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AWW Contestants Getting Published

By Women, For Women

 

Are you are a former AWW entrant who has had a book published or won a writing prize?

Susan Kaberry sent her novel to us this year, for a useful critique that led to a book review from A Woman's Write. From Barbara Bamberger Scott's review on Curled Up with a Good Book:..."More than anything, this is a well-told story full of romance and danger, focusing on a woman who proved herself far ahead of her times."

LET'S TALK! CONTACT A WOMAN'S WRITE!

Krisraww@gmail.com

Over the course of generations, from one century to the next, Southern families suffer death, racism, reconciliation of lost loves, and acts of revenge and devastation. A Woman's Write participant Rose Mary Stiffin, PhD, has created an unforgettable story that links several generations in an ultimate story of survival, illustrating that "that which is forgiven is never forgotten."
While Stiffin does not glorify slavery or ignore its consequences, she hopes to provide the reader with a clear picture of racism, the civil rights struggle and events that shaped the lives of the people in the South.
“I based this book on my own family history,” said Stiffin. “The lives of some of the people from my childhood resonated with me all these years, and I settled down to write this novel based on their lives and experiences.” 

 

Ilene B. Benator was an entrant to A Woman's Write in 2011, and now has an intriguing medical mystery listed on Amazon.com.

 

"An ambitious future surgeon on his psychiatry rotation is assigned a patient who reveals to him information about an organized plot to control the population. His pursuit of the truth leads him to become a psychiatric patient in the same facility.

 
Schizo takes readers on a wildly unexpected journey into the what-ifs of medical science. Written by an Emergency Physician, Ilene B. Benator crafts situations that are terrifying, yet all too believable.

Screenwriter Nicole Quinn submitted the first part of her Gold Stone Girl trilogy to A Woman's Write in 2009. Barbara Bamberger Scott's critique offered this encouragement: "I believe you have got great potential in this novel; it has cinematic possibilities, pehaps because you cast things in a performance aura as you write." In the series, Mina, a rogue DreamWeaver, is born in the Off-grid of the Night Mare's Winkin City, a world, where human females are kept as cattle, and licensed as domestic pets. She's found inside a willow tree, alongside lygaeidae hibernating as larva. Mina lives the life of a human-breeder, who discovers that in order to survive, she must change everything.

Lorraine Cobcroft is a perennial A Woman's Write supporter, so when she approached Barbara Bamberger Scott with a request for editing, we were glad to help. This new novel, Mortgaged Goods, combines a vibrant plot, complex characters, and overarching issues of social justice and the significance of family connections. Barbara's blurb for the book cover (part of our Editing Services): "This is an epic novel...[the author's] apparent knowledge of the legal system is impressive...the two major story lines...are both thoroughly engrossing."

 

Swedish author Caroline Baptista Axelsson asked Barbara Bamberger Scott to review her newly published book, The Makeup of a Private Eye, a fast-paced fantasy born of the Facebook. Barbara placed her review on Good Reads and Amazon: "Reading The Make-Up of a Private Eye is like cutting a slice of a tall, multilayered cake, every layer with its own exotic flavor, even the icing in between changing subtly as the experience develops." We are proud to encourage experimentation, and we send kudos to Caroline and other of our AWW participants who have had the guts to compose a whole book in a second language!

When Jennifer Frank sent her novel to us for a critique as part of the competition process in 2011, it was titled Alison's Big Makeover--and it won an Honorable Distinction Award. Now it is being published as Getting It Right--The Second Time Around. Here's the blurb: "Alison lives a comfortable, safe life advocating for women at the domestic violence shelter where she works and being bossed around by her cat. When her Aunt Elinor ties Alison's inheritance to successfully completing law school, Alison confronts the past that led her to choose love over the law – and lose at both. Will she sacrifice her dreams again to satisfy her new love and Aunt Elinor?" 

Jennifer thanks us for "getting this book started."

Mary Hutchings Reed, two-time entrant to A Woman's Write, has asked for editing services from Barbara Bamberger Scott on several occasions. Her just-released creation, Saluting the Sun (www.amazon.com), focuses on Nevaeh (that's "heaven" backwards)--her struggles with men, booze, and moral slippage. Mary told us, "What was most interesting was that I hadn't (and still haven't) met Barbara in person, so everything she knew about my voice, my style and my story was what was on the page.  A clean and honest read like that is invaluable.  Barbara picked up on nuances of the stories, the grammatic errors, the ambiguous sentences, and the places where a reader would want more.. having her as a final editor has significantly improved my work." 

