Search Results for “irene blea”

Search results for: irene blea

Author Updates: Irene Blea & Kit Crumpton

Posted on November 14, 2017 by

Irene Blea and Kit Crumpton both write about subjects that cut to the heart. Kit finds inspiration in her family’s past, writing historical fiction about World War II in her first novel and mental illness in her second. Irene’s work weaves issues of social injustice into the women’s stories in her novels. (This update focuses on each author’s newest work, but links to their first interviews regarding earlier books are included at the bottom of each section.)

The first book in Irene I. Blea’s trilogy, Suzanna (2012), introduces the novel’s namesake, a teenager forced to marry an older man and live in isolation in territorial New Mexico. After enduring hardship and abuse, and giving birth to two children, she makes a choice that will haunt her for the rest of her life. Suzanna’s story continues in Poor People’s Flowers (2014) and concludes in Beneath the Super Moon (2016) where she must “confront the darkness in her heart and the sorrow of her past.”

You’ve said before you have trouble choosing titles for your books. How did you come up with the title Beneath the Super Moon?
My original choice was taken by another book and a movie. After having written Daughters of the West Mesa (2015), which was rather dark in character, a new Suzanna novel seemed lightweight. I wanted it to bring out the things that can happen to women at night, and I had photos of the last supermoon. Suzanna needed light to do what she needed to do at night.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing the book?
To have completed my Suzanna trilogy, based on the marriage of a very young girl to a much older man, how she ran away, left two sons, and matured for several years with a desire to reunite with them.

What is it about Suzanna that makes readers connect with her?
Her youthful loss of innocence in the first book, that she grows older in the second and third while giving voice to her powerlessness, claiming her power, then putting it into action. She is transformative as a social-historical character. She symbolizes profound change, and captures the lives and culture of people often left out of the American literary tradition.

Of the three novels in your Suzanna series, which one did you enjoy writing the most?
I enjoyed them all, but was challenged to write Beneath the Super Moon because I wanted to write about the evil of the hatred of women, the desire of some to hurt them, diminish them, control them, use them, and discard them. It was a dark subject, but a very real one that demanded more creativity in order to tell the story without editorializing or preaching.

What do you hope your stories accomplish?
Mine are healing stories. They focus on misogyny: prejudice, intolerance, chauvinism, and disdain for women. Women of color cannot escape the double whammy of racism and sexism although they are born in this country. These wounds are embellished on their souls and hard to heal for there are few who specialize in this field. My stories can help.

You come from a family of storytellers. What is the greatest tool in a storyteller’s bag of tricks?
Storytellers listen. We study how people walk, talk, eat, what they react to, and much more. We know our subjects and their environments well. I am bonded to time and place when I tell a story, and I often see no separation between the two. Storytellers are often teachers. I was a university professor for almost 30 years, and I am still teaching in my stories. I have also discovered that I am a performer; I didn’t know this until after I retired.

What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
A relatively uneducated, fifty-year-old mountain man, wearing a long beard and an old flannel shirt told me he wants his grandchildren to grow up and be able to read my books.

What writing project are you working on now?
A memoir about how I lost my personal story. I was born on the top and the north side of the mountain in Colfax County, New Mexico. It was the second poorest county in the country that year, next to Appalachia in Arkansas. I was also born to Tewa and Hispanic parents who had to move or starve alongside their starving children. The Americanization of Irene Blea is depressing and profoundly painful. It left spirit, or soul, wounds that I had to heal. I lost my past in order to survive it. All is well, for I transformed into a Ph.D., a world traveler, and an author with readers in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and Central America, even a few in the Philippines.

Read more about Irene and her writing, as well as her standalone novel Daughters of the West Mesa, in her first interview for SouthWest Writers. You’ll find her on LinkedIn, Facebook and her website IreneBlea.com.

The Fading of Lloyd (2017) is Kit Crumpton’s second novel based on family history. The book follows the Huttlestons’ struggle to cope with their son’s mental illness and the tragic handling of the mentally ill in the early twentieth century.

The Fading of Lloyd is a novel inspired by your uncle’s life and untimely death. Why did you want to write his story?
When there is a family member that cannot function well, the clarity of that situation becomes easily observable. So Lloyd, and the issues surrounding him, was something I wanted to know. I’m convinced there is a subtle influence—an unspoken energy—that flows down from generation to generation in families. It affects our belief systems, our functioning, and our quality of life. Why do some folks enjoy healthy, prosperous lives and others do not? I find the question intriguing. Life events brought Dr. Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Theory and his Family Therapy in Clinical Practice to my attention. My personal journey expanded to a four-year study of the theory and my nuclear and extended family.

When readers turn the last page in the book, what do you hope they’ll take away from it?
Compassion and understanding. I hope my readers learn how the mentally infirm were viewed and treated in early twentieth century society.

What was the most difficult aspect of writing the book?
Looking at the power of secrets and how they played out in this nuclear family. Writing The Fading of Lloyd gave me context, perspective. The story reveals the secrets, and that power is now diffused, weakened. With context there is understanding and then forgiveness. Closure. Here is a riveting example: I have a surviving uncle, my father’s brother, who knew the Huttlestons well. He never saw Lloyd, never knew he existed. And yet my uncle thought he KNEW this family. Lloyd was a secret, closely held.

What lessons did you learn from writing and publishing your first book, Raiding the Empire of the Sun (2015), that you applied to The Fading of Lloyd?
I built the infrastructure of my indie-author business (Ro Bar Romaani, LLC) while writing my first book. I also had to find a good editor, someone I could trust and whose work I respected. It took time to figure out my requirements, whittle down possibilities to four candidates, conduct interviews, and choose one. I’m thrilled with my choice. The Fading of Lloyd was easier because I was able to leverage off this established business infrastructure. I learned that writing and publishing a book takes a long time, but it’s worth the time to make a good product. I also learned the importance of using beta readers who are either subject matter experts or people whose opinions I respect. Beta readers are fabulous! I use them as a last step before I self-publish. I recognize their contribution in the Acknowledgements of my books.

What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
The most amusing compliment for The Fading of Lloyd was on Goodreads: “Warning—have a box of Kleenex nearby, I bawled my eyes out for the last 20 pages or so.” The best comment I received for Raiding the Empire of the Sun: Tinian 1945 was from a lady aviator who bought my book and later asked me, “Are you a pilot?”

What has writing taught you about yourself?
My unconscious mind is a powerful resource, particularly if I’m stuck on something. Sometimes, to ferret out its wisdom, I have to do something physical while the issue percolates. My unconscious mind eventually submits the solution to my consciousness. Once when this approach didn’t work in a timely manner, I prayed and asked God if I was supposed to write the book. After that the solutions presented themselves. I know my subconscious gets bombarded with a lot of data collected throughout the day. So it’s my habit to go to bed early in the evening and let my subconscious work while I sleep. Early morning, physically refreshed, I let this resource direct the words on paper. I’m always amazed at what happens.

