March 20th Atlanta Writers Club Online Meeting for AWC Members

1:45-2:45 p.m. Gail Evans (Georgia Tech professor, author, and former CNN executive): Writing about women’s issues

Gail Evans is the best-selling author of Play Like A Man, Win Like A Woman, an informative business guide to the secrets men know about success that women need to learn. The book was listed for several months on the New York Times, Business Week, and Wall Street Journal’s bestseller lists. Play Like A Man, Win Like A Woman has been translated into 18 languages and has been a bestseller around the world. She has appeared in recent years on outlets such as, NBC’s The Today Show, USA Today, the Larry King Live Show, and the New York Times to name a few. Her follow-up book, She Wins, You Win was published in 2003.

Gail’s career is vast, beginning in government and culminating as the Executive Vice President of CNN. Evans began working with CNN at its inception in 1980 and was promoted to Executive Vice President for CNN in 1996. In September 2000, Evans was named to Executive Vice President of Domestic Networks for the CNN Newsgroup. She was responsible for program and talent development of all domestic networks overseeing national and international talk shows and the Network Guest Bookings Department, which schedules about 25,000 guests each year. She served as a member of the CNN Executive Committee and was chairperson of the CNN programming task force. In addition, Evans developed some of CNN’s most popular programs. Gail retired from CNN in the summer of 2001.

She is a member of the Board of Visitors at the Georgia State University School of Law and the Kennesaw State Univ. Foundation. Gail is currently a Visiting Professor at the School of Management at Georgia Tech teaching a course on Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Organizational Behavior.

Additionally Gail is a member of the board of the Society for Women’s Health Research, the Radio Television News Directors Foundation, the Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, The Society for Women’s Business Research and the Atlanta Girls School. She also has been elected to membership in the Committee 200, The International Women’s Forum and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 1995, she was named to the YWCA’s Academy of Women Achievers and is a compass award recipient of the Women’s Leadership Exchange. Evans is also a founding board member of Greenstone Media, creator of the first FM radio network of talk geared to the female audience.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Bennington College in Vermont. She is the mother of three and the grandmother of seven and resides in Atlanta. Georgia.

3:00-4:00 Bernette Sherman (multi-genre author, game creator, and nonprofit founder): Writing about family history

Bernette Sherman is a multi-genre writer, game creator, and the founder of Mount Hope Media, LLC. Since she began writing and publishing in 2016. Her books include science fiction, fantasy, poetry, self-help, and inspiration. Her first historical novel, The Story of Ervin Jones, about her great-great-great grandfather, will be published in February 2020 and her play Four Wives and a Will (working title) is currently in development.

Bernette enjoys telling stories and being unboxed in her creativity and in her life. She is a member of Broadleaf Writer’s Association, Atlanta Writers Club, Working Title Playwrights, Alternate Roots, and the Women’s Speakers Association.

Bernette resides in the metro Atlanta area with her family. You can learn more about Bernette and find her books at BernetteSherman.com. Follow Bernette on IG @IAmBernette and on Facebook @IAmBernetteSherman.

On March 20, Bernette will discuss the process of writing her historical novel, The Story of Ervin Jones, what led her to write it, how she found the information, and helpful advice about researching history in general, family history, and using the information in a novel.