Welcome to the RPLA Showcase
Each year at the Royal Palm Literary Award Banquet, authors experience the joy of earning accolades for all the hard work that is often done in the privacy of the home with little to no recognition. Our goal is to showcase the best of the best at the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Awards and provide First Place winners with a well-deserved spotlight. Not only are we recognizing extraordinary talent, but we’re giving readers an opportunity to sample excerpts from the winning stories.
2016 RPLA DAHRIS CLAIR MEMORIAL AWARD:
Shinyo Maru by Bill Dougherty
Not only did Bill Dougherty win First Place in the Unproduced Screenplay/Stage Play/Teleplay category, but he also brought home the Dahris Clair Memorial Award, RPLA’s top prize for screenwriting.
In the true story of Shinyo Maru, 82 people survive a Japanese Hell Ship.
Click the link to read a sample:
Q & A with Bill Dougherty
Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: Ideas come from all sources, a thought, something you see, a news article that stirs an idea, a few words from a friend, or an image of a character and from that springs a story. I joke that my muse is a woman and that she’s very pushy, especially when I’m in the middle of writing a story and she decides, no, that’s not the story I’m supposed to be writing, write this one. Such is the case with the current novel I’m working on. I haven’t had her push me this hard in some time. It’s a great feeling.
Q: Anything in particular about your award-winning RPLA entry that you’d like to share?
A: In 2000, I attended the reunion for 22 survivors of the SHINYO MARU. After hearing their stories, I couldn’t get it out of my head and I approached Reverend Johnny Morrett about telling their story. I studied a doctoral thesis on the Battle of the Philippines learning about the Japanese war plan and General MacArthur’s War Plan Orange that delayed the Japanese from taking the Philippines. These men survived the Battle of Bataan, the Bataan Death March, four prison camps in two-and-a-half years, and the sinking of the SHINYO MARU. This story is for them.
Q: Who do you credit with inspiring your writing?
A: My writing mentor, Frank Armstrong Green. He created the Bard Society, a writers group that for more than 30 years has focused solely on the craft of writing. He taught me to love the Word. In fact, fifteen current and past members wrote a memoir in tribute to Frank, with the introduction written by New York Times Bestselling author Steve Berry. It’s called Wednesdays with Frank and will be out late this year. In it I describe what I learned as a member of this group, and most importantly what I learned from Frank. We all did. It was a privilege to tell writers and readers how much Frank has meant to the craft of writing.
Q: Any tips for new writers?
A: Study the craft. Once I understood that and dedicated myself, then my writing improved. Frank Green tells new members who show up to our writers group that it takes seven years, seven books, and about 1-2 millions words before you get the bad writing out of your system. You have to decide what path you want: self-published, small or regional publisher, or the brass ring with a New York publisher. I’ve chosen the latter. It requires perseverance and persistence. Or, as Frank reminds us, “It’s easier to live a long and happy life than it is to write well.” So the mantra I follow and share with other writers is simple . . . keep writing.
Thank you for sharing, Bill, and congratulations! Visit his website: www.billdougherty.org
A message about supporting literacy in Florida:
If every member of FWA went to Smile.Amazon.com, chose Florida Writers Foundation, Inc. as their charity and, instead of logging into Amazon.com, logged into Smile.Amazon.com, FWF would receive 0.5% of the purchase funds. Every time.
We could significantly fund the literacy efforts of our organization. No money out of your pockets…just some invested time to set this up.
How easy for us to make a difference. To see all of our work, please read the pages of our website www.floridawritersfoundation.com. You’ll be proud.
Tom Swartz, President, FWF
