EditorialLee Speaking

I couldn't have hired a playwright to script it any better. Our 2014 SWA workshop was everything I hoped it could have been and a whole lot more. We filled up the seats, mostly with new attendees. We dazzled everyone with brilliant instructors, and most of the newbies were saying they couldn't wait to come back next year. We have some younger people accepting positions of responsibility on the Board of Directors. I believe SWA's future is very secure.

That wasn't the case not so long ago. While we had a cash reserve that could carry us forward for a couple of years no matter how great the failures, we were in a downturn. Our membership was down. Our Board of Directors was dwindling, and while we were almost begging for more bodies, our requests, for the most part, went unanswered. Workshop attendance was barely bringing in break-even revenue, if that. A couple of times we pondered if we might have reached the end of the line.

Now with a positive cash flow from our most recent workshop, an energized "fan base" of new attendees who will be back, hopefully with their friends, and some younger blood sitting in the Board of Directors' seats, the end of the line has been pushed well into the future.

All this happened as Kay Eaton and I served our last tenures on the Board. Kay was one of those who answered the call when we were in dire need of people a few years ago. She helped hold SWA together with the important registrar duties. Relocation to Florida has dictated that she step down from her duties, but we still expect her to show up each June at St. Simons.

As to that other guy who's stepping aside, I'll still show my face at St. Simons as well. The ThomasMax "You Are Published" Contest -- which received the highest number of entries and best competition we've ever had in 2014 -- will continue so there's still a book deal to be had. I've made a lot of comments about my retirement, and all of them have been honestly from the heart. There DOES come a time when everyone needs to step aside and let others bring something new to the show. George Washington DID indeed say eight years was enough. But mostly it's been health issues, specifically pain management, that sparked my decision. I've tried to keep that under the rug (and think I've been pretty successful at it), and now you've just read all I'm going to say about it here. 

But I do have a little more to say before I run into the sunset. I am quite proud of the service I've given to SWA. I've received several post-workshop notes and thank-you cards. One said, "Someone asked me the other day what I do. I said, 'I am a writer.' And that's all because of my years at SWA that I could say that." While there were personal accolades in that note, the thing that touched me is that I know I made a difference. And that's why I signed up for the volunteer job in the first place.

My last night as SWA President (let's pretend the meeting the next morning didn't happen) was amazing. My good friend Darrell Huckaby -- I met Huck as a result of SWA -- asked if he could come and entertain at our Awards Ceremony. Anyone in his right mind would say yes, and luckily I was in my right mind the day he asked. And I got this inspired idea to buy torches to pass to the new board members (at least those of which I was aware at the time) as a fitting ritual. Then I was blown away with the going-away gift the board gave me . . . a photo of the Braves' locker room (it's no secret I'm a rabid Braves fan) with my name awarded one of the lockers there. No. 8 -- for eight years of service, four as President and four as VP. I felt truly honored at that moment. I've seen former SWA Presidents with many more years than me retire with a simple "thank-you" certificate or plaque . . . or less. 

I haven't yet chosen the spot in my house where it will hang, but it will certainly be a spot of honor. Every time I look at it, I am humbled by the notion that I was held in such esteem by my peers. I know it wasn't cheap, and you really shouldn't have . . . but I'm thrilled that you did. Thank you from every fiber of my being.

And thank you, SWA, for giving me the chance to make a difference. I'll remember THAT every time I look at that picture, too.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is 2-time President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

It's June. If you're a subscriber to Purple Pros and you haven't already decided to come to St. Simons this month for our workshop, it's doubtful there's much I can say that will convince you to come. But I'd like to try. This is my final year as president, my final year on the Board of Directors, my final year to recruit faculty. And if you haven't managed to get to our workshop for the past eight years while I have been on the board (or the six years or so before that when I came strictly as a student), that means I haven't had the chance to meet you. And I'd like to meet you.

No, you can't enter manuscripts for evaluations or contests at this late date. That ship has sailed. But we still have some open seats in classes, the best roster of instructors I've ever seen (I know I'm prejudiced because I recruited them, but, it's really exactly that). We have a publisher, a renown editor, a social media specialist, a best-selling novelist, an award-winning children's author (who will double teaching poetry, for which she's up for an award this year). And that's just the start...there's more! Got a book you want to pitch to an agent? We'll have an agent there to hear your pitch . . . convenient, huh? And there's more beyond that, too much to explain in a simple column. Just come see for yourself.

It's so simple. Just go to www.southeasternwriters.com and register. And be sure to come talk to me while you're there. Oh, yeah, talk to everyone else too; they'll want to meet you as well. We're a fun group that enjoys spending time together! And we've got room for you in that group.

I guarantee if you do, you'll be glad you did.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

It's May. So the submission deadline for evaluations and contests for our workshop next month is just days away (May 15, to be exact).

