Meetings

Join us for our monthly programs.

Meeting Times and Locations
Two regular membership meetings with a presentation by an expert on some aspect of writing are held each month.

The second Saturday of every month from 10:00 to 11:45 am MST (in person at UNM Continuing Education Building and via Zoom)
The fourth Wednesday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm MST (via Zoom only). There is no Wednesday meeting in December.

Visitor/Guest Policy
We encourage visitors and guests to experience what our award-winning writers’ association has to offer. Since membership dues pay for our outstanding speakers, we request non-members limit their attendance to three meetings, after which we hope they will join SouthWest Writers. Visitors are welcome beyond their first three visits at a cost of $10 per meeting.

See a schedule of all our events, and visit our YouTube Videos page for a listing of the recorded speakers from 2016 to the present.

ZOOM MEETING Procedure: Read about SWW’s Zoom Meeting procedure on this page.

Need help signing into an SWW Zoom meeting? Watch this video.

2025 MEETING PRESENTATIONS

Saturday, April 12, 2025
10:00 – 11:45 am
In Person & Zoom

Speaker: Dan Wetmore

The Building Blocks of Prose

Being ‘basic’ might be bad, but having the basics is crucial.

To position yourself for success, come get a refresher in—or be introduced to—prose’s elemental pitfalls.

We’ll discuss punctuation and proper dialogue formatting; tags versus beats and clear points of view; tenses and keeping them consistent; transitions (sentences, paragraphs and section breaks); information management faux pas (illogical flow, redundancy, non sequiturs, info dumps, off-topic work).

Sound boring? Only if mastering the craft holds no interest.
Think you know it all? Listen to the presentation, and then decide!

I guarantee I’ll give you reason to reconsider at least one thing you thought was cut and dried.

Dan Wetmore joined SWW in late 2016 and has been on the Board of Directors for over six years, having worked on the Nominations Committee, chaired the annual writing contest, and edited the By-Laws and the Policies & Procedures Manual. Dan is the editor of Ramblings & Reflections, SWW’s 2021 contest anthology, and has authored two books of poetry: My Mother’s Gentle Unbecoming and Phoboudenopanophobia.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – April 2025
Time: April 12, 2025 at 10:00 am Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Join the Zoom Meeting
Read our Zoom log-in policy. ALL ATTENDEES are required to have their zoom screen show either their name or phone number. SWW Members sign into the Members Only portion of the website (request a username and password from info@swwriters.com if you haven’t already done so). Once in the Members Portal, follow the Zoom log-in directions posted prior to the meeting. Non-members are required to contact our office (505-830-6034 or info@swwriters.com) or sign up for Elerts to receive a link to our upcoming meetings.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom

Speaker: Irene Blea

From Poetry to Memoir

For fifty years, Irene Blea published poetry, textbooks, sociological and popular articles, novels, and her autobiography. But she never published a book of her poetry. She now shares how and why this happened and reads from her first poetry book, Dragonfly, to demonstrate why poetry is an important cultural production.

Dr. Irene I. Blea is a prize-winning author of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Her most recent work is her autobiography, Erené with Medicine, and a book of poetry, Dragonfly. Blea’s poetry has been described as a prayer and a blasphemy, and her autobiography gripping and brutally honest.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – April 2025
Time: April 23, 2025 at 6:30 pm Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Saturday, May 10, 2025
10am – 11:45am
In Person and via Zoom

Speaker: Jim Tritten

Plot and Story Arc

Whether you are a rookie writer or an old pro, it is important to review the basics of story telling to keep your writing fresh and alive. Jim’s presentation explore different types of plot and story arcs depending upon the genre. Participants will create a plot/story arc of their own either with words or using a diagram.

Jim is a retired Navy carrier pilot who lives in Corrales with his Danish author/artist wife and an ever-changing number of cats. He is a recipient of the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award from the Navy League of the US, the SWW Parris Award, and 2023 MWSA Writer of the Year

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – May 2025
Time: May 10, 2025 at 10 am Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Wednesday, May 28, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom

Speaker: Geoff Habiger

Writing for Role-Playing Games

Role-playing games straddle the areas of fiction and non-fiction, incorporating non-fiction elements (rule systems and explanation) with fiction (including worldbuilding, magic systems, and other fantasy and sci-fi (primarily) elements). This class will focus on writing for role-playing games, whether for game system rules, modules, or adventures, and how this kind of writing differs from writing fiction.

Geoff Habiger is the managing editor and owner of Artemesia Publishing. He is also a partner in Tangent Games, a company he started with his best friend to create card games, board games, and role-playing games. He has written several role-playing adventures and game modules for Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing systems.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – April 23, 2025 at 6:30 pm Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Saturday, June 14, 2025
10am – 11:45am
In Person and via Zoom

Speaker: James Wilson

Mystery Writing

How does an author create a plot full of twists, turns, and intrigue? James Wilson has written dozens of books, all set in Northern New Mexico. Come and discover how to create a real page turner!

