October 2024 News
Annual meeting, October challenge, and more.
The SWW Prez Says…
Greetings and felicitations,
I love October...the leaves are turning, the temperatures are cooling, and SouthWest Writers celebrates its existence, its members, and the winners of our annual writing contest. I cannot say enough about the dedication and professionalism of our writing contest team. Judy Castleberry waded in with both hands open to mold a next level competition. She was supported by contest committee members, Chris Allen, Brenda Cole, Kathy Wagoner, Dollie Williams, and our office coordinator, ReVaH Loring.
The 40th Anniversary party will be a blast, and I hope that those who live in the greater Albuquerque area will join us for a pot luck luncheon because – spoiler – we have some amazing cooks in this group! Thank you to Alissa Dickey, Jacqueline Loring, Dollie Williams, and Sam Moorman for organizing the drinks, cake, and decorations. Be sure to sign the big 40th Anniversary poster to be hung up in the SWW office.
Have you noticed the changes happening on the SWW website? Because it has a huge amount of data, we are taking great care when making changes. Kathy Wagoner and I are working to make it more accessible to all forms of electronic displays. Kathy’s dedication to keeping it updated over the years has ensured that members and visitors are able to access information and data relevant to the literary community. I want to encourage all our members to create their own member page on our website, and to send newly published book covers to the webmaster for inclusion on our home page. Marketing is a big chore for authors, and whether you write poetry, prose, magazine articles, essays, or books, having your own member page gives you one more option for exposure. If you already have a website or facebook page, you can link it to those and include information on your upcoming books, interviews, and podcasts.
SWW is in your corner. As we begin prepping for next year’s meetings, workshops, and classes, we want your suggestions for topics and speakers. Tell us what you need to learn more about to succeed.
See you soon!
Rose Marie Kern, President
Upcoming SWW Events
You can find information about upcoming events on the SWW website here. Here’s what’s on tap this month.
Saturday, October 12: Annual Meeting (in-person or zoom) from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.. The 2024 SWW Annual Business Meeting will take place during the regular membership meeting. The agenda will include results of the Executive Committee election and announcement of the winners of the 2024 Annual Writing Contest. A celebration of SWW’s 40th anniversary will follow the meeting and will take the place of the normal Saturday workshop. More information here.
Wednesday, October 23: Meeting presentation (zoom only) from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. What Judges Look for in Book Contests will be presented by Sara Frances. More information here.
Saturday, November 2: Meeting presentation (in-person or zoom) from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. On Making SYMPHONY IN C-NOTE will be presented by Antonio Weiss and Jacqueline Murray Loring. More information here.
Saturday, November 2: Workshop (in-person or zoom) from 12:30 until 2:30 p.m. Creating 3-Dimensional Non-Stereotypical Characters will be presented by Marilyn R. Atlas. More information here and register here.
SouthWest Writers Win at the NM/AZ Book Awards!
The NM/AZ Book Coop has announced the winners of its 2024 book awards. Earlier this year, Coop president Paul Rhetts released the names of the finalists in each of the 47 categories which included 25 SouthWest Writer members. We want to congratulate them and those listed below whose work took the top prizes in these categories:
Autobiography/Memoir: Neill McKee, “My University of the World”
Coffee Table Book: Sara Frances, “Unplugged Voices”
Fiction – Cozy Mystery: Vicky Ramakka, “The Pearl Plot”
Biography – Other: Elizabeth Rose, “The Long, The Short, and the Tall”
Business & Career: Mike Kimmel, “The Actor’s Book of Quotes”
Fiction – Historical other: Donald Willerton, “Death in the Tallgrass”
Young Adult (High School): Sue Boggio, “Hungry Shoes”
SWW is especially proud that our 2023 Writing Contest Anthology, “Woven Pathways,” won first place in the Fiction – Anthology category. Congratulations to contest chair Debbie White, cover designer Kathy Schuit, and the dozens of authors whose winning stories contributed to the outstanding quality of the work!
October’s Writing Challenge for SWW Members
The monthly challenge is a terrific opportunity to write and submit short pieces based on a prompt. 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 October 20, 2024.
October’s writing challenge: A toast!
Write a celebratory toast that is a minimum of 250 and maximum of 1000 words (wedding, holiday gathering, or any group celebration). BUT make sure the toast includes at least one shocking, unexpected, or fascinating fact that relates to the celebration toast at hand.
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.
UNM Craft Fair: We’re offering you an opportunity to sell some books at the UNM Arts & Crafts Fair on November 9. Unfortunately, UNM is restricting the number of tables any crafter can have to two, so we don’t have the space for a separate authors corner this year. The event is from 10am to 4pm. The SWW office staff will handle all set up and sales so no additional bodies are needed at this time. Find more information and the entry form here. The entry form below must be filled out and emailed to the SWW office prior to October 20, 2024.
Have you checked out the SWW blog lately? You’ll find author interviews, news, and member updates. Great stuff! Check out the blog here.
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 Lisa a link to the piece along with a two-sentence introduction to sage@swwriters.com.
Regional and Online Literary Happenings
Here’s what’s happening at SCBWI New Mexico.
SCBWI-New Mexico Handsprings Hybrid Conference
November 1 on Zoom | November 2 in Santa Fe | November 3 on Zoom
All sessions will be available to both in person and online attendees, and recordings of all sessions will be offered to all those registered for 30 days after the conference. Five literary agents will accept submissions from attendees, and one-on-one critique and pitch opportunities are available. Tuition starts at $165. See the SCBWI website for full pricing details and to register.
Email sage@swwriters.com with links to anything you think we should share with Sage subscribers.
Welcome to SouthWest Writers!
The following writers joined/re-joined our community in September. We hope to see you at one of our events in person or online. Write on!
Douglas Blythe, Donna Marsh, and Richard McPherson.
If you’re not yet a member, learn more about the benefits here.
We have resources for writers across our platforms and additional content in our members-only section of the website. Visit our website, ask to join our Facebook Group, 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.