Hope to see you on St. Simons Island at our SWA Workshop June 13-18.

How's that for short and sweet?

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Pitch Your Book Extended Deadline!!

SWA Agent-in-Residence Carlie Webber will review/critique 1-page queries (fiction or nonfiction) from workshop attendees.  Submit anonymously until JUNE 1 with contact info and proof of registration in the body of the email. Write Query Evaluation in the subject line, attach the query to your email in a Word file and send to evaluation@southeasternwriters.org.  

Again, the NEW deadline for Pitch Your Book is JUNE 1. 

 

EditorialLee Speaking

As I write this, it's April Fool's Day. It appears winter finally gave up its hold on us yesterday, but one day of lamb-like weather at the end of March further convinces me global warming is a hoax perpetrated by a few people who wanted to get rich at the expense of the rest of us. The Braves lost yesterday on Opening Day, and the latest fad among Braves' players appears to be elbow surgery. My favorite time of year (March Madness) has ended disgustingly with nobody in the Final Four that makes me want to root, root, root. The deadline for entry to our workshop in June draws closer. 

And I'm not writing about any of those things. Okay, the last one about the workshop holds some relevance to the success stories I'm about to mention, but that the deadline nears isn't my focus here. Success is that focus.

Sheila Hudson was at St. Simons when I first attended the Southeastern Writers Workshop in 2001 and has been there every year since then. She's served in various capacities (including President) on the Board of Directors for our writers-helping-writers group. Now, after years of faithful effort, she has landed a book deal. More than just a one-book deal -- a potential series with another thirteen decisions coming up for her next title! And more than just a series, a series bringing help with life's lessons. The title of the first is Thirteen Decisions That Will Change Your Life. Check it out here: http://sh5633.wix.com/13decisions. Among Sheila's other writing projects: a blog called "Bright Ideas." Check it out here: http://sheilasewellhudson.wordpress.com/

Emily Sue Harvey was also at that first workshop I attended. Like Sheila, she's faithfully attended workshop classes and served her time on the Board of Directors (including a two-year term as President). After years of fighting the battle to get published and facing rejection after rejection, in 2011 she hit the jackpot and now has five novels in print. Her Amazon.com page lists them all along with some biographical information: http://www.amazon.com/Emily-Sue-Harvey/e/B008UV2CX4. Her personal website is: http://emilysueharvey.com/

Buzz Bernard first came to SWA several years ago (he wasn't here on my first visit in 2001). However, like Sheila and Emily Sue, he has been a Godsend to SWA. He now holds the title of Vice President on the Board of Directors. Oh, yeah, SWA has been a Godsend to him. Buzz has had success as a novelist, beginning with Eyewall in 2011, which became ame an e-book bestseller on Amazon Kindle. He's since followed up with two other novels, which have garnered recognition for excellence (Plague is my favorite...I'm currently reading Supercell). And yet when he first came to SWA, he was unpublished as a novelist. I remember the happiness he let show when SWA novel instructor Brian Jay Corrigan told him, "You're ready to play with the big boys." Here's a link to Buzz's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/H-W-Buzz-Bernard-author/314813731901133

Oh, Buzz doesn't just write about weather; as a former employee of The Weather Channel, he's a self-admitted "weather junkie." And his upcoming fourth novel, Blizzard, will be his third weather-related book.

These are not the only success stories from SWA, but they are three that hit close to my heart. I have worked closely with all three on the SWA Board and also gotten to know them well as friends. I see several things in common beyond the fact that they've all had success:

• They've been attending SWA for years, honing their crafts and understanding the marketplace as a result.
• They've all won awards (at SWA and elsewhere) for poetry, humor or short stories, fiction or non-fiction.
• They've all served on the SWA Board of Directors. That in itself doesn't guarantee anything. But it does show that those willing to step up and help others frequently are the ones who succeed.
• None of them are (sorry, guys) young in years. Young at heart, perhaps, but all have found their success through perseverance that has carried them to success late in life.

Buzz still serves on the board, and Sheila is working as an auxiliary board member. Both will be at the workshop in June. If your career as a writer seems to be going nowhere, talk to them. I'm sure they have had times they felt their writing careers were going nowhere also.

And while Emily Sue, with her busy promotion schedule, probably won't be there, I venture to say she'd answer any questions a fledgling unpublished wannabee might throw at her via Facebook, Linked-in or the contact form on her web page (link at her personal website).

We have a lot more success stories that have grown from SWA, far too many to list in one column. If you're interested in adding your name to the list of successful SWA-workshop grads, the first step is to sign up for this year's June workshop. Just follow this link and you'll be on your way: http://www.southeasternwriters.org/Writers_Workshop.html

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

One of the greatest things about being a part of the annual Southeastern Writers Association workshop is networking and making friends. I've made a lot of friends through SWA, even a few good friends. The distinction between friends and good friends, I'm told, is this: A friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move . . . a body.