After writing for both Santa Fe newspapers in the 1970s, James Wilson finished a Ph.D. at UNM and then went on to teach journalism and creative nonfiction for 30 years at the University of Cincinnati. I retired a Full Professor and am now Emeritus. After retiring we moved back to N.M., and I began writing my two Chaco Canyon books and my Fernando Lopez Santa Fe Mystery series. The 13th, Stealing the Hopi Snake Dance, has just been published. All the mysteries are set in Northern New Mexico, that ancient, haunted landscape layered with Pueblo, Hispanic, and Anglo cultures that we all love.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – May 2025
Time: May 10, 2025 at 10 am Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Wednesday, June 25, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom

Speaker: Léonie Rosenstiel

Should You Shun Books with Footnotes?

Should you shun books with footnotes? Absolutely not! I’ll show you the literary and legal reasons why books have footnotes. Maybe they’re not what you think. Coming out of an academic background, I’ve written my share of both scholarly and popular volumes. My second started out as a scholarly book—with research funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies—but ended up stripped of its footnotes by my editor. My memoir Protecting Mama required footnotes to prove I had documentation (and prevent lawsuits). I’ve had some footnotes in the books I’ve written since then, mainly to give proper attribution to quotes or to offer readers additional sources of information. I’ll show you clues about how to understand why footnotes are there, so they won’t freak you out anymore.

As a writer, editor, producer, and collaborator, Léonie Rosenstiel has published award-winning fiction and nonfiction, including more than 30 books. Her memoir, Protecting Mama (2021) won more than 60 literary awards; her reference book Legal Protection (2024) has won four, so far. She lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – June 25, 2025 at 6:30 pm Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Saturday, July 12, 2025

10am – 11:45am
In Person and via Zoom

Speaker: Jonathan Miller

We will be focusing on adapting Aristotle and Shakespeare to the modern age. Does the three act structure still work? Can the protagonist and the antagonist switch places? And does truth still count? In addition, if time permits, Jon will be taking pitches about your works in progress.

Jonathan Miller is the author of 12 books in the Rattlesnake Lawyer series. His novel, Luna Law, won the Hillerman Award for fiction in 2017.

Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – July 12, 2025 at 10 am Mountain Time (US and Canada)

ALSO UPCOMING IN 2025

Chris Eboch- Improve Your Pitch
Suzanne Stauffer – Using Library Resources to Add Authenticity to Your Writing
Laura Carney – How I Finished My Late Dad’s List of Life Goals and Wrote about it.
Gail Rubin – Your Literary Legacy
Krista Soukup – Agent/Publicist

Previous Speakers and Topics

Most presentations were recorded and are available on the SWW YouTube channel.

2025:

♦ Layla Milholen, Publishing with McFarland
♦ John Roche, Freeing Your Free Verse from Flabbiness
♦ Dorinda Wegener, From Pitch to Launch: Publicity steps Authors Can Take to Maximize Book Exposure
♦ Judy Castleberry, What Judges Want You to Know BEFORE You Enter a Writing Contest
♦ Mary Lou Dobbs, Learn to Love Marketing & Sales
♦ Christopher Upton, Film Adaptation

2024:

♦ Jonathan Miller, Completing Your Manuscript under Challenging Circumstances
♦ Chuck Greaves, The DIY MFA, Or: How to Teach Yourself to Write (Or to Write Better)
♦ Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, Hybrid, Self or Conventional Publishing Pros, Cons and What is Right for YOU?
♦ Parris Afton Bonds, Writing Romance Novels — Then and Now
♦ Charlene Bell Dietz, Why Your Characters Misbehave, and Why AI Isn’t the Answer
♦ Marcia Rosen, Memoir Detective: Writing Your LifeStory
♦ Mary Collins, Creating Writers, Creating Citizens
♦ Shirley Blackwell, Contest Castles of Limerick and Haiku: How to Get Past the Moat Dragons
♦ Donna Pedace, Public Presentations
♦ Kathy Louise Schuit, Editorial Guidelines: NOT a Suggestion
♦ Irene I. Blea, Ph.D., Integrating Ethnic Characters into Your Writing
♦ Rose Marie Kern, Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing
♦ Carlyn Montes De Oca, In Conversation: Junkyard Girl
♦ Zachry Wheeler, How to Write Good Science Fiction
♦ BR Kingsolver, Writing in Series: Getting the Most out of an Idea
♦ Léonie Rosenstiel, How Jack Canfield Came to Write the Foreword for Legal Protection
♦ Laurel Goodluck, Vaunda Nelson, Khadijah VanBrakle, Natalie Linn and moderator Chris Eboch, Kid’s Lit Panel
♦ Neill McKee, From International Film and Media Maker to Award-Winning Creative Writer
♦ Sara Frances, What Judges Look for in Book Contests
♦ Antonio Weiss & Jacqueline Murray Loring, On Making SYMPHONY IN C-NOTE
♦ Léonie Rosenstiel, AI—Your Best Hope or Your Worst Nightmare?

