When poet and novelist Emer Gearhart stood up for the first time to read her own poem in front of a crowd on the second floor of R.J. Julia Booksellers, her hands were shaking.

After she was finished, she spoke with another member of the group about how nervous she was and that woman, another writer named Ruth Brennan, took Gearhart aside and gave her some tips on how to prepare and present her work.

That kind of gentle support is what keeps Gearhart and her fellow writers coming back to Voices in the Bookstore, which has, over the 10 years of its existence, evolved into a sort of informal, congenial support group for area writers. Participants will tell you, repeatedly, it is not a workshop. It’s not a place to critique, although sometimes writers will seek out suggestions about their work. Rather, the once-a-month meeting, which is at 6 p.m. on the third Friday of every month in the same room on the second floor behind the children’s section of the bookstore, is a place for writers to go, meet with other writers (or people who want to be writers), and hear how their work sounds out loud with other people listening.

Gearhart, who lives in Branford, says she often writes out loud. Still, when she reads her work aloud at R. J. Julia, it feels transformed.

“It’s a different ear. You can almost hear it in a different way. I get good energy from the audience. It’s a nice group of people. I’m always telling people they ought to come and join,” she said.

In fact, that is one of the few rules of the group, she said, “all are welcome.”

Emphasis on Gentle Support

All are welcome, as long as they are interested in writing, or becoming a writer, or supporting writers, says Norman Weissman, who acts as an informal moderator of the group. Poetry. Fiction. Essays. Nonfiction. It’s all good. The key is the emphasis on gentle support, delivered with kindness. The group was started about 10 years ago by John Wackman, in his capacity as an event host for R.J. Julia, as open mic nights. He ran it for a while, and then Forrest Stone and Annabelle Howard of Madison took over and nurtured it, and then Weissman stepped in as informal moderator when they were no longer able to do it.

Lori Fazio, the general manager of R. J. Julia, said she loves having the group take advantage of the space on the second floor of the Madison bookstore.

“Voices has been an active group in our store for many, many years,” she said. “There is a double positive from the evening. First, a writer can proudly read to a supportive group something they’ve worked on or are currently working on. Second, a listener enjoys and may gain inspiration and or courage for their own work.”

Participants are asked to register by going to the R. J. Julia website, and then to the online events calendar, and then to the Voices in the Bookstore event. Or they can go directly to http://www.rjjulia.com/event/voices-bookstore-35. Authors can read from a finished piece or a work in progress.

A Chance to Share

Julie Ana Harris, a Guilford singer-songwriter, jazz diva, and published author who has written two novels, said people who just want to listen are welcome as well. She remembers one woman coming and insisting that she wasn’t a writer, that she just wanted to listen.

“But then she admitted that she was a writer,” Harris said. “The group is simply a chance to share. It’s a chance to see what the responses are. But, also to hear other people with their works in progress is very inspiring as well. You get a lot of inspiration from that. I encourage everybody in the area who is either a writer, or a would-be writer to come.”

For writers who have self published, like Harris, the group is a great place to let people know about their finished work.

“We read up in the second floor right next to the children’s department.” Once, she remembers, “As I was reading a chapter of the novel, I looked over and there was this little girl standing in the doorway, standing with her mother. They waited the entire time. When we were through, this little girl wanted to buy my book,” said Harris, who was reading from her novel, Pacific Heights. “And that was wonderful.”

Gearhart cautions parents, however, that not all readings will be entirely appropriate for younger children. Harris agreed. Harris recalled one writer who gave a reading from a memoir that included a particularly racy piece of writing.

“That’s the one everyone remembers,” Harris said with a laugh, adding that it was a one-time occurrence and that it hasn’t happened again.

Still, parents interested in bringing children should check first to see what kind of material will be covered, as with any reading at any bookstore.

When asked about how the group could be improved, both Gearhart and Harris said they’d love to see some new faces at upcoming groups.

“It used to be quite a crowd,” Gearhart said. “People would come and pack the room. Over the years, the crowd has kind of dwindled. Now it’s very intimate and that’s nice. It’s a really lovely group of people. I go to RJ’s, I’m comfortable. I feel like I’m being respected.”

Anyone with that attitude towards their fellow writers is welcome, she said.

“Just make it clear, all people are welcome. It’s a heart connection,” she said. “That’s what’s in common there, a heart connection to writing.”

Voices in the Bookstore is the third Friday of every month on the second floor of R. J. Julia Booksellers at 768 Boston Post Road in Madison. Upcoming dates include July 17, Aug. 21, and Sept. 18, all at 6 p.m.

Reading Your Work Aloud: Tips for First-Timers

Many writers swear by the technique of reading their work aloud. But reading that work aloud in front of other people can be hard for first-timers. Emer Gearhart, a poet and writer from Branford, said she got these tips from a fellow writer shortly after she started participating in the Voices in the Bookstore group.

Prepare by reading it aloud to yourself or others. “Never come unprepared.”

Type up your work, skipping lines by double spacing.

When reading, drag your finger down the margin, so you don’t lose your spot.

Speak with inflection. “The more you read it aloud, and the more you become familiar with your work, you learn how to enhance it by speaking more softly in some parts and with your volume in other places.”

And, finally, “practice, practice, practice.”

Do You Have a Story to Tell?

Julie Ana Harris believes everyone has a story to tell.

“We all have a story. It’s just a matter of sitting down and putting it to paper.”

The difference between a writer and everyone else, is that a writer has the discipline to sit down and write. It may sound simple, but Harris said there was a time when the thought of writing a whole novel seemed entirely daunting to her.

“I always told myself I couldn’t write fiction,” she said. Then she went to a writers’ conference, and went to a seminar where Dusty Richards, who writes westerns and has published more than 100 novels, was the speaker.

“He said anybody can write fiction, all you have to do, is do two pages a day,” Harris said. “Well, I had just lost my job and was living on unemployment. And I thought, I’m going to take my unemployment as an artistic grant and write a novel, two pages a day. Well, two pages led into chapters and I got caught up into it.”

Harris said her other writing tip is this: Expect the unexpected when writing fiction. She said she learned this from Elizabeth Berg, a New York Times best-selling author.

“The difference between writing fiction and nonfiction, is that writing fiction is like groping down a dark hallway. You never know what’s going to jump out at you.”

And what happens when life throws something unexpected at you that threatens to derail your writing? Harris says just keep up with the two pages a day. She says she found solace in writing while going through her divorce, and she knows of a friend who wrote through her battle with brain cancer. Harris is convinced that having a writing project helped keep her friend going through the worst of it.

“Creativity is the antidote to adversity,” she said.