AFTER-WORDS

“The speakers were both inspiring and encouraging, the fellowship with other writers grand, and the Roundup should have given all of us a lift on this journey through the very tough but rewarding writing profession. A very wise man once said that ‘steel sharpens steel’ and I believe our skills were sharpened at Shiloh.”

--- Bill Keith

“It was my first writers’ conference and I loved it. I got to meet some published authors as well as unpublished. I also enjoyed Dusty Richards’ workshop. It was informative and he was very personable. It was just a great time to mix and mingle with so many people with a common interest.”

--- Pattie Ball

“I always enjoy the NETWO conference because it has good speakers and I love seeing my NETWO friends. It’s like coming home now that I’ve moved away. I’m happy to be as close as I am--in Little Rock.

Jim is a first class conference host. He goes to a lot of trouble not only to find speakers, but to make sure they can speak well.

My stay at the Pecan House was very pleasant, too. As is my want, which really isn’t what I want, I left something behind and Peter was very prompt about returning it.”

---Gale Gill

The conference was very well managed. The food was great, scenery beautiful, everyone was very friendly, and the speakers were very professional and dedicated. Faith Black, editor, was a good speaker and interesting. The tote bags were a great idea. The auction was very popular and went well. All in all, the conference was very successful and enjoyed by everyone.

--- Jackie Brown

Jim Callan is to be highly commended for consistently producing enjoyable worthwhile conferences. @

2010 NETWO Short Story Contest Winners

(From the website)

One of the highlights of the Awards Banquet at the end of the 24^th annual NETWO writers’ conference was the announcement of the winners of the short story contest. And the winners are:

o The Vieux Carre, by Gregory Love ($150)

o Through Mary’s Eyes, by Angelica Bailey ($100)

o My Father’s House, by Susan A. Royal ($50)

o Did I Tell You?, by Leonard D. Reese, III ($25)

In addition, five stories were awarded Honorable Mention certificates. In alphabetical order by author’s last name, they are:

o The Adopted Colonel, by Jackie Brown

o The Ring, by Mike Clifton

o Room Twelve at Sunset Motel, by Gay Ingram

o Miracles, More of Less, by Steve Sabatka

o Shorty, by Karen A. Swensson

Congratulations to all winners, and also to all who entered. You deserve a pat on the back for entering. And remember, 2011 isn’t that far away. Start polishing a short story for next year’s contest. @

NEW MEMBERS

Brenda Bynum

Jerry Clark

Ali Dent

Melissa Gonzalez

Larry John Lawrence

Bill Keith

Shirley Miller

Caleb Pirtle Donna Paul

Jerome Ravel Gail Reed

Sarah Starr Fredna Stuckey

Patricia Upchurch @

INVITATION

Hi!

Come visit me at Mineola’s May Days next Saturday, May 8^th. I’ll be at Uniques & Antiques signing books from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Uniques & Antiques is located at 124 S. Line Street. Looking forward to seeing lots of my friends.

Gay Ingram

BITS AND PIECES

A note from Bill Keith:

“Last year I granted permission to the Military Chaplains Association to reprint 5,000 copies of my Days of Anguish, Days of Hope (Doubleday) to give to all active chaplains in the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force. They also gave copies to all the members of Congress. Days is the story of Chaplain Robert Preston Taylor who spent 42 months in Japanese prison camps during World War II and of his struggle and survival. I am presently working on the seventh printing. It is already available on Kindle and the next print edition will be out in a few months.”

K. C. Freeman-Crowden is presented her second place award for the Team Writers Short Story contest held in January. Congratulations, K. C.!

(even though it took a while get it to you.)

Galand Nuchols and Gay Ingram were part of a panel program for the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Upshur Library on May 5. The other panelists were authors Mary S. Kirby and William Butler from Gilmer.

Gay also provides information she thought some of our published members might find helpful: To find contact information for individual libraries, visit publiclibraries.com.

To submit a book to Library Journal for review, visit libraryjournal.com. @

WARTS AND ALL

By Richard Ridley of CreateSpace

(Courtesy of Janice Glass)

Let’s face it, perfect people are boring. Flawed people are interesting. They’re fun to judge and laugh at and cry with and shake our fist at. A life in turmoil is a life worth watching and reading about. That is how fiction works.

When you are developing characters, it’s okay to give their piercing blue eyes, chiseled features, and broad shoulders, but don’t forget the warts. The warts draw in the audience. I’m not only talking about physical characteristics. Emotional warts are just as effective. Can you imagine Indiana Jones without a fear of snakes? How about a Boo Radley who loves to be the center of attention and always knows the perfect thing to say?

Flaws uncover a character’s vulnerability and they connect your audience to your characters. We see ourselves in a reclusive Boo Radley because sometimes we all just want to be left alone and sit in our room and hide. We can relate to a fear of snakes because we too have fears. Real life is filled with uncomfortable and sometimes painful moments. Made up lives should have these too.

To succeed at fiction, you have to have characters people identify with. Very few of us know what it’s like to be flawlessly good-looking and unflappably cool in the face of horrible danger. Many times, the audience wants confirmation that you don’t have to know it all or have movie star looks to win. You can be an average Joe and come out on top or, at the very least, survive tragedy.

The good guy doesn’t always have to do the right thing, and the bad guy doesn’t have to be mind-numbingly evil. Characters are much more interesting when they are conflicted. So, keep in mind perfect doesn’t mean flawless in the world of fiction. Perfect includes warts and all. t