What writing project are you working on now?
I’m writing my third book, The Fading of Kimberly, which is a continuation of the storyline of The Fading of Lloyd. I have received a call-to-action from a couple of readers—a need to arrange the demise of my character Mr. Eddie Fisk (bad guy, health care provider). I’m also moved to write it from this comment on Goodreads: “…I encourage people to read this [The Fading of Lloyd] in hopes that they will implore Ms. Crumpton to continue writing about these characters, dive deeper into their lives—Lloyd, Kimberly Weatherspoon, Eddie Fisk with the addition of Dr. Reed, the psychiatrist.”

Discover more about Kit and Raiding the Empire of the Sun in her 2016 interview for SouthWest Writers, and connect with her at KitCrumpton.com.

KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. She has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.

An Interview with Author Irene Blea

Posted on November 26, 2015 by

Dr. Irene Blea is a native New Mexican with a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado-Boulder and is the author of three novels, seven university text books, four poetry chapbooks, and over thirty academic articles. She developed and taught Mexican American Studies for twenty-seven years before retiring in 1998. In May 2009 she was recognized by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of New Mexico for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement. Daughters of the West Mesa (ABQ Press, 2015) is her third novel. You can find Dr. Blea on LinkedIn, Facebook and her website IreneBlea.com.

What is your elevator pitch for Daughters of the West Mesa?
Daughters of the West Mesa is a work of fiction based on a true story of the discovery of 11 female remains, and an unborn fetus, west of Albuquerque. I fictionalized a single mother of two daughters; one of them has been missing for several months.

What do you hope readers will take away from it?
My goal is to humanize the impact of this serial killing on the families and the community from which the murdered women emerged.

Tell us about your main protagonist.
Dora is a single mother of two daughters who has struggled to negotiate out of poverty, while experiencing racism, sexism, family and religious resistance, and the embarrassment of having her daughter addicted and missing.

Did this work pose any unique challenges for you?
This work took me to some dark places in the lives of the murdered women, their families, the communities, and myself. At no time was I fearful, but I frequently was out of my comfort zone when I drove the dark streets were sex workers work at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., and when I attended biker functions in biker bars.

What was the most difficult aspect of writing this book? The most satisfying?
The most difficult aspect was the pain of the mothers, fathers, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, and community. It was widespread. The most satisfying is that these hurting people were able to vocalize their experiences to me.

What kind of research did you do for the book?
I conducted a literature review on serial killers, especially those committing matricide. I read newspapers and Internet accounts of America’s unsolved serial killer mysteries, and visited the 100-acre dumping site a few times. I also attended indigenous prayer rituals, victim’s funerals and public information sessions that became rallies and protest sessions, toured the crime laboratory and interviewed victim’s family members and talked with Spanish-speaking media persons from Univision. I’ve kept a journal since 1979 and documented my experience.

Tell us more about putting together Daughters of the West Mesa.
It took two years to complete from beginning to end. This was one of those novels that demanded to be written. I wanted to write my third Suzanna novel, but Daughters of the West Mesa kept gnawing at me. In the editing process, we struggled through which Spanish words to italicize. It is difficult to accept that no matter how many times I edit my material, how many times two or three other persons read and commented on it, there were still errors and minor inconsistencies that needed to be addressed.

Do you have a message or a theme that recurs in your writing?
Justice. The message in Daughters of the West Mesa is that the murdered women were not the only persons victimized. Those related to them suffered shame and disappointment, and felt victimized by legal and media representatives constantly referring to their loved one as drug addicted and prostitutes. This is a complex cultural issue that affected the community. I felt it needed a voice. In addition I did not want the case to go cold. It is important to keep it alive and find the perpetrator.

When did you know you were a writer?
I was born into a storytelling family, into a tradition that is Native American and northern New Mexico, mountain, Hispanic. At the age of seven I entered the public school system, learned to speak English, and fell in love with the magic of writing and reading. I did not like summer vacation from school. As a graduate student I wrote three different term papers for three graduate seminars. Thus, I am now aware of systematically, gradually, becoming a writer; there was no one pivotal moment.

Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
I enjoy the clarity and creativity of the magic realism of Central, South American and Spanish writers. Juan Rulfo and Pablo Neruda’s poetry is grounded and dynamic in such a forceful manner. Carlos Fuentes, Isabel Allende’s magical realism is intriguing and spiritual. Of course, what is not to love about the storytelling genius of the Nobel Prize winner, Miguel García Márquez. In addition, I admire the revolutionary nature of the highly influential work of Federico García Lorca.

How has your work as a poet influenced your fiction writing?
My love of language and code switching in ways that touch the heart and stir the soul is always there. I strive to be my most poetic self when I write about the land, the moon, the sun and the sky. I want the world to love and recognize all their relations: those that walk, crawl, swim, and fly.

What can fiction writers learn from nonfiction writers? From poets?
The truth is filtered through the storyteller’s lens, and that is their truth.

What is the greatest tool in your writer’s arsenal?
Being bilingual and tri-cultural, a Spanish-English speaking Native American that struggles to speak Italian.

Looking back to the beginning of your writing career, what do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I wish I had known to write earlier in my life. I wish I had known to start young to write what I know as my truth with no concern about whether the work is commercial or not.

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
Write. Write what you know and research what you don’t.

What are you working on now?
I’m writing the third novel in the Suzanna series, untitled at this point (Suzanna was published in 2009, Poor People’s Flowers in 2014). The most difficult thing for me to write is titles. I cannot make up a title. It has to come from life; the life of my characters or my life. Thus, at this time I fail to have a title for the third Suzanna novel, but I have written five chapters.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Yes, the person next to you has a story to tell, and it is most likely unlike yours.

Author Update 2024: Irene I. Blea

Posted on September 3, 2024 by

Dr. Irene Blea is a nonfiction author, novelist and poet, as well as a retired university professor and civil rights activist. Her newest book release is Dragonfly (March 2024), a collection of poems spanning 50 years of her life in which she “shares her transformation from the prescription of traditional female roles riddled by confusion and conflict to one of peace, understanding, and redefinition.” Look for Irene on Facebook. You’ll find many of her books on her Amazon author page, but Dragonfly is available here. Read more about Irene’s work in SWW’s 2015 and 2017 interviews.

What are you trying to communicate to readers through Dragonfly?
Humans need beauty in their world. It is a healing element. Each year I wait for a golden dragonfly to visit my yard. It stays for hours in the same place, and we commune with one another. I thank it for sharing its beauty. It makes me feel connected. If it does not appear, I miss it and wait for it the following year. The cover is indicative of my need for beauty and connection. As humans, we sometimes need to heal from something that has no name or something to which we have paid little attention. Because I have experienced this, I offer my understanding as a spiritual guide via poems of transformation and healing.