I am privileged to call Darrell Huckaby one of those body-moving friends I've met along this road. I first met Darrell my first year on the SWA Board of Directors, eight years ago, when I was recruiting a humor instructor. Huck, I'm sure many of you know, is quite the humorist. He's written some really funny books, all of which I've read, plus shown his more serious side in a humorous-nonetheless tale entitled Yea Though I Walk about his battle with prostate cancer. He originally planned to title that book, You Took Out My What? He also does a weekly funny bit on the radio called "What the Huck?"

We've had Darrell back to teach a second time during my time on the board. On a personal level, though, I've become far more entangled with Huck as a friend. Last February, he generously donated his time to entertain at a talent show put on by our United Methodist Men, which raised the most money of any fund-raiser in the history of Collins Memorial United Methodist Church. On May 17, he will return to our church for this year's UMM presentation, which will be our own version of the game show "The American Bible Challenge." Darrell will bring a team competing for a $250 donation to a charity of the winning team's choice. He chose to bring a team rather than emcee (yes, I would have handed over the mic) because he has a charity near and dear to his heart. He will also do a short entertainment/devotional moment during study time in a match in which his team won't be involved.

Darrell and I message back and forth frequently, mostly via Facebook. I helped him get his books e-book-ready for the Amazon Kindle site, and in July, I'm going on one of his tours. Since diagnosed with prostate cancer (which he is fighting very successfully so far), he's been arranging bucket-list tours and inviting those of us he knows to join the tours (on our own nickels, of course, but the prices are very reasonable). This summer I'll mark a few things off my own bucket list when we take his "Honor the Braves" Hall of Fame Tour in July. The trip starts with a Friday flight to New York followed by an afternoon tour of Yankee Stadium and tickets to a game there that night. Saturday we go by bus to Cooperstown, where we'll be free for the day to tour the baseball Hall of Fame as well as watch the parade for the new inductees. On Sunday we have tickets to the induction ceremony, which will include Bobby Cox, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine -- all mainstays during my two decades as a Braves' season-ticket holder. We cap the trip by going by bus to Boston for a game at Fenway Park on Monday night before flying back to Atlanta on Tuesday.

Yankee Stadium, Cooperstown's Hall of Fame, and Fenway Park are all on my bucket list as a big-time baseball fan. Getting to watch the HOF inductions of Cox, Maddux and Glavine is just a little icing on the cake.

Now I'm not telling you all this just to let you know I've come into a good, body-moving friendship with one fine Southern gentleman. Because if you come to St. Simons Island this summer for our workshop and stay for our Awards Ceremony, you'll get to meet Darrell and hear him entertain. He'll also be signing books, which will be for sale in the conference bookstore throughout (I'm bringing them), although I'm sure Huck will have a few left to sign if you didn't get your copies before the bookstore closed at mid-day on the final day of the workshop.

He and I are doing this as mutual favors for each other. Even though he volunteered to come -- he always looks for an excuse to visit St. Simons Island -- I will be the one to get the greater reward. This will be my last year as SWA President, and I am leaving the board after this workshop. So this will literally be going out with the biggest of bangs.

I've made a lot of great friends through SWA, too many to name here lest I forget someone, but I guarantee you I will have no problems finding folks to move bodies if I need them. I surely hope if you are reading this and I have yet to meet you that I will have that pleasure in June.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

February already. The months seem to fly by so fast I took a second look at the calendar to make sure it was still 2014.

It is. Whew! 

But the months do go by with remarkable speed as we get older. June will be here in the bat of an eye. I'll be singing Paul McCartney's "When I'm 64" before June is over. But before Tim Hudson and I turn a year older (we were both born on June 22 although Tim's got a couple of years on me), we'll have finished the 39th annual Southeastern Writers Association Workshop on St. Simons Island.

This year's workshop should be our best ever. Yeah, I know I said that last year. And the year before. The thing is, I was right those times, too. But this year is going to be something special. We have star power like we haven't seen in . . . uh, ever. And they're all going to be there just to advance your writing career, be it a for-profit pursuit or merely for fun.

We have an agent-in-residence. Of course, we always have one of those. This year, though, Carlie Webber will teach classes on some nuts-and-bolts requirements of marketing: query and synopsis. We have a real Jack-of-All-Trades from the business, Chuck Sambuchino -- who is an author, an editor, and quite an authority on the art of writing commercially. Chuck's teaching three classes and will be available to meet with a limited number of students as well. We have a publisher, California-based Dahlynn McKowen and her husband Ken, who publish non-fiction collections and who want to share secrets of getting published as a non-fiction writer as well as offering workshops on humor in non-fiction.

