Member News - Winter 2024
Hawaii Writers Guild's Member Newsletter - Issue 5
Editor: Joy Fisher
Joy Fisher
Cecilia Johansen
Welcome from our Editor
The first thing I want to point out is that our co-editor, Cece Johansen, is no longer with us. Cece was the co-editor of Member News from our first issue through our last issue before this one. She was a lot more, too, over the years—a founding member of Hawaii Writers Guild; its first vice president; its events director; and, when we still had live public readings before Covid-19 shut that function down, the host of Writers’ Voices, the monthly open reading in Kamuela on Hawaii Island, where our members had the chance to read their work aloud to live public audiences.
Cece moved back to California a couple of years ago and became a member of the Berkeley Chapter of the California Writers Club, but she continued her membership in Hawaii Writers Guild until recently, when she finally resigned from the Guild. As a result, Member News is down to one editor. [Editor’s note: Personally, I would love to go back to being a “co-editor”, so if you have some journalism or feature story writing in your background and a yen to get to know our members better, please contact me at joyfisher374@gmail.com and let’s talk.]
The second thing I want to point out is that this issue of Member News would never have made it onto our website without the diligence and patience of our webmaster Duncan Dempster, who spent many hours over the course of several days designing it and posting it in the proper format. Mahalo nui loa, Duncan!
Now, on to the contents of this issue …
In this (somewhat overdue) Fall issue, we have three feature stories. The first feature story is about the upcoming issue of Latitudes, our online literary review. The deadline for submissions was changed this year, so you have until January 31, 2024 to submit your work for consideration for publication in the 2024 issue. The story, titled “Everything You Need to Know about How to Contribute to the Next Issue of Latitudes”, is designed to provide the information you need to do just that. In addition to the written story, there is a link to a new YouTube video of an interview with Margaret Zacharias, Latitudes’ new managing editor, in which she also provides helpful information. I hope all of you will consider contributing your best work.
Our second feature reports on our Guild member meet-up at the Kauai Writers Conference in November. Because members come from different islands and even, sometimes, from the mainland, getting together at the Kauai Writers Conference is sometimes the only opportunity some of us have to see each other in person, so our Guild dinner is always a special treat. It also gives us a chance to get to know other writers who are attending the conference and who may be interested in becoming Guild members. This year more people attended the dinner than ever before, including some writers new to Hawaii whom we hope will be joining us soon.
In our third feature, we write about three of our members whose books won awards in various contests of the 2023 American Writing Awards. Read about the writers, their books and the awards they won. [Editor’s note: the winning books by two of these writers will be among those offered as prizes in our spin game at our Annual Meeting on Zoom on January 20. If you attend the meeting, you will be eligible to win these (and other) books donated by members for the occasion.]
In addition to our feature stories, this issue of Member News also includes two regular columns. Genre Corner is a column which provides an opportunity for a member (or members) to write about some aspect of their favorite genre about which they have strong feelings, either positive or negative. In this issue, John Blossom, one of the American Writing Awards winners, has shared his feelings about a few books he thinks are great for authors of fiction who want to hone their writing.
The other regular column is Transitions, a column we developed to provide news of members who are moving into or out of various positions, functions or duties with Hawaii Writers Guild or other aspects of their writing lives. Sometimes these transitions create openings for new members to contribute their efforts to the work of the Guild, so if you are interested in getting more involved, take a look at the Transitions column to see whether there is an opportunity that fits your interests and skills.
And, of course, we include stories and pictures of our new members, so you have a chance to “meet them” soon after they join the Guild. Not every new member takes advantage of this opportunity to introduce themselves to us, but we are happy to shine the spotlight on those who do.
In every issue, we also devote space to saying “Congrats!” to our members who have published their work since the last issue of Member News. Issue after issue, we hear reports from members who have reached that coveted goal. In this issue, we have an exceptionally large number of members who reported achieving that distinction. Read about their good news in the Recently Published! Section.
I hope you will enjoy reading about your fellow Guild members and their accomplishments in this issue of Member News. Please let me hear from you if you have suggestions for stories to include in future issues.
Mahalo,
Joy
CONTENTS
NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Here are ten new members who joined since our last issue. Click here to learn more about them.
1. Dale Baker
2. Pam Elders
3. Parrissa Eyorokon
4. Gerald Montano
5. Moira Nicholson
6. Candice Phillips
7. Kimberly Russell
8. Ed Sancious
9. Richard Shouse
10. Nancy Stricklen-Juneau
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
Here are sixteen members who have published recently.
Click here to learn more about each author and the recent books they published.
• Nancy Baenziger • John Blossom
• Duncan Dempster • CherylAnn Farrell
• Virginia Fortner • Steven S. Foster
• Dawn Hurwitz • Angela Leslee
• Sharon Ludan • Carol McMillan
• Don Mules • Wendy Noritake
• Tessa Rice • Heather Rivera
• Youfeng Shen • Diann Wilson
Everything You Need to Know about How to Contribute to the Next Issue of Latitudes
In our Transitions Column in this issue of Member News, we note the passing of the torch from Bob Lupo to Margaret Zacharias as managing editor of the Guild’s online literary journal, Latitudes. Just before Christmas, Diann Wilson, the moderator of Write On! a program featured on the Guild’s YouTube channel, interviewed Margaret. If you haven’t yet watched this video, you can access it by clicking on the picture below to watch the interview.
The interview provides a good introduction to Margaret, her background in publishing and her efforts to ensure the continuation of Latitudes. Of particular importance to you, our members, is the discussion about how to submit your best work for consideration for publication in the 2024 issue of Latitudes.
The submissions window is open now and will remain open until midnight, January 31, 2024. Margaret emphasizes that this is a firm deadline—no submissions will be accepted after that date. Publication is targeted for June 1, 2024.
