Scott Archer Jones is the award-winning author of four published books. His articles, essays, and short fiction can be found in over 40 publications. Scott’s latest release, And Throw Away the Skins (Fomite, 2019), is described by Anne Hillerman as a “hopeful and heartbreaking story of love and scars and fresh starts” told “with graceful prose and a beautiful appreciation for the complication of both place and the human condition.” You’ll find Scott on Facebook and Twitter, and on his website ScottArcherJones.com. Visit his Amazon author page for details on all of his books.
What would you like readers to know about And Throw Away the Skins?
Bec is entangled in a broken marriage, a life-threatening cancer, and a mish-mash of veterans returning from war physically and mentally chewed up. She’s drafted into running a retreat center for veterans—and donating the land for it. Her village is filled with quirky people who all have an opinion on her life and choices. And finally, she is having an affair with a Marine wearing two prosthetic legs and toting a belief that he carries death like a pathogen.
What sparked the initial story idea for the book?
The book began as a short story of a woman living alone in the forest in northern New Mexico—and her stalker. As I played out her psychic fear of rape and, above all, her fear of being alone and vulnerable, I grew to know her. Authors do a lot of work thinking offline. The backstory, in this case Bec’s childhood, became an integral part of her narrative. The short story definitely didn’t work because she needed the long form to hold her eloquence.
Tell us more about your main character, Bec, and why readers will connect with her.
Bec’s story is about the illusion of independence and inner strength. She solves the problems that beset her by isolating herself and tackling them. Instead of this working for her, she is constantly inundated by people who want to intrude and, indeed, rope her into their lives. These folks have their own agendas and humorous flaws. They see her as a fixer, and she’s actually someone just hanging on by her fingertips.
Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for And Throw Away the Skins? Do you consider the setting a character in the story?
I contrasted Dallas and the Church of a Thousand Pews—the book’s beginning—with northern New Mexico—as a flawed form of sanctuary. I didn’t romanticize the mountains and their poverty, but I hope I portrayed New Mexico as a more authentic life than the rest of the U.S.A. So, yes, New Mexico is embodied as a force and a theme.
What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
This is the first work I’ve written in the point-of-view of a woman. To avoid demeaning her in any way, I made her completely unsentimental. I myself am very sentimental. I purposely made her bad choices very different from mine.
What was the most satisfying part of putting this project together?
Third drafts are great. By then I finally understand the protagonist. My writing circle has explained many painful mistakes to me. The first chapter finally comes together. Theme and motif have sorted themselves out, and I can remove the heavy-handed preaching and drop them into subtext. (Fourth drafts are more tuning and nurturing than the grand leaps of the third.) Holding the first proof copy in my hand is also splendid.
When readers turn the last page, what do you hope they’ll take away from the book?
Humans are inherently survivors, and they can find happiness and small satisfactions out of the most difficult and grinding lives.
What do many beginning writers misunderstand about telling a story?
E.M. Forster said that story was merely chronology, and when we turn it to plot then we give it meaning. Just a list of things that happen doesn’t constitute a fictive work. The author’s job is to interpret story into meaning. Oh, and start as close to the action as you can.
What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
Scenes that come out of (and feed emotionally on) a trauma from my own life or family are the hardest for me to write. They’re the best, but they are also the work that demands personal honesty.
What typically comes first for you: A character? A scene? A story idea?
I think every author starts each project from a new perspective. I’ve written forty pages of character and then found the beginning of the book and discarded the write-in. I’ve started with a single image ending the story and then written towards it. I’ve scribbled out the opening paragraph and the final scene and then tried to connect them. These all work, and they all keep the writer fresh.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m in final draft on a book about an East Los Angeles pawnbroker, and I’m taking a historical novel to workshop in a master class. There is also a novella in second draft called Celestino in Paradise.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy posts to a speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
Author Neill McKee hails from Canada but lived and worked around the world for 45 years as a teacher, filmmaker, multi-media producer, writer, and program manager. After settling in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2015, he dedicated himself to chronicling his experiences in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and (more recently) Russia. Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah is his first book in the memoir genre. You’ll find Neill on Facebook and Twitter, and on his website NeillMckeeAuthor.com.
What is your elevator pitch for Finding Myself in Borneo? Finding Myself in Borneo is an honest and buoyant chronicle of my adventures during 1968-70 while teaching secondary school as a Canadian volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia (North Borneo). It’s a journey through vibrant Asian cultures in an exotic land: adjusting to life in a small town, learning local customs, how to teach and how to speak Malay language. My book documents many adventures, for example: climbing the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, having a love affair, navigating Borneo’s backwaters to make my first documentary films, and hilarious motorcycle journeys with my American Peace Corps buddy. It also covers my second two-year Sabah sojourn and other return trips which offer readers the opportunity to match the early anecdotes to what in fact happened to the land and people who touched my life as a young man.
Why did you want to share this part of your life with the world?