We have a best-selling novelist, Bob Mayer, who is going to present six -- that's right, six -- full workshops on novels, from plotting to platform to marketing. If you're an aspiring novelist, get ready to be dazzled. We also have an up-and-coming short-fiction writer, C.D. Mitchell, whose cutting-edge material is sure to raise eyebrows.

We have an award-winning Georgia Author of the Year children's novelist, Peggy Mercer, who will teach juvenile writing and also poetry. Peggy's poetry is doing all right, too. Her collection entitled Grew Up Loving Elvis has been selling well, and a country-gospel song she wrote called "The Oar" is now getting a lot of airplay and seems destined to be a best-seller for debut artist Bradley Miller.

And, last but not least, our own Debra Brown is preparing three one-hour workshops on the hottest thing in marketing anything these days, Social Media. She'll have your face in Facebook if it's not there already and your heart will go a-Twitter when she gets through with you. And I'm going to stop with the puns right now before I get too wound up (or before you gag).

And we're going to put together a panel of these experts on Sunday afternoon to field questions. You won't want to miss that.

This is a special workshop for me. It's my last as SWA President and faculty recruiter. I'll probably still be around St. Simons every summer, might even work in the bookstore if I'm asked, but this is my last time as a board member. I'm excited that my replacement on the Board will be the youngest ever to serve SWA; you'll find out just who that is when we make the announcement in June.

I hope you'll be there to hear that announcement . . . and to soak up what we have to offer this year. Because it's going to be our best workshop ever. Did I tell you that? Approaching 64 means you forget things. And something else, although, darn it, I can't remember what that second thing was. Oh yes, now I remember, it's that you forget things.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

2014 is coming in on a hangover, which obviously means 2013 went out with a blast. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the new year, most of them good since the past couple of years haven't been two of my best and flipping the calendar always brings renewed optimism.

In 2012, I lost my mother to cancer. Last year started with a nasty bang when the street attacked me six days into 2013 and shattered my kneecap. Over the past couple of years my back problems have gotten worse, too. I've taken injections, had nerves burned away, tried PT and alternative medical treatments but with little improvement.

One thing that carries me forward into 2014 with momentum, though, is the publishing business I started a little over nine years ago to bring IncrediBoy back into print after his original publisher went out of business. I feared that e-books would probably be the end of the small publishing house like the one I co-own. But the last quarter of this year has, at least, provided me with a respite from that worry.

When I went down with the knee injury, Susan Lindsley's project of her father's literary works also got shelved with it. She could have taken her business elsewhere, but thankfully she chose not to do that. While this book of her father's poetry and other writings won't be released to the general public, Susan's Facebook friends have gotten a taste of the talents of her late father. It's easy to see that writing is in her blood.

Speaking of Susan, her first novel, The Bottom Rail, was one of our fourth-quarter releases after winning the ThomasMax "You Are Published" Contest at the SWA 2013 Workshop. Since its release, the book has been getting a lot of attention.  One of her home-towners has called it the “Milledgeville Peyton Place.” Susan used some events she remembered hearing about in her youth, but has since discovered that some of them involved people who are today’s leaders of business and society.

 “I had no idea who these people were. A lawyer friend, who knew everything that went on in the county, would come out to the country and tell us all sorts of tall tales. So I arranged some of the events to fit into my story.”

Before-publication praise included comments from three of our SWA members. Buzz Bernard called the novel “an old South you won’t forget.” Cappy Rearick, a true Southerner herself, said that The Bottom Rail made Tobacco Road read like a Sunday school lesson. And June McCash, herself a double-award winning Author of the Year, said that The Bottom Rail takes us to the time and rural south of To Kill a Mockingbird, but told from the viewpoint of the Ewells.  Although this is her first published novel, Susan has  authored or edited seven books.

I also had the pleasure of working with Peggy Mercer, who will be teaching poetry and children's writing at our 2014 workshop in the release of her collection of poems and songs entitled Grew Up Loving Elvis. This one was an adventure. Peggy is a true professional -- not that other writers with whom I work are not -- but Peggy has been through every mill of the writing world, been ground up and re-assembled numerous times in the process, and come out stronger for it. She and I fought like cat-and-dog often during the production of the book. And that's one reason you'll find it to be a work of art if you snag a copy. 

Probably the most intense editing work I have ever done was with an author named Robin Medley-Israel as we prepared her Urban Joy for its November release. Pastor Robin is a motivational coach as well as a writer and a pastor, and she had a story to tell about her life . . . a life she was ready to end as a teenager until God spoke to her and intervened. Now she is a spokesperson for "being joy" even though her life has had its share of rain along with its sunshine. And she is willing to talk about all her difficulties quite candidly, from the indignities she suffered form an affair by her adulterous fellow-pastor husband to lecherous stepfather. Robin does more than preach, though -- she goes into the "how to" of "being joy" in spite of all the obstacles. 