If you are new to the Guild and need explicit instructions about how to go about submitting your work for evaluation by Latitudes’ team of editors (or even if you are not so new but want to see how the guidelines have changed), guidelines for this issue are posted on the Guild’s website.
The submission guidelines are lengthy, but there is an annotated index that will help you find your way through them:
Index to Guidelines
General Guidelines
Key Elements We Look For, by Genre
Submission Procedures and Requirements
Genre of Submission Maximum Word Counts
Previous Publication
Submission Steps
FORM A: Latitudes 2024 Submission Form
FORM B: Manuscript Formatting Checklist
FORM C: Partial List of LLM/GPT Writing Software Prohibited for Use in Preparing your Submission for Latitudes V 2024
New this year is a prohibition on using any generative artificial intelligence program in creating the content of your submission. Latitudes wants your work. One reason for prohibiting the use of generative artificial intelligence programs is that they may derive some of their content from previously published material that is protected by copyright. The use of a generative artificial intelligence program to help you write your work could, therefore, result in unknown, inadvertent, unintentional, and unrecognized plagiarism of the expression of original ideas of other people, and/or the published written work of other authors
If you have any questions after you have watched the video and as you read through the guidelines, please contact the managing editor, Margaret Zacharias, at: makzacharias60@aol.com. Part of her job is to guide you through the submission process if you need help.
When you are finally ready to submit your manuscript, email it to Margaret as an attachment to your cover email.
Place your name and contact information (phone number, current email address), and the title of the piece, its genre and actual word count, in the cover email.
To facilitate anonymous consideration for publication, you must send your actual submission manuscript, without your name or identification on any page, but include the title, genre and word count on the first page. Do take a look at Form B, the Manuscript Formatting Checklist.
Also send, as a second attachment to your cover email, a signed copy of your submission form (FORM A).
Until after final selections of manuscripts are made by the editorial team, Margaret will be the only person who will know the identity of the members who have submitted manuscripts. Maintaining your anonymity is for the purpose of guaranteeing that selections are made solely on the quality of the writing submitted.
A truly outstanding literary journal depends on member submissions that represent the full range of diverse author voices we enjoy in Hawaii Writers Guild.
Good luck, one and all!
Guild Members Meet Up for Dinner at the
Kauai Writers Conference
Because members of the Hawaii Writers Guild live in so many far-flung places, it’s always a treat to gather for dinner together while attending the Kauai Writers Conference. It may be the only time during the whole year when some of us have a chance to meet up in person.
This year, 12 members attended the conference, nearly double the number who attended last year. Since we’d had to wait to get into a restaurant last year because we hadn’t made reservations in advance, we decided to make reservations this year before we even left for the conference. Because two members were planning to bring spouses, we called on November 5 to make dinner reservations for 14 for Saturday night, November 11.
The conference started on Monday, November 6. Some of us arrived that day to participate in the four-day master classes, while others didn’t arrive until November 9, for the three-day weekend conference. We felt confident that we would get to see each other for our special dinner, however, because we’d been so diligent in making our reservation in advance.
As time passed, though, people’s plans changed. Some members who weren’t sure they would attend, decided to do so, or asked to bring someone new along, while others who had planned to come to the dinner found they could not attend after all. Still others, who weren’t members, but had learned about the Guild through a Guild table we staffed at the conference, wanted to come to the dinner to check us out.
The number of attendees kept changing, and we kept notifying the restaurant of the changes. Fortunately, the Portofino Restaurant, one of the ocean-front restaurants on the grounds of the Sonesta Hotel where the conference was held, was accommodating, and when we finally arrived for dinner, they had a table set up for 20 (our most recent estimate) waiting for us. Nineteen people actually showed up—close enough.
The table was so long, however, that when our president, Diane Revell, took pictures to commemorate the occasion, she had to take two pictures so that the faces of the people at the far end of the table would show up clearly. A few of the people who attended were missing from the table when the pictures were taken, including Diane (who was behind the camera) Michael Foley from Hawi, and perhaps one or two others.
Here are the pictures.
Front left, Guild member Connie Samuelson, who splits her time between Kamuela and the mainland, and, across from her, her husband Jim. The day of the dinner was Connie’s 75th birthday. The woman next to Connie is Karen Ellison from Hawaii Island. Across from her, in the striped shirt, is James Sturz, a new resident of North Kohala on the Big Island, who presented a workshop on “Creating a Sense of Place” at the conference. Other attendees, from the far side of the table, are identified in the picture below.
From left to right, Guild member Carol Prescott from Hawi, wearing the lei; Damian Nash, a new member from Princeville, and his friend; (obscured behind her is our member Wendy Wilson from Captain Cook;) Joy Fisher, a member from Kamuela, at the foot of the table; CherylAnn Farrell, a member from Koloa, who volunteered many hard-worked hours at the conference, and her husband; member Margaret Zacharias, from the mainland; Angela Leslee (in pink) a member from Kealakekua; Nancy Stricklen-Juneau, a new member from Hilo; and Virginia Fortner, a member from Kapaau.
Three Hawaii Writers Guild Members Win Awards in the 2023 American Writing Awards
When AmericanWritingAwards.com announced its 2023 winners in December, three Hawaii Writers Guild members’ books were on the list.
Angela Leslee ‘s book, Lucky to Live Hawaii: From Mundane to Magical—A Life Transformed, published in September 2022, was the winner in the Travel Category. In addition, the cover of the book was a finalist in the Autobiography/Nonfiction Category. (Books are eligible to compete in the annual awards if they have been published within the past four years.)
Angela was notified of the finalist award first, and then, shortly thereafter, received a second notification that her book had been chosen as the winner in the Travel Category. (Books can be entered in multiple categories.)
About the same time, Carol McMillan received a letter notifying her that her memoir, Scriptless, had been selected as a finalist in the Autobiography/Nonfiction Category. [Editor’s Note: See the story about the publication of Scriptless in the Published! Section of this issue.]