Maribel Rosado sent Operation Interrupted (www.amazon.com) to A Woman's Write Editor Barbara Bamberger Scott after seeing her name on the internet. She was more than pleased with the result. Barbara, who also speaks Spanish, was able to smooth out some linguistic idiosyncrasies and get this engaging first novel, a sensual romp that traverses three countries, publisher-ready. Rosado got a contract for this book and two more in what will be a comic romance series. Maribel wrote: "Barbara was the only one who saw my manuscript before I got my publishing contract for a series of three books. I completely recommend her services to all authors." ML Rosado

Michelle McCarty entered her book The Jewel Box in our competition, and later asked Barbara Bamberger Scott to  edit and fine tune this Texas-themed novel. Here's what Scott wrote about The Jewel Box for Amazon.com: "Author McCarty writes about Cherie as though she’s walked a few miles in her shoes. She deals empathically with issues like the hardships of single motherhood, the need to cover up one’s nearly naked past, the addiction to legal painkillers leading to illegal highs, and the pangs of regret that sometimes follow a hasty and haunting decision." The Jewel Box won the Choice Gold Award for Southern Fiction.  Michelle  now has a new novel in the works! 

Australian writer Lorraince Cobcroft entered her realistic, socially conscious novel,The Pencil Case, in our 2011 competition. Our suggestions inspired her to get the book published. It became a Novelunity Award winner! Lorraine says, "I wanted to let you know that you gave me sufficient confidence to continue with some serious study of creative writing and to continue writing...I am now thoroughly enjoying really being a writer." The Pencil Case - They Stole Us White Kids Too examines the lives of Australian children, now known as "the stolen generation", taken from their homes and put in often abusive foster care under a government policy in force until the 1970s. 

Yvonne Yourkowski sent her book to our A Woman's Write competition last year. After our critique she decided on a full edit, and the result, Murder from Beyond the Grave, is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format.

 

Our heartiest shout-out to Yvonne, a Canadian artist-turned-author who has made her writing dream a reality!

Learn more at Yvonne's website, www.yvonnemysteries.com.

"In her first novel, Kelly Z. Conrad has infused an inter-racial romance with rich sense of place and historical detail, putting forth an intelligent treatise, as well as creating a passion-laced plot. While her hero struggles with war-induced amnesia, tries to please a demanding socialite mother and maintain all the civilities he is heir to, her heroine battles inner demons embedded from her past and embodied in memories of the white men who abducted her and her family members, torturing and slaughtering them one by one." 

Review by Barbara Bamberger Scott, Principal editor at A Woman's Write.

 

 

Tara Fox Hall, who entered the A Woman's Write competition two years ago, is garnering publishing credits with a number of short stories and now two books: her soon to be published vampire tale, Immortal Confessions, and Lash (about a sexy bayou were-snake). Barbara Bamberger Scott, principal editor at AWW,  edited both books. Tara is a persistent and enthusiastic authoress. You can see more of the vivid cover art on Facebook.

“I entered A Woman's Write annual novel competition in 2009 and received wonderful feedback on my work-in-progress. I used Barbara Scott's critique to improve the book and make it more marketable. Two years later, my novel was published by Booktrope--my first--and they are now looking at another manuscript for publication. I am truly grateful for the chance to receive valuable feedback that this site provides.” -- Gale Martin ”

Gale also took advantage of the book review services at A Woman’s Write to help publicize her book (these reviews can be seen at www.curledup.com and www.amazon.com). 

Diane M. Coffman, writes: “Barbara, I know it's been a few years since you critiqued my manuscript of The Hainan Incident (a spy thriller set in China during the time of the 2001 mid-air collision between a top-secret US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet). However, your insights and recommendations were significant to me, so I wanted to let you know that The Hainan Incident was published in July, 2011 by Covenant Communications, Inc. It was released in paperback, audio CD, and eKindle formats. Furthermore, in just two month's time since then, it has been nominated for the 2011 Whitney Writing Awards!"

 

 

Alice Loweecey, AWW Good Read winner in 2007, wrote to us:  “I can't repeat enough the boost winning the A Woman's Write competition gave to my writing. I'm happy to tell you that while that book is awaiting rewrite, my terrific agent got me a three-book deal with Midnight Ink Books for my ex-nun PI mystery series. The first book, Force of Habit, hits stores in February. It's already up for pre-order on Amazon. That was the moment I finally admitted to myself that it all was real--you can't argue with an Amazon listing!” 

Houses, our 2008 A Woman's Write Novel Competition winner, has been published by Leigh Walker Books. We are pleased that yet another book that we picked as a winner has caught a publisher's eye, and we wish Cynthia further achievements in her writing career.             

 

AWW congratulates THEA HUGHES!