And, finally, our last release of 2013 which is probably just now reaching the listings with the online sellers is a relatively short autobiography with the unlikely title of P.O. Box 1106. Author Anna Löwenadler contacted me right in the heart of my busiest time with Susan's and Robin's projects, so I didn't get the chance to look into the story until November. But once I did, I was mesmerized. This girl had such a horrible childhood, and she tells it like it truly was (while carefully avoiding names and the most sordid of details). It's a quick read, and I don't say this often, but it's a book everyone should read, if only to appreciate his or her own upbringing. 

Susan's The Bottom Rail and Peggy's Grew Up Loving Elvis will be contestants for Georgia Author of the Year in their respective categories. Also representing ThomasMax will be Martha Phillips, whose Carved was the first book we released in 2013. It's the sequel to Martha's successful Written on a Rock mystery-romance that won the ThomasMax "You Are Published" contest a few years ago.

And all of the books released to the public, I'm happy to report, have had at least moderate sales success to date. Even P.O. Box 1106 had a few e-book sales within a few days of its release.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

Recently one of my Facebook friends posted this interesting, if ridiculously theoretical, dilemma: if you could be eighteen again and know everything you know now, would you rather start out today or in 1957?

Although I did not post a response, I've found myself thinking about that question, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt my reply would have been 1957. Maybe somehow I could have stopped the assassination of John F. Kennedy; the event, which I believe, started America on its downhill slide from greatness to mediocrity, a fall that seems to gain momentum daily rather than being arrested. Could I have somehow gotten the ear of the leaders to let them know some of the disastrous long-term consequences of trusting future generations of politicians to safeguard our nation? I imagined myself writing letters to leaders, demonstrating my knowledge of the future by predicting that Lou Burdette would be the star of the 1957 World Series, that the Dodgers and Giants would abandon New York after the 1958 season, that the impossible tickets in the 1960 Presidential elections would be Kennedy-Johnson vs. Nixon-Lodge. Maybe with Nostradamus-like skills, I could get someone's ear, and 2013 wouldn't be the great mess that it is. I mean, wouldn't that be the only reason God would choose to put me there?

Perhaps I could stop my family members from smoking. Three of my uncles and one of my cousins died from lung cancer. Another cousin recently had a lung removed. Would they listen? Would anyone even think about cigarettes being a health risk in an era when smoking was accepted anywhere and everywhere, when commercials told you, "Winston tastes good like a (clap-clap) cigarette should"?

If I could somehow find my seven-year-old self, would he listen to his own future? Would I be able to change my own destiny? I wonder, because I was a pretty darned hardheaded kid (I'm sure that comes as no surprise to anyone).

And, if I did that, would I suddenly disappear for having changed my own future a la "The Butterfly Effect"? I decided I could not risk fixing me until I'd fixed the more important stuff. And maybe even then I couldn't risk it. Maybe I had to follow the imperfect path of my life to get to go back and be the hero . . . or a young man confined in a loony bin.

And, yes, of course, I'd get a degree in computer science. I would buy Microsoft stock, bet on Cassius Clay to beat Sonny Liston and a hundred other sports bets, such as putting money down on the Joe Namath-led underdog Jets to win the Super Bowl, or betting on Bee Bee Bee to win the 1972 Preakness Stakes after Riva Ridge had run away with the Kentucky Derby. 

The thing that kept bugging me, though, was wondering just where the heck I would start. I would be a nobody. Where would I be geographically, for example? If I were here in Atlanta, I would know nobody; I'd just be some penniless vagrant kid without an identity, most likely begging for something to eat. If I were back in my childhood homeland, how would I explain my 18-year-old self to people who knew me as the seven-year-old I became on June 22 of that year? How would I get a social security card without a birth certificate? Begging for food or a place to sleep wouldn't be the way to start a new life. Or maybe it's an old life, I'm not sure of the phraseology.

I considered enlisting my grandmother, a trustworthy soul widowed in 1954 when a train rammed an automobile, which held my paternal grandfather. I could tell her things about the family only I could know, I could convince her who I was and how critical it would be not to let anyone else know about me. She would give me shelter and help me get work, perhaps help me research kids born in 1939 who died in infancy so I could get one of their birth certificates. Would that be successful?

If you have a few minutes to devote to the fantasy, I urge you to think about this one, not so you can be ready when it happens because we all know it won't. But because it's a great brain exercise.

Merry Christmas!

