Join us for our monthly programs.
Meeting Schedule
Regular Meetings are held on the second Saturday of every month from 10:00 am to noon MST (in person and Zoom) and the fourth Wednesday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm MST (Zoom only). There is no Wednesday meeting in December.
In-Person Location
Our location is at UNM Continuing Education (UNM-CE) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Go to SWW Meeting Location for more information about UNM-CE.
Visitor/Guest Policy
With the new year comes a return to SWW’s previous policy concerning meeting attendance. 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 new Zoom Meeting procedure on this page.
Saturday, June 10
10:00 am – noon
In Person & Zoom
Speaker: Dan Wetmore
Poetry: Focus and Form
An attempt to answer the question, “What is poetry?” — as distinctive from prose; whether the lion’s share of its identity lies in its form or its focus, and exploring the manipulations of grammar and syntax which give much of poetry its distinct “voice.”
Dan Wetmore, a member of SouthWest Writers since 2016, has published two volumes of poetry — My Mother’s Gentle Unbecoming and Phoboudenopanophobia and is at work on a third, On Our Knees in Ironies, which will comprise a “scryptic triptych.” He is a moderator of the Wordwrights critique group, and is working on his first novel.
Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – June 2023
Time: June 10, 2023 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, June 28
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom
Speaker: Stephen Kurkjian
The Greatest Art Theft in World History (and still unsolved!)
Mr. Kurkjian’s presentation will provide an anatomy of the theft — 13 pieces of art including masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, and Manet stolen from a historic Boston museum — and why the FBI’s investigation has failed to recover a single piece or make any arrests. He will present photos of the artwork and crime scene with his talk.
A native of Boston and graduate of its public school system, Stephen Kurkjian enjoyed a 40-year career at The Boston Globe. A founding member, and later chief of The Globe’s investigative Spotlight Team, Kurkjian won three Pulitzer Prizes as a member of the Team. He covered the investigation into the 1990 museum theft as a member of The Globe, and following his retirement wrote the much-acclaimed MASTER THIEVES: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World’s Biggest Art Heist. Visit his website StephenKurkjian.com.
Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – June 2023
Time: June 28, 2023 at 6:30 pm 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.
Saturday, July 8
10:00 am – noon
In Person & Zoom
Speaker: Kirt Hickman
Bring Your Settings to Life
The settings in your story are important, not only because they provide context in both time and space, they help define the kind of story you’re telling. If properly rendered, your settings can reinforce your themes, enhance the reader’s experience, and reflect the mood and emotions of your characters. Learn techniques that will help you bring your settings to life, from your world as a whole to the smallest of details. And do it all without stopping the action to insert description.
Kirt Hickman is the award-winning author of several science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as two children’s picture story books. His writer’s guide, Revising Fiction—Making Sense of the Madness, won a New Mexico Book award for Best How-To and was a finalist in the international IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards.
Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – July 2023
Time: July 8, 2023 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, July 26
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom
Speaker: Ellen Byerrum
Comic Mysteries; or, What’s so funny about murder?
Nothing, really. Yet how we react to death can be unexpected, inappropriate, and humorous. We do this in real life, so why not in books? A touch of humor can make things more human. In this session, Byerrum will discuss how humor is employed in various mysteries, not just those considered “cozy.” Comic mysteries can be sarcastic, droll, or laugh-out-loud funny. They can be light or medium-boiled or even screwball noir. Characters can include bumbling criminals, smart-mouthed detectives, the evil masterminds behind the crimes, and more. This session will take a look at the variety in comic mysteries, why they are humorous, and how to approach writing a funny murder mystery.
Ellen Byerrum is the author of 11 “screwball noir” Crime of Fashion Mysteries, two of which were filmed for Lifetime. Her most recent mystery, The Brief Luminous Flight of the Firefly, is a prequel to this series. Byerrum also pens thrillers, plays, novellas, and more. She is currently writing a new mystery, which might begin a new series.
Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – July 2023
Time: July 26, 2023 at 6:30 pm 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.
Saturday, August 12
10:00 am – noon
In Person & Zoom
Speaker: Kathy Louise Schuit
Don’t Make Your Friends and Family Read Bad Stuff
Discover the “telling” weaknesses in your stories and learn what it means to “show.” In large numbers, writing experts who speak at SWW meetings advise members to “show, don’t tell.” And, during those meetings, one or more attendees whispers to their neighbor, “How do I know the difference?” Good question. They don’t call it “storyTELLING” for nothin’, right? Regardless of your niche (even nonfiction), the keys to transforming your manuscript from strikeout narrative to a visual and emotional home run are in details easily spotted as you read through your first draft. Warning: Using the tips presented in this talk may cause your Great Aunt Coraline to accuse you of having used a ghost writer the next time you send her a story to edit.