Is there one piece in the collection that gets to the heart of the whole?
It is difficult to select one, but I feel it is hija de la tierra because it speaks to healing from racism, class discrimination, and sexism. I often switch between two languages because this is the way I think and feel things. It is how I navigate in two worlds.

♦◊♦◊♦hija de la tierra
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦your ancestors were goddesses and kings
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦who ruled across lifespans
♦◊♦◊♦your ancestors have been diminished
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦to barrio dogs and cats
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦dogs and cats who roam the alleys of society
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦dogs and cats who teach us how to live
♦◊♦◊♦hija de la tierra
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦you were born to reign above the mountains
♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦♦◊♦◊♦you should be born to live in peace

While going through your fifty years of poems, did you discover something about yourself or your poetry? Has your writing style changed over the years?
To my surprise, I discovered I was at the forefront of Chicano and Chicana poetry in the late 1960s and 70s. I had not realized this because I was busy researching, teaching, developing university courses, and writing textbooks because there were none in the beginning of the sociology of Chicano Studies. My feminism is consistent. The book is a composition of three chapbooks, and I inform the reader about how my style changed because of my education and some of it remained the same because of my politics.

What challenges did this work pose for you?
This work was not very challenging because I had read my poems to audiences for years, and I already had the work in print in the form of chapbooks. I dictated the work from the chapbooks to my computer, revised them a bit, and sent it to a couple of outside readers who made the work better.

How did the book come together?
I started the process on New Years Day of this year. The inspiration is the first sentence of the introduction to the book: “On January 1st, 2024, I opened my eyes and asked into the crispness of my bedroom if I would die that year. I have been obsessed with my death for decades… The room responded with, ‘I don’t know.’ I decided to rise and make some coffee….” While the coffee was brewing, I decided I did not want to die without letting readers know I had written poetry. My poems had been published in several places, but I did not have an entire book of poetry printed and distributed. It took a few months. As mentioned above, it was rather simple to put the book together since I had so much poetry categorized in the chapbooks.

The Dragonfly book cover is beautiful. Tell us about the process of working with the artist.
The publication is a composite of three talented females: me the author, Rose Kern the publisher, and my daughter, Raven, the cover artist who does not use her last name. We worked well together. Rose and Raven know their craft well and all I had to do was trust their feedback. I knew I wanted a “pretty” cover and Raven presented me with three options. Raven did the cover of my autobiography, Erené with Wolf Medicine, and I loved it. This made it easy to work with her.

How and why did you chose the title of the book?
The title is generally the most difficult part for me. It was late spring, and the publisher needed a title. Since I was waiting for the golden dragonfly to appear, Dragonfly seemed to fit.

Of all the books you’ve written, which one was the most challenging and which one was the easiest (or most enjoyable) to write?
Dragonfly was the easiest one to take from concept to publication and distribution. The most difficult book to write was my autobiography, Erené with Wolf Medicine. I wrote about leaving the Catholic Church, getting divorced, contemplating an abortion, domestic violence, and suicide. Each time I wrote about them, reviewed and edited them, I re-experienced the emotions. At the same time, in the end, it was cathartic, and I released a lot of sensations and found it healing. But it was difficult to take it from concept to publication, then release it for distribution.

What poets do you continually go back to?
I return to the classic Spanish writers because Spanish is such a beautiful poetic language. Sometimes the mystical, magical, tone of a poem is difficult to translate into English. Fedrico Garcia Lorca, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Pablo Neruda are among my favorites.

Do you have a preference for poetry structure or form when you write or read?
I write poetry by inspiration. Something needs to affect me profoundly. I am not trained in poetry, so structure and form are only important to the degree that I want to render emotion or message. Most of my structure and form is in breaking mainstream rules. It comes from reading and writing Chicano, Native American, and Afro American resistance poetry by other writers, which I began to do at the height of the Chicano movement.

Do you remember what inspired you to write your first poem?
As a child, I shared a bedroom with my younger sister, who was very ill and could not sleep. To comfort her, I recited poems. But I did not write anything down. Sometimes in the darkness of our bedroom, she would request a story that rhymed. They were generally about an animal, child clown, or a pretty lady.

How does a poem begin for you, with an idea, a form, an image?
A poem begins for me with an emotional reaction. They are like prayers.

What do most well-written poems have in common?
They must be written within the economy of language and render an emotional tone. I seek images and feelings, or that the scene is fully rendered. Well-written poems for me are not terribly long, epic, although my poems have become longer recently, and I cannot explain that. Except to say that the issues I have been writing about have to do with the environmental factors that ravage the environment and how Mother Earth struggles to respond to those ravages.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Healing must take place holistically at the physical, emotional and spiritual level. Pills, ointments, and massage can do some of that but there are other forms of medicine. Acupuncture, the sun, dragonflies, the presence of certain people, and animals can bring healing. These are healing elements, medicine, which address the physical, emotional, and spiritual components of health.

KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kat has a speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.

Irene I. Blea

Posted on June 27, 2024 by

Pen Name:

None

Genre:

Memoir, Paranormal, Poetry, Women, Hispanic/Chicano, Historical, Spirituality, Racism, Sexism, Class Discrimination

Social Media:

Facebook

Contact:

iamisabel13@yahoo.com

Bio

Retired university professor, civil rights activist, and lover of flowers.

More from Irene

If I must leave this world, it should be after viewing the golden firefly that visited me in my yard each year one more time. I am not okay living to a hundred, but do not want to die before I inform you that throughout my life, I wrote much poetry and that I was one of few women at the forefront of Chicano literature. This type of poetry was an important literary movement. Chicano and Chicana poetry was rooted in resistance to class discrimination, racism, and sexism. Early poets of the time created a genre that added to American literature another category. We had unique philosophical, topical, and aesthetic features different from the divisions of genres of the time. This literary movement provided language for comparing, contrasting, and discussing literary words and works, and served as an introduction to the formation of curricula and anthologies.

Books

Title: Dragonfly
Publisher: RMK Publications, LLC. (March 7, 2024)
Genre: Poetry

In this collection of fifty years of her poetry, Dr. Irene I. Blea brazenly relates her efforts to understand what she thought was wrong with her. She came to an understanding of social and historical factors that misinformed her colonized mind. Decolonization demanded evaluating her mind, body, and spirit and how she fed into it. She portrays decolonization as a complex process involving the rejection or redefinition of the colonizer’s language, embracing her own tri-cultural history, and commitment to ongoing learning and growth. This is a lifelong process that requires dedication and struggle to create a more just and equitable world and the author shares her transformation from the prescription of traditional female roles riddled by confusion and conflict to one of peace, understanding, and redefinition. This was a physical, psychological, and spiritual process that brought her to the understanding of what it means to be a female human in a sometimes hostile world.