Both women were excited. Angela’s reaction: “Holy cow, I just wanted to share with you guys,” Angela wrote excitedly to her companions in the Guild’s Nonfiction Focus Writers Support Group, sending images of the gold and silver stars that accompanied notification of the awards. Carol also shared the news with her friends.
After that, we learned that Guild member John Blossom’s book, The Last Football Player, had been selected by AmericanWritingAwards.com as the 2023 Sports Book of the Year Runner-up. John’s reaction: “I hope it motivates more people to read the book because it is really fun and not at all just for sports fans. … Of course, there’s also the always surprising feeling that you did something worthwhile, a nice reward for overcoming the innumerable mistakes it takes to write a novel!” [Editor’s Note: See the story about the publication of The Last Football Player in the Published! Section of this issue.]
Congratulations to all three of our members on their success!
The American Writing Awards is recognized for its inclusivity. It welcomes submissions from small presses, academic presses, micro presses, self-publishers, and even, it says, tongue firmly in cheek, “from authors associated with major publishing houses.” A panel of judges selects the winners and finalists across an array of categories.
A Few Great Books on Writing Fiction
By John Blossom
Without a doubt, creating novels has been the hardest intellectual challenge of my life. Honest writing supported by learned craft may be hard, but it has the advantage of teaching things in a deeply transformative way. It makes you and your reader grow in ways you cannot predict. It is, and always will be, a worthwhile human artistic activity.
So, I hope this motivates you to indulge yourself in some old-fashioned book learning about writing. It will charge you up! Each of the following books is fascinating in its own right. Each has helped me significantly as a teacher and as a writer. The human voice behind each of them is amazing. I can only imagine the work that was required by these wonderful authors to bestow their gifts upon us.
GETTING STARTED
Wired for Story and Story Genius by Lisa Cron
Wired for Story is an inspiring look at the history of why humans value storytelling and how to tap into the hard-wired human need for it as you craft your own story.
Story Genius is especially good at providing a step-by-step guide for establishing early rapport with your readers and maintaining that rapport throughout your novel. Yes, your personal experiences are valid and deserve to be told, but crafting them so that readers care about them requires technique and a shift in mindset that Cron is remarkably helpful in providing.
THE MIDDLE
The Secrets of Story by Matt Bird
Even with a great opening, all novel writers struggle with sustaining reader interest throughout the many long chapters until the end. The Secrets of Story lays it all out for you and provides a framework for keeping your readers eagerly turning the pages. It is particularly good at breaking down the myths and misconceptions about writing that can easily lead us astray.
This book literally transformed my approach to the middle sections of my novel, The Last Football Player, and helped the novel sustain wide-audience interest through its many necessary but twisted football scrimmages.
The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass
A great follow–up to Lisa Cron’s books, The Emotional Craft of Fiction takes a deep dive into the structure of emotional manipulation and, despite how that might sound, the high and noble value of doing so. Maass helps you craft your hard work so that the result is not only engaging but ultimately inspirationally worthwhile for your readers.
Maass gave me the courage to believe that my latest, not yet published, novel, Mahina Rises, a book about a Hawaiian teen in justifiable despair about no one doing anything about climate change, could still be uplifting and inspirational. Had I not read Maass’s book, Mahina Rises would have been a much darker and far less fulfilling story to craft.
AFTER THE FIRST DRAFT
Self-Editing for Self-Publishers by Richard Bradburn
This book covers everything technical, but it is written in an engaging style. It’s a great guide for understanding structure, character, and point of view. Think of Bradburn as an expanded and more entertaining Strunk and White (The Elements of Style). Very useful when you don’t want technical and basic rhetorical errors to mar your work.
Editing Fiction at Sentence Level by Louise Harnby
This book is very similar to Bradburn’s but with a larger emphasis on the rhetorical reasons for close editing. It is thorough and engaging. I used it extensively with Mahina Rises to make the prose compact and easy to read.
Understanding Show, Don’t Tell by Janice Hardy
With five novels and a memoir under my belt, I wish I had read Understanding Show, Don’t Tell years ago because it is by far the most transformative and eye-opening book on writing I have ever read. Many thanks to my editor, Kahina Necaise of The Fabled Planet for this recommendation!
We all think we are “showing” when we write, but you will be amazed at how deftly Hardy points out how often we are actually “telling”. My novel, Mahina Rises, was several years into the making, through the developmental phase and copy-edited and, I thought, ready to present to a publisher, when I stumbled upon Hardy’s book for the first time. What I learned was so significant that it made me rewrite every chapter. Short and clearly written, with lots of examples of how to do things correctly, Understanding Show, Don’t Tell is a must-read for every writer of fiction.
As writers, we have the obligation to combine the mysterious complexity of our humanity with learned craft skills to achieve the highest levels of meaningful authenticity as we give artistic “birth” to our writing. With good guidance from books like these, hard work and practice, you, too, can learn to tap into the genuine emotional experience of a human heart in a way that will connect convincingly with the human hearts of others.
John Blossom is the author of five novels and a memoir, including the published novel The Last Football Player and the completed novel Mahina Rising. John says that, before his retirement, “middle school and high school students taught me that they are the most intelligent and thoughtful people on the planet. Now my quest is to create challenging and insightful novels for them that reflect an unflinching but optimistic exploration of today’s most timely issues.” Presently, John’s home is on an organic farm in Waimea where he provides fruits and vegetables to the neighbors and maintains an active free library at the end of his driveway. He joined Hawaii Writers Guild in May 2023.
Transitions
Some Old Friends have Departed and Some New Friends have Filled their Posts
Bob Lupo
Catherine Tripp
Life is unpredictable. If there’s one thing certain, it is that change will come when it’s least expected. Just such a change manifested unexpectedly after our last issue of Member News and resulted in the loss of a long-time board member.