2023:

♦ Jamii Corley, Introduction to Website Building
♦ Jim Jones, From Songs to Books and Back Again
♦ Joseph Badal, Two Important Writing Rules
♦ Cornelia Gamlem & Jacqueline Murray Loring, Publishing Paths
♦ Geoff Habiger, Newsletter Basics
♦ Jim & Bobbi Jean Bell, Be the Star of Your Online or Radio Interview
♦ C. Daniel Miller, Copyrighting, Rights and Permissions
♦ NM State Poetry Society, Poets and Writers: Why the Distinction?
♦ Sherri Burr, Wills and Trusts for Writers and Authors
♦ Robert Kidera, The Writer’s Tool Kit
♦ Dan Wetmore, Poetry, Focus and Form
♦ Stephen Kurkjian, The Greatest Art Theft in World History
♦ Kirt Hickman, Bring Your Settings to Life
♦ Ellen Byerrum, Comic Mysteries; or, What’s so funny about murder?
♦ Kathy Louise Schuit, Don’t Make Your Friends and Family Read Bad Stuff
♦ Diane Dimond, How to Investigate and Write about a Secretive System
♦ Phil Mills Jr., Challenges of Writing for Children in a Video Game World
♦ Sonja Dewing, Making Dollars and Sense out of Amazon Ads
♦ Michael Arnzen, The Transformation Scene
♦ Jim Tritten (host), Stories from the Veterans Anthology
♦ Ernie Witham, Finding Humor in Everyday Situations
♦ Christie Lowrance, A Writer’s Quest: Non-fiction, History, and Biography

2022:

♦ John Gilstrap, Whose Story Are You Telling?
♦ Stephanie Chandler, Build Your On-line Marketing Plan
♦ Jayne Ann Krentz, Reinventing Yourself: Tips for Finding Your Voice and Core Story
♦ Lauren Wolk, The Art and Business of Writing for Young Readers
♦ Jodi Thomas, Why Write a Series?
♦ Nancy Rubin Stuart, Using Fiction Techniques to Shape Non-fiction
♦ Jonathan Miller, How to Turn Your Life into a Novel
♦ Ellen Meeropol, Evil Characters We Love to Hate
♦ Kristin Owens, The Personal, Personal Essay
♦ Susan Katz, Why Every Writer Needs an Editor
♦ Melody Groves, Writing Westerns: The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful
♦ Jim Tritten, Short Stories are Fun
♦ BR Kingsolver, How and Why to Write a Series
♦ Margaret Shannon, You Can Write Your Family History
♦ Johnny Boggs, Making Dialogue Sing
♦ Ronn Perea, Public Speaking for Authors
♦ Anne Hillerman, What I Wish I’d known before I Wrote my First Novel
♦ B. Marika Flatt, PR by the Book
♦ Dan Klefstad, DIY Book Promo
♦ Robin Perini, Taking Your Writing to the Next Level
♦ Judith Avila, Writing Your Memoir, An Act of Courage
♦ Parris Afton Bonds, First, The Plot

2021:

♦ Jonathan Miller, A Novel for the New Year
♦ Marcia Rosen, Podcast Marketing for Authors
♦ David Morrell, Thoughts and lessons from 48 years as a published novelist
♦ Natalie Goldberg, The Way of Haiku
♦ Susan Elizabeth Phillips, The Writing Life: Craft, Characters, Creativity, and Career
♦ Darynda Jones, Humor & Heat: How to Write Funny Without Sacrificing Sexual Tension
♦ David L. Robbins, The Art and Craft of the Narrative
♦ Gerard Hanberry, Geraldine Mills, Luke Morgan, Pete Mullineaux, Moya Roddy, Readings by Irish Poets
♦ Raffi Andonian, Controversial Historical Sites
♦ Debra W. Englander, Why You Need a Book Coach
♦ Dean Wesley Smith, Writing into the Dark: Writing Clean, One-draft Stories Without an Outline
♦ Sheryl Brown, Screenplay from Stakeholder Perspectives
♦ Jeffrey Candelaria, Artists, Writers, and a Business Mentality
♦ Paige Wheeler, Agents and Authors
♦ Fauzia Burke, Author Platforms
♦ Robin Cutler, The Power of Self-publishing
♦ James McGrath Morris, Researching Your Book
♦ Loretta Hall, Elements of Nonfiction
♦ Benjamin Percy, The Ninth Metal, Reading and Craft Discussion
♦ Rob Spiegel, Using Scenes to Build Your Story
♦ David J. Corwell, On the Edge of Their Seats: Horror and Suspense
♦ Lynn Miller, Writing like a Reader: Your Audience and Story
♦ Robert Kidera, Taking the Mystery out of Mystery Writing
♦ Lynne Sturtevant, Writing for the Web