The Best Dog now on sale

(This news courtesy of WV Writers member Annette Krause)

The Best Dog - a charming childrens book written and illustrated by Benjamin Thomas Brown of Jane Lew in Lewis County is available for $6.60 at Author House online.  (ISBN #9781452010106)

This is the perfect gift for any young child. Written in rhyme, the story of many dogs (the best being the one you grew up with) the book lends itself to memorization. Parents should be ready to hear the words, "Please, read it again!"

Dwight Harshbarger speaks at Mountain State University

The Beckley Register Herald published an article about WV Writers' own Dwight Harshbarger speaking at Mountain State University, recently.

Read it for yourself HERE.

Brittney Cassity book signing schedule for "Clyde the Undead Dustbunny"

Monroe County writer Brittney Cassity has now released her second children's book Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny. Clyde... is a 60 page chapter book for ages 8-12. The book is currently only available on her website ( www.brittneycassity.com ) and a few local retail stores. Brittney has partnered with the Pajama Program (www.pajamaprogram.org) helping support them with a donation button at her website allowing readers to donate to help them continue to provide good books and warm pj's to children in need. Brittney has also partnered with Eco-Libris (www.ecolibris.net) a group that will plant a tree for each copy of Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny sold in order to replace trees used in the production of physical books.

Brittney will be signing copies of Clyde the Undead Dust Bunny at the Lewisburg Craft Show at Greenbrier Valley Mall in Lewisburg, WV on November 12, 13, and 14. She will also be at Kitten's Korner in White Sulpher Springs, WV for a book signing (where she will also have copies of her first book Fiddlebug) on November 17, 2010 from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.

November's schedule (so far) ends with a book signing at Silver Birch in Union, WV on November 20th at noon.

Ed Davis in New Anthology "Chance"

WV Writers member Ed Davis has a short story entitled "Convergence" that will appear in the upcoming literary anthology "Chance."

The second volume of the MotesBooks Motif Anthology Series, "Come What May," containing short fiction, nonfiction, poetry and song lyrics. Although the 136 contributors are from all over the world, many are southern and Appalachian, reflecting editor (and award-winning writer) Marianne Worthington's Tennessee roots. In length 323 pages, the handsome book is arranged into intriguing sections such as "Parallel Realities," "Happenstance" and "Strangers and Kin."

A few writers were familiar—Larry Smith, director of Ohio's Bottom Dog Press', along with recent Antioch Writers Workshop faculty Cathy Smith Bowers and Joyce Dyer—but most writers were new to me. And there's something for everyone in this handsome paperback. The book can be ordered for $15 plus postage at www.motesbooks.com.

Davis's story concerns a woman on the run from her estranged mother and her lover, from whom she's hiding a secret. On her journey into the past, she has a ghostly encounter with an elderly couple in a mall built on farmland that was an important part of her past. Their chance meeting may provide the key to Colleen's future.

*Writers, note that the editor is collecting material for the next anthology on "Work" with a deadline of November 1, 2010. For details,
see: http://motesbooks.com/MOTIF-Call-For-Submissions.html.

Members Matter: Deborah Richard

WV Writers member Deborah Richard has a number of poems that have either recently been published or whose publication is forthcoming. Here are a few of the places they have been published or will soon be appearing.

The Shine Journal: "The Path" (January 2010) – "The Path" can still be viewed at www.theshinejournal.com; choose "Archives 2010" and then "Richard, Deborah" under the first list of names, which is January

The Storyteller: "The River" (June 2010)

Two-Lane Livin' Magazine (Simple Living in Central WW): "Kindred
Spirits" (June 2010)

Grab-a-Nickel (Alderson-Broaddus College): "Capitol Street" and "Last
Words" (Fall 2010)

WestWard Quarterly: "Crape Myrtle" (Summer 2010)

Holler (Princeton Poetry Project): "Switchboard" (January 2011)

Eleutheria: The Scottish Poetry Review (United Kingdom): "Zephyr"
(Feb/March 2011) www.scottishpoetryreview.com

Deborah Richard was born and raised in West Virginia but moved to the south as an adult, following her love of the ocean. After twelve years as a report analyst for a healthcare organization, she is currently caregiver for her mother. She is a member of South Carolina Writers' Workshop and West Virginia Writers, Inc. She received an Honorable Mention in the 2010 Joyful! Poetry Contest. Currently, Deborah is working on a memoir about growing up in the hills of West Virginia.