It was a dramatic change from what I had known and, therefore, a story worth telling. Kind of a “sea change” or “hero’s journey” for me worth imparting to others, I believe. Borneo couldn’t be more different from Canada. I grew up in a small Ontario town with a good deal of chemical pollution. The chemical factory there manufactured DDT and the herbicide 2,4-D, as well as Agent Orange for America’s Vietnam war in the 1960s. I had always dreamed of escaping to a cleaner, greener world full of sunshine and less stinks. When I was posted to Sabah through CUSO (Canadian University Service Overseas), I discovered Borneo was the third largest island in the world—a land with a mysterious sounding name and reputation, mainly due to what western visitors had written about it (Joseph Conrad being one of the first). Borneo was no disappointment. I loved it despite the many challenges and conflicts I faced. But that was really part of the fun.
What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
I didn’t keep a diary, as advised by CUSO (an NGO slightly older than the American Peace Corps), but I did write detailed letters home and to friends. I made carbon copies of some of these, and my mother kept many for me knowing I would want them someday. I had no plans to write a memoir—too busy with my career. But I’m blessed with a good memory, especially of those formative years and experiences. I also had old photos which triggered memories.
Tell us how the book came together.
I had written the draft of what became Chapter 6 in the 1990s. People who read it, loved it, and encouraged me to write more. It wasn’t until I fully retired that I had time to study a new genre (outside of technical communication books and articles) and try my hand at it. In 2014, I attended a creative nonfiction evening course at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland where I started drafting pieces of my book and got feedback. After moving to Albuquerque in 2015, I enrolled in a graduate-level workshop in creative nonfiction at the University of New Mexico. That’s when I began to write, revise, get feedback, and revise again. I also attended presentations and workshops at SouthWest Writers, which continually gave me new ideas. After about 25 revisions (and a year into the process), I thought I had a pretty good manuscript. It was only then that I hired a good literary editor for in-depth feedback. Boy, was I wrong about being finished! It took me over a year, and at least 25 more revisions, to finally complete the manuscript for publication in mid-2018. I had submitted earlier drafts to about 10 publishers and received lots of rejection letters. After two “strange” offers from commercial publishers (they wanted to have full control but put up little or no money for publicity), I decided to self-publish through IngramSpark. I hired a good book designer and marketer and took control of the process myself.
Is there a scene in your book you’d love to see play out in a movie?
Yes, probably in Chapter 4 when my Peace Corps buddies and I take LSD and go to see the movie Camelot with Chinese subtitles. The whole experience opened up my senses, broke down barriers in my perception, and made me see the land I was living in as a much richer and more magical place. Since we were reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy TheLord of the Rings at the time, we noticed many of the features of North Borneo were similar to Tolkien’s Middle Earth. We created the North Borneo Frodo Society and gathered members from all around the world, including Prof. Tolkien himself—one of only two such societies he patronized according to letters we received. The myths of Borneo and Middle Earth become humorously paralleled in Finding Myself in Borneo. Maybe good for an animated film!
What makes Finding Myself in Borneo unique in the memoir market?
There are other memoirs and travel books on Borneo but most of them are based on “Wild Men of Borneo” or adventure travel themes. Many of these reinforce stereotypes of the land and its people. P.T. Barnum was the first to come up with the wild men theme in the 1800s through his freak show promotion of a couple of little people from a Ohio farm. My book is based on entertaining stories of what it was like to live in coastal Borneo in a multi-cultural society with ancient traditions. I cover some history, politics, and religion of the place, but in a lighter, entertaining way to help explain the overall story arc. My book is different in that it covers my 40-year relationship with the land and its people, not just the impressions of a single journey or sojourn.
What was your favorite part of putting the project together?
I enjoy writing the most and sharing my work with reviewers—trying to understand how my words are perceived and how I can improve. Writing this memoir has also connected me with a lot of people who have lived in Borneo as volunteers or have traveled there, or who want to go there. It has also re-connected me with many old friends and colleagues from around the world.
What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
A number of readers and reviewers have said that my writing is refreshingly honest.
While you were writing Finding Myself in Borneo, were you ever afraid you were sharing too much of yourself? If so, how did you move past this feeling and continue writing?
At first I did not tell the whole truth—such as losing my virginity and the other sexual experiences and attractions. I wondered if readers would be turned off. I also wrote guardedly about people about whom I had something negative to say. But I was persuaded to just change names and other details of these characters and write from my heart. This helped me construct a story about how I found out who I really am and what I should do with my life.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I spend six to seven hours each day writing, researching, revising, and communicating or promoting. It’s a huge amount of work if you want to do it well. I’m writing two other memoirs at present. One is on my childhood and youth, with a theme of “going elsewhere”—escaping the polluted town I grew up in. At the end of the book I leave for Borneo, so it’s a prequel of sorts. The other project is a travel memoir on searching for stories of my ancestors in Canada and the US. It’s an entertaining account of finding (through my maternal grandmother from Wisconsin) that I have ancestors who fought in just about every American war, beginning with the bloody wars with Native Americans in New England in the 1600s. I travel to the places where they lived and battlegrounds where they fought. I found out my ninth great-grandfather was a passenger on the Mayflower. I previously thought of myself as just a peace-loving Scots-Irish Canadian.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy posts to a speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
Larry Kilham is an entrepreneur, retired engineer, and author of four novels, two memoirs, and five other nonfiction books. His most recent release, The Perfectionist: Peter Kilham and the Birds (2018), sheds light on designer, inventor, and visionary Peter Kilham (the author’s father). You’ll find Larry on LarryKilham.net, Facebook and Twitter, and his Amazon author page. For more about Larry’s work, read his 2017 SWW interview.
