SCWA / The Quill / April 2024
A Newsletter of the South Carolina Writers Association
April 2024
Events and Education
2024 STORYFEST REGISTRATION OPENS APRIL 15
Registration for South Carolina Writers Association’s fall conference, 2024 Storyfest, will open Monday, April 15, with early bird registration of $250 for members and $325 for nonmembers. Set for Sept. 27 through 29 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Columbia, 2024 Storyfest will feature more than a dozen acclaimed authors, agents and editors.
The event will include presentations and classes by writers from South Carolina, Georgia, California and New York, including Lynn Cullen, national bestselling author of The Girl with a Cure and Mrs. Poe; Grady Hendrix, screenwriter and author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires; and Tiffany Yates Martin, author of six novels and the how-to book Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing.
Other features of 2024 Storyfest will be masterclasses, panels, keynote addresses, manuscript critiques, craft classes and meetings with sought-after editors and agents, including Andrew Geyer, the award-winning author or co-author of 10 books and editor of SCWA’s literary journal, The Petigru Review.
Speakers also include award-winning South Carolina novelist and short story writer Scott Gould; Southern Indie Bookstore bestselling author Mindy Friddle; Columbia poet laureate Jennifer Bartell Boykin; New York Times noteworthy author Cinelle Barnes; military science fiction and post-apocalyptic writer Alex Rath; and screenwriter and producer Alan Roth, a winner of the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship Award in Screenwriting.
Some of the South’s top publishers also will attend, including Arcadia Publishing, Palmetto Publishing and the University of South Carolina Press.
Registration fees for Saturday-only sessions will be $195 and $140 for students. Masterclasses, manuscript critiques and query pitches will be available for additional charges. Register at 2024 Storyfest beginning April 15. Hotel rates and registration information will be available soon.
For full details go to 2024 Storyfest. SCWA membership is $75 annually for regular members and $35 for students. To join, go to Join Us.
For more information email administrator@myscwa.org.
AUTHOR’S TOOLBOX SESSIONS CONTINUE
SCWA continues to offer Author’s Toolbox sessions, free to members and $25 to non-members. Register at Author’s Toolbox.
Here are the scheduled sessions:
April 10 - Arthur Turfa: “Writing Poems About Family Without Anyone Getting Upset”
April 18 - Robert Maynor: “First Novels and the South”
May 16 - Andrew Geyer: “The Petigru Review 2024”
June 27 - Synithia Williams: “Writing Romance Novels”
July 18 - Stephen Hundley: “Adding Fantasy and Science Fiction to Traditional Southern Tales”
Aug. 22 - Alex Rath: “Writing With Anxiety”
Oct. 17 - Brenda Gardner/Lisa Harrison, creators of the Friends and Fiction Official Book Club site with over 30,000 members.
Nov. 21 - Anthea Sharp: “Kickstarter for Authors: How Writers Can Find New Readers and Flourish With Crowdfunding"
AGENT RENEE C. FOUNTAIN OFFERS CRITIQUE SESSIONS
In partnership with SCWA, literary agent Renee C. Fountain, president of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management, is offering critique sessions.
These sessions will be available for purchase:
Book Pitch with 15-minute Zoom session
Cost: $75
One-Page Query or 1st Page Critique (no Zoom session)
Cost: $75
10-Page Reading with 15-minute Zoom session
Cost: $100
10-Page In-Depth Critique (no Zoom session)
Cost: $110
To register for any of these sessions, go to the SCWA Online Store, select your desired session(s) and pay via credit or debit card.
Once payment is confirmed, you will receive an email with instructions regarding your submission and/or scheduling your session with Fountain, if applicable. Note that ALL payments are ONLINE via credit card or debit card; PayPal, Venmo or other cash-apps are not accepted. Payment must be received within two (2) hours of placement of the order or it will be canceled.
Fountain champions various genres, ranging from adult thrillers to informative nonfiction and close-to-her-heart YA. Over the years, Fountain has helped launch several crime thriller writers and series, including Sarah Cain's The 8th Circle, Michel Logan’s Hell’s Detective and Jonathan Fredrick's Cain City series. Before putting on her agent hat, she spent five years working for the CW television network as a book scout and story analyst for television development. She spent nearly a decade working in major publishing houses, including Harcourt Brace and Simon & Schuster, where she worked with some of the best writers and illustrators in the publishing world. In addition to looking for the next best-seller, Fountain also can be found on the faculty of Manuscript Academy, providing developmental editing and writing critiques.
Questions? Email administrator@myscwa.org.
Pat Brandon
VP/Events & Education
Membership
FREE MEMBERSHP WINNERS
Congratulations to Scott Vaughan of Lexington, South Carolina, and Sarah Whelchel, South Carolina! Their names were drawn at random from the list of SCWA members who paid their membership renewal dues by midnight April 1. As winners, the dues they paid for this membership period will be refunded to them.
IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY PAID YOUR DUES
Don’t forget the grace period ends April 30 and after that date, your membership will lapse. We appreciate you and want to keep you in our SCWA family. To renew your membership, follow the instructions here: Renew Membership.
Jay Sauls
VP/Membership
Publications
TPR GENERAL SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN
The Petigru Review welcomes submissions of original fiction, nonfiction, poetry and art from members of the SWCA and the public at large. Prose and poetry submissions are open now. Art submissions will open on April 26. The reading period for all genres will close on Aug. 23.