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

Peggy Mercer will be doing double duty at our 2014 Southeastern Writers Association Workshop next June. Like most writers, she doesn't have tunnel vision about writing (although most publishers would prefer that their successful writers possess that trait). Unlike most writers, she is indeed uniquely qualified to teach both Writing for Young Readers and Poetry classes.

It was not by chance that I first met Peggy. We knew about each other before meeting. It was in the summer of 2009 that we had our first face-to-face meeting in the unlikely (but prearranged) venue of a newspaper in Douglas, Georgia, The Douglas Enterprise. There I met Peggy, who wanted me to meet her friend J.D. Lankford. J.D. had written a book about his military life, an ugly-but-true saga about war entitled Walk With Me. Although Peggy didn't know me, she knew of me through Paul Dunn of nearby Fitzgerald. I had published Paul's successful A Stroll Through Fitzgerald, GA, in the Forties.

Since that time, Peggy and I have kept in touch. Four years later we collaborated on a book she wanted to do, a collection of her songs and poetry entitled, Grew Up Loving Elvis. It's now in print as well as on Kindle and Nook. The reason she came to my small independent publishing company were dual: her traditional publisher loved her children's books but, predictably, wasn't interested in trying to sell her poetry. This is the credo of the industry: Authors must write what the publishers' sales people know how to sell. The other reason: she knew me and my reputation for doing good work without ripping people off.

Peggy and I beat the heck out of each other (verbally, mostly through email) while assembling her book. The results show. Two professionals beating each other up doesn't result in perfection, but it comes close. Grew Up Loving Elvis is professionally done in every way.

Raised in rural Georgia, Peggy started writing "because the farmhouse walls were blank." She has continued because, she says, "Writing is my purpose in life. It is the vehicle I use to share my thoughts and carve out my niche and infuse it with inspiration for others to follow their dreams. Words are my tool, and there's so much power in words."

So why is Peggy qualified to teach two classes? For starters, Her Peach: When the Well Run Dry won the GAYA (Georgia Author of the Year Award) for children's writing in 2011. She has authored two other children's books and has another due out soon through a New York traditional publishing house. Her personal favorite of her children's books is There Come a Soldier.

As to poetry, Grew Up Loving Elvis is her first published collection. But she has seen her poetry published in literary magazines and journals, including Gusto, Driftwood East, and a few others. She also studied poetry and taught a class in poetry in college. She has been writing poetry since her school days. She also teaches songwriting. "I teach the proper professional art of songwriting after having studied with professional hit songwriters for a very long time. This takes me back and forth to Nashville, Tennessee, where I assist young songwriters in getting their songs put to melodies and professionally demoed. I also guide them through the publishing maze into the world or professional songwriting."

Peggy has friends in the music industry. Country star Taylor Swift has a blurb about her poetry on the cover of "Elvis," and she regularly rubs elbows with country stars in Nashville and other places. "Elvis" contains a number of songs she has written.

So when she has time for herself, what does she do? "My favorite book is The Bible," she said when asked what she reads. "I also read great poetry by Browning, Brecht, Tennyson and more.  . . and biographies about the lives of the Saints. I also enjoy reading humor." Her other very limited spare time ("What spare time?" she laughed!) is spent rearranging her books and manuscripts. She also collects antiques, especially vintage scarves. "I 'ooh' and 'ah' over this stuff."

Peggy's history with SWA goes back a long way. "I believe I was a charter member to the Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists, and I think that was the start of Southeastern. I studied in classes with Doris Buchanan Smith, Becky Weyrich and many more well-published authors at summer conferences. It was one of those great experiences I had as a young writer, and this is what made me a professional writer. It helped launch me toward professionalism and getting published."

She eagerly looks forward to returning to St. Simons in 2014. "I am returning to teach, which means I followed the process laid out before me by the early conference leaders and teachers, paid my dues, honed my skills and -- drum roll, please -- now have been asked to share my wisdom and knowledge on how to write for children along with poetry with others. Sharing is my biggest joy. It is our legacy as published authors to build the dreams with those who are where we once were and to help them move forward toward making their own writing dreams come true."

"Writers helping writers" is SWA's motto. Peggy is a perfect fit. And she has a few words of advice now, before you get the chance to meet her next June: "To aspiring writers, don't just write, LEARN and then perfect your craft while protecting and shining your style like the marvelous work and wonder that it is. Use your gift. You are never too young to get started and never too old to begin again."

Should be a great 2014 Workshop. Hope to see all y'all there!

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

October is always a busy month for me, and it has nothing to do with Columbus Day or Halloween. I do buy some candy in case the little blackmailers show up at my door. Despite the increased culture of violence the "tricks" in the trick-or-treat phrase seem less frequent than when I was a kid. Back then we would carry a candy-collection bag in one hand and a bar of soap in the other just in case someone had some crazy notion of not giving us something. I can't remember the last time I saw a soaped window. Of course, I might be the last person on earth who still uses bar soap instead of body wash.