At its core, what is The Perfectionist about?
This book is about an artist and inventor who brought nature’s beauty and function to the public and did this with complete integrity.
What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
The story is told as my father and I growing up together. But the challenge was to convey his point of view rather than dwell on mine.
When did you know you wanted to write your father’s memoir? What prompted the push to begin the project?
When I realized that my father’s life story was more important than the subjects of my many other books and only I could adequately address it. Also, due to my advanced age, if I didn’t do it now it might never be done.
Tell us how the book came together.
After I pulled together several boxes of files, I recycled through this content many times until I found an accurate and logical outline of the story. With this done, it only took four months to write the 121 pages and a month to edit. For the cover design, I engaged a very talented book designer who had just gone freelance after working for a university press. She grabbed my notes and photos and I went on vacation.
Do you have a favorite quote from the book you’d like to share?
“Be guided by purpose, truth, and perfection, and the rewards will come.”
Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for this book?
Until I researched this story, I never realized how much his wife Dorothy understood him and his business and how much she helped him. My father never said much about her when we talked. That itself is another insight about him.
What was your favorite part of putting The Perfectionist together?
Looking at the old photos, newspaper clippings, and letters to bring back almost-lost memories and to see other people’s perceptions of Peter Kilham.
Which do you prefer: the creating, editing, or researching aspect of a writing project?
The creating and researching feed on each other and I enjoy both. I endure editing like, say, physical therapy.
What does a typical writing session look like for you? Do you have any writing rituals or something you absolutely need in order to write?
I write in the morning when my mind is fresh, and I read in the afternoon. I like long walks in the forest to recharge my mind.
Who are some of your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
My list of favorite authors constantly changes. Right now it is Loren Eiseley, T.S. Eliot, and D.H. Lawrence. It’s kind of fun and educational to resurrect Alexander Pope.
What advice do you have for beginning or discouraged writers?
If you’re having trouble getting going, maybe you’re writing about the wrong thing. A story that you should write will make you blossom.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m intrigued with Native American poetry, especially Pueblo, and I am experimenting with integrating its thought and style into my poetry.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
SouthWest Writers is proud to announce a Call for Submissions to the 2019 Short Prose & Poetry Contest.
This competition encourages first-time writers as well as seasoned professionals. You do not have to be a member of SouthWest Writers to enter.
First-, second-, and third-place winners will be awarded in sixteen categories: 7 fiction, 8 nonfiction, and 1 poetry. All entries must be original, unpublished, and in English.
Deadline: Contest entries may be submitted through midnight April 30, 2019 (Mountain Time). Entry fees: $10 for each entry submitted through April 1, 2019. $15 fee applies for each entry submitted April 2-April 30, 2019. Submission: Online submissions only. Acceptable files: doc, docx, or pdf.
CONTEST RULES
Prose: Limited to 3,500 words. For nonfiction categories, footnotes are not part of the word limit. The body of the submission should be in 12 pt. Times New Roman, Ariel, or Courier, with the title in 14 pt. Submission should be double-spaced and have one-inch margins.
Poetry: Limited to 250 lines. The submission should be in Times New Roman, Ariel, or Courier. Font sizes can range from 12-18 pt. Spacing is at the author’s discretion. Poem form/style (freeform, haiku, etc.) must be included in the manuscript above the title.
Other:
A total of three entries allowed per author. The three-entry limit can be in one category or a combination of categories. First-place manuscripts from previous SWW Contests are ineligible.
Go to the SouthWest Writers contest page for more details and to enter the contest.
Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has seen his nonfiction work published in over 20 books (as author, co-author, or contributor) and has written thousands of articles on topics such as urban legends, mysterious phenomena, critical thinking, and media literacy. His newest release is the award-winning Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits (2018). You’ll find Ben on his website at BenjaminRadford.com and on Facebook and Twitter. For a list of all his books stop by his Amazon author page.
What is your elevator pitch for Investigating Ghosts? Investigating Ghosts is an in-depth look at scientific attempts to contact the dead, from historical, cultural, and folkloric perspectives. From Shakespeare to the Victorian era to modern-day ghost hunting, people have always tried to find ghosts, and this is a look at their methods and how to bring science to them. I’m open-minded but skeptical.