Pre-Orders now open for Llewellyn McKernan's new poetry chapbook "Pencil Memory"

Recent WV Writers Podcast featured reader Llewellyn McKernan will have a new chapbook of poetry entitled Pencil Memory published December 3, 2010. This is a limited edition collection, and the number of pre-publication sales will determine the size of the press run, so please reserve your copy now. Also feel free to send copies of this e-mail on to others who might be interested.

Here is what some nationally known poets are saying about Pencil Memory.

"I've long admired Llewellyn McKernan's bold, somewhat terrifying, and often thrilling poems. She turns her spiky imagination to one of the writer's most basic tools, and plays deft variations on that many-angled instrument. I especially like how the pencil itself composes the final movement of this inventive chapbook sonata." -- Michael McFee, author of Shinemaster.

"In this marvelous sheaf, every poem makes its point, wise or wistful, always wittily. Llewellyn McKernan has had such serious fun making her lines that we wholly engage with them, following her lead as it loops across the page with pert good humor. Delightful. Indelible." Fred Chappell, author of Shadow Box.

Order: Pencil Memory by Llewellyn McKernan
$12 per copy plus $1.00 each for shipping, a discount available only during the
pre-publication sale period: August l, 2010 to October 15, 2010.

Send shipping address along with check or money order made payable to:

Finishing Line Press
Post Office Box 1626
Georgetown, KY 40324

Or order online at: www.finishinglinepress.com

Click "New Releases and Forthcoming Titles" or directly at
http://www.finishinglinepress.com/NewReleasesandForthcomingTitles.htm

Finishing Line Press accepts all credit cards for online sales.

For regular mail orders, they only accept Visa and MasterCard.

Use the following form for mail order...

Please send me ______copy/copies of Pencil Memory by Llewellyn McKernan, at $12
each (Shipping is only $1 per copy).

Name___________________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip Code_______________________________________________________
_____ Enclosed is my check, payable to Finishing Line Press, for _______.
_____ Please charge my credit card $__________ ______Visa _____Master Card
Name as it appears on the card_____________________________
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Expiration date________ Card verification number (3-digit number on back of card, far
right.

Members Matter

WVW's own Raymond Neely has had a poem entitled "Moth Screams" accepted for publication in the forthcoming issue of Holler. Holler is a quarterly journal published by the Princeton Poetry Society. You can pick up a free issue of it at the 2010 WVW Summer Conference, or at locations in the Princeton/Bluefield area.

Members Matter: Tovli Simiryan's recent publications

Wanted to pass along some great news regarding some recent publications by WVW member Tovli Simiryan.

“Pieces of Ester—Cartography of War” was nominated for a 2009 Push Cart Prize by Raving Dove Literary Magazine

“Point of Departure” and “Biopsy”, two short stories, are included in the new volume of 6S, available at Amazon.com

An essay by Tovli, “Melodies of Old Women” was published by IDEALS—Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.

A memoir, “Belonging”, by Tovli is included in It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure. This volume, published January 2010, is available at Amazon.com, or Smith Magazine.

“When Clouds Were Real”, a short story by Tovli, was published in the Winter edition of Raving Dove Literary Magazine.

A collection of short stories, Ruach of the Elders, Spiritual Teachings of the Silent, by Tovli is available at Amazon.com, or via Tovli’s web site.

Poetry Collections: The Breaking of the Glass and Fixing the Broken Glass are available at Amazon.com or, contact Tovli directly via her website: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeej44z/index.html

WVW members do well in Governor's Arts Awards

On June 9, several West Virginia Writers Members were awarded the Governor's Arts Award at the state capitol.

Regional Rep Karin Vingle Fuller, upcoming WVW Conference workshop leader Carter Taylor Seaton, incoming nominated WVW secretary Teresa Newsome and workshop leader and children's book author Marc Harshman were all given this award.

Congratulations to them all!