Bob Lupo—the Guild’s long-time treasurer and editor of Latitudes, the Guild’s online literary review—left the Guild in recent months after experiencing unexpected losses in his family. Those of us who had the chance to work with Bob over the years miss him keenly and wish him well as he seeks to recover from these devastating emotional events.
Bob’s departure left some big holes to fill in Guild roles that required specialized expertise. Were there, for example, any Guild members who had expertise in handling the financial affairs of organizations? Our secretary, Donna Beumler, took it upon herself to find out. After some investigation, she discovered that Catherine Tripp, who had joined the Guild about a year ago, had worked in the banking industry for many years.
Catherine, who lives on the Big Island, agreed to take on the duties of Guild treasurer and was recently appointed to the job by the board of directors. By virtue of this appointment, Catherine has become a new member of the Guild’s Board of Directors. Like all officers, she will be up for election at the Guild’s annual meeting in January. In the meantime, thanks, Catherine, for stepping into the breach in a time of need.
Margaret Zacharias
That filled one vacancy created by Bob’s departure, but there was another, urgent, vacancy that needed to be filled as soon as possible. Bob had been the managing editor of Latitudes, the Guild’s online literary review, for the past three years. The managing editor is the lynch-pin of a large staff—eight genre editors, two at-large editors and a layout editor. Producing each annual issue requires several months of concentrated effort and coordination every year. Leadership experience in editing and publishing is a necessity. Planning for the next issue could not proceed until a new managing editor was found.
Who could take over this management position? Announcements were made, the hunt was on. One member who volunteered had to withdraw after his family decided on a major move. The search continued.
Finally, Margaret Zacharias, who had recently left her role as coordinator of the Guild’s online writers support group, Readings and Responses, stepped forward. She was deeply committed to the continued existence of Latitudes after spending two seasons working closely with Bob Lupo as an at-large editor, where her duties were varied and far-ranging.
Although a new time schedule had to be set for the 2024 issue of Latitudes, the good news is that there will be a 2024 issue of Latitudes. Thanks, Margaret, for your willingness to take on this responsible and time-consuming job. [Editor’s note: Look for our feature story about Latitudes elsewhere in this issue.]
CherylAnn Farrell
In the meantime, there was the question of filling the role Margaret had left as coordinator for the online Readings and Responses group. This group, open to all Guild members wherever they live, provided a real benefit to members who wanted to share their work-in-progress with other writers. Who could take over this important role?
Enter CherylAnn Farrell, a Guild Member who lives on Kauai.
With experience as an online college instructor, writing tutor for Colorado State University, and the Distance Learning Coordinator for McKinley School for Adults – Kauai Campus, CherylAnn had the requisite technical, teaching and writing experience to coordinate an online writers’ support group like Readings and Responses. CherylAnn stepped forward and said, “Yes, I will do that!” We thank you, Cheryl.
Although the group is currently meeting only once a month, it still exists, thanks to CherylAnn, as a tangible benefit to any and all members of Hawaii Writers Guild who want a place to share their work-in-progress.
Here’s a schedule of some future meetings:
Saturday Sequel
R&R
Readings and Responses
Online via Zoom
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm (HT)
3rd Saturdays: Jan 27 • Feb 10 • March 16 • April 20
Hosted by CherylAnn Farrell
Frank Reilly
You may remember a Transitions story in the last issue of Member News about this man.
Frank Reilly was an enterprising member of the Guild from Kauai who came to the board of directors with an idea: he was willing to coordinate an online writing group just for Kauai members as a way to begin to build a cohesive group of Hawaii Writers Guild members on that island. Although writers would not have to be members of the Guild to attend the online group, Frank would encourage them to consider that option. His online group has been meeting regularly and is building cohesiveness and at least one of the group has since opted to become a member of Hawaii Writers Guild.
The Guild has always included positions for regional directors on the board. Since the Guild began on the Island of Hawaii, the first regional directorships to be designated were on that island, in Kohala in the north and in Volcano in the south. Since those early days, the Guild has added members on other islands, but until now those members have not had regional representation on the board. Now, with Frank’s efforts to organize writers on Kauai, those writers have their own representative and Frank Reilly has a well-deserved place on the Board of Directors of Hawaii Writers Guild. Congratulations, Frank!
Gwyn Gorg
Guild member Gwyn Gorg has announced that she is convening a Monday night poetry group at the Laupahoehoe Library on Hawaii Island. The new group will be a free gathering open to the public. Gwyn urges people to bring their own poetry or a favorite poem for open readings.
The first meeting of the group will be on Monday, January 8, 2024, from 5:30-6:45 p.m. at the library, which is located at 35-2065 Old Mamalahoa Hwy in Laupahoehoe. The group will meet on the second Monday of each month thereafter. For information, call the library at 808-962-2229.
--Gwyn will be participating as the poet sharing some of her poetry on January 14, at the Kona Martin Luther King Day Celebration. She will also perform in a one woman show on February 25 at East Hawai'i Cultural Center in Hilo, sharing anecdotes and poetry.
There are still some areas where the Guild needs leadership support. Below are some opportunities for those of you who are looking for ways to get more involved in facilitating Guild activities:
--We are still looking for someone to take over managing the Guild’s two Facebook accounts, the one open to the public and the one open to members only. If you like working with social media, please contact me at joyfisher374@gmail.com
--We also still need assistance in re-establishing in-person readings and other events under the auspices of our Events Committee. If this is something you would like to assist with, please contact our President, Diane Revell, and let her know what you would be interested in doing to help.
