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Hawaii Writers Guild's Member Newsletter
Editor: Joy Fisher
We are pleased to announce issue Number 5 of our
Membership Newsletter
Welcome from our (Lonely) Editor
Joy Fisher
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Your Name Here
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Welcome to the fifth issue of Member News, the Hawaii Writers Guild biannual publication that shines a spotlight on our members and their writing lives and accomplishments.
Welcome to the fifth issue of Member News, the Hawaii Writers Guild biannual publication that shines a spotlight on our members and their writing lives and accomplishments.
Cece Johansen
The first thing I want to point out is that our co-editor, Cece Johansen, is no longer with us. Cece was the co-editor of Member News from our first issue through our last issue before this one. She was a lot more, too, over the years—a founding member of Hawaii Writers Guild; its first vice president; its events director; and, when we still had live public readings before Covid-19 shut that function down, the host of Writers’ Voices, the monthly open reading in Kamuela on Hawaii Island, where our members had the chance to read their work aloud to live public audiences.
Cece moved back to California a couple of years ago and became a member of the Berkeley Chapter of the California Writers Club, but she continued her membership in Hawaii Writers Guild until recently, when she finally resigned from the Guild. As a result, Member News is down to one editor. [Editor’s note: Personally, I would love to go back to being a “co-editor”, so if you have some journalism or feature story writing in your background and a yen to get to know our members better, please contact me at [email protected] and let’s talk.]
The first thing I want to point out is that our co-editor, Cece Johansen, is no longer with us. Cece was the co-editor of Member News from our first issue through our last issue before this one. She was a lot more, too, over the years—a founding member of Hawaii Writers Guild; its first vice president; its events director; and, when we still had live public readings before Covid-19 shut that function down, the host of Writers’ Voices, the monthly open reading in Kamuela on Hawaii Island, where our members had the chance to read their work aloud to live public audiences.
Cece moved back to California a couple of years ago and became a member of the Berkeley Chapter of the California Writers Club, but she continued her membership in Hawaii Writers Guild until recently, when she finally resigned from the Guild. As a result, Member News is down to one editor. [Editor’s note: Personally, I would love to go back to being a “co-editor”, so if you have some journalism or feature story writing in your background and a yen to get to know our members better, please contact me at [email protected] and let’s talk.]
The second thing I want to point out is that this issue of Member News would never have made it onto our website without the diligence and patience of our webmaster Duncan Dempster, who spent many hours over the course of several days designing it and posting it in the proper format. Mahalo nui loa, Duncan!
Now, on to the contents of this issue …
In this (somewhat overdue) Fall issue, we have three feature stories. The first feature story is about the upcoming issue of Latitudes, our online literary review. The deadline for submissions was changed this year, so you have until January 31, 2024 to submit your work for consideration for publication in the 2024 issue. The story, titled “Everything You Need to Know about How to Contribute to the Next Issue of Latitudes”, is designed to provide the information you need to do just that. In addition to the written story, there is a link to a new YouTube video of an interview with Margaret Zacharias, Latitudes’ new managing editor, in which she also provides helpful information. I hope all of you will consider contributing your best work.
Our second feature reports on our Guild member meet-up at the Kauai Writers Conference in November. Because members come from different islands and even, sometimes, from the mainland, getting together at the Kauai Writers Conference is sometimes the only opportunity some of us have to see each other in person, so our Guild dinner is always a special treat. It also gives us a chance to get to know other writers who are attending the conference and who may be interested in becoming Guild members. This year more people attended the dinner than ever before, including some writers new to Hawaii whom we hope will be joining us soon.
In our third feature, we write about three of our members whose books won awards in various contests of the 2023 American Writing Awards. Read about the writers, their books and the awards they won. [Editor’s note: the winning books by two of these writers will be among those offered as prizes in our spin game at our Annual Meeting on Zoom on January 20. If you attend the meeting, you will be eligible to win these (and other) books donated by members for the occasion.]
In addition to our feature stories, this issue of Member News also includes two regular columns. Genre Corner is a column which provides an opportunity for a member (or members) to write about some aspect of their favorite genre about which they have strong feelings, either positive or negative. In this issue, John Blossom, one of the American Writing Awards winners, has shared his feelings about a few books he thinks are great for authors of fiction who want to hone their writing.
The other regular column is Transitions, a column we developed to provide news of members who are moving into or out of various positions, functions or duties with Hawaii Writers Guild or other aspects of their writing lives. Sometimes these transitions create openings for new members to contribute their efforts to the work of the Guild, so if you are interested in getting more involved, take a look at the Transitions column to see whether there is an opportunity that fits your interests and skills.