Available for Sale

Amazon

Title: Erené with Wolf Medicine
Publisher: Prickly Pear Publishing (2022)
Genre: Autobiography

There are many surprises in this book. In Erené With Wolf Medicine Irene I. Blea skillfully introduces us to her Native American, Chicano, and dominant cultural experiences. She carries us with her when she moves from a mountain to rural farm life, to an industrial city, and produces an intense memoir about growing up in an extended family during an era when women were expected to fit into prescribed ways of being and seeing the world. This is also a story about the complexities of being tri-cultural in a dominant society that does not frequently validate a young girl with wolf medicine. Nevertheless, Blea grew into a woman when People of Color broke out of the old constrictive ways of being. She introduces us to the concept of genízaro and highlights how she used wolf medicine to navigate the intersection of race, and class gender, and to define her own life while obtaining academic positions not normally held by those of her tri-cultural background.

Available for Sale

Prickly Pear Publishing
Amazon

Title: Beneath the Super Moon
Publisher: ABQ Press (2016)
Genre: Family Fiction

Irene Blea’s final book of her Suzanna trilogy. Suzanna is set free to live life freely after a life predetermined by others. Only now, in the twilight of life, does the radiance of her soul shine through. This transformation occurs during the lunar eclipse known as the Super Moon when the moon appears closest to earth. It is then that Suzanna is finally reunited with her long-lost children, but not before she confronts the darkness in her heart and the sorrow of her past.

Available for Sale

Amazon

Title: Daughters of the West Mesa
Publisher: ABQ Press (2015)
Genre: Fiction

This book is based on the true story of the discovery of 11 female remains and an unborn fetus on Albuquerque’s West Mesa. It is New Mexico’s largest crime scene on a 100-acre part of the desert. Dora has purchased a new house. Her back wall separates her from the crime scene. Dora is also a single parent of two daughters, Luna and Andrea. Luna has been missing for several months. Is Luna buried in the field, or not?

Available for Sale

Amazon

Title: Poor People’s Flowers
Publisher: ABQ Press (2014)
Genre: Family Fiction

In Poor People’s Flowers, Suzanna runs fast. Twice she ran away from men. Both times she ran until her throat and chest hurt. The first man was her husband. The second a stranger who promised to take her from New Mexico to Colorado in the mid 1930’s. Suzanna runs until she meets two other men, and a beautiful woman. One of them uses her, the other helps her. The woman teaches her to work in a working class bar, and together they search for the children Suzanna left behind when she ran.

Available for Sale

Amazon

Title: Suzanna
Publisher: Floricanto Press (2012)
Genre: Family Fiction

At the time when young girls quickly grew up to become old women, young Suzanna was raised by her grandparents and married off to a much older man. This is the first book of Blea’s trilogy. Suzanna quickly births two sons, is forced to run away from her abusive husband, and leaves her sons behind.

Available for Sale

Amazon

2024 New Releases for SWW Authors #2

Posted on November 19, 2024 by

J.R. Seeger, RJ Mirabal, Melody Groves, Linda Davis-Kyle, and Rosie Kern are just a few members of SouthWest Writers (SWW) who published books in 2024. Their new releases couldn’t fit in this year’s interview schedule, but look for 2025 interviews or updates for some of these authors.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2024 releases is included at the end of this post.

A Body on the Shoreline: A WWII Mystery (Mission Point Press, 2024) by J.R. Seeger. It’s 1942, and a body is discovered on the shoreline of a secret training facility in Canada. Warned to expect suspicion, if not total obstruction, Miles Lundin of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police must find a murderer in a camp of trained killers. Fortunately, he is joined in the investigation by a visiting “outsider” from Royal Navy intelligence, Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming. The questions are clear: who and why? The answers, however, are as murky as the depths of Lake Ontario.

The Swordfish Deception: Book 8 in the MIKE4 Series (Mission Point Press, 2024) by J.R. Seeger. After nearly fifteen years of war zone deployments as a military intelligence officer with the US Special Operations Force, Sue O’Connell is now working for the CIA in a position where it’s unlikely she’ll be shot, blown up, or captured. But US and European agents and sources are dying mysteriously, and Sue’s team is suddenly on its way to Germany. Once again, the separate paths of Sue and her mother, a retired CIA case officer, twist and converge. And they find themselves targeted as obstacles to be eliminated by Russian mercenaries known as SWORDFISH.

You’ll find all of John’s books on his Amazon author page.

Dragon Train War (Dragon Train Quest, Book3, May 2024) by RJ the Story Guy (aka RJ Mirabal). Jaiden’s act of freeing Skye, the blue dragon, and her family became a movement to free all dragons. And that escalated to a rebellion. Now, all-out war seems to be the only solution. Jaiden and friends Tristram, Wyetta, Gorn, and Aleena represent the surge of humanity who join the fight for Dragon Freedom. Skirmishes, ambushes, intense battles, undercover operations, and uncertainty surrounding the strength of the enemy’s human army adds to the tension. Mysteries, surprises, unexpected revelations, and shocking outcomes mark the Final Dragon War.

You’ll find RJ on his website at RJMirabal.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and his Amazon author page.

Nolan Gang Unleashed (Wolfpack Publishing) is a three-book classic western series by Melody Groves. The Making of the Texas Kid (book 1, June 2024): Tate Nolan harbors a bold ambition—to surpass the legendary fame of his outlaw idol, Jesse James. Tate makes a choice that will leave an indelible mark on the wild heart of the untamed frontier. Eagan’s Revenge (book 2, July 2024): Eagan Nolan’s goal is simple—remain hell-bent on seeking revenge after a humiliating assault. Eagan faces the complexities of self-doubt and the unexpected twists that life throws his way. Battle at Rio Pedernales (book 3, August 2024): Joe Nolan wants one thing—to catch the men responsible for wreaking havoc on his beloved town. Joe’s courage stands as a beacon against the encroaching shadows of uncertainty and fear.

You’ll find Melody on MelodyGroves.net and her Amazon author page.

Writing about Your Pets #1: Questions & Prompts for ’Tweens, Teens & Beyond (July 2024) by Linda Davis-Kyle. The book offers loads of imagination-stretching and heart-warming prompts that reward young and mature wordsmiths with a more caring view of their pets and a more loving image of themselves. Some unique fiction and nonfiction prompts will engage ‘tweens, teens, and beyond teens to have fun improving and completing “startup” adventures. Perhaps, even more importantly, writers of all ages will appreciate seeing through the eyes of their pets, a beautiful way to love and appreciate themselves more.

Look for Linda on her website WritingNow.com. You’ll find her books on her Amazon author page.

The Competently Quirky Parables of an Eccentric Master Gardener (July 2024) by Rosie Kern. Master Gardener Rosie Kern’s philodendron grows across three walls in her dining room. The Maple sapling in her front yard cries when temperatures top 100 degrees. Starbucks baristas across the city save coffee grounds for her, and plant catalogs choke her mailbox. She also owns a tractor and knows how to use it. Her unusual but effective methods of approaching gardening challenges fuel her garden-club lectures. Friends smile and call her eccentric, fellow gardeners acknowledge her competence, and her kids just think she’s kinda quirky.