New Members
Say Aloha to all our new members since the last Member News
Meet Dale Baker! Dale joined Hawaii Writers Guild in October 2023. She lives in Wailuku, on Maui.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I join writers’ groups where ever I live. I didn’t find any state writers’ organization when I moved to Maui ten years ago. I did find and join the Maui Live Poets Society but it is small and limited in focus. Recently I came across an invitation to a Meet Up group of Maui writers along with a posted comment that mentioned the Hawaii Writers Guild and a writers’ conference on Kauai. I was thrilled when I found the HWG website. At last! a real state writers’ organization with access to critique groups and educational events. I haven’t been to a writers’ conference since I lived in Portland, OR, decades ago.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I had a wonderful sixth grade teacher who taught analytical thinking and creative written expression. I learned the joy of writing and I have never stopped.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
My website, here, lists the publications where my work has appeared and has links to Amazon where my two books are available for sale. They are a memoir for caregivers and a book of poetry. My poetry also appears in anthologies published by the Maui Live Poet Society.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
1. I have several short stories that have not found a published home. I would enjoy the feedback and support of fellow writers to polish these deeply personal pieces to either place them or publish them as a collection.
2. I write poetry on an on-going basis. Any opportunity to share with other poets is a good time for me.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
1. I worked in Social Services at the end of my working career. It changed me. I have a short story (published years ago) that I feel is some of my best work. It deals with the horrors of child abuse. I am looking for appropriate places to share it as a “raise awareness” effort to fund programs that prevent child abuse and support the victims of it. I tentatively plan to read it at a literary open mic in January in Wailuku.
2. I am taking acting lessons and I have performed on stage at the Iao Theater in Wailuku and in community theater in Arizona. No big dreams here. I just like hanging out with other creative people and it has greatly improved my poetry readings.
Meet Pam Elders! Pam joined Hawaii Writers Guild in January 2024. She lives in Laupahoehoe on Hawaii Island.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I found out about the Hawaii Writers Guild from a current member who I met through a Zoom reader’s group we participate in. I learned more about HWG at the Kauai Writers Conference in November and decided to join.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
Before I could write, I drew—a preschooler’s way to tell stories. I have always thought of myself as a writer. Diaries in elementary school and later creative writing. Writing was a means to tap into different parts of myself. As an adult, I was a successful grant writer which taught me the discipline of writing. Writing for pleasure was sporadic during my working years. In retirement, I have found my way back.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
For six years I wrote a column called Seasider News! for the Hamakua Times.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
I recently finished a work of historical fiction and I’m busy editing it. I submitted the first two chapters to an agent at the Kauai Writers Conference. Other projects include writing poetry. I am considering shorter pieces for magazine publication.
Meet Parrissa Eyorokon! Parrissa joined Hawaii Writers Guild in July 2023. She lives on Oahu.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I had just finished my Master’s in English and was immediately on the hunt for more workshop opportunities and other ways to connect with writers in the community. I did a quick search and was thankful to find the Hawaii Writers Guild site.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I’ve always been writing—my earliest writing memories go back to around six or seven years old when I first discovered the thrill of storytelling. But only recently, after being more intentional with my craft, have I felt comfortable calling myself a writer.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
I have a short story published in Litbreak Magazine.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
I’m currently working on another piece of short fiction where I explore elements of absurdity through the eyes of a character searching for meaning after a family tragedy.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
I am so looking forward to meeting more of my fellow writers. Here’s to building connections with you all in the coming months!
Meet Gerald Montano! Gerald joined Hawaii Writers Guild in June 2023. He lives in Kahului on the Island of Maui.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I did a Google search and found the group there. I want to join a community of writers and to find critique partners or beta readers.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I started to write during high school and was president of the creative writer’s club, but I didn’t consider myself a writer until I completed a novel in my first NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) event in 2008.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
Sadly, not yet.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
I’m on the third draft of a novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo in 2019. It’s a fantasy novel taking place in a world with southeast Asian influences. It tells the story of a village outcast joining a group of bandits to kidnap a princess with a dangerous secret.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
I’m hoping for advice and comradery with other writers who have full-time jobs and making the time to write. Writing is tough but writing while working another job is tougher!
Meet Candice Phillips! Candi joined Hawaii Writers Guild in 2023. She lives in Kapolei, on Oahu.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
Discovered the Guild upon recommendation of my dear friend and English coach, Mickey Weems.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
Although I began writing a book in 2007, I hesitated to consider myself a “real” writer until 2023, after I completed my current book manuscript.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
Not published, yet, but I am currently querying agents to represent my 50k-word book, Street Girls Tell No Secrets. Since 1990, I have written primarily guest articles for local and national newsletters as well as technical and educational pieces for various large industries. Wrote and produced several video training programs.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
Street Girls Tell No Secrets paints a searing portrait of survival and is a tribute to those who have lived through the nightmare of sexual assault by men in power.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
Throughout my life as an executive, I hid one embarrassing secret. I was thrown out of my home at thirteen, surviving alone and addicted on the toughest streets of California. I never finished the seventh-grade. Being completely self-taught, writing has been a lifelong fight and challenge. Only now, do I possess the self-confidence to step away from my fear and shame. I am deeply grateful to be a member of the Hawaii Writers Guild!
Meet Moira Nicholson! Moira joined Hawaii Writers Guild in July 2023. She lives in Kihei on Maui.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I did an internet search after moving to Maui. I found this group and another group and this one looked like the one to join. I am looking for guidance in the publishing direction.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
At some point in middle school, I wrote a (in retrospect pretty lousy) poem that I got excited about. Throughout high school I kept trying to write stories but, having not yet learned about plotting, I kept writing myself into dead ends. I took a poetry class when I was sixteen and started doing a lot of verse and started thinking of myself as a poet. I still had all these prose story ideas, though, so now that I’ve learned more about plotting and how to get a story all the way to the end, I've come back to prose.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
Two of my poems were published in 66: The Linn-Benton Community College's Journal of Art and Creative Writing.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
I am currently working on my second sci-fi manuscript. I also occasionally write formal verse.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
I like the technical aspects of writing, story structure, and formal poetry.