An editor for newspapers, magazines, and newsletters; a writing contest judge; and an instructor with Santa Fe Community College, Kathy Louise Schuit has spent the last two decades reviewing writing in many forms, from writers of all skill levels. Her newest writing passion is the short, short story, where every word matters. Visit Kathy’s website at OpenWithDdesign.com.
Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Saturday Meeting – August 2023
Time: August 12, 2023 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, August 23
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Via Zoom
Speaker: Diane Dimond
How to Investigate and Write about a Secretive System
The fourth of Dimond’s books tackles the nationwide problem of abusive adult guardianship. (In Britney Spears’s case in California it’s called “conservatorship.”) Diane began writing about the court’s secretive and devastating effect on guardianized people in 2015 via her syndicated columns. In 2016, she wrote an award winning 6-part series on the topic for the Albuquerque Journal. Since then, she has investigated hundreds of guardianship complaints. She came to realize how easy it is for someone to be declared “incapacitated,” placed into guardianship, stripped of their civil rights and subjected to a total stranger being appointed as their all-powerful guardian. The result is Dimond’s upcoming book We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong. The revelations in the book unmask the unholy alliance between judges, lawyers, guardians, nursing homes and others who make a living by controlling the lives of those declared to be “wards of the court.”
Diane Dimond is an award-winning broadcaster, investigative journalist, and author whose expertise is in the crime and justice genre. From National Public Radio to TV shows like Hard Copy, NBC’s TODAY Show and Court TV, Diane has spent much of her career reporting on the plight of victims.
Zoom Meeting Information:
Topic: SWW Wednesday Meeting – August 2023
Time: August 23, 2023 at 6:30 pm 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.
Upcoming 2023 Meetings
- Saturday, June 10 at 10:00 am – Dan Wetmore: Poetry, Focus and Form
- Wednesday, June 28 at 6:30 pm – Stephen Kurkjian: The Greatest Art Theft in World History
- Saturday, July 8 at 10:00 am – Kirt Hickman: Bring Your Settings to Life
- Wednesday, July 26 at 6:30 pm – Ellen Byerrum: Comic Mysteries
- Saturday, August 12 at 10:00 am – Kathy Louise Schuit: Don’t Make Your Friends and Family Read Bad Stuff
- Wednesday, August 23 at 6:30 pm – Diane Dimond: How to Investigate and Write about a Secretive System
Previous Speakers and Topics
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
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
2020:
♦ Melody Groves, 10 Dialogue Tricks to Make Your Characters “Talk Good”
♦ Jacqueline Murray Loring, International Publication Opportunities (or My Magical Tour of Ireland)
♦ Sherri Burr, Synchronicity and Perseverance: Two Elements to Finishing a Project
♦ Chris Allen, Brenda Cole, Charlene Dietz, Mary Therese Ellingwood, Evelyn Neil, Jim Tritten, Readings from the 2019 SWW Winners Anthology
♦ David Morrell, Getting Through It: How To Create A Storyline
♦ Chris Eboch, Myths about Writing for Children
♦ Rose Marie Kern, Niche Markets: A Pathway to Multiple Streams of Income
♦ Bennett R. Coles, Inside the Mind of a Publisher
♦ Sarah Baker, Jacqueline Loring, Kathy Schuit, Writing Through Lock Down: Importance of Literature in the Face of Fear and Uncertainty
♦ Kathy Louise Schuit, Illustrative Ideas For Standout Memoir, Poetry, and Prose
♦ Dan Wetmore, The Skinny on the Short-line Stuff
♦ Hakim Bellamy, “Flash” Fiction: Pictures and Poems
♦ John Rember, Writing, Teaching Writing, and Worrying about Happy Endings at Three in the Morning
♦ Corrales Writing Group, Building and Sustaining an Effective Writing Group
♦ Steve Brewer, Using Humor to Hook Readers
♦ Kathy Kitts, NaNoWriMo: How and Why You Might Want to Participate
♦ Geoff Habiger, What Do Publishers Really Want?
♦ Elizabeth S. Layton & Jacqueline Murray Loring, Screenplay Writing as Creative Magic
♦ Panel: Loretta Hall, Carolyn Carlson, Robert Kidera, Writing Contests from the Judges’ Perspective
