Join us for our monthly programs.
Regular Meetings are on the first Saturday of every month from 10:00 am to noon and the third Tuesday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm (new time) at the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living located on the northwest corner of Louisiana and Claremont — two blocks north of Menaul — at 2801 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 (see the map on this page).
Please read our visitor/guest policy here.
Tuesday, December 17
No Meeting Due to the Holidays
Are you ready for a new year and a fresh start to a great year of writing?
See you in 2020!
Saturday, January 4
10:00 am–Noon
Speaker: Melody Groves
10 DIALOGUE TRICKS to MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS “TALK GOOD”
Despite writers’ efforts to describe the place, setting, actions, motivations, and characters, what matters most is the dialogue. However, what characters say to each other or themselves tells the story. As humans, readers relate to characters—and that’s what writers want. In this talk, Melody will explore ten dialogue tricks to help you, the writer, create characters that seem real. They are to the writer, they might as well be to the reader.
Bio:
New Mexico native Melody Groves lives the life of a full-time freelance writer. She travels the world, meets amazing people, and writes about it all. Winner of numerous writing awards, she is the author of the award-winning Colton Brothers Saga five-book series set in 1860s southern New Mexico/Arizona (with book six, Trail to Tin Town, in the pipeline). In addition to that series, she penned She Was Sheriff, set in 1872 northern California. Its sequel, Lady of the Law, is also in the pipeline. Nonfiction books include: New Mexico Book Award winner Hoist a Cold One! Historic Bars of the Southwest; Ropes, Reins, and Rawhide: All About Rodeo, and Butterfield’s Byways: The First Stagecoach Line and Overland Mail Route Across America (Zia Award and NM/AZ Book Award finalist). When Outlaws Wore Badges is due for release in September 2020. Melody writes for True West, Enchantment Magazine, New Mexico Magazine, and Wild West among others. In 2018, she won the prestigious National Press Women’s Award for her article in True West Magazine. When not writing, she plays rhythm guitar (and tambourine) with the Jammy Time Band. Visit Melody’s website at MelodyGroves.net.
Tuesday, January 21
6:30–8:30 pm
Speaker: Jacqueline Murray Loring
INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITIES for NEW MEXICO WRITERS:
Or My Magical Tour of Ireland
Winning an international publication contest gifted this writer with a magical Irish adventure and the publication of her first major book.
Bio:
Jacqueline Murray Loring is an award-winning poet, a produced playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and educator who teaches classes in memoir, screenwriting, and publishing. Loring works as an editor and book consultant. Her two recent books, KiMo Theatre Fact & Folklore and Vietnam Veterans Unbroken Conversations on Trauma and Resiliency, were published in 2019. Visit her website at JacquelineMurrayLoring.com.
Saturday, February 1
10:00 am–Noon
Speaker: Sherri Burr
SYNCHRONICITY and PERSEVERANCE:
Two Elements to Finishing A Project
SouthWest Writers has asked Sherri Burr back for a second time to share her amazing talk about a writer’s journey of synchronicity and perseverance.
Do you have a short or long-form writing project? This talk will address how to take advantage of synchronistic events that point you in the direction your work is meant to travel. Going through a bag of letters and finding one mentioning that a Great-Great-Aunt had lived in Wyoming led Burr on adventures to Wyoming, Utah, Ohio, Virginia, and London, England. She persevered in her research to track down ancestors who obtained freedom before the Civil War and discovered what their lives were like. The result was Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865, published in time to honor the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of Africans on the shores of Virginia on August 19, 1619.
Bio:
Sherri Burr, a Princeton and Yale Law School graduate, is the author of 27 books, including A Short & Happy Guide to Financial Well-Being. As a member of SWW for over 30 years, Burr has authored columns in the SouthWest Sage since the 1990s, starting with “Ask Professor Burr on Copyright.” She now pens the award-winning column “The Writing Life” where she shares the wisdom she has learned from her writing career. Burr currently serves as President of the New Mexico Press Women and Third Vice-President of the Aaron Burr Association. She is currently working on Aaron Burr’s Family of Color. Visit Sherri’s website at SherriBurr.com.
Tuesday, February 18
6:30–8:30 pm
SWW Winners Anthology Readings
READINGS from the THE 2019 SOUTHWEST WRITERS AWARD-WINNING SHORT STORIES and POETRY ANTHOLOGY
Winners from the SouthWest Writers 2019 Short Stories and Poetry Contest will share their winning works, which are included in the SouthWest Writers Award-Winning Short Stories and Poetry Anthology. Some of the contest winners scheduled to read are Evelyn Neil, Charlene Dietz, Chris Allen, Brenda Cole, Jim Tritten, and Mary Therese Ellingwood.
Please join us in celebrating with these amazing writers and their winning prose and poetry.
Saturday, March 7
10:00 am–Noon
Speaker: David Morrell
GETTING THROUGH IT:
How To Create A Storyline
New York Times bestselling author (New Mexico resident and Rambo creator) David Morrell will talk about how he creates a plot. He’ll also discuss the current state of publishing.