September is the end of a quarter, which means royalties to compute and checks to write to authors from my publishing business. It also means it's time to file the quarterly sales tax report. I have no less than four book projects in queue. My church has Homecoming in October, and it's a big deal at Collins UMC, where I am lay leader.

Of course there's post-season baseball, which used to mean annual trips to Braves' games -- and this year it means that once again. Friday night I'll be at Turner Field. Hopefully before the month is gone, the World Series will be in Atlanta again.

More than all of this, though, is my father's 88th birthday, which falls on October 23. Dad's in a nursing home in Indiana (a few miles from his birthplace). He and Mom had been married for 67-plus years when Mom passed away in the spring of 2012. I'm an only child. So visiting Dad on his birthday is not an optional event, it's downright mandatory. Especially given that every year on Father's Day I'm at Epworth-by-the-Sea for the Southeastern Writers Association Workshop.

This entails a trip to Indiana, 9 hours in the car each way if traffic isn't bad. Flying isn't worth the hassle of airports, airport security lines, car rentals -- the closest airport to the nursing home is about 70 miles away. Last Christmas I had a blanket specially made for my dad with a picture of Mom and him (full-blanket-sized) covering it. I figured since he'd complained a lot about people stealing his covers at the nursing home that he'd be able to keep track of that one, particularly since I had "Property of Max Clevenger" added at the bottom.

Dad, however, wanted to hang it on the wall rather than use it as a blanket. And that brought on a new problem because the nursing home requires such things be fireproofed before doing so. Figuring that hiring an upholstery shop to do the fireproofing would be rather expensive; I searched for an alternative and found a company in California that sells a chemical to treat the blanket. I ordered a gallon of it, and my cousin has told me she has a sprayer I can use to apply it. All we'll need is a day that's not windy because it'll need to be done outside. No worries about intruding on the neighbors if my aim isn't perfect; my cousin lives on a farm.

If busy is good I'll have a great month. See y'all right here in The Purple Pros in November. 

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

September, you hit me when I wasn't lookin'...so here are some assorted thoughts assembled for a short-notice after-deadline column (hopefully I'll see October coming and have something a little more organized next month):

Coming soon to my house: a shredding party! I've held on to documents that belonged to my parents, but with taxes now filed, much of the paper that has choked my office since my mother passed away last year is about to meet its match and become confetti.

Go Braves! How can a team possibly be hit with all the injuries the Braves have sustained and still have the best record in baseball (as of today, anyway)? Easier to name the players who have not been on the disabled list this year than the ones who have, and some of them have missed far more than the 15-day DL minimum. Yes, every team has injuries, but not every team glides through them the way my hometown boys have done it this year.

Bob Mayer confirmed today he's on board to teach at the 2014 SWA Workshop next June. Bob's novel credentials are impressive. We also have some other real headliners joining us next summer, including Writers Digest's Chuck Sambuchino, Georgia Author of the Year Award winner Peggy Mercer, non-fiction publisher Dahlynn McKowen and short-fiction writer C.D. Mitchell. Our own Debra Brown will present a comprehensive class on social media, the hottest topic on the planet in almost every circle these days. And agent Carlie Webber will not only be fielding pitches, she'll be teaching classes on writing queries and synopses -- and who better to teach these things than the agent who reads them? Still more to come, so be sure to reserve your spot when registration opens, likely in January.

My knee keeps improving, although I was told by the surgeon not to try to run (or even break out in a jog) before at least January. Stairs still present minor challenges, and steep downhill descents require a lot of concentration, but otherwise I'm doing very well. Now if I could just shed some of the pounds all the inactivity loaded upon me. I walked the stretch where the street attacked me and shattered the kneecap back in January, but, incredibly nice guy that I am, I chose not to take a jack hammer with me and try to get even.

I was saddened at the news that long-time personal friend and SWA fixture Harry Rubin had died. We will dedicate the 2014 SWA Workshop to his memory. I mean no disrespect when I suggest we all dress as curmudgeons for the awards ceremony; Harry would have found that amusing.

Want to be a member of the SWA Board of Directors? If so, let us know. Cappy Hall Rearick has left the board, and if possible I hope to retire next summer. Cappy leaves a big gap for us to fill, but we're fortunate that Tim Hudson is returning on an interim basis to help us out, at least for the 2014 workshop.

Memo to self: only thirty days has September (the poem is confirmed by a glance at the calendar), so start thinking of October column material now!

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking: Tribute to Harry

When I first met Harry Rubin, I didn't like him. The feeling was mutual. I know this because about three years ago, Harry introduced me to someone, saying, "This is Lee. I couldn't stand him when I first met him. Goes to show you how wrong first impressions can be sometimes."