Meet Kimberly Russell! Kimberly joined Hawaii Writers Guild in November 2023. She lives in Wainaku, just outside of Hilo on Hawaii Island.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I had known about Hawaii Writers Guild for years, as I had been searching for a group of published writers. I finally decided to join at the urging of a friend who was also planning to join.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I started to write as a teen, publishing occasional newspaper articles and writing poetry for myself, but didn’t start to think of myself as a writer until many years later when I began writing for cultural newsletters, editing and writing for academic journals, and even won an award for a poetic letter that was published in a collection with others.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
Yes, I have a number of English as a Second Language textbooks that I’ve written for Cambridge University Press and Pearson publishing.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
I’m currently polishing a memoir of my time living in Guatemala during the mid-1980s when their civil war was still going on and they had just elected their first democratic government in forty years. I’ve also got a few fiction picture books that are complete that I’m submitting for publications, and I have a finished fantasy middle grade novel in the works.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
I’m the Associate Regional Advisor for the Hawaii Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. I look forward to getting to know more writers from the Big Island!
Meet Ed Sancious! Ed joined Hawaii Writers Guild in October 2023. He lives in Kapaau on Kauai.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
Several dear friends and excellent writers are members and encouraged me to join for all the benefits of the organization and also to expand my exposure to all things writing-related.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I started writing (and I take HUGE liberties calling it writing) around the fifth grade. I got better in high school and served as the creative writing magazine editor for three years. Continued into college with some poetry publications in random small-press booklets. I also started with photography in college and drifted from writing for quite a while. These past two years have been a re-emergence with writing (poetry, haiku) and in some cases combined with my fine art imaging.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
No. Working on a couple of ideas for publication.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
One project is a compilation of images with haiku which are very Zen-centric that focuses on our relationship with the world we inhabit and the spiritual, emotional, and perceptual covenants that we establish through awareness. The other project is inspired by a quote from Mary Oliver: “The world did not have to be beautiful to work, but it is.” And a quote from Alan Watts: “You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.”
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
I'm pleased to be among such an inspiring group of creatives!
Meet Nancy Stricklen-Juneau! Nancy joined Hawaii Writers Guild in September 2023. She lives on the Big Island in Hilo, Hawaii.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I found out through Carol McMillan. I read her memoir and wanted to meet her. She steered me to Hawaii Writer's Guild, Hawaii Writer's Alliance, and the Kauai Writers Conference. I had no idea there were so many writers on this island. I am thrilled to become part of this community.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I started my memoir as a NaNoWriMo last year (wrote a first draft in the month of November). I started thinking of myself as a writer at the Kauai Writer's Conference.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
“A Taste of Dirt” was published in Hawaii Pacific Review in December 2022. Here’s a link to it: https://hawaiipacificreview.org/2022/12/08/the-taste-of-dirt/. I wrote this story about my mom while I was taking an Adult Ed class through Stanford. It breaks my heart so much that I cannot read it aloud.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on.
The Outreach Aunties: Bringing Care to the People of Hawaii One Mile at a Time
This is a braided memoir. The first storyline is about my experience coordinating Outreach Medicine for Hilo Medical Center here on the Big Island. The second storyline is about the time my husband broke his neck and suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bicycle accident nine years ago.
Is there anything else you would like the Guild members to know about you or your writing?
I love coffee (here's my newest concoction: a large scoop of Breyers mint chip iced cream in a glass with cold brew coffee poured all over it. Oh my....)
Meet Richard Shouse! Richard joined Hawaii Writers Guild in September 2023. He lives in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.
How did you find out about Hawaii Writers Guild? What made you decide to join?
I found Hawaii Writer’s Guild while scanning the internet. There are writers in Hawaii. I hope to hook up with them and better learn the craft. I am always willing to learn. I need help editing my book on Hawaii.
When did you start to write? Start to think of yourself as “a writer”?
I started to write on a regular basis while stationed in Pearl Harbor, while aboard a naval ship frequently at sea. It was an antidote for boredom and sea sickness. I really focused on writing while working in a medical clinic, always on call and unable to sleep. Instead of intrusive thoughts, I made up stories in my head then wrote them down. Do that enough times, you can call yourself a writer.
Do you have any published work/s to date?
I have several self-published books for family. I like to take their history and create fictional stories about them, bringing the individual, period and place to life. On the internet, we published The Science of Haku in Aikido. This is a series of articles on human anatomy and physiology concerning the martial art of Aikido.
Tell us about the writing projects you are working on?
I am editing a novel, Hawaii: We Came from Distant Shores. The title keeps changing. It is a fictional work based on Hawaiian history, real and fictional characters from the arrival of the Tahitians to the recent Covid epidemic. I would like to get this published and feel there are those interested in reading it. I need help with beta readers, editors and suggestions about how to get the story out for people, publishing tactics and others’ experiences.
I keep busy with Mr. Richards Medical Almanac, a series of articles on medical topics for patient education and familiarization. This keeps me connected with medical topics of interest and facilitates my continued learning about the art of medicine and writing.
Is there anything else you would like Guild members to know about you or your writing?
It is important for a writer to know grammar, how to spell, and keep the reader entertained. I have a dozen novels and short stories on flash drives in my desk drawer. Someday I will do something with them. What I have learned is that it is the process, the actual act of putting ideas into the written word that is important. This is how my imagination and spirit evolves, how my aging mind stays involved. If published, or if people even notice what I write, is not important. (Maybe it is important, but not crucial.) You should at least try, but not be fixated on the results.
Recently Published Writers
Members who have published their work since the last issue.
Published! Congrats to Nancy Baenziger
Nancy Lewis Baenziger, a retired scientist and academician, is thrilled to report that she has published her debut poetry collection. Nancy says the book, entitled Protagonists, includes “some poems written over a span of more decades than I care to disclose,” as well as many others written more recently and read at Hawaii Writers Guild events. She notes that “some poems written long in the past were strikingly adaptable to present events”.
