SCN members make the news by publishing books, articles, essays, poems, dramas, and art. They also make presentations, lead workshops, facilitate groups, and organize programs. Below are some of our members’ achievements this year.
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Catherine Shields Published in TODAY
In “My Daughter Has a Disability,” Catherine Shields writes about her 40-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability. Shields says she’s lost count of the number of times she’s heard, “God only gives special needs children to special people.” She’s often found herself resisting the urge to retort: “Add that to the list of things God forgot to give.” Her article explores her mixed emotions at hearing this phrase. Read it here.
Catherine Shields writes about parenting, disabilities and self-discovery. In her debut memoir, The Shape of Normal (Vine Leaves Press), she explores the truths and lies parents tell themselves. Her writing has appeared in numerous magazines.
Multiple Publications By Sara Etgen-Baker
“A Girl, A Bike, A Librarian, and Magic Spell” published in Victoria Magazine;
“In the Quiet Corners of My Heart,” published in Guideposts’ God’s Constant Presence;
“Having Enough,” “Brimming with Love,” “Christmas 1957,” “Catching Lightning Bugs,” “Catch of the Day,” “The Time of My Life,” and “Simply Charming” in Good Old Days; and
“Where Cardinals Fly” in Guideposts’ Mysterious Ways Magazine.
“Interview with Mr. Zephyr,” and “Babel” won first prize in a recent poetry contest at PoetrySoup.com.
A teacher’s unexpected whisper, “You’ve got writing talent,” ignited Sara’s writing desire. Sara ignored that whisper and pursued a different career; eventually she re-discovered her inner writer and began writing. Her manuscripts have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines.
S.M. Stevens Releases “Beautiful and Terrible Things”
After a false start with her first publisher, S.M. Stevens’s contemporary novel Beautiful and Terrible Things was released today in trade paperback and ebook formats by Black Rose Writing; the audiobook will be released soon. The book has earned accolades including numerous five-star reviews and two awards during its pre-publication phase. Reader Views wrote: “Much like finding love when you’re least expecting it, sometimes a book comes along and literally takes your breath away.” Click here and here to read more.
S.M. Stevens is also the author of the contemporary novel Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, and a novelette, The Wallace House of Pain, which won a 2023 American Fiction Award and a First Place Chanticleer International Book Award. Her website is AuthorSMStevens.com.
Mary L. Grow Wins Gold Award in Literary Fiction from Independent Publisher Book Awards
Night Train to Odessa, a novel by Mary L. Grow, has received a Gold Award in the category of Literary Fiction from the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2024. The award recognizes excellence in independent publishing and honors the voices of independent authors worldwide. Mary has accepted this award in celebration to the writers, publishers, and people of Odesa, Ukraine. Get your copy here.
Mary L. Grow is a cultural anthropologist and Fulbright-Hays Research Scholar. An intrepid traveler, she’s performed with itinerant puppet theater troupes, an experience that informs her recent novel, Night Train to Odessa. She lives in northern New Mexico. Her website is http://www.marylgrow.com.
Shawn LaTorre’s “Footfalls to the Alamo” Accepted to Texas Word Wrangler Festival
I’m honored to be one of twenty-five authors selected to participate in the Texas Word Wrangler Festival with my recent historical fiction book, Footfalls to the Alamo. The festival takes place in September. In addition to being a part of the two- day festival, authors are invited to go into local schools to talk about their work with students.
Instead of a chronicle of battles, Shawn LaTorre shares the history of a single woman’s life that touched on events and a landscape of a rapidly changing territory: Texas in the early 1800s. Shawn is an author from Austin, Texas.
Linda Wisniewski Releases “Old Women and Other Strangers”
In this collection of essays, Linda C. Wisniewski considers the influence of helpful strangers, foreign cultures, and spiritual exploration in the light of family and heritage. A loving grandfather, a stranger who saved her life, and other events explore the connections to be found in strange places. Old age brings reflection on the unforgettable moments of a woman’s life.
Linda C. Wisniewski is a former librarian in Bucks County, PA, where she volunteers at the historic home of author Pearl S. Buck. She has been first-prize winner in the SCN Lifewriting Contest and a Pushcart nominee. Her website is http://www.lindawis.com.
Ellen Notbohm Has Several Short Prose Works Published
Ellen Notbohm published eight pieces in Spring 2024: short stories “Cake and Shake” in Halfway Down the Stairs, “Hush, Puppy” in Tiny Moments, Vol. III, and “Overblown” in CommuterLit; creative nonfiction/memoir “The Piano’s Choice” in Does It Have Pockets?, “My Dirt-y Little Secret” in Funny Pearls UK, “Shalimar” in Eunoia Review; “Snark Comes to Spark” on Brevity, and poem “No Idea How” in Quail Bell. She contributes regularly to the SCN blog Telling HerStories.