Her unpublished novel, Buen Camino,  won first prize in our Women's Write Novel Competition, and has been published by Eloquent Books in New York under the title of The Red Door.

For years Jane Sutton, an A Woman's Write entrant, satisfied her passion for writing through correspondence with friends and family while living in Taiwan, Korea, England, the Netherlands, Italy and Saudi Arabia. While abroad, she had several articles published in the American Women’s Association of Rome Forum Magazine, and assisted with the publications from other international women’s clubs. Now a full-time resident of Fort Myers, Florida, Jane has switched to writing fiction. The Ride is her first novel. To find out more, visit her web site at http://janesutton.com. 

The Road to Aradell is an enchanting modern love story about a mega-star and his pursuit of an older, wiser woman, written by Felicia Rose Levitt, who contributed the novel to our AWW Competition in 2010. It was a well-written effort and when we critiqued it, we let Felicia know she had done an excellent job with her first book.When it was published, Felicia asked AWW for a review. Because of our experience at A Woman's Write composing thorough, thoughtful critiques for all our contest submissions, we have kindly view of new works that gives the author the encouragement and the will to “write on”!

A CONSORTIUM OF
WOMEN WHO WRITE...    About Us
 
We know what it's like to feel undervalued and alone, and occasionally to revel in the sense of woman's power and wild exultant truth. We've been on pilgrimages both by airplane and inner planes, looking for our own personal piece of the spiritual landscape, and we've enjoyed the excesses of the physical when we could. We've watched our children (and in some cases our grandchildren) growing and becoming. We've fought the good fight with incorrigible husbands, partners, and lovers. And we've had the pleasure of putting it on paper in our different ways as amateur and professional writers.

Editors:
 
Kristan Ryan
Kris says:


"I was ten years old before I realized that all children weren't chased home from school by camels--that was when I landed in my mother's hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. As a military brat, I spent my early years growing up in Germany and outside of Casablanca, Morocco, where I read every Nancy Drew Mystery my parents could import. I'm a produced and published playwright and writer but now run my own business as a professional artist who’s major art project also contains the story next to it about the anger of each person painted. This art project is called “Angry Females Done Swallowing Our Words”.  I now live in Lexington, Georgia, after working in Northern China for 4.5 years and in Athens, GA for 3 years.  My first novel Strange Angels: The Book of Damaris was published in 2004 followed by The Hair Princess and The Hog Temple Incident in 2006. I am currently working on a book about the experiences of women who were vocational students and their experiences that changed their lives dramatically.

Writing tips:
As well as being a writer who reads her work in public, I have also taught verbal communications to college students and required them to give speeches and to read their essays and poems in front of an audience. I have found that my students often make some of the same mistakes I've seen writers make at book signings when reading excerpts from their novels, so I thought I'd give you some of the tips once we work together. If you are already familiar with these tips and think I'm an idiot for mentioning these things, then let me apologize in advance. If not, take the advice you feel you need once we work together and leave the rest.
Kristan is the Lead Editor for A Woman's Write.
email: Krisraww@gmail.com



Barbara Bamberger Scott. 
Barbara says:



Barbara started A Woman's Write because she herself is an avid fan of writing contests. The first time she paid to enter a contest that offered a critique, she was disappointed - it was brief, non-specific and unhelpful. Now it is a central principle of A Woman's Write to create a THOROUGH, THOUGHTFUL, PRACTICAL critique for all submitters. This service has garnered much appreciation over the 15 years of our online presence. 
Barbara reviews books on the worldwide web, and her articles can be seen at www.homestead.org. See more about her review services on our Review Services page. 
Email: barscoinc@gmail.com

Writing tip:
Write something new every day




Rebekah Spivey
Rebekah says: 



Rebekah says she studied creative writing and sociology at Indiana University. She has lived and worked on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. She is a lifelong writer and lover of words who has co-created and led a group called Poetry Detectives, an informal group that discusses poetry in a non-academic way in order to make the genre more approachable. She has a seventeen-year association with Women Writing for (a) Change, Bloomington, a group that supports giving every person a voice  through writing. Rebekah has been a certifed facilitator with Women Writing since 2013 and currently facilitates a semester-long virtual class.  She has coordinated a Women Writing (a) Change retreat on the Isle of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. And facilitates winter writing retreats for Women of Writing. 

Rebekah retired in 2012 from Indiana Daily Student newspaper IU after seventeen years as part of the professional staff.  She has been a part-time senior editor for Holon Publishing, a self-publishing company since 2019 and is editor for private clients.  Rebekah's first novel Marigolds in Boxes was published in September 2024.



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