Bio:
David Morrell wrote First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. His New York Times bestsellers include the classic espionage novel, The Brotherhood of the Rose, the basis for the only TV mini-series to air after a Super Bowl. An Anthony, Edgar, Ellis, Left Coast, and Thriller Award finalist, Morrell has Inkpot, Macavity, Nero, RT, and Stoker awards as well as ITW’s Thriller Master award and a Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement award. His latest novel is the acclaimed Victorian mystery, Ruler of the Night. His writing book, The Successful Novelist, will be available at his talk.
Previous Speakers and Topics for 2019:
♦ Steve Brewer, I’ve Looked at Books from Both Sides Now
♦ Kirt Hickman, Write Realistic Dialogue
♦ Jacqueline M. Loring, Creating the KiMo Book
♦ Sarah H. Baker, Critique Groups: How and Why
♦ Dan Wetmore, The Pros and Cons of Non-Prose
♦ Jeanne Shannon & Rob Spiegel, Great Poets of New Mexico
♦ Don Bullis, Adventures in Research
♦ Rose Marie Kern, How to Copyright Your Book
♦ Johnny D. Boggs, The Modern World of Publishing
♦ Judith Avila & Patricia Conoway, Memoir Panel
♦ Brian Stinar, WordPress for Writers
♦ Betsy James, Evoking and Organizing the Fiction Draft
♦ Jonathan Miller, Planning Your Own Epic Series
♦ Robert Vardeman & Melody Groves, Writing Authentic Historical Fiction
♦ Jeffe Kennedy & Robin Perini, Romantic Elements and Tropes
♦ Bob Kidera, Margaret Tessler, & Patricia Smith Wood, What Makes a Mystery Writer?
♦ Gail Rubin, How to Market Your Expertise
♦ Loretta Hall & Susan C. Cooper, Writing Nonfiction
♦ Elise McHugh & Bryce Emley, UNM Press Panel
♦ Sherri Burr, Synchronicity and Perseverance: Two Elements to Finishing a Project
Previous Speakers and Topics for 2018:
♦ Jack Woodville London, Stick to the Story
♦ Marc Calderwood, Celluloid Aspirations
♦ Steve Brewer, Nuts & Bolts: The Mechanics of Clear Writing
♦ Lorena Hughes, To Err is Human, To Learn Divine
♦ Melody Groves, Don’t be Afraid to Cry: Putting Emotions into Writing
♦ Judith Avila, Can You Relate? The importance of diverse relationships in your writing
♦ Benjamin Radford, A Personal Path to Publication
♦ Joanne Bodin & Jeanne Shannon, The Passion of Poetry
♦ Matthew Yde, The Irresistible Writer
♦ John Cousins, Enter the Matrix
♦ Michael Backus, Practical Tips To Improve Your Writing Gleaned from 15 Years of Teaching Creative Writing
♦ James McGrath Morris, “What I learned about writing from the novelists Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos.”
♦ Marcia Fine, Marketing, Research and Fortitude for Authors
♦ RJ Mirabal, Research Between the Ears
♦ Jonathan Miller, From Start to Finish: How to Start and End Your Books, and Take Your Characters Along for the Ride
♦ Loretta Hall, The Writing Right Rite: How to Avoid Distracting, Credibility-Destroying Factual Errors
♦ Jane Lindskold, Work Habits for the Successful Writer
♦ Jim Tritten, Short Stories are Fun!
♦ Gerald Hausman, Zen and the Art of Writing
♦ Rose Marie Kern, CUT IT OUT! Editing Makes it Better!
♦ Laura Mixon, The Care and Feeding of your Beast: A Writer’s Wilderness Guide
♦ Patricia Smith Wood, Permission to Write
♦ Betty Moffett, Writing Down Your Family Stories
Previous Speakers and Topics for 2017:
♦ Darynda Jones, Seducing the Reader: The 4 Essential Elements of an Opening
♦ Chloe Rachel Gallaway, The Hero’s Journey
♦ Melody Groves, 5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting my Career
♦ Dede Feldman, Writing: An Activist’s Guide
♦ Paula Paul, Taking the Scenic Route
♦ Heloise Jones, The Writer’s Block Myth
♦ Kirk Hickman, Create Multi-Dimensional Characters Your Reader Can Relate To
♦ Jeanne Shannon and Joanne Bodin, Poetry Month: Exquisite Corpse
♦ Lynn Miller, Writing Your Way In
♦ Bob Kidera, Overcoming a Late Start to Your Writing Career
♦ Joe Badal, The Key Elements of Fiction
♦ Jonathon Miller, How to Create Realistic Characters (and not get sued)
♦ Jeffe Kennedy, Friends and Enemies: How to Talk to and Deal with Agents and Editors
♦ Julie Dunlop, Healing Writing with Ayurveda
♦ Jodi Thomas, Secrets of a Successful Writer
♦ Christina Squire, “And then the Murders Began”
♦ Kimberly Little, The Deep Point of View
♦ Susan Cooper and Gail Rubin, How to Knock ’em Dead, Public Speaking for Writers
♦ Betsy James, Thought Experiments
♦ Chris Eboch, Cliffhangers: Keep the Pages Turning
♦ Sue Boggio and Mare Pearl, The Science and Magic of Creativity in Fiction Writing
♦ Sean Murphy, Dimension in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Memoir