Visit Rosie on her websites at SolarRanch.com and RoseMarieKern.com.

SWW Author Interviews: 2024 Releases

Tim Amsden
Love Letter to Ramah

Michael Backus
The Heart is Meat

Rachel Bate
Hatch Chile Willie

Irene Blea
Dragonfly

E. Joe Brown
A Cowboy’s Fortune (Kelly Can Saga Book 2)

Gency Brown
A Right Fine Life

Mary Lou Dobbs
Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging

Lynn Ellen Doxon
The Moonlight Cavalry

Robert D. Kidera
Burn Scars

Kendra Loring
The Saga of Henri Standing Bear

William Murray
Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather

Jeff Otis
Raptor Lands: The Story of the Harrowing Return of the Dinosaurs

Léonie Rosenstiel
Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp

KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has worked as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.

2024 New Releases for SWW Authors #1

Posted on November 12, 2024 by

Kris Bock (aka Chris Eboch), Lisa Haneberg, Parris Afton Bonds, Carol H. March, and Larry Kilham represent the diverse membership of SouthWest Writers (SWW) with books published in a variety of genres in 2024. Their new releases couldn’t fit in this year’s interview schedule, but look for 2025 interviews or updates for some of these authors.

A list of interviewed SWW authors with 2024 releases is included at the end of this post.

Someone Rotten Riding the Rails: Female Sleuth Cozy Mysteries (The Accidental Detective Book 6, Tule Publishing, January 2024) by Kris Bock. Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her Arizona hometown. Now the FBI needs Kate’s help. Two Russian crime families have rented a private historic train to the Grand Canyon for their children’s wedding. To infiltrate the train, Kate poses as a reporter to cover the society wedding, and her crew of misfits pose as train staff. Their goal to observe is derailed when the groom disappears and a dead body turns up. Everyone’s a suspect and trapped on the train. Kate and friends must uncover the truth before their mission goes off the tracks.

Pride and Prejudice at The Cat Café: a Furrever Friends Sweet Romance (Pig River Press, March 2024) by Kris Bock. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a fortune should donate to a cat rescue. The Furrever Friends Cat Café helps people find furry forever friends – and just might lead to romantic love too. This Pride and Prejudice modern adaptation features fresh twists to delight both fans and new readers. The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the workers and customers at a small-town cat café, and the adorable cats and kittens looking for their forever homes. Each book is a complete story with a happy ending for one couple.

You’ll find Kris Bock on KrisBock.com (and Chris Eboch on ChrisEboch.com), Instagram, and Goodreads.

Far From Ordinary: Predicaments, Misadventures, and Illuminations (January 2024) by Lisa Haneberg. This is a hilarious new collection of essays, poems, and short stories about adventures and misadventures. Lisa Haneberg engages readers with fascinating facts and eccentric tales about awkward experiences that went seriously sideways. The essays and poems highlight Haneberg’s quirky personal adventures, while her short stories subject fictional characters to outlandish escapades and entanglements. Dish unto others as life has dished upon you, as the saying goes. The collection includes twenty-six pieces ordered from the most straightforward to the weirdest.

Look for Lisa on her website LisaHaneberg.com, on Facebook, Instagram, and her Amazon author page.

Love and War on the Rio Grande (Paradise Publishing, April 2024) by Parris Afton Bonds. Where the Rio Grande River meanders through the Pass had long been a gathering spot for Anglo and Spaniard and Indian. Determined colonists, fierce Indians, devout padres, pistoleros, cavalrymen, railroad barons, and high-class harlots had all played their roles here. Beginning with the declaration of the Texas War for Independence on March 2, 1836, the stage was set for three females, all born on that same historic day. From thereon, their incredible lives were to be irrevocably interwoven. Their friendship leads them into escapades and romance covering a half-century of El Paso’s illustrious history—forbidden and life-changing adventures.

You’ll find Parris on ParrisAftonBonds.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.

Open the Door to Your Creative Life (May 2024) by Carol H. March. Dare to Discover Your Inner Artist! Something is stirring! Do you hear the call? Get on board with your Creative Self and become the joyful, creative person you are meant to be. If you want to write, paint, compose, sing, start a business, or improve your life in any way, your Creative Self can lead you along the path to success. Say no to the voice of fear. Say no to the inner critic. Say yes to the wisdom within and discover your true potential. Be the person you know you can be. Open the door!

Visit Carol on her website CarolHollandMarch.com and her Amazon author page.

Hope: Poetry for our Future (July 2024) by Larry Kilham. Hope is a collection of Larry Kilham’s best poems through 2024. In this world struggling with identity, culture wars, and forecasts of apocalypse, Kilham’s poetry offers hope through themes of dealing with environmental change, nature, life’s passages, AI, and more. His poems have been included in many anthologies and have received many awards.

You’ll find Larry on his website LarryKilham.net and blog, and on his Amazon author page.

SWW Author Interviews: 2024 Releases

Tim Amsden
Love Letter to Ramah

Michael Backus
The Heart is Meat

Rachel Bate
Hatch Chile Willie

Irene Blea
Dragonfly

E. Joe Brown
A Cowboy’s Fortune (Kelly Can Saga Book 2)

Gency Brown
A Right Fine Life

Mary Lou Dobbs
Badass Old White Woman: How to Flip the Script on Aging

Lynn Ellen Doxon
The Moonlight Cavalry

Robert D. Kidera
Burn Scars

Kendra Loring
The Saga of Henri Standing Bear

William Murray
Worn Out Saddles and Boot Leather

Jeff Otis
Raptor Lands: The Story of the Harrowing Return of the Dinosaurs

Léonie Rosenstiel
Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp

Schedule of Events

Posted on March 11, 2022 by

Below is the Schedule of Events for 2024 — subject to change. For specifics regarding our events, visit the Meetings page, the Classes page, and the Workshops page.

For a pdf version click here.

Join us for our monthly programs.

SWW monthly meetings are held on the second Saturday of every month (in person and Zoom) — 10:00 am to noon — and the fourth Wednesday (Zoom only) from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm (no Wednesday meeting in December).

Monthly Workshops are held after our Saturday meetings from 12:15 pm to 2:00 pm.

2024 Listing of Events

November 20 – Wednesday:
Meeting: Léonie Rosenstiel – AI: Your Best Hope or Your Worst Nightmare?