WV Writers' own Karin Fuller wins Writers' Digest Award

(This news courtesy T.W. McNemar, the once and future king of WV Writers)

Karin Fuller, lifestyle columnist for The Charleston Gazette, WVW Regional Rep, WV Press Association award winner, and of course, Celeste’s mom, has a new trophy for her mantle. The judges at Writer’s Digest have notified her that she won first place in their genre short story contest. That’s right folks, it’s bonafide.

Along with her columns, Karin's stories have appeared in such publications as Woman's World, Appalachian Heritage, Front Porch, and Atlanta Baby and in a few weeks one of her stories will be featured in Family Circle Magazine.

Barbary Chaapel's Anthology Appearance

WV Writers member Barbary Chaapel will have two poems included in the upcoming anthology From the Other World, Poems in Memory of James Wright (www.losthillsbooks.com). These poems originally appeared in her own collection No Name Harbor, Poetry of Barbary Chaapel.

Patsy Pittman's Blood Kin & Other Strangers now available!

FROM WV WRITERS PRESIDENT EMERITUS SANDY TRITT:

It is with great pleasure that I share the release of Patsy Pittman's short story collection, Blood Kin and Other Strangers. Patsy is one of the state's most prolific and published authors, not to mention one of the very best. Long after my eyes were exhausted, I kept reading these stories--they were simply too good to put down. I know of no better gift than a gift of the heart--and this book is full of heart.

In this collection, Patsy In this collection, Patsy Evans Pittman focuses with deft precision on that most intimate of mysteries—the family. The characters and settings reflect the author’s Appalachian heritage and occasionally her grandmother’s mountain dialect.

Maggie, torn between her twelve-year-old-daughter and her Alzheimer’s afflicted mother, faces the problems of the “sandwich generation.” Rachel wonders if her marriage will survive her unplanned pregnancy. And nine-year-old Carla breaks two of the “Thou Shalt Nots” and suffers the consequences of a guilty conscience.

Then there are those caught in the web of their own deceit. Godfrey Burke learns it was not a good idea to leave Cousin Joyce at the altar. And Horace Moneypenney, bless his heart, discovers that “poor, simple Sally” has Outfoxed him.

Blood Kin & Other Strangers by Patsy Evans Pittman, ISBN: 0-929915-78-X,
6 x 9, Hard Cover, Illustrated, 168 pages, Retail Price $22.95

Patsy Pittman will take your breath away with her imaginative, excellently written stories of love, loss, revenge, and family.

Order your autographed copy now at a special pre-publication Price! (Click the link for the order form)

Members Matter: Savannah Schroll Guz

(From WV Writers Member Savannah Schroll Guz)

The story "David Dreams of Australopithecines" (and an accompanying interview) appears in the latest edition of SmokeLong Quarterly.

Read David Dreams of Australopithecines here: http://www.smokelong.com/flash/7489.asp

"His fingertips touched one of the brass pulls, and after some hesitation created by the drawer’s weight and his uncertain force, it slid open. Inside were shin bones, a mandible, a tiny misshapen skull, whose bone density seemed too insubstantial to provide any true protection for the brain...Several small molars rolled over the felt cloth lining the drawer."

Read the SmokeLong interview, explaining the story, here:
http://www.smokelong.com/interview/411.asp

"The story revolves around three characters: David, whom we met here; his wife Rachel, who goes missing; and a character named Charlotte, a nine year-old Polish girl killed by Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz. The book is partly about eugenics and cloning, partly about quantum mechanics and the paranormal, and partly about human weakness."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
~Savannah

Savannah Schroll Guz
Read novel excerpts at: www.myspace.com/savannahschrollguz
savannahguz@yahoo.com

WVW's own Chris Kuell breaks big at Amazon

FROM WVWRITERS MEMBER CHRIS KUELL:

Hello,

Last November, I entered my novel, Disconnected, into the amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award contest. On January 15, the top 20% (as judged by Publishers Weekly reviewers) moved on to the semi-finals, and Disconnected was among them.

From here, the public is invited to visit amazon at the link below, download for free the first 5,000 words, and review what you've read. In March, the books with the most positive reviews will move on in the competition, with first place being $25,000 and a contract for publication with Penguin Books. The top 10 places will also be considered for Penguin contracts.

So, I invite you to take a look at the beginning of my book, and if you feel inclined, please write a review.

Kind regards,

Chris Kuell

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011ZCAJM