Ellen’s work touches millions in 27 languages. She is author of the acclaimed novel The River by Starlight and the nonfiction classic Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew. Her short works appear in many literary publications. Learn more at her website, https://ellennotbohm.com/,
Peggy Joque Williams Releases Courting the Sun: A Novel of Versailles
Peggy Joque Williams is pleased to announce the May 2024 release of her historical fiction, Courting the Sun: A Novel of Versailles, by Black Rose Writing. In the month since its release, Williams’ book about a naïve 17th-century girl invited to attend the court of King Louis XIV has garnered high praise for the author’s historical research from Kirkus, Midwest Book Reviews, and others as well as earning a Literary Titan Gold Book Award.
Peggy Joque Williams is the author of Courting the Sun: A Novel of Versailles. A retired teacher, Peggy credits her fascination with genealogy and her French-Canadian ancestry for inspiring her historical fiction. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Learn more at peggywilliamsauthor.com.
Susan Wittig Albert Releases Newest China Bayles Mystery
Forget Me Never, the 29th entry in the China Bayles series (and the 17th published under Susan’s imprint, Persevero Press), asks the compelling questions, Who remembers? What do we choose to remember? Why do we forget? “An engaging mix of mystery, murder, and herb lore.”–Publishers Weekly. Click here for more info.
A former university professor, Susan Wittig Albert is the author of mysteries, mainstream fiction, memoir, and nonfiction, and the founder of the Story Circle Network. You can find her recent essays and short fiction on Substack: https://susanwittigalbert.substack.com/
Eileen Vorbach Collins Published in Newsweek Column
Eileen Vorbach Collins’ new essay, originally titled Semicolon; The Story’s Not Over Yet, was published by Newsweek‘s digital My Turn column. The title chosen by the editors was, My Teenager Ended Her Life. At 70, I Did the Unexpected to Honor Her. You may read the article here.
Eileen Vorbach Collins’ work has been published in many wonderful places. She is honored that her essay collection, Love in the Archives: a Patchwork of True Stories About Suicide Loss, is the recipient of the 2023 Sarton Award for memoir.
Two SCN Members Published in Writers’ Anthology
Janice Airhart and Teresa Lynn, both proud members of Story Circle Network, are pleased to be sisters in another venture as well: Writing Strong! 35 Years of Creativity. This anthology by San Gabriel Writers’ League features Airhart’s essay “Change of Plans” and Lynn’s short story “Hideaway Murder.” The book is available from Amazon.
Janice Airhart has been a medical technologist, biomedical research tech, freelance writer and editor, science teacher to pregnant teens, bioscience program representative, and adjunct English professor. Her memoir, Mother of My Invention: A Motherless Daughter Memoir, won the Minerva Rising 2021 Memoir Contest and was released in November 2022. Her essays and articles have appeared in The Sun, The Science Teacher, Lutheran Woman Today, Concho River Review, Story Circle Network’s Real Women Write 2021 and 2023 anthologies, and One Woman’s Day blog, among others. Her website is janiceairhart.com/.
Teresa Lynn, administrator for SCN, is also a writer and editor with a background in journalism. She has written for a range of publications on a variety of topics, as well as three books. In addition to writing, she provides all types of editorial and book design services. In her free time, Teresa enjoys reading, traveling, and seeking out little-known history of interesting people and places. She lives in Georgetown, TX with her husband, near their two grown daughters. Reach her through her website, www.teresalynneditor.com/.
Congratulations to SCN’s Blog Competition Winners!
1st: Sharon Charde, Moving On
2nd: Janice Airhart, Eating Crow
3rd: Terry Repak, Starting a New Year With Beginner’s Mind
Meet the writers and find links to the winning entries here.
Women’s National Book Association Interviews Marnie Mueller
Rosalind Reisner will interview Marnie about her new book, The Showgirl and the Writer: A Friendship Forged in the Aftermath of the Japanese American Incarceration, on April 11, 2024. Mueller’s book is a hybrid memoir/biography published by Peace Corps Writers, an arm of Peace Corps Worldwide. It tells the remarkable story of Mary Mon Toy, a Nisei performer forcibly imprisoned during WWII for her race and ethnicity and the deep friendship Mueller’s forged with her based on the secrets they carried. Click here to learn more and to register. Get the book here.
Marnie Mueller was born in the Tule Lake Japanese American Segregation Camp in northern California where her Caucasian parents worked. Her previous books are Green Fires, The Climate of the Country, and My Mother’s Island, garnering an American Book Award, a New York Times New and Noteworthy in Paperback, and a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” choice award. She is a member of the distinguished Women Writing Women’s Lives Seminar at CUNY. Her website is www.marniemueller.com/.
S.M. Stevens Announces Release Date for Beautiful and Terrible Things
Beautiful and Terrible Things by S.M. Stevens will be published by Black Rose Writing on July 18, 2024. The novel offers a compelling portrait of a modern American city with its vibrant culture, diversity and rampant social issues. At once enlightening and entertaining, it reminds us that friendship has the power to validate, destroy, transform, and save lives. Author Tina O’Hailey calls it “a poignant, whirlwind read… so relevant it vibrates.”
S.M. Stevens writes fiction to make you laugh, cry, and think. She is the author of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, The Wallace House of Pain, and the forthcoming novel, Beautiful and Terrible Things. She lives in Washington, New Hampshire. Her website is https://authorsmstevens.com/.