And, of course, we include stories and pictures of our new members, so you have a chance to “meet them” soon after they join the Guild. Not every new member takes advantage of this opportunity to introduce themselves to us, but we are happy to shine the spotlight on those who do.
In every issue, we also devote space to saying “Congrats!” to our members who have published their work since the last issue of Member News. Issue after issue, we hear reports from members who have reached that coveted goal. In this issue, we have an exceptionally large number of members who reported achieving that distinction. Read about their good news in the Recently Published! Section.
I hope you will enjoy reading about your fellow Guild members and their accomplishments in this issue of Member News. Please let me hear from you if you have suggestions for stories to include in future issues.
Now, on to the contents of this issue …
In this (somewhat overdue) Fall issue, we have three feature stories. The first feature story is about the upcoming issue of Latitudes, our online literary review. The deadline for submissions was changed this year, so you have until January 31, 2024 to submit your work for consideration for publication in the 2024 issue. The story, titled “Everything You Need to Know about How to Contribute to the Next Issue of Latitudes”, is designed to provide the information you need to do just that. In addition to the written story, there is a link to a new YouTube video of an interview with Margaret Zacharias, Latitudes’ new managing editor, in which she also provides helpful information. I hope all of you will consider contributing your best work.
Our second feature reports on our Guild member meet-up at the Kauai Writers Conference in November. Because members come from different islands and even, sometimes, from the mainland, getting together at the Kauai Writers Conference is sometimes the only opportunity some of us have to see each other in person, so our Guild dinner is always a special treat. It also gives us a chance to get to know other writers who are attending the conference and who may be interested in becoming Guild members. This year more people attended the dinner than ever before, including some writers new to Hawaii whom we hope will be joining us soon.
In our third feature, we write about three of our members whose books won awards in various contests of the 2023 American Writing Awards. Read about the writers, their books and the awards they won. [Editor’s note: the winning books by two of these writers will be among those offered as prizes in our spin game at our Annual Meeting on Zoom on January 20. If you attend the meeting, you will be eligible to win these (and other) books donated by members for the occasion.]
In addition to our feature stories, this issue of Member News also includes two regular columns. Genre Corner is a column which provides an opportunity for a member (or members) to write about some aspect of their favorite genre about which they have strong feelings, either positive or negative. In this issue, John Blossom, one of the American Writing Awards winners, has shared his feelings about a few books he thinks are great for authors of fiction who want to hone their writing.
The other regular column is Transitions, a column we developed to provide news of members who are moving into or out of various positions, functions or duties with Hawaii Writers Guild or other aspects of their writing lives. Sometimes these transitions create openings for new members to contribute their efforts to the work of the Guild, so if you are interested in getting more involved, take a look at the Transitions column to see whether there is an opportunity that fits your interests and skills.
And, of course, we include stories and pictures of our new members, so you have a chance to “meet them” soon after they join the Guild. Not every new member takes advantage of this opportunity to introduce themselves to us, but we are happy to shine the spotlight on those who do.
In every issue, we also devote space to saying “Congrats!” to our members who have published their work since the last issue of Member News. Issue after issue, we hear reports from members who have reached that coveted goal. In this issue, we have an exceptionally large number of members who reported achieving that distinction. Read about their good news in the Recently Published! Section.
I hope you will enjoy reading about your fellow Guild members and their accomplishments in this issue of Member News. Please let me hear from you if you have suggestions for stories to include in future issues.
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Contents
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Featured Stories
New Member Spotlight
Here are ten new members who joined since our last issue. Click on "New Member Spotlight" above to learn about them all. Meet Dale Baker Meet Pam Elders Meet Parrissa Eyorokon Meet Gerald Montano Meet Moira Nicholson Meet Candice Phillips Meet Kimberly Russell Meet Ed Sancious Meet Richard Shouse Meet Nancy Stricklen-Juneau |
Genre CornerTransitions
Recently Published
Here are the sixteen members who have published recently. Let's give them all a hand! Click on "Recently Published" above to see them all. Congratulations to: Nancy Baenziger John Blossom Duncan Dempster CherylAnn Farrell Virginia Fortner Steven S. Foster Dawn Hurwitz Angela Leslee Sharon Ludan Carol McMillan Don Mules Wendy Noritake Tessa Rice Heather Rivera Youfeng Shen Diann Wilson |