What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
This book is a culmination of about 20 years of research and investigation into the subject, and it’s probably one of the broadest topics I’ve written about. My previous books were often on narrower topics (such as New Mexico mysteries, the chupacabra vampire, and evil clowns) which allowed me to do a deep dive and analysis into them. But with ghosts, there’s an enormous amount of information I needed to tackle, from early ghost-based religions (such as Spiritualism) to ghost folklore, the psychology of a ghost experience, ghost hunting devices, ghost photos, the scientific process, and so on. In all these cases I wanted to bring something new to it, not just copy and paste information or third-hand sources but give readers factual, science-based information. That’s why there are eight pages of references; it’s not just a book of spooky, told-as-true ghost stories, but evidence-based analyses, including my own investigations. Even with all that, I couldn’t get everything into 320 pages.
What was your favorite part of putting this project together?
Throughout the book I describe my firsthand investigations, including many here in New Mexico. I’m not just an armchair investigator! I love to get out in the field, go to haunted locations, interview witnesses, examine evidence, and try to figure out what’s going on. So I enjoyed describing some of the investigations, for example at the KiMo theater, the Albuquerque Press Club, courthouses in Santa Fe and Espanola, the tiny town of Cuchillo, and so on. I have also done haunted house investigations for television shows in Los Angeles, Jamaica, Canada, and other countries. It’s part memoir, which was fun, and I’m especially pleased it won the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award.
Tell us how the book came together. Investigating Ghosts is actually a follow-up to a previous book titled Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries which came out in 2010. In that book I cover pretty much what the title states: How to investigate—and more importantly, solve—seemingly unexplained mysteries. I cover a wide variety of phenomenon, including crop circles, lake monsters, psychic detectives, and ghosts. But I realized that ghosts are so popular, and such an often-investigated phenomenon, that they really deserved their own book. There really are many different aspects to ghost investigation (photos, experiences, so-called EVP or ghostly voices, etc.) that I couldn’t do it justice in just a chapter or a few articles. Plus I kept meeting well-intended amateur ghost hunters who were going about it in completely the wrong way—often influenced, unfortunately, by “reality” TV shows—and honestly I felt badly for them. This book is partly an attempt to help sincere ghost investigators, whether skeptic or believer, to improve their methods so that if ghosts do exist, it can be proven. Or, by the same token, if ghosts aren’t real, we can help prove that, too.
Do you have a favorite quote you’d like to share from Investigating Ghosts?
“If you prefer that mysteries remain unsolved and would rather not look too closely at a phenomenon lest its secrets be revealed through logical deduction and perseverance, this book is not for you…. Everyone—skeptic and believer alike—benefits from clarifying the situation, improving the quality of evidence, and distinguishing fact from fiction.”
Any “Oh, wow!” moments when doing research for the book?
I think what surprised me most was the variety of phenomena that can be, and have been, mistaken for ghosts. When most people think of ghosts they imagine dramatic depictions on television and in films, but in fact most ghostly phenomena are very mundane and subtle. It’s more like missing keys, feeling watched, or odd sounds and odors. For many people, ghosts are comforting, not scary.
Of the eleven nonfiction books you’ve written, which one was the most satisfying to write?
I’d have to say my 2011 book Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore (University of New Mexico Press, 2011) is probably among my favorites. It was challenging because it took me five years to investigate and another year to write. But it’s by far the highest-profile mystery I’ve ever solved. It’s satisfying to be able to do good research and bring it all together into a sort of real-life vampire mystery. Plus the book has sections of memoir, such as my experiences in the jungles of Puerto Rico and Nicaragua looking for the creatures.
Tell us about your writing process.
I need silence to work and write. I’m always jealous of, and astonished by, people who can somehow write amid chaos. I begin by determining the scope of the book, so that I have a clear picture of what’s relevant and what’s not. I usually outline the books, at least informally, and make changes as I go along. I usually do about four drafts: the first is just to get the words on the screen, the second is to organize them, and the third is more editing. Then I print out a hardcopy of each chapter and edit with a red pen, like an old-school copyeditor. It gives me a tactile sense of working the words. Then I make those changes on the computer files, and set it aside for a week or two. Then I come back and do another few rounds of edits, and with any luck I’m 90% of the way there. The last 10% is always the hardest, for some reason.
How do you choose which writing project to tackle next?
I’ve been fortunate that as a writer I’ve mostly been able to choose projects that interest me and that I’m passionate about. I have to, since I often spend years on them and I’ve only got so many years, so many books in me. I’ve done plenty of freelance writing, but I don’t think I could do a whole book unless it was something I cared about. Although if it was a huge check, I could probably make myself care enough to do a good job and get through it… That’s what a writer does; you can’t wait for the muse to sing. As Tom Waits says, you “got to get behind the mule in the morning and plow.” So I do that, but I choose which field to plow.
You released a dark satire, The Merchant of Dust, in 2015. How did your experience writing fiction compare to writing nonfiction?