Protagonists is divided into five thematic chapters, beginning with “Observational Studies”, which contains poems describing the Covid pandemic's human landscape. Succeeding chapters include “Protagonists”, “Antagonists”, “Border Lines”, and “Coda”. The poems are written in diverse styles ranging from haiku to sonnet to free verse, but in keeping with her many years as a choral member, the imagery of transcendent choral music is woven throughout.
In addition to writing the poems, Nancy published the book herself, creating her own imprint called 9 Volcanoes Publishing, and designing the book cover.
Protagonists is just the beginning. Nancy purchased a batch of ten ISBN numbers and already has two more poetry books in the works, entitled respectively Citizens: Poems of the Tectonic Landscape and Voices / Na Leo / Jietan: Poems from 3 Languages (English, Hawaiian, and Saami). Nancy also created her own website, which can be viewed at
https://9volcanoespublishing.wordpress.com
Nancy has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since January 2018. She and her husband and technical adviser, Jacques, are official Hawaii residents at Mauna Lani Resort in South Kohala. They also have a mainland home for good weather months in view of Mt. Hood in Oregon.
Published! Congrats to John Blossom
Before he retired, John Blossom taught middle and high school students, who he came to believe were the most “intelligent and thoughtful people on the planet.” After retiring, his quest came to be to create challenging and insightful novels for them that reflect an unflinching but optimistic exploration of today’s most timely issues.
In July, as a result, the author published The Last Football Player, a realistic near-future, young adult, science fiction, sports drama featuring an upcoming 9th grade wide receiver who is denied the opportunity to be a star because his influential Silicon Valley father leads a successful movement to ban football. Deeply disappointed and now highly unpopular among his fellow football players at school, protagonist Dude McPherson sets out on a desperate quest to make football safe enough to play again.
“This book was born out of a desire to write a really fun and compelling novel for teens about football,” Blossom explained. “What happened as I was writing the first draft is that AI came roaring onto the scene, and [Buffalo Bills player] Damar Hamlen suffered his horrendous injury that almost killed him. No one watching that occurrence could avoid the thought that …perhaps there might be a way to play the game more safely in the future. It was these thoughts rolling around in my head that led to the idea for this book.”
This book was a 2023 Readers' Favorite Award Winner in Sports Fiction as well as a 2023AWA Sports Book of the Year Runner-up. (See our feature story on AWA winners elsewhere in this issue.) Other awards won by this book are listed on the authors website https://www.jtblossom.com/
John Blossom lives on an organic farm in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii where he provides fruits and vegetables to the neighbors and maintains an active free library at the end of the driveway. He has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since May 2023.
[Editor’s note: John also contributed the Genre Corner column for this issue of Member News. Look for “Writing Tips: A Few Great Books on Writing Fiction” by J.T. Blossom elsewhere in this issue.]
Published! Congrats to Duncan Dempster
Way back in late 2021, Duncan Dempster, one of HWG's founding members and our webmaster, published Where Are You?, a sequel to his earlier 2014 novel, Chapel on the Moor (see Member News TWO). It was in both Kindle and Paperback formats and he had every intention of publishing an audiobook version at the same time. But as often happens, that pesky thing called life got in the way and the audiobook never came about.
Fast forward two+ years and he finally found that "Round TUIT" he needed to produce an audiobook of the sequel through Audible.com. So now, both of his novels can be heard as well as read.
Duncan is currently working on a third novel tentatively entitled Chapel Redux to build his Chapel series into a trilogy. Let's hope he doesn't take another two years to bring that about.
Published! Congrats to CherylAnn Farrell
Lest there be any doubt that Guild member CherylAnn Farrell is a witty woman, that doubt is now officially dispelled by the news that she has published a Christmas story in the November offerings of the online platform WitCraft.org, the motto of which is: “Because not everything has to be serious”.
CherylAnn’s story, “Escape from Christmas Island,” is about Santa Claus as you have never seen him before. He’s a philanderer whose affair with a blue-tailed mermaid named Halia has resulted in the spawning of hundreds if not thousands of sea creatures who, the reader is told, “are a cross between a mermaid, Neptune, and Santa – each holding a spear as they headed inland stabbing everything as they went” and shouting “Where’s our PAPA? HO! HO! HO!”
Will Santa live to see another Christmas? You’ll have to read the story to find out (and even then you may not be sure because the end of the story is a real cliffhanger.) Fortunately, you can read the story and make up your own mind, because CherylAnn has been kind enough to send us a link. Here it is: https://witcraft.org/2023/11/15/escape-from-christmas-island/?fbclid=IwAR1v0qqkQnfQCskwuKO5AM5KvnUU0qno6FIl3sE1c3pqEYVycrv4jdtLDKM
WitCraft.org is a site dedicated to skillfully written stories that are brief, humorous and engaging. The emphasis is on wit, word play, absurdity and inspired nonsense. “Whether your story is designed to raise a smile or a belly laugh, I want stories that are a refuge from the relentless barrage of negativity, angst, war and climate catastrophe that dominates the web,” says its operator, Doug Jacquier.
Thank you, CherylAnn, for this very timely gift.
CherylAnn Farrell lives on Kauai. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since November 2018.
Published! Congrats to Virginia Fortner
Virginia Fortner is a writer who likes to try her hand at many different forms of writing. She has published essays, poetry, fiction, children’s stories, and one dissertation. She reports that, lately, she has found a ready market for her feature stories with her local newspaper, Kohala Mountain News. In one recent issue alone, published on October 27, 2023, Virginia had two feature stories to her credit.
On page 10 of that issue, Virginia had a story headlined “Big Island Author Launches Book”, about a book-signing event by Diann Wilson, Hawaii Writers Guild’s former president, who was launching Goodbye Big Business Hello Big Island. [Editor’s Note: See our story about Diann’s new book elsewhere in this issue of Member News.]