December 14 – Saturday:
Meeting: Dan Wetmore – The Building Blocks of Prose

No Wednesday Meeting in December

2025 Listing of Events

January 11 – Saturday:
Meeting: Layla Milholen – Submitting Your Book to a Traditional Publisher
Workshop: Rose Marie Kern – Niche Markets for Your Writing

January 22 – Wednesday:
Meeting: John Roche – Freeing Your Free Verse from Flabbiness

February 8 – Saturday:
Meeting: Dorinda Wegener – Get it Together: Organizing a Submission Packet and/or Manuscript and Tips on Submitting It
Workshop: Dorinda Wegener – Publicity Steps from Pitch to Launch

February 26 – Wednesday:
Meeting: Judy Castleberry – Writing Contests: Things You Need to Know

March 8 – Saturday:
Meeting: Mary Lou Dobbs – Marketing and Visibility for Writers
Workshop: Speaker & Topic TBA

March 26 – Wednesday:
Meeting: Christopher Upham – Adapting Stories to Screenplays

April 12 – Saturday:
Meeting: Sherri Burr & Kathleen Hessler – Creating Your Literary Legacy
Workshop: Speaker & Topic TBA

April 23 – Wednesday:
Meeting: Irene Blea – Bringing Passion to Your Poetry

Visitor/Guest Policy
With the new year comes a return to SWW’s previous policy concerning meeting attendance. We encourage visitors and guests to experience what our award-winning writers’ association has to offer. Since membership dues pay for our outstanding speakers, we request non-members limit their attendance to three meetings, after which we hope they will join SouthWest Writers. Visitors are welcome beyond their first three visits at a cost of $10 per meeting.

Meetings: YouTube Videos

Posted on July 20, 2021 by

Sorry, but you do not have permission to view this content.

YouTube Videos

Posted on April 11, 2018 by

SWW records the presentations from many of our meetings. These presentations are on a variety of topics by well-known authors, scriptwriters, publishers, editors and others in the publishing world. Scroll down and click on the links below to enjoy the last twelve months of recordings.

SWW members log in on our Members Only page to access all videos from 2016-2024. After logging in, go to this page.

SWW’s newest YouTube Video is from our November 2, 2024 meeting presentation — On Making Symphony in C-Note — with Antonio Weiss & Jacqueline Murray Loring. Watch it on YouTube here or click the play button below:

2024

January 6, 2024 – Jonathan Miller – Completing Your Manuscript Under Challenging Circumstances
January 24, 2024 – Chuck Greaves – The DIY MFA Or: How to Teach Yourself to Write Better
February 10, 2024 – Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos – Publishing, Dreams, and Research: Hybrid, Self, or Conventional Publishing. What is Right for YOU?
February 28, 2024 – Parris Afton Bonds – Writing Romance Novels–Then and Now
March 9, 2024 – Charlene Bell Dietz – Why Your Characters Misbehave
March 27, 2024 – Marcia Rosen – Memoir Detective: Writing Your Life Story
April 13, 2024 – Mary Collins – Creating Writers, Creating Citizens
April 24, 2024 – Shirley Blackwell – Contest Castles of Limerick and Haiku: How to Get Past the Moat Dragons
May 11, 2024 – Donna Pedace – Public Presentations
May 22, 2024 – Kathy Louise Schuit – Editorial Guidelines: NOT a Suggestion
June 8, 2024 – Irene I. Blea, Ph.D. – Integrating Ethnic Characters into Your Writing
July 13, 2024 – Carlyn Montes De Oca – In Conversation about Her Memoir Junkyard Girl
July 24, 2024 – Zachry Wheeler – How to Write Good Science Fiction
August 10, 2024 – BR Kingsolver – Writing in Series: Getting the Most out of an Idea
August 28, 2024 – Leonie Rosenstiel – How Jack Canfield Came to Write the Foreword for Legal Protection
September 14, 2024 – Laurel Goodluck, Vaunda Nelson, Khadijah VanBrakle, Natalie Linn, moderator Chris Eboch, Kid’s Lit Panel
September 25, 2024 – Neill McKee – Transitioning from an International Film and Media Maker to an Award-Winning Creative Writer
October 23, 2024 – Sara Francis – What Judges Look for in Book Contests
November 2, 2024 – Antonio Weiss & Jacqueline Murray Loring – On Making Symphony in C-Note

2023

November 29, 2023 – Ernie Witham – Finding Humor in Everyday Situations
December 9, 2023 – Christie Lowrance – A Writer’s Quest: Non-fiction, History, and Biography

YouTube Videos listed below are only available to SWW Members thru the Members Only Portion of this website. Click Here for more information.

2023

January 14, 2023 – Jamii Corley – Intro to Website Building
January 25, 2023 – Jim Jones – Blending the Writing of Novels and Song
February 11, 2023 – Joseph Badal – The Two Most Important Writing Rules
February 22, 2023 – Cornelia Gamlem & Jacqueline Murray Loring – Working with an Agent
March 11, 2023 – Geoff Habiger – Newsletter Basics
March 22, 2023 – Jim & Bobbi Jean Bell – Be the Star of Your Online or Radio Interview
April 26, 2023 – New Mexico State Poetry Society – Poets and Writers: Why the Distinction?
May 24, 2023 – Robert Kidera – The Writer’s Tool Kit
June 10, 2023 – Dan Wetmore – Poetry: Focus and Form
June 28, 2023 – Stephen Kurkjian – The Greatest Art Theft in History
July 8, 2023 – Kirt Hickman – Bring Your Settings to Life
August 12, 2023 – Kathy Louise Schuit – Don’t Make Your Friends & Family Read Bad Stuff
August 23, 2023 – Diane Dimond – How to Investigate and Write about a Secretive System
September 9, 2023 – Phil Mills Jr. – Challenges of Writing for Kids in a Video Game World
September 27, 2023 – Sonja Dewing – Making Dollars and Sense out of Amazon Ads
October 14, 2023 – Annual Meeting – 2023 Awards Presentation
October 25, 2023 – Michael Arnzen – The Transformation Scene
November 4, 2023 – Jim Tritten, Host – Author Readings from Holes in Our Hearts Anthology

2022

January 8, 2022 – John Gilstrap – Whose Story Are You Telling?
January 26, 2022 – Stephanie Chandler – Build Your On-line Marketing Plan
February 12, 2022 – Jayne Ann Krentz – Reinventing Yourself: Tips for Finding Your Voice and Your Core Story
February 23, 2022 – Lauren Wolk – The Art and Business of Writing for Young Readers
March 23, 2022 – Nancy Robin Stuart – Using Fiction Techniques to Shape Nonfiction
April 9, 2022 – Jonathan Miller – How to Turn Your Life into a Novel
April 27 2022 – Ellen Meeropol – Evil Characters We Love to Hate
June 11, 2022 – Melody Groves – Western Historical Writing
June 22, 2022 – Jim Tritten – Short Stories are Fun!
July 9, 2022 – Bruce Kingsolver – How and Why to Write a Series
July 27, 2022 – Margaret Shannon – You Can Write Your Family History
August 13, 2022 – Johnny Boggs – Making Dialogue Sing
September 10, 2022 – Anne Hillerman – What I Wish I’d known before I Wrote my First Novel
September 28, 2022 – B. Marika Flatt – PR by the Book
October 8, 2022 – SWW Annual Meeting and Writing Contest Awards
October 26, 2022 – Dan Klefstad – DIY Book Promo: Getting Your Book Into Readers’ Hands
November 12, 2022 – Robin Perini – Taking Your Writing to the Next Level
November 23, 2022 – Judith Avila – Writing Your Memoir, An Act of Courage
December 10, 2022 – Parris Afton Bonds – First, the Plot!