I enjoy both fiction and nonfiction, but of course they’re different beasts. I hope to return to fiction someday, but for now I’ve made my niche in nonfiction. I wrote a first novel set in Ecuador titled Jungle Green, which—quite justifiably—will never see the light of day. Well, I shouldn’t say that… I think it’s a decent first novel but it’s one of those you have to write before you can write, as they say. Organizing a nonfiction book is much easier than organizing a fiction book, at least for me. There are so many narrative threads to quality fiction, so many things that need to be right, and you have a little more leeway with nonfiction. I’m better at editing and improving other people’s work. Part of that is being an editor for twenty years, and part of that is having the necessary emotional distance to objectively tell what’s good and bad.
What is the best advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
There’s plenty of writing advice out there, so much to choose from, but one of my favorites is, “Writing is rewriting.” They’re not separate things. Nobody’s prose is good in first draft, I don’t care who you are. You may be typing, you may be scribbling, you may be blurting out words, but you’re not really writing until you’re rewriting, editing, and shaping what you’ve done.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m working on a long-gestating book about the role of fear in American culture. It’s partly about the politics of fear, but also how science and critical thinking can help improve the world. I’ve been working on it for well over a decade in one form or another, and I’m feeling added pressure to finish it and get it out there because of the current social and political climate. There is light to be found in the dark forest of negativity, but you have to know where and how to look. The book won’t solve the world’s problems, of course, but it might help bring a positive message of unity and optimism if I can help fight phantom fears.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
Joseph Badal, S.S. Bazinet, and Kit Crumpton are great examples of the diverse and prolific members of SouthWest Writers (SWW) who work hard to produce new books for their fans. Each of these authors represent different genres, but all have new releases for 2018 and all have interviews posted on the SWW website.
Joseph Badal, best-selling and award-winning thriller author, has published dozens of articles and short stories as well as 13 novels split between three series and three standalones. Obsessed is his newest release from Suspense Publishing (2018) promising his signature fast pacing and dynamic plot populated with engaging characters. Visit Joe’s website JosephBadalBooks.com and Amazon author page, and read his previous interviews for 2016 and 2018.
Obsessed (The Curtis Chronicles, Book 2) Obsessed brings back Matt Curtis and Renee Drummond and their villainous nemesis, Lonnie Jackson. This second installment in Joseph Badal’s The Curtis Chronicles takes the reader from Rio de Janeiro to the mountains of New Mexico to the Mexico/United States border, following a crazed Jackson on his single-minded quest for revenge against the two people he blames for the deaths of his mother and brother and for the destruction of his criminal empire in Hawaii.
Coming up: Joe’s next novel, Natural Causes (third in the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files), is due to release in the first quarter of 2019. He is currently working on Justice, the third book in The Curtis Chronicles.
S.S. Bazinet has authored 10 novels across four series with a supernatural bent, two of which were published through Renata Press in 2018. Book five in The Vampire Reclamation Project, Tainted Blood, came out in March, and A Warlock Under The Mistletoe was released in October. (And for anyone with emotional vampires in their life, check out her self-help book Vampires Suck but You Don’t Have To). Read her 2015 and 2017 interviews to find out more about Sandy and her books. You’ll find her at SSBazinet.com, on Facebook and Twitter, and on her Amazon author page.
A Warlock Under the Mistletoe
Pippa has a wonderful fiancé named Chester, and she loves him dearly. However, when she decides to write a romance book and fantasizes about kissing a dashing warlock under the mistletoe, she realizes something is missing in their relationship.
In a teary confession, she blurts out her concerns to Chester. Her fiancé, a studious psychologist, understands what she wants. Not only that, but he promises to do everything he can to be the man that Pippa is dreaming about. Still, the question remains: Will Chester have what it takes to release his “inner warlock”?
Tainted Blood (The Vampire Reclamation Project, Book 5)
Ex-vampire Arel is determined to find the perfect woman. He believes his search is over when he meets the gorgeous Claire. She’s not only beautiful, but she’s smart, dedicated and determined to make the world a better place. However, Arel soon learns that perfection comes with a staggering price tag.
Kit Crumpton is a history lover, public speaker, and former engineer who writes historical fiction inspired by her family’s past, whether based on her father’s WWII experience (Raiding the Empire of the Sun: Tinian 1945) or the tragic life of her mentally challenged uncle in The Fading of Lloyd. Her third and most recent release is The Fading of Kimberly (2018) which “continues the story of the mentally and physically disadvantaged who were institutionalized during the early twentieth century.” To find out more about Kit and her writing, visit her website at KitCrumpton.com and read her 2016 and 2017 interviews. All of her books are listed on her Amazon author page.
The Fading of Kimberly
Kimberly, a beautiful narcissist, commits a murder of passion and ends up in an insane asylum. Her father agrees with the doctor’s recommendation for her cure. Riley Nacht is a criminal psychopath whose heinous crimes lands him in the same institution. When Kimberly was a child, she had watched one of Riley’s murders. Eddie Fisk, a hospital assistant working in the asylum, knows both patients and is drawn into their circumstances to his own demise. This historical novel is set in the early twentieth century at Elgin State Mental Hospital. The director and hospital doctors struggle in providing care for those they believe can be cured amongst those who are forever dependent upon the hospital’s care.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
Author Thelma Giomi is a novelist, award-winning poet, and a psychologist. She used her personal experience with chronic illness and as a caregiver, as well as her years in the medical arena, to fashion her newest release, Shatter My Heart (2018). You’ll find Thelma on her website ThelmaGiomi.com and her Amazon author page.