On page 13 of the same issue, Virginia’s story, “Senior Citizens Live On”, appeared. It begins:
"Where can you hear the latest
plans for Kohala, learn a fun balance
exercise, sing with ukuleles, and
have a light meal each week? The
answer is ‘Behind Kamehameha’s
statue, Monday mornings, 9-11:00
a.m. at the Kohala Senior Citizens
Club meeting!’”
You can read Virginia’s stories yourself by left clicking on this link: KMN WORKING FILE 10 23.indd (kohalamountainnews.com)
then scrolling down to either page 10 or page 13.
Congratulations, Virginia. I think we’re going to hear more from you!
Virginia Fortner lives in Kapaau on the Big Island of Hawaii. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since October 2017.
Published! Congrats to Steven Foster
In August, Big Island author Steven S. Foster published his fourth book of fiction, a book of Hawaii-themed short stories called Hawai’i Tradewinds. Although his first three books were novels, Steven is no stranger to short story writing, as anyone familiar with his contributions to past issues of Latitudes, the Guild’s on-line literary journal, can attest.
His new book is billed as a “rich collection to cherish.” Although it is fiction, Steven did extensive research, including “talking story” with local people who experienced Hawaii during the period from the attack on Pearl Harbor that marked the entry of the United States into World War II up to the present day. Many of the insights he gleaned from that research found their way into the stories in the book. For example, his discussions with one 92-year-old retired Japanese farmer who had, as a boy, provided vegetables for the Marines training at Camp Tarawa in Waimea during the war inspired him to write a love story between a Marine and a Japanese-American girl who lived within walking distance of the camp. It’s titled “Heart of Sakura.”
Like much of his work, these stories often depict the struggles people face and how they overcome their challenges through the power of love and faith. It’s in harmony with the spirit of the season, but its tone can help sustain a positive mindset during any season.
Steven Foster’s previous books include Spirit of an Eagle, published in June 2019; Summer Passage of ’66, published in January of 2021, and Hawaii’s Last Beekeeper, published in October 2022.
Hawaii’s Last Beekeeper was inspired by Steven’s own experiences as a beekeeper and his concern about the potential adverse effects that their decline could have. In the story, the one man who holds the secret to saving the bees from extinction disappears. Racing against time, his friend searches to find him before it’s too late.
Recently, a biology professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo ordered 50 copies of Hawaii’s Last Beekeeper to give to her students as Christmas gifts. “She asked me to autograph all of them. This was a nice surprise, and it encouraged me to keep writing,” Steven said.
Steven Foster lives in Waimea on the Island of Hawaii. He has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since February 2019.
Published! Congrats to Dawn Hurwitz
Dawn Hurwitz published her memoir, Psychedelic Wild Child: Coming of Age in the Source Family Cult(ure), in October. October 17 was the Zoom book launch, which was attended by people from all around Hawaii, many other states and as far away as London. On November 4, Basically Books in Hilo hosted an in-person launch which was also well-attended.
The book chronicles Dawn’s five-year trek with the Source family. Times, they were a-changin’ in the ‘70s when a young Dawn left her hometown of Chicago and made her way across the country to the West Coast. There, she encountered Father Yod, the “spiritual father” of the Source family, at their vegetarian restaurant in Los Angeles. It wasn’t long before Dawn became part of the family, adopting their daily meditation, organic vegetarian diet and an experimental lifestyle that could only be lived communally with total trust.
The trek with the Source family eventually led to Hawaii, where the family hoped to find a spiritual home. It didn’t work out as planned, and Dawn moved on with her life, but she never forgot her years with the family, and now she has set her memories down into a permanent record in her new book.
Dawn has had many and varied adventures since her experimental life with the Source family as a teenager, but she is still, she assures her readers, a “wild child” at heart.
Dawn lives in Pahoa on the Island of Hawaii, in a home named Avoland, with her husband Stephen and their beloved cats. In 2017, she and author Adam Sydney began The Puna Writers Workshops, inspiring her to finally scribble down all of her "Wild" adventures. She is currently the managing editor of the Talk Story section of the Puna Rising website. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since. July 2017.
Published! Congrats to Angela Leslee
Angela Leslee’s third memoir, published in September, is called Chicken Boots. It’s not really about the boots, though. The true subject is found in the subtitle: Hen-raising Misadventures.
In this heart-wrenching, comical tale (yes, it is both of those things!), Angela enters the world of chicken-raising with wide-eyed innocence. After a lifetime of experience caring for a variety of other animals, from large to small, she thinks “How hard could chickens be?” She is about to find out, and so will you if you read this book.
From headless baby chicks to night-time rescue missions, she reports on her journey of discovery; where lessons are difficult, a sense of humor is mandatory and eggs are not cheap! And here’s the thing: Angela Leslee has a human, down-to-earth sense of humor that makes reading this book a restorative escape from the horrors that haunt us from the headlines all too often these days.
Angela Leslee lives in a “tiny home” on the Big Island of Hawaii. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since July 2022.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Another of Angela’s memoirs received two awards recently. Read all about it in our feature story elsewhere in this issue of Member News.]
Published! Congrats to Sharon Ludan
As an American diplomat, Sharon Ludan has lived and worked in many countries. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that her poetry is sometimes published in anthologies printed in English but published in foreign countries, as well as in publications that originate in the United States. That was true for her this year.
She had two poems published in Mingled Voices 7, an anthology which contains the work of fifty-one poets from around the world. The one hundred or so poems were selected from those entered for the International Proverse Poetry Prize in 2022, the seventh such annual international competition administered from Hong Kong. Mingled Voices 7 was published in 2023. Sharon’s poems were “A Birthday Meditation” and “And the Universe Responds”.
Another of her poems, “Midnight in the Garden in Sassandra”, appeared in Tide, published in 2023 by Red Noise Collective. Tide gathers previously published work by twenty three contributors in the belief that there are no