Teresa Janssen’s The Ways of Water Wins 2024 Lariat Award
Teresa H. Janssen’s historical novel, The Ways of Water, inspired by her grandmother’s girlhood in early 1900s Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, recently won the Western Heritage Center’s Lariat Award for outstanding western novel of 2023.
Teresa H. Janssen’s essays and short fiction have appeared in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines. Her historical coming-of-age novel, The Ways of Water, was released in November 2023. She writes in rural Washington state. Her website is https://teresahjanssen.com/.
Moments in Flight: A Memoir by Jo-Ann Vega Receives Award
Based on four decades of journaling and writing by a memory-keeper and descendant of Ellis Island immigrants, the book is an extended eulogy to the courage and resilience of her forebears. Full of history, firsthand anecdotes, and excerpts of poetry, Moments in Flight brings the immigrant story full circle, recovers lost history, and shares hard-earned practical wisdom. It was awarded a Bronze Medal for Memoir Classics in the Reader Views Reviewer’s Choice Awards, 2023-2024. Available in all formats at https://outskirtspress.com/wolfwoman.
Jo-Ann came of age during the transformative 1970s. An always-aspiring wolf woman and devotee of journaling, she lives with her life partner and canine companion. She thanks Story Circle Network for the warm embrace of her musings, which helped her decide to publish her poetic memoir. Her website is https://outskirtspress.com/momentsinflight.
Zita Arocha Releases “Guajira, the Cuba Girl”
Zita Arocha’s poignant memoir touches on issues related to women’s lives: the struggle for identity, self actualization and scars left by a sexual assault in her family’s home in Cuba before leaving the island for the U.S. As she moves into adulthood and becomes a professional as a journalist, she returns to her homeland many times to heal the rift but experiences betrayal by country and kin. Her journey leads to healing and forgiveness. Find it here.
Zita Arocha is a bilingual journalist, writer, and educator. She has taught multimedia journalism for two decades and written for The Washington Post, The Miami Herald, and others. She is currently working on a historical novel about Cuban cigar workers.
Book by Eileen Harrison Sanchez Added to Educational Curriculum
The historical fiction Freedom Lessons: A Novel by Eileen Harrison Sanchez is required reading this semester at Rutgers Graduate School of Education for two classes of students completing their requirements for teacher certification. In addition, she will speak to the students about her experience as a novice teacher in a small southern town in the era of 1969 school desegregation when the school board closed the segregated Black school she taught at to comply with federal laws. Learn more at www.eileensanchez.com. Available online, in bookstores, and at your library.
Eileen Harrison Sanchez is retired after a forty-year career in education. She is a devoted reader and writer and a perennial—a person with a no-age mindset. Sanchez considers family and friends to be the most important parts of her life, followed by traveling and bird-watching from her gazebo. Her debut, Freedom Lessons – A Novel, is recognized as a 2022 Canadian Book Club Awards Finalist for Fiction, 2020 Sarton Award Finalist for Historical Fiction, the 2020 Goethe Book Awards Shortlist, 2020 Pulpwood Queens Book Club, and 2019 Best Book Awards Finalist in Fiction (Multicultural). Her work has also appeared in Real Women Write: Living On Covid Time, Kitchen Table Stories 2022, and Work In Progress: An Anthology.
Lisa Braxton Releases New Book
Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Reflections on Love and Loss, a memoir in essays, is a powerful meditation, a deeply personal mosaic of a daughter’s remembrances of beautiful, challenging and heartbreaking moments of life with her family. It speaks to anyone who has lost a loved one and is trying to navigate the world without them while coming to terms with complicated emotions. Lisa Braxton extends a lifeline of comfort to anyone who needs to be reminded that in their grief they are not alone.
Lisa Braxton is a novelist and essayist. She is the author of the novel The Talking Drum, winner of a 2021 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards Gold Medal. She is on the executive board of the Writers Room of Boston.
Bette Lafferty Has Poem Published
“Winter’s Arrival,” a poem by Bette Lafferty, appeared on the National League of American Pen Women’s website in January 2024. She says, “It was an honor to have my work appear on such a prestigious site. As a published author with three books on Amazon, I turn 88 in July of this year, so I encourage all writers to never give up. Age doesn’t count when it comes to sharing your words.”
Bette Lafferty is an avid writing living in Boerne, Texas. Besides writing books, she also sends out one of her poems each Monday to over 165 faithful readers. Email her at Bettelafferty@gmail.com to join in.
Karin Tramm’s “100 Days Smart” Wins Gold Medal
100 Days Smart, released in February 2023, journals the first hundred days of the pandemic outbreak while teaching kindergarten on an American military base in northern Italy. From empty classrooms to kindergarten in the kitchen, this story recognizes and remembers the fears and frustrations, the humor and humanity of shared experiences on a new path forward. In September, Tramm was awarded a gold medal for memoir by the Military Writers Society of America.
Karin Tramm is an international educator, writer, and photographer, recently retired from the US Department of Defense. Her career spans over forty years from Guam, the Philippines, Germany, Iceland, Spain, and Italy. She currently resides in Florida. https://karintramm.com/