What is your elevator pitch for Shatter My Heart? Shatter My Heart is a dynamic story that immediately immerses the reader in the lives of four friends. Individually and together they face and overcome some of life’s most devastating challenges—invisible illness, loss, infidelity, and the demands of commitment to each other. They emerge from these challenges with poise and compassion to become the heroes of their own lives.
Tell us a little about your main characters. Lauren loves working as a psychologist in a medical setting but is haunted by persistent and undiagnosed symptoms of her own. She remains a steady force finding ways to live with her illness and its consequences while finding delight in life and never losing her compassion for others. Emotionally wounded surgeon Ian Blackburn is running from his own sense of compassion. He is tormented by his feelings of helplessness to cure his wife or care for his son. Ian and Lauren’s love story is a compelling drama filled with shifting moods and events as Ian spirals to near self-annihilation. Lauren’s best friends, Paul and Nikki Fiori, live their lives with passion, humor, and an acceptance of life’s challenges. The couple provide a sanctuary for Lauren in her darkest moments.
What themes do you explore in the book?
One of the major themes pervasive in Shatter My Heart is that taking care of each other is the only thing that really matters in life. Nikki, Paul, and Lauren all demonstrate this throughout the book in their care and commitment for each other. Another theme is that “reality cannot be fooled.” As Lauren’s symptoms (like many with “invisible illnesses”) are dismissed or trivialized by the medical profession and others, Paul reminds Lauren of the reality of what she is experiencing and urges her to not give up. Throughout this novel Lauren and others must find in themselves what Camus calls “an invincible summer.” As challenges and crises occur in their lives the characters in this book find ways to live not only constructively with the challenges, but with an ability to continue to find pleasure, shared happiness, caring and compassion. The novel also addresses who a healer is and the consequences of running from fears and vulnerabilities.
What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
One of my challenges was to incorporate into the story my own experiences and those of others living with invisible illnesses while letting Lauren find her own voice and speak her own truth. Another challenge was in researching Lauren’s different medical issues by interviewing professionals and patients to provide authenticity to the scenes and events. For me, as with anyone living with a chronic illness, writing this novel posed a constant need to balance writing times with the physical manifestations of Systemic Lupus.
What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Shatter My Heart?
The most rewarding aspect is the emotional feedback I have received from readers. It affirms my vision and hope for this book—that it offers the reader an engaging story with complex and compelling characters and that it reaches a wide and diverse audience. Hearing from a variety of readers with their different experiences and points of view has affirmed that this book offers compassion to those living with chronic illness as well as insight and understanding to those who have not experienced the life challenges and consequences of such illness. Many reviewers have said that the story is “well told.” That is a goal we storytellers strive to achieve and perhaps one of the best evaluations one can receive.
Tell us how the book came together.
The story emerged while I was listening to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. I envisioned a couple, the man casting a shadow over the woman, and realized that this could embody a story of how the couple faced some devastating challenges in their lives and survived. My next thought was that this could be the way to tell the story of invisible illness and its impact on individuals, their families and friends. I began to see how writing a good story with engaging and passionate characters would reach a wider audience than the limited one my nonfiction writing (and speaking) had reached before. Writing this book included the very essence of what it is like to live with chronic illness and remain creative while experiencing its random and unpredictable episodes. The book grew in spite of my physical limitations and never being able to write on a schedule.
Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for this book?
What surprised me most was the development of the Fioris’ friendship with Lauren and how it grew despite her mounting health challenges. They became intimately involved in helping Lauren find answers to her symptoms and life challenges, even including her as a beloved family member. Their compassion was very touching to me. I was also surprised by how little medical professionals know about Lupus and other invisible illnesses and how rarely they look for these diseases when presented with ambiguous symptoms. As I interviewed and met others with invisible illnesses, I was surprised by how ubiquitous my experience was. In researching this book, I came to have deeper respect for those medical professionals that never lose their compassionate connection with their patients. Robert Frost said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” I can truly say as I wrote this novel, and as I read it over, there were still tears and surprises.
How has your work as a poet influenced your fiction writing?
Through my poetry I have always hoped to connect with the unearned challenges life brings us and embrace new perspectives and constructive alternatives to coping. Writing Shatter My Heart has allowed me to do this in fiction as well. In my poetry I use imagery and sensual experiences to bring the reader into an intimate connection with the words. I think I was able to carry this over to my novel. Writing poetry also has enhanced my fiction work with a sense of rhythm and pace that can be mesmerizing as it captures the reader’s attention and changes their breathing.
