Message from the Prez
Happy August, everybody!
SWW re-launched our Facebook presence earlier this summer with two new pages. Well, now we need someone to post our news and announcements on them. It’s a simple job of taking information from our website and newsletters and putting it on social media. All it takes is five minutes.
The other activity we’re hoping to accomplish is a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble, just like we did last fall. It’s simple: we hand out vouchers to shoppers, shoppers turn the vouchers in at the cashier, and we get some money at the end of the day. We just need someone willing to talk to Barnes & Noble, plan a day, and schedule shifts for even more volunteers to hand out the vouchers. All the members who participated last year had great fun, and it’s an easy way to promote your favorite nonprofit organization (us) to the community.
If interested, contact: info@swwriters.com or president@swwriters.com.
We’ve got a lot more going on behind the scenes, and you’ll learn more about them in the rest of this Sage and at our meetings this month.
Go enjoy some excruciatingly hot weather, and we’ll see you at our next meeting!
Kim
Balloons take to the air at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico
Credit: ID 52313670© Joe Sohm| Dreamstime.com
Congratulations to Our SWW NFPW Winners!
Good news:
Joe Badal, Rose Kern, Gail Rubin, Anna Sochocky, Ruth Thaler-Carter, and Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome. have all won first place awards in their categories in the National Federation of Press Women’s 2026 Communications Contest. Congratulations! [Ed.]
First-ever “Libros of Enchantment Book Fiesta”
October 31st
By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Book Fiesta Chair
Plans are shaping up nicely for “Libros of Enchantment,” SouthWest Writers’ first-ever Book Fiesta, bringing writers and readers together from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, at UNMCE. In addition to gaining insights into the writing processes of authors in several genres, SWW members will have the opportunity to sell their books during the day. Registration will open and tables will be available on August 15. The event will include morning coffee and a box lunch.
Keynote speaker James McGrath Morris, founder of New Mexico Writers and a noted biographer, will address “Adventures in Writing: True Tales of Storytelling.”
The day will include six genre-based panels, each with two or three speakers and a moderator. See the latest list of confirmed panelists.
Current sponsors include Silverleaf Farms/Farm Stand (Corrales), the Authors Guild, The Music of Creation, Black Range Media, and Rebeccah Swanson. For sponsorship information, cick here.
For further details and updates about additional speakers, click here. For questions, send a message to bookfiesta@swwriters.com.
It’s Been a Great Ride
By Cornelia Gamlem
The last year of my latest two-year term as SWW’s Treasurer is 2027. I’m currently in the middle of my fourth year in the role and my sixth year as a member of the Board. It’s time for me to go.
As part of my exit strategy, the Board needs to recruit someone with knowledge of bookkeeping, or accounting and/or finance to shadow me in 2027 for the purpose of succeeding me as Treasurer in 2028. I’ve been told I’m a good teacher, and there are lots of systems and processes in place. Our bylaws require that to be confirmed for an elected office, including treasurer, one must be a member in good standing for two years, and a member of the Board for at least one year.
I cherish the time I’ve served on this board. It’s been a great experience. But new blood is essential for any healthy organization.
Call to action: Step up and volunteer. Contribute to the on-going success of SWW. And I’ll still be a member in 2028, available for advice and consultation.
Questions: email me at treasurer@swwriters.com
Collegium: Gateway to the Speakers
SWW has had some fantastic speakers and workshops in the past and a few that missed the mark.
The Collegium is the small group that is charged with acquiring our speakers and workshop presenters. Most of us have been doing this since 2019 or earlier and we need fresh blood and innovative ideas.
This is a minimal time commitment group. We meet once a month on Zoom to discuss possible speakers and no, you don’t have to be a zoom host to be on the collegium team.
Come join us and know who the speakers are months before anyone else and get your chance to network with prominent speakers and colleagues. This is your chance to have a voice about the direction of our programs. Email info@swwriters.com and I’ll be in touch.
Brenda Cole
Collegium Chair
Upcoming SWW Events
You can find information about upcoming events on the SWW website here. Here’s what’s on tap this month.
Saturday, August 8, 2026: Meeting presentation (in-person or zoom) from 10 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. Jonathan Miller — Location, Location, Location. Creating compelling locations for fiction and non-fiction. More information here.