The 2024 iteration of TPR will be a themed issue focusing on place and/or voice. Submissions need not be set in South Carolina, nor need they be written by South Carolina authors. However, preference will be given to pieces set in the Greater South (SC, NC, GA, FL, VA, AL, MS, LA, TX, OK, MO, AR, TN, KY, WV).
There will be a $3 fee, payable through Submittable, for each general submission.
Prose: Please submit only one piece of short fiction or nonfiction. Prose narratives must not exceed 5,000 words in length. All prose submissions should be double-spaced.
Poetry: Please submit no more than five poems. All poems must be submitted in a single file.
Files for all prose submissions must be uploaded to Submittable in either a .doc, .docx or .pdf format.
Art: Please submit no more than five pieces. All art must be submitted in a single file and in a digital format.
Andrew Geyer
Managing Editor, The Petigru Review
SCWA Board of Directors
McELHINNY JOINS BOARD AS SECRETARY
We are pleased to announce that Dakota McElhinny has joined the SCWA as secretary.
Originally from Columbus, Ohio, McElhinny also spent time growing up in Morganton, North Carolina. Between the two, he gained the “bustling city life” and “rural country life” experience. After receiving his associate of arts degree from Western Piedmont Community College, he obtained his bachelor of science from North Greenville University. In addition, McElhinny holds a certification in old Norse mythology from the University of Colorado, and a certification in magic in the Middle Ages from the University of Barcelona. He has 12 independently published works, including The Realm (2016), The Realm: Rise of the Demon Prince (2017) and The Realm: The Chess Master's Ring (2020), which make up his Middle-Grade Epic Fantasy, The Realm Series. Time Frozen Mirrors (2018), Black October (2019); Dreams of Glass (2020); The Cutting Room Floor (2021); Half a Truth, Half a Lie (2022); and Envoi (2023) are his six poetry compilations. The Art of Time (2020) is his sole short story compilation; and Crumpet Court Chronicles (2021) is his stand-alone book in the magical realism genre.
For questions or inquiries, McElhinny can be reached at secretary@myscwa.org or dakotawrites100@gmail.com.
From the President
WE CAN DO IT!
This year for SCWA my theme is community. Community is one of the most important things that draws me to SCWA. Being part of this community helped get my life back on track. We develop friendships and grow in our writing through SCWA. Part of being in a community is giving back and in this case giving back is in the form of helping shape our future.
I’m not asking for a big commitment but rather a small commitment of serving on a committee. We have a strong board who are in charge of committees that help keep SCWA running smoothly. And we need help to move these committees forward.
Events and Education Committee is the skeleton of our organization. They work together to bring classes and workshops together for us to grow in our writing. They are also responsible for our yearly conference.
Membership Committee is the backbone of our organization. They help our Chapters run smoothly and work to see how we can best serve our members through both feedback and other ways to bring us together. As well as looking for committee members we are looking for a Chapter Liaison, who assists our Membership Chair with being a voice for both Chapters and Membership Chair.
Marketing Committee works to get our name out there as well as informing our members of what we have going on within the organization. This is a great opportunity to work on and grow your own marketing abilities for when you are ready to promote your own work.
Publications Committee works with The Petigru Review to put together our literacy magazine. See the ins and outs of how to put together a magazine what all it entails.
Is money your thing? Our Finance Committee works to keep us going and helps with fundraising and grants. Help SCWA manage its funds to keep us financially strong, while maybe learning some ways to manage your own business.
There are lots of opportunities to help us and you grow by serving on a committee with SCWA. We are a great group that want to see the future of SCWA continue to thrive and serve our community of writers.
Get in touch with me at president@myscwa.org if you’re interested in joining the board or a committee or just interested in learning more.
NEW BEGINNINGS, NEW INSPIRATION
This crazy weather is getting better, and with spring, comes getting out of our cozy habitats and rejoining the world around us. Spring is also rebirth after the dead of winter. New beginnings means new inspiration for our lives. Inspiration for a new project or inspiration to continue with our current projects.
Coming together with other writers helps reenergizes our inspiration. SCWA brings us together in spaces such as with Chapters and Author’s Toolbox. Sharing our work with others can give us ideas for going to the next step or fix a spot that isn’t working for us.
Author’s Toolbox helps to get us out of our comfort zone. This month I’m looking forward to new inspiration on how to write family and friends without everyone getting mad. Art Turfa is a wonderful poet, and while poetry isn’t my strong point, I’m looking forward to his talk to help inspire my own fiction.
Yes, my characters are only in my head, but they are real enough to me that I want to write honestly and kind about them.
The last inspiration for this month is the inspiration to write. I’m doing this with my writing community with Camp National Novel Writing Month with a goal to write 30 minutes a day for the month of April. I invite my SCWA community to write with me this month and find the inspiration that motivates you.
May the muse be always in your favor.
Ash Smith
President
NOTE TO OUR SCWA MEMBERS AND FRIENDS:
You may notice that this issue of The Quill looks a little different. That’s because we have begun using Substack to create the emailed newsletter (from scwritersassociation@substack.com) and to host the online version each month. You may view it online by clicking “View in Browser” at the top of the email or by going to South Carolina Writers Association’s Substack. Be sure to add the email address to your contacts.
We appreciate your support of SCWA and we hope you like this change. For information, questions or comments, please email Laura Corbin, SCWA administrator at administrator@myscwa.org.