What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
While my mother was in hospice she asked me to read my poetry to her each day. One morning she said, “Your words fill the room with beauty. How beautiful life could be if your poems touched everyone. Please promise they will be published so that your words will find the ones who need them.”
What writing projects are you working on now?
I have many projects in the works including a sequel to Shatter My Heart which will answer many of the enthusiastic questions I have received from readers who want to know more about the characters and their lives. I have finished compiling a book of meditations written by my sister. Church of My Heart will be released next month. I am also in the process of preparing Beagle Blues about the adventures of a little beagle who gets into everything with an exuberant innocence. When completed I will offer this book to rescue groups, vets and others to mitigate some of the cost of caring for abused or abandoned dogs. And I am completing my new collection of poetry which I hope to have ready for publication later this year. Other projects include contributions to anthologies, my website and blog, and public speaking and workshops on the two topics prominent in my life—writing and coping constructively with chronic illness.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I love feedback from my readers and would appreciate their comments on my website at ThelmaGiomi.com.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
J. Allen Whitt served three combat deployments as a Navy officer aboard an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. He went on to obtain a PhD and spent almost 40 years teaching sociology, urban studies, and statistics. After publishing social science research he moved on to essays, memoirs, short stories, and poetry before tackling long fiction. Notes from the Other Side of the Mountain: Love Confronts the Wounds of War (2013) is Allen’s first novel. You’ll find him on his website at JAllenWhitt.net.
What is your elevator pitch for Notes from the Other Side of the Mountain?
After separating from his high school girlfriend due to a misunderstanding, Gary Reed is called to serve in Vietnam. Four years later, traumatized by the carnage of war, he returns to his beloved mountains of New Mexico, hoping to reunite with Kristina Preston and find peace. Yet she too has hidden injuries, and they must struggle to overcome their past hurts and survive unexpected twists of fortune in hopes of building a life together.
When readers turn the last page, what do you hope they take away from the book?
Empathy for the novel’s characters, an identification with the life struggles we all face, and hope for recovery. In addition, I try to show the powerful influence our natural environment has upon our perceptions, appreciation of beauty, and ways of living.
What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
To create authentic and well-rounded characters that develop and grow through their early years into adulthood. My intention was to show the loves, conflicts, injuries, joys, failures, and successes that we all understand, as well as to provide the reader with insights into the complexity of the characters’ own circumstances, personalities, and actions. We understand their life-pleasures, see their reactions to loss, experience their sadness and humor, learn the fate of their dreams, and follow the consequences of their traumas of life and war.
Tell us a little about your main characters.
Both Gary and Kristina begin as small-town, New Mexico kids who mature through their life experiences, become aware of the larger world, do the best they can to surmount difficulties, try to maintain and enhance their love for each other, and achieve well-being and happiness. They have their strengths and shortcomings, as do we all.
Why did you choose New Mexico as the setting for the book?
I fell in love with the unique beauty of New Mexico when I moved to the state as a teenager. So much so that I present our mountains, rivers, forests, and sunsets as quasi-characters in the book. It is a perfect setting. It is no accident that many works of art are created here, and many movie companies film here.
What was the most rewarding aspect of putting the project together?
It was immensely enjoyable to create characters that became—and remain—real to me, to show the allure of our landscape, to let my words flow (when they are in the mood) onto the page, and to learn more about myself in the process. I like to explore the power of words and their capacity to define and extend our common human experience. By writing you can go inward, as well as expand into the world, even into universes that never were, and into those that may come to pass.
What sparked your interest in writing fiction?
In my former academic career, I wrote many things in that vein and won some awards for doing so. That was motivating. However, I have always been interested in stories. Perhaps this came from my grandmother who was raised in the Ozarks. Her father was a Civil War veteran and post-war law enforcement officer reputed to be an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Sadie, whose husband was a riverboat pilot, was steeped in the oral tradition of that region. She enthralled me and my cousins with stories her father passed along. She added her own embellishments, I am sure, but they made a deep impression upon me. Near the end of my academic career, I began writing accounts of my travels in Africa, South and Central America, Thailand, China and Europe. That was the start of my creative writing. Very different from what I had previously written, but more enjoyable. I took correspondence courses (University of Iowa, Gotham Writers Workshop). I received highly positive feedback. When I retired and moved back to New Mexico, I sent a couple of my pieces to SouthWest Writers for critiques. The feedback was again encouraging. One reviewer suggested I consider writing a novel—a possibility that had never entered my consciousness. I tried it, enjoyed the engaging, year-long process. Moreover, I have published memoirs, essays, stories, and poems in literary journals, magazines, and online. And here we are. A new career.
Tell us about the Veterans History Project and your involvement in it.
