Last Minute Submission Information

Hey y'all! I know we usually post about submissions and contests well before the deadlines in order to give all of you plenty of time to write and edit your stories/poems before you send them in. 

Well, this is not one of those times. But! If you have something ready to go and you would like to submit your short fiction or poetry to a contest where you might win £500 and either an agent consultation  for your fiction or a mentorship for your poetry, as well as publication in the respected Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual. For more information, click that link up above and get cracking on those submissions! The deadline is this Sunday (the 31 of August), so you only have a few days to enter! 

If August 31 seems too soon, how about September 1? That gives you a whole extra 24 hours to prepare something to submit to Dancing With Bear Publishing's October anthology that will be specifically about breast cancer in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. They are looking for stories both from survivors and from family members and friends of those who have had the disease. If you have been affected by breast cancer, please think about submitting to this anthology. For more information and how to enter, click the link above. 

We do hope that everyone who is able to submit does, and we'll be sending you all well wishes this holiday weekend! And, if any of you are chosen for either anthology, let us know! We'd love to post about that, or any other exciting news you may have here on the blog. Send any and all emails to swapurplepros@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and good luck! 

2015 Workshop Update!

The SWA Board of Directors met July 13 to begin planning the 2015 SWA Writers Workshop, our 40th.  Yes, 40 years!  When SWA started, leisure suits and disco music were just breaking on the scene. We've seen the Space Shuttle come and go, our first African American president, personal computers, cell phones and the rise of the digital book. Don't you wonder what the next 40 years has in store?

The Workshop dates are June 19-23, 2015, with the fiction mini-workshop running June 20-21 and the nonfiction mini-workshop on June 22-23.  We are currently contacting potential faculty members, but we hope to have an agent as always, an editor (or maybe two!), a novelist, a journalist, a poet, a YA author, a columnist, a short story-ist, and a memoir author. I hope we can squeeze them all in!

We are also planning a true celebration of our 40 years.  What's in store?  Well, that might not make the Workshop Updates. Don't you like surprises? I will say we hope to make the Workshop fun and festive, as well as informative and beneficial to your writing career. 

As the plans fall together, we'll keep you updated here, on Facebook and our website.  We want you to be as excited as we are for the 2015 Workshop. Stay tuned!!

~~ Amy Munnell

Amy is the current president of SWA.  She has been a freelance writer and editor for nearly 30 years with her work appearing in various publications including the Chocolate for a Woman's Soul series, Saying Goodbye, From the Heart, Athens Magazine, Points North, ByLine and Georgia Magazine. Find Amy on Twitter here. 

Exciting Member News!

Patrick Hempfing's "moMENts" column was published in the August issues of Pennsylvania's About Families, Idaho Family, South Carolina's Palmetto Parent, South Florida Parenting, Texas's Suburban Parent, and Western New York Family. 

Erika Hoffman's essay called "Dream, Dream, Dream" was accepted into Myrtle Beach's Sasee Magazine for their September issue. Her mystery, Chew on That, has also been published on Page & Spine.

Congratulations to all of our amazing members who have had pieces published. If you've had something published and would like to be including in our blog, please do send it to us at purplepros@gmail.com. Also, do include links to your website or blog, and that way we can introduce everyone to the genius that is you! 

Help a SWA Sister Out ...

Erika Hoffman's non-fiction humourous essay, "How Do You Know I Need To ...," has been posted on Midlife Collage.
Midlife Collage is a weekly competition site for writers of a certain age, and Erika needs your votes to win. Let's help her do it by clicking the link to the site above and hitting the like button on her story or leaving a comment, and get her into the number one spot! Y'all should also read the other stories in the contest, but I have a feeling that Erika's is the best.
This site is also a great resource for our other members. Because it is an open contest, you can enter one of your stories as well! If you do enter and make it into the contest, let us know and we'll post it here! 

Book Signing!

Hey y'all! Exciting news on the member front; one of our fantastic published authors and Vice President, Buzz Bernard, has a book signing this Sunday (August 3) at 2 p.m. at Alpharetta's Barnes & Noble Mansell Crossings.
If you're new to Buzz's work, he writes amazing thrillers that are both gripping and well-written.
Whether you need to complete your collection or buy your first Buzz Bernard novel, this is the perfect event to add more great books to your collection and to meet the ever-affable Buzz and have him sign a copy of what is sure to be your new favorite novel.
For more information, see the flyer below.