2021

January 2, 2021 – Jonathan Miller – A Novel for the New Year
January 19, 2021 – Marcia Rosen – Podcast Marketing For Authors
February 6, 2021 – David Morrell – Thoughts and lessons from 48 years as a published novelist
March 16, 2021 – Darynda Jones – Humor And Heat
April 3, 2021 – David L. Robbins – The Art & Craft of Narrative
April 17, 2021 – Gerard Hanberry, Geraldine Mills, Luke Morgan, Pete Mullineaux, Moya Roddy – Irish Poets Reading
April 20, 2021 – Raffi Andonian – Controversial Historical Sites
May 1, 2021 – Debra Englander – Why You Need A Book Coach
May 18, 2021 – Dean Wesley Smith – Writing Clean One-draft Stories Without an Outline
June 5,2021 – Sheryl Brown – Screenplay From Stakeholder Perspectives
June 15, 2021 – Jeffrey Candelaria – Artists, Writers, And A Business Mentality
July 3, 2021 – Paige Wheeler – Agents and Authors
July 20, 2021 – Fauzia Burke – Author Platforms
August 7, 2021 – Robin Cutler – The Power of Self-publishing
August 17, 2021 – James McGrath Morris – Researching Your Book
September 4, 2021 – Loretta Hall – Elements of Nonfiction
October 2, 2021 – Rob Spiegel – Using Scenes to Build your Story
October 19, 2021 – David Corwell – On the Edge of Their Seats: Horror and Suspense
November 6, 2021 – Lynn Miller – Writing like a Reader
November 16, 2021 – Robert Kidera – Taking the Mystery out of Mystery Writing
December 4, 2021 – Lynne Sturtevant – Writing for the Web

2020

January 4, 2020 – Melody Groves – 10 Dialogue Tricks to Make Your Characters “Talk Good”
March 7, 2020 – David Morrell – Getting Through It: How To Create A Storyline
April 25, 2020 (scheduled for May 2) – Chris Eboch – Myths about Writing for Children
June 6, 2020 – Bennett R. Coles – Inside the Mind of a Publisher

2019

February 2, 2019 – Kirt Hickman – Writing Realistic Dialogue
March 19, 2019 – Panel: Critique Groups – Critique Group Presentation
March 19, 2019 – Readings by Su-Ellen Lierz and Sam Moorman
April 6, 2019 – Dan Wetmore – The Pros and Cons of Non-prose
April 16, 2019 – A Reading by Don Morgan
May 4, 2019 – Don Bullis – Research Done Right
May 21, 2019 – Rose Marie Kern – How To Copyright Your Book
June 1, 2019 – Johnny Boggs – Publishing
June 18, 2019 – A Reading by Pam Lewis
June 18, 2019 – Patricia Conoway & Judith Avila – Memoir Panel
August 3, 2019 – Jonathan Miller – Planning Your Own Epic Series
August 20, 2019 – Robert Vardeman & Melody Groves – Writing Authentic Historical Fiction
September 7, 2019 – Jeffe Kennedy & Robin Perini – Romantic Elements and Tropes
September 17, 2019 – Bob Kidera, Margaret Tessler, Patricia Smith Wood – What Makes a Mystery Writer?
October 5, 2019 – Gail Rubin – How to Market Your Expertise
October 15, 2019 – Loretta Hall & Susan C. Cooper – Writing Nonfiction
November 2, 2019 – Elise McHugh, Bryce Emley, Barbara Rockman & Jack Loeffler – UNM Press

2018

January 7, 2018 – Jack Woodville London – Sticking to the Story
January 16, 2018 – A Reading by Kimberly Rose
January 16, 2018 – Marc Calderwood – Fiction and Film
February 20, 2018 – A Reading of Poetry by Don DeNoon
February 20, 2018 – Lorena Hughes – To Err is Human, to Learn Divine
March 3, 2018 – Melody Groves – Emotion

2017

January 3, 2017 – Darynda Jones – Seducing the Reader: The 4 Essential Elements of an Opening
January 17, 2017 – A Reading by Lisa Durkin
January 17, 2017 – Chloe Gallaway – The Hero’s Journey
February 4, 2017 – Melody Groves – Five Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting My Career
February 21, 2017 – A Reading by Michele Buchanan
February 21, 2017 – Dede Feldman – An Activist’s Guide
March 4, 2017 – Paula Paul – Taking the Scenic Route
March 21, 2017 – A Reading by Yvonne Williams Casaus
March 21, 2017 – Heloise Jones – The Writer’s Block Myth
April 1, 2017 – Kirk Hickman – Create Multidimensional Characters
April 18, 2017 – A Reading by Lucille Friedland
April 18, 2017 – Jeanne Shannon and Joanne Bodin – Exquisite Corpse Poetry
May 6, 2017 – Lynn Miller – Beginnings: Writing Your Way In
May 16, 2017 – Bob Kidera1 – Overcoming a Late Start to Your Writing Career
May 16, 2017 – Bob Kidera2 – Part 2, Overcoming a Late Start to Your Writing Career
June 3, 2017 – Joe Badal – Elements of Fiction
June 17, 2017 – Steve Brewer: The Writing Your Memoir Conference – The Writing Life: You Call this Living?
June 17, 2017 – Highlights: Sandra Toro, Chloe Gallaway, Shirley Melis, Steve Brewer, Nasario Garcia, Lynn C. Miller – The Writing Your Memoir Conference
June 20, 2017 – Jonathon Miller – How to Create Realistic Characters and Not Get Sued
July 18, 2017 – A Reading by Alan Carlson
July 18, 2017 – Jeffe Kennedy – Agents and Editors
August 5, 2017 – Jodi Thomas – Secrets of a Successful Writer
August 15, 2017 – A Reading by Irene Blea
August 15, 2017 – Christina Squire – And Then the Murders Began
September 2, 2017 – Panel Discussion – Publishing Advice from 4 SWW authors
September 19, 2017 -A Reading by Dennis Kastendiek
September 19, 2017 – Susan Cooper and Gail Rubin – Public Speaking for Writers
October 2, 2017 – Betsy James – Thought Experiments
October 28, 2017 – David Morrell: The Novel Writing Conference – What’s Your Story?
October 28, 2017 – Highlights: David Morrell, Richard Peck, Melody Groves, David Thurlo, Betsy James, Sarah Baker – The Novel Writing Conference
November 4, 2017 – Chris Eboch – Cliffhangers
December 2, 2017 – Sean Murphy – Dimension in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Memoir

2016

September 3, 2016 – Kristen Fogle – Forming a Daily Writing Practice
September 20, 2016 – Ross Van Dusen – Pictures with Words vs. Word Pictures
October 1, 2016 – JJ Amaworo Wilson – Inspiration of a Book
October 18, 2016 – Gail Rubin and Susan Cooper – The Art of Branding
October 22, 2016 – Steve Brewer: The Self-Publishing Conference – It’s Not Rocket Surgery
October 22, 2016 – Highlights: Rose Marie Kern, Sarah Baker, Steve Brewer, Jeanne Shannon, Esther Feske, Lawrence J. Clark – The Self-Publishing Conference
November 5, 2016 – Richard E. Peck – Playwriting Tools in Novels
November 15, 2016 – Shannon Baker – Staying the Course: Persistence
December 3, 2016 – Steven Gould – What Hollywood taught me about Prose Fiction

Meetings

Posted on January 27, 2014 by

Join us for our monthly programs.