That feeling is mutual too. Harry and I became good friends.

Harry is one of those guys who is hard to like at first sight. If you look up the word "curmudgeon" in the dictionary, there's a good chance you'll see Harry's picture there. Rumor has it that Hollywood followed him around for ideas before making the movie "Grumpy Old Men." His style is gruff, and he will tell you what's on his mind. Political correctness has never tainted one of his opinions, either.

 I'm not sure exactly when the like-and-dislike fulcrum turned with Harry and me, but I'm glad it did. My company, ThomasMax Publishing, put several of Harry's novels into print. Those novels never sold much until the e-book market erupted. Marketed as a series, those stories have had a relatively good degree of success. Harry would find his elation more in the fact that people were reading and enjoying something he wrote than collecting royalty checks. In fact, for some time he told me to hang on to the money, he didn't need it, someday he'd donate it to SWA or some other cause. He never did it for the money. Heck, I watched him sell his books for less than he paid for them many times.

Doing business with Harry was fun, and it made me a few bucks . . . literally, a few. It also opened the door to a lot more communication between the two of us, communication that transcended a couple of guys doing business. My world was enriched as a result.

We shared a political philosophy and had emails flying during campaigns and elections. We would talk, in person annually at the workshop and via tons of emails, on all the world's ills and the solutions we had to fix them. I consider myself a somewhat radical Conservative, but beside Harry I would look like a liberal.

I am privileged to own one of Harry's self-published limerick books. Harry was funny. He could be dry with his wit, which is something I like, and he especially embraced limericks. For many years he sponsored a limerick contest at the SWA Workshop just because he loved to read the entries.

Harry served in the military through World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He lied about his age to enlist to join the war effort. When was the last time someone did that? I'm guessing it was someone of similar vintage to Harry. Yet his patriotism has not dimmed one iota since then.

Harry also single-handedly saved the Southeastern Writers Association. When a treasurer absconded with all of SWA's money, Harry took it upon himself to replace that money out of his own pocket. And he never took a penny in return. Instead, he served, unpaid, as treasurer until just a few years ago when age forced him to reduce his workload.

Harry loved to tell how he met his wife, the woman who would become the one and only love of his life, a woman to whom he was unequivocally dedicated. Her death a couple of years ago turned his world upside down. He had always figured she would bury him; he wasn't ready for the alternative. I would also bet you that Harry never once cheated on her. Even curmudgeons do get hit on occasionally, and I'm sure he had many opportunities. 

Harry may be a hard man to like. But he's an easy man to admire.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.

EditorialLee Speaking

Now that the tell-tale cigarette-after-sex metaphor is banished by the dying fad of smoking, it's impossible to tell at a glance, so . . . beg the question: 

Was it good for you?

Judging from the heavier-than-usual emails and thank-you cards that have rolled in since the conclusion of our 2013 SWA Workshop less than two weeks ago, it seems the overwhelming response - lack of cigarettes notwithstanding - is a resounding affirmative.

"Last year I said it would be impossible to top the instructors we had, but, sure enough, you guys did it again," was one sample of the gushing reviews that have come in over the past 10 days or so. Yesterday a card arrived at my mailbox - my home address, not the P.O. box handed out routinely - covered, inside and back, with praises for our team's efforts.

It IS a team effort. It's just a perk of the SWA presidency that most of the accolades land in my mailboxes (yes, I've gotten a couple of cards at the P.O. box, too) and inboxes (it's no secret I have multiple email addresses). 

I hope we can assemble a blockbuster workshop in 2014 that can draw a reaction similar to 2013.  You see, I want to go out with a bang. Next year will end my second two-year term as president. It will also mark eight years on the Board of Directors. I plan to step down from the Board next July. I'll still be active in SWA. I'll write columns for the redesigned Purple Pros blog, probably still be an annual fixture at Epworth-by-the-Sea, maybe even help out in the bookstore if I'm asked to do so. But the same people year after year putting on the show - regardless of how good the show is, well . . . .

Take a look at Congress. I rest my case for term limits. George Washington said eight years was enough. I'm taking my cue from him.

Another reason we want to make 2014 a very special year is that we're naming next year's workshop in honor of Harry Rubin. Those of you who don't know Harry have missed something incredible. For years, he sponsored a limerick contest just for the fun of it. Once upon a time, SWA's treasurer absconded with all the funds. Harry replaced those funds out of his own pocket to keep SWA going. He served as treasurer for half of forever thereafter before stepping down a few years ago as a concession to age. 

Now Harry is in ill health, and I call on every SWA member who remembers him to write something for our August Purple Pros blog. Hopefully our memories will bring him a smile.

~~ Lee Clevenger

Lee is the current President of SWA, an author and co-founder of ThomasMax Publishing in Atlanta, GA.