Sponsored by the Library of Congress, Veterans History Project (VHP) is an attempt to capture (through interviews and documentation) the experiences of American military veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam, as well as more recent—and continuing—wars. The interviews and other material are posted on the Library of Congress website so that historians and ordinary citizens have access to veterans’ experiences that might otherwise be lost to future generations. I have done around 15 interviews for VHP. It has been a moving and enlightening privilege for me. These veterans have earned our profound gratitude and admiration, often more than we know. For example, Fred Foz escaped from the Bataan Death March and became a Philippine resistance fighter. At the Jemez Pueblo, I interviewed Geronimo Fragua, one of the first to enter the liberated Dachau concentration camp near the end of World War II. After the interview, it was my great privilege to deliver the keynote address for an event at Jemez which honored several World War II veterans from the Pueblo. I have also interviewed veterans who, like me, served in Vietnam.
Who are your favorite authors, and what do you admire about their writing?
Shakespeare, for sure. The flow and rhythm of his lines, his ability to portray human emotions, characters, and action in a few apt words, as well as the scope of his vision and the vast range of his writing. Also, I love Twain for his superb way of discovering, defining, and revealing the frontier American vernacular, for his ability to place the reader into his scenes and rich world, and for his humor. From recent times: John McPhee, Flannery O’Connor, Edward Abby, Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner, Steven Crane, Elizabeth Kolbert, Tim O’Brien, Jean Shepard.
What is the best compliment you’ve received as an author?
In my prior career, I was a co-recipient (with Joyce Rothschild) of the C. Wright Mills Award for The Cooperative Workplace: Potentials and Dilemmas of Democratic Organization (Cambridge University Press, 1986). This honor is given by the Society for the Study of Social Problems for the best book on the topic published each year. My doctoral dissertation was published as a book (Urban Elites and Mass Transportation: The Dialectics of Power, Princeton University Press, 1982). Regarding Notes from the Other Side of the Mountain, an expert on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder who reviewed the novel complimented my depiction of PTSD. Even more than that, several reviewers of my novel called the work poetic. As a devotee of poetry in my childhood, I suppose that has influenced my writing. I was happy to hear that.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Two recent writing successes profited by feedback from my local critique group, The Write Stuff. The short memoir, Black Tears, won a First Place at the National Veterans’ Creative Arts Festival, and “The Door Gunner,” my saga poem, won a Special Poetry Award through an Ageless Authors contest. My thanks go to Evelyn, Curt, Ross, Michelle, and Lynne for their help.
KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.
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SWW’s Newest Publication is a
2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist!
Woven Pathways
The SouthWest Writers 2023 contest anthology Woven Pathways is a Finalist in the anthology category of the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards!
This award reflects the hard work of Contest Chairwoman Debbie White and committee members Christina Allen and Evelyn Neil, as well as cover artist Kathy Schuit.
Woven Pathways is a collection of winning entries in the 2023 SWW annual writing contest. The prose and poetry in the anthology highlights the talents of both experienced and novice wordsmiths.
This delightful anthology weaves together diverse genres and viewpoints to bring readers an eclectic mix of humor, pathos, and intrigue. The contest theme “Woven Pathways” encouraged authors from all backgrounds and walks of life to participate, thereby enhancing the range of viewpoints and experiences portrayed.
Woven Pathways. Winners in the 2023 SWW annual writing contest are showcased in this new collection of award-winning prose and poetry highlighting the talents of both experienced and novice wordsmiths.
A Diversity of Expression. SouthWest Writers’ 2022 contest anthology. Thirteen categories of prose, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction as well as art and photography grace this delightful anthology of winning entries.
Ramblings & Reflections is SWW’s 2021 contest anthology of award-winning stories. The publication contains 45 winners of 58 awards in the competition’s 20 categories.
Seeing the World in 20/20. The anthology contains first- through third-place winning entries from our 2020 contest covering categories in prose and poetry: Biography/Memoir, Humor, Social Consciousness, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Mystery, Animals, Philosophy, Historical Fiction, and more.
2019 Contest Winners Anthology. Our 2019 Short Prose and Poetry Contest focused on poetry, non-fiction essays, and genre-driven prose of up to 3,500 words. This anthology is filled with first-, second-, and third-place winning entries from the contest.
Other Books by SouthWest Writers
Holes in Our Hearts. Our 2023 anthology of stories and poetry by and about the defenders of our country. Authors of this collection are New Mexico military veterans, their families, and caregivers. Created by SWW and supported by a 2023 grant from New Mexico Arts.
KiMo Theatre: Fact & Folklore (2019), presented by SouthWest Writers and writer/editor Jacqueline Murray Loring, is a collection of newly-told stories, articles, memoirs, insights, opinions, never-before-heard remembrances, and researched facts about the KiMo Theatre as a performing arts theatre and a movie palace.
SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology is filled with the best stories, articles, and poems published in the SouthWest Sage Newsletter from 2016 to 2018.
Storyteller’s Anthology, published in 2014, features stories and poetry by SWW members. Discover how a disaster lead to the creation and publication of SWW’s first anthology.
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 July 13, 2024 meeting presentation — Integrating Ethnic Characters into Your Writing — with Carlyn Montes De Oca. Watch it on YouTube here or click the play button below:
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
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