Author and illustrator Janny Wurts will talk about Bust the Five Lies That Block Your Creativity Feb. 4 at Selby Library, Sarasota. The meeting begins at 6 pm, is free, and is open to visitors and members. The brief lecture, followed by a Q&A session, will be helpful for writers of all genres, from aspiring authors to those published. Janny Wurts is currently in print with HarperCollins Voyager UK, and Simon and Schuster NY, and has written 19 novels and published 36 works of

Editor and former Sarasota Fiction Writers member Amy Ratcliffe will speak at the Nov. 7 meeting of the Sarasota Fiction Writers at Selby Library at 6 p.m. She will present “7 Ways to Become a Better Writer That Don’t Involve Writing.” It’s a well-known fact that to become a better writer, people must write. But there are other ways (that don’t involve writing) to hone writing skills and enhance fiction with more authentic dialogue, scenes that draw readers in and characters