write novels. China Rock, set in Washington State's San Juan Islands, was published in 2013. She now writes full-time, with The Laguna Shores Research Club published in September 2022 and a sequel coming in 2024. She lives with her husband, Paul, dividing their time between Georgia and Washington State.

This event is free, but registration is required ➜https://forms.gle/2pAMKsgPgfJz1Uwn9

A St. Simon’s Writer’s Group Event

Masterclass Series #2– Show, Don’t Tell – Voice Lessons

Attendees will receive instruction on Dialogue, Author Voice, and Scene Setting. Please bring a laptop or writing method, plenty of ideas, and a learner’s spirit. Grow your ability to use descriptive language to set the tone of your stories.

This program is the second in a series of three Saturday sessions. Each program will feature a different topic and speaker.

ATTEND ALL THREE SESSIONS, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT ALONG WITH A CELEBRATION AT THE END OF THE MASTERCLASS.

About the Speaker

Nikki Walbridge has been an educator for nearly 30 years and is currently the Director of College Counseling at Frederica Academy. While she has taught English, both literature and composition, in grades 6-12 and all levels, her passion now is helping students with the college admissions essay. Nikki lives on St. Simons with her husband and children and works on her first novel when she has a few spare moments.

This event is free, but registration is required ➜ https://forms.gle/qywaP6qUTShUtjFW8

Mark has published two previous books: “Mountain Miles: A Memoir of Section Hiking the Southern Appalachian Trail” and “The View from Hadrian’s Wall: Two Friends Hike Along the Ancient Roman Frontier.” “The Crimson and Gold” is a comprehensive narrative detailing the struggle for integration in Athens, Georgia, in the context of highly competitive football as experienced by athletes, their fellow students, teachers, journalists, and school administrators at Athens High School and Burney-Harris High School and eventually Clarke Central High School. The proud sports traditions of two high schools—both adored by their respective communities—eventually become inextricably linked with the larger battle for equal rights during the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Room 108

Thanks G.J. Ford Bookshop for offering books for sale

Mary is a South Carolina native and government relations consultant who perfected her entertaining skills for making friends and engaging clients during her forty-year career. The author of “The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All: Southern Recipes, Sweet Remembrances, and a Little Rambunctious Behavior,” and her second book, “The Cheese Biscuit Queen: Kiss My Aspic” comes out February 18.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Author website – Mary Matha Greene

Thanks to G.J. Ford Bookshop for offering books for sale

A St. Simons Writer’s Group Event

Masterclass Series #3– Show, Don’t Tell – Setting the Mood

Attendees will receive instruction on Dialogue, Author Voice, and Scene Setting. Please bring a laptop or writing method, plenty of ideas, and a learner’s spirit. Grow your ability to use descriptive language to set the tone of your stories.

This program is the third in a series of three Saturday sessions. Each program will feature a different topic and speaker.

ATTEND ALL THREE SESSIONS, AND YOU WILL RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT ALONG WITH A CELEBRATION AT THE END OF THE MASTERCLASS.

About the Speaker – Ciera Smith

Ciera Smith is the St. Simons Writer’s Group’s social media and website assistant and the fiction group leader. Ciera is also an experienced educator and copywriter. With a Bachelor's in English from the University of Georgia and a Master's in English in progress at Valdosta State, she is knowledgeable about the literature of every genre. She has over a decade of experience teaching Creative Writing to various age groups and loves to help writers work through the nitty gritty of their stories.

This event is free, but registration is required – https://forms.gle/7HzDAJUKSdA5rdedA

Sharon Burton has actively worked as a visual artist, art curator, poet, podcaster, teaching artist, and creativity coach for 20 years in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas.

Sharon visits to discuss Creative Sparks: 21 Affirmations & Inspiration for Creativity at Midlife, a guide to rekindling creative and artistic passions, such as painting, writing, music, and crafts.

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Author website – Sharon Burton

A St. Simons Writer’s Group Event

HOW TO SAVE YOUR HISTORY & WRITE YOUR LIFE STORY  

Everyone has a story to tell. Too often, these stories and personal histories are lost unless they’ve written a biography or memoir. But it’s not easy, and new writers may wonder how and where to start, what to include, and what to leave out. Award-winning writer Vic DiGenti works as a ghostwriter, biographer, and publisher. He’s written 11 biographies and family histories for clients and will share practical information based on his past and most current books on leaving a lasting legacy. 

About the Speaker:

Vic DiGenti is the award-winning author of six novels, a collection of short stories, and eight works of nonfiction. His books include the Windrusher trilogy of adventure fantasies and the Quint Mitchell Mystery series, published under the pen name Parker Francis. Vic also works as a ghostwriter, biographer, and publisher using his imprint, Windrusher Hall Press. He’s a longtime member of the Florida Writers Association, serving as Regional Director for NE Florida and on the Board of the Beaches Museum. 

Free; registration is required ➜ https://forms.gle/phCeYyNPYGHcnZdk6

Rebecca is a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University. Previously, she taught at Madeira School and American University. She has a PhD in history, an MA in public history from American University, and a BA in history and philosophy from Mount Holyoke College. In 2023, she was awarded a Cokie Roberts Fellowship from the National Archives Foundation and a Rubenstein Center Research Fellowship from the White House Historical Association. Her writing has been published in the Washington Post, Time, Slate, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. Rebecca visits to talk about her book – “Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany.”

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Room 108

Author website –Rebecca Brenner Graham

Thanks to G.J. Ford Bookshop for offering books for sale

Kaira Rouda is an award-winning, bestselling author of contemporary fiction that explores what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. Her books include The Next Wife, The Second Mrs. Strom, Beneath the Surface, The Widow, and more. Kaira visits to talk about her latest book – Jill is Not Happy (release date – June 10, 2025).

Free for members; $10 for non-members.

Registration is required via Eventbrite

St. Simons Casino Theater

Author website – Kaira Rouda

Thanks to Righton Books for offering books for sale