Saturday, August 15, 2026: Workshop (in-person or zoom) from 12:00 until 2:00 p.m. Kirt Hickman — Perfect Your ProseMore information here and register here.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026: Meeting presentation (zoom only) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. Ace Nations — Internet Scams. More information here.
Last Month’s Writing Challenge - The Results
Last month we challenged you to write a poem, story or article inspired by the 250th Anniversary of the day a bunch of rebels decided that the people of this land would no longer be in thrall to the whims of a country over 3,600 miles away. Five SWW members contributed to last month’s Challenge.
Rosa B. Armijo-Pemble—Poem I Pledge Allegiance to 250 Years
Jack Yerby— Prose Fourth of July in London
Mark Fleisher—Poem I Don’t Do Fireworks Well
Shawna Woods—Poem O’l Glory
Sam Moorman—Poem Independence Ways
Check out the submissions here.
This Month’s Writing Challenge for SWW Members
Fun with Words
This month’s challenge: Over the centuries human minds have created, enhanced, and perpetuated various words, many of them create images so strongly that a single word creates a mental image common to thousands. The problem with words, is that sometimes one word can have a host of different meanings or draw upon different images or events depending on the history/background of the person using/hearing the word.
In this challenge, you must use a word-sound on the lists on this web page at least 5 times in a story/poem/article – and each time it is used it must carry a different meaning.
For instance: The rosey gold of the morning sun arose softly upon the petals of the rose in Rose‘s bower. The word can be part of a longer version of a word, such as rosary, rosette, rows. You can use foreign words that sound the same, (arroz) Alliteration is encouraged.
The submission must have no more than 333 words and can be prose or poetry. Send your story or article to: webmaster@swwriters.com.
Entries we select for publication will appear on the SouthWest Writers Sage Challenge webpage and will be eligible for inclusion in upcoming anthologies. For more information and our submission guidelines, click here. Email your entry in MS Word or TXT format to info@swwriters.com by the 20th of the month.
Let’s Learn From Each Other
We’re excited to share your sage perspectives about how to hone our craft, cultivate a fruitful writing life, or work with publishers and vendors.
AI Working Group Forming
Reactions to Large Language Models (AKA AI) range from angst and fear to excitement and delight. AI, for the first time in history, allows people to program a computer, using human language. Its features make it appear to have superhuman knowledge of the world. In fact, it is nothing but a mathematical model trained on digitized human information. Its knowledge is limited to what has been digitized and is accessible. It lacks understanding of situational context and is devoid of emotions.
It will never replace a human writer in creating unique prose or poetry. It is, however, an extremely useful tool in the writing process. With extraordinary facility with language, AI can translate almost any language, professionally edit and critique text, analyze research, organize data, summarize drafts, reformat documents, and generate pictures and sketches, all at low cost. It potentially saves an author countless hours of drudgery.
SWW is developing workshops and activities to help writers apply AI. Dave Menicucci, who presented a comprehensive workshop on AI on June 20th, is organizing an AI Working Group to share information about using AI in writing. Operational details are being developed, and interested parties should contact Dave at dfmenic@UNM.edu.
[In July, we published an article about current scams. It moved another member to send us links to her recent contribution to the cautionary literature on scams—ed.]
More on Scams
I recently posted a blog on my website and a Substack article on what I’ve been seeing. I’ve been getting A LOT of scam emails since the publication of my novel in January. Here are links to my blog and article.
I hope this helps someone.
On my website: https://njschrock.com/2026/06/20/scams-targeting-authors/
On Substack:
Nancy Schrock
https://njschrock.com/
If you’ve recently written and posted a piece on your blog, website, Facebook Page, or other social media platform that fits this section, email Léonie a link to the piece along with a two-sentence introduction to sage@swwriters.com.
Regional and Online Literary Happenings
Email sage@swwriters.com with links to anything you think we should share with Sage subscribers.
Welcome to SouthWest Writers!
The following writers joined our community last month (and one who joined later in June). We hope to see you at one of our events in person or online. Write on!
Elizabeth Adams, Sagan Couture, Crystal Klopfer
If you’re not yet a member, learn more about the benefits here.
We have resources for writers across our platforms and additional content on our members-only section of the website. Visit our website, visit our Facebook pages, check out our blog, see what we’re saying on X (Twitter), check out the session recordings on our YouTube channel, or find our page on Goodreads.