Meeting Times and Locations
Two regular membership meetings with a presentation by an expert on some aspect of writing are held each month.

The second Saturday of every month from 10:00 am to noon MST (in person at UNM Continuing Education Building and via Zoom)
The fourth Wednesday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm MST (via Zoom only). There is no Wednesday meeting in December.

Visitor/Guest Policy
We encourage visitors and guests to experience what our award-winning writers’ association has to offer. Since membership dues pay for our outstanding speakers, we request non-members limit their attendance to three meetings, after which we hope they will join SouthWest Writers. Visitors are welcome beyond their first three visits at a cost of $10 per meeting.

See a schedule of all our events, and visit our YouTube Videos page for a listing of the recorded speakers from 2016 to the present.

ZOOM MEETING Procedure: Read about SWW’s Zoom Meeting procedure on this page.

Need help signing into an SWW Zoom meeting? Watch this video.

UPCOMING MEETING PRESENTATIONS

Wednesday, November 20, 2024
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom

Speaker: Léonie Rosenstiel

AI—Your Best Hope or Your Worst Nightmare?

Léonie will share with you how AI is changing how the world works, in fields as diverse as medicine and writing. She’ll describe how many established authors reacted to this new development with dismay and lawsuits, and how Amazon has quickly come to frown on AI-written material. How far will AI go? Maybe, if enough members of the audience already subscribe to it, we’ll even try out some prompts and see how consistent AI is in answering us, or whether it’s still hallucinating, the way it has been since its birth.

Léonie Rosenstiel has been fascinated by AI since only sci fi readers and the military knew about it. An early adopter of new technology, she eagerly tried out AI, and on August 1, 2023 she received a certificate as an AI Powered Training Professional.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – November 2024
Time: November 20, 2024 at 6:30 pm Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join the Zoom Meeting
Read our Zoom log-in policy. ALL ATTENDEES are required to have their zoom screen show either their name or phone number. SWW Members sign into the Members Only portion of the website (request a username and password from info@swwriters.com if you haven’t already done so). Once in the Members Portal, follow the Zoom log-in directions posted prior to the meeting. Non-members are required to contact our office (505-830-6034 or info@swwriters.com) or sign up for Elerts to receive a link to our upcoming meetings.

Saturday, December 14, 2024
10:00 am – noon
In Person & Zoom

Speaker: Dan Wetmore

The Building Blocks of Prose

Being ‘basic’ might be bad, but having the basics is crucial.

To position yourself for success, come get a refresher in—or be introduced to—prose’s elemental pitfalls.

We’ll discuss punctuation and proper dialogue formatting; tags versus beats and clear points of view; tenses and keeping them consistent; transitions (sentences, paragraphs and section breaks); information management faux pas (illogical flow, redundancy, non sequiturs, info dumps, off-topic work).

Sound boring? Only if mastering the craft holds no interest.
Think you know it all? Listen to the presentation, and then decide!

I guarantee I’ll give you reason to reconsider at least one thing you thought was cut and dried.

Dan Wetmore joined SWW in late 2016 and is the current vice president of the organization. He’s served on the Board of Directors for over five years, having worked on the Nominations Committee, chaired the annual writing contest, and edited the By-Laws and the Policies & Procedures Manual. Dan is the editor of Ramblings & Reflections, SWW’s 2021 contest anthology, and has authored two books of poetry: My Mother’s Gentle Unbecoming and Phoboudenopanophobia.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – December 2024
Time: December 14, 2024 at 10:00 am Mountain Time (US and Canada)

No Wednesday Meeting in December

2025 MEETING PRESENTATIONS

Saturday, January 11, 2025
10:00 am – noon
In Person & Zoom

Speaker: Layla Milholen

Submitting Your Book to a Traditional Publisher

The world of publishing has changed considerably, but most authors consider having their work accepted for publication by a traditional publishing house as the gold standard. Layla Milholen recently retired from McFarland Publishing and will be bringing insights into the steps authors should take to successfully submit their work.

Look for more information coming soon.

Wednesday, January 22, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom

Speaker: John Roche

Freeing Your Free Verse from Flabbiness

How do we keep our Free Verse from getting flabby? What tips have other writers proposed? First off, it might be helpful to have a brief history of the Free Verse genre, arising out of traditional Blank Verse through the inspiration of Walt Whitman; popularized by poets such as Carl Sandburg and Vachel Lindsay; surprisingly transformed by Modernists like H.D., E.E. Cummings, or William Carlos Williams; and starring in the 1950s poetry revolution led by the Beats, NY School, and Black Mountain (or Projectivist) Poets. Each of these movements created new ways to write Free Verse that is disciplined, exacting, and exciting. Unfortunately, as anyone who has attended open mics can attest, many beginning writers confuse Free Verse for mere freewriting, and believe there is nothing needed beyond their journal’s first draft. Even if one agrees in principle with Ginsberg’s dictum “First Thought, Best Thought,” there’s a bit more to it.

John Roche lives in Placitas, New Mexico, helping run Jules’ Poetry Playhouse and edit Poetry Playhouse Publications. Along with editing the five-volume Poets Speak series, his poetry books include On Conesus, Topicalities, Road Ghosts, The Joe Poems, Joe Rides Again: Further Adventures of Joe the Poet, and the latest, Tubbables.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – January 2025
Time: January 22, 2025 at 6:30 pm Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Saturday, February 8, 2025
10:00 am – noon
In Person & Zoom

Speaker: Dorinda Wegener

Get it Together: Organizing a Submission Packet and/or Manuscript and Tips on Submitting It

Her presentation will cover:

How to organize a submission packet (individual packets or a manuscript/anthology)
Where to Submit
Guidelines: to follow or not to follow (individual packets, contests, manuscript/anthology)

Dorinda Wegener was selected as a Poets & Writers Magazine 2024 Get The Word Out Poetry Cohort Participant. Her debut collection, Four Fields, was published by Trio House Press in July 2024. She is a Perianesthesia Certified Registered Nurse in Virginia, who holds an MFA in Poetry from New England College.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – February 2025
Time: February 8, 2025 at 10:00 am Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Wednesday, February 26, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom