To call our current surreality unnerving is an understatement. Seems people in every walk of life are petrified. Friends. Family. Familiar strangers we’ve never taken time to learn about. Those we glance past. All face an existential threat not of our making, and largely beyond our control, other than sustaining personal due diligence and crossing fingers. Crossing toes.
There is an opportunity in our midst, however, in this Age of Outrage, one that may possibly be abating as a result of plague. A lull, for sure. How long we don’t know. The quietude it allows is one that must be squeezed of all empathy, experience, legacy and more to be found inside if only we plumb it deep enough, throttle it fast enough, now enough, to harness our potential.
Be smart. Be patient. Be kind. Be safe. Ask your community for help if you need it. And write through this. Write.
Your story will weigh. Come September we’ll reconvene to figure how hard.
So Much Good “Muse”
We’re developing many new workshops for Irvine, influenced in part by issues identified at our recent San Diego event, as well current and evolving trends now thrust upon the writing community as a whole. As you might imagine, there will be plenty to address in the fall. First and foremost, of course, craft & execution. Along with it, our lifequake’s impact on publishing, on marketing, on readers and more. In the meanwhile…
SCWCers have been busy. Those with titles recently out include San Diego 30 Outstanding Fiction Award winner Clay Savage’s The Last Getaway, which Kirkus Reviews calls “A crackerjack read from an author who seems to have taken Elmore Leonard’s rules of writing to heart” … The third book in Bethany Lopez’s Frat House Confessions romance series, Brody … Book 1 in The Queen’s Fayte YA fantasy series, Dragon Maid, from DeAnna Cameron (as D.D. Croix) … And book 7 in the Bruno Johnson Thrillers, The Heartless, by David Putnam.
From Christa Yelich-Koth, The Jade Arch, book 2 in her Land of Iyah YA fantasy trilogy … The fifth and final installment of Gayle Carline’s Peri Minneopa Mysteries, Murder Bytes … And Death (A Love Story), a stand-alone check-up on possibly life’s “biggest event” from author/workshop leader, and resident shaman Matthew J. Pallamary.
Out this month from Megan Haskell, Forged in Shadow, The War of the Nine Faerie Realms Book 1 … In May, Ava Homa’s Daughters of Smoke and Fire … Along with Pamela McCord’s Under the Willows (her The Ghost on Firefly Lane was selected by Kirkus Reviews’ Indie editors to be included in the April 1st issue, which less than some 10% of Indie authors are).
Come June (Kathleen) Kat Clark’s The Voice of Reason and Dottie Hubble Bonneau’s Once in a Blood Moon drop, both from Acorn Publishing … Also, from Fawkes Press, the fifth in Greta Boris’ Seven Deadly Sins domestic thriller series, A Pinch of Gluttony.
And a hearty big virtual hug to Ryka Aoki (He Mele A Hilo: A Hilo Song), who just scored with Tor Press (Macmillan) for Light from Uncommon Stars in a two-book pre-empt deal. (Watch Ryka address taking control of her writing career below.)
Congratulations and best of success to all. You’ve earned it!
– Michael Steven Gregory
Executive Director, SCWC/SWS
