Sept 2013

The first edition Anthology books have arrived! Great book — updates have been done and they’re ready to pick up.

We had forty submissions of short stories and poems contributed by twenty-five member authors for our 2013 anthology. They include:

The Magic of Words – Dolly McClure
Silver Treads among the Gold – Jeannie Stark Turner
Uncle and “Dorris” – Penny Howard
Endless March – Roberta “Bert” Davis
The Wagon Train – Tammy Andrews
The Muses – Michelle Silver
The Gods’ Little Joke – Suzanne J. Shephard
The Weeping Angels – Michelle Silver
The Child’s Paradox – Frank Leek, Ph.D.
Death – Jeannie Stark Turner
Haiku Poems – John Marchel
Dames with Swords – Tammy Andrews
First of My Kind – Westley Turner
Ripples – M. L. Edson
Scent of Red – B. Tealya Lord
Spectral Dreams – Roberta “Bert” Davis
The Wine of Frogs –Anthony Marcolongo
Flash – Penny Howard
A Gift – Jeannie Stark Turner
Grandma’s Christmas Bear – Pat Biasotti
Joe’s Cans – Dolly McClure
My After-Christmas Letter to Santa – Dolly McClure
Sam, the Fouled Up Fowl – Penny Howard
The Truth of the Matter – Suzanne J. Shephard
The Worm and I – Penny Howard
The Dog Who Brought Me Back to Life – Pat Biasotti
My Friend – Albert E. Gilding Sr.
Johnny’s Birthday Present – John Marchel
Lee, She Was My Sister – Albert E. Gilding Sr.
Roommates! What Was I Thinking? – Bryson Kilmer
Sense Memories – Eros M. Cochran
Songs of Discovery – Aleta Kazadi
Uzbekistan Diary – Barbara Jodry
Watching Their Dance – Therese Crutcher-Marin
A Woman’s Journey in the Coast Guard – Eva Wise
The World War II Years – Pat Bisotti
The Yin and Yang of Travel – April Edsberg
A Clear Snapshot – M. L. Edson
Wednesday – Mort Rumberg
Nord, North, Norte – Thomas Hessler

August 2013

All written material has been reviewed for final edit by MaryLou Anderson and Wes Turner and returned to the authors for their acceptance. The title of our collection is “The Moving Finger Writes…” a partial quote from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat in which the entire phrase is—”The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on.” Based on that idea, we imagined a cover design that gloriously illustrates the writing and the spectrum of ideas that result from our work (more on page 2). Several of the authors are first time publishers thanks to this book!

July 2013

Book title chosen, “As the Finger Writes …” See more details in the newsletter.

So CLOSE!

June 2013

We’re close! All entries are in and undergoing final reviews, then on to the actual publishing, tentatively in July. The Anthology Committee has chosen a book cover, but they are still accepting ideas for the book title.

You can email suggestions for the Anthology title to txhessler@comcast.net or see us at the monthly meeting.

September 2012

Recently the SSWC Board agreed to create an anthology of material written by SSWC members. A primary purpose of the anthology is to provide an opportunity for those who have yet to publish their work in a bound volume. There is no intent to make loads of money for the individual or club. The works to be included are not restricted to those who have not yet published. All members are welcome to submit unpublished works as we want to showcase the best of the talent SSWC has to offer. “SSWC has talent!”

Intent is to include short story fiction, non-fiction pieces of general interest, and poetry. We are also considering acceptance of a chapter from a work not yet published. The chapter should be reasonably stand-alone and perhaps have a lead-in paragraph to provide perspective.

Your Anthology Committee will review the material, return same for additional work if required and select the pieces to be included. At this time we are thinking that the bound book will be approximately 300 pages; included material, except poetry, would contain from 500 to 5000 words. Up to three written works may be submitted by one author and several from one author may be included in the volume with the understanding that the first priority will be to have as many authors included as possible.

The anthology will reflect SSWC members’ caliber of writing. Therefore, it is important that we adhere to principles of good writing. Following are criteria we would expect:

• The work will have been reviewed for spelling, grammar, and punctuation by a person competent to do so prior to submission. There are club members who will assist you for a fee if you like.
• The writing should have agreement: noun to pronoun, subject to verb, simile or metaphor to action or description.
• The work should contain a minimum of clichés, ‘darlings’ or hackneyed phrases.
• Narrative should be on point, not aimless, unnecessarily or rambling.
• Imprecise language should be avoided.
• Endings should resolve that story, make a point, and not give the impression that the author just stopped writing.

Note that the above are problems encountered by the California Writers Club in reviewing work for their anthology. They had an 85% rejection rate for submissions from their members. Note that your story has a better chance of acceptance if reviewed by a critique group prior to submittal. The Anthology Committee will not make corrections. We intend to have a workshop to cover the above items at the November meeting.

The committee will accept submissions in electronic or printed form. We will review them in Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Please include a cover page with name, title, number of words. Do NOT include your name on subsequent pages but do show title and page number.

Below is a proposed schedule for the Anthology Project:

• Submissions should be in the hands of the committee by the March SSWC meeting (March 11, 2013). Material may be submitted earlier; it will be reviewed earlier.
• The committee will review the submittals by April 1, 2013. If more editing is required, submittals will be returned with comments indicating necessary corrections.
• If corrections are required, the author will have until May 1, 2013 to return the material.
• The committee will make final selections and organize the anthology by June 1, 2013.
• The committee will deal with the publisher (POD) with the intent of having copies available by July 1, 2013.

In association with this project, we would like to have interested members submit a cover design. That design should also be submitted by March 1. We will draft criteria.

So, get writing. You may contact Tom Hessler by email at txhessler@comcast.net if you have questions. We will provide updates as time goes by.

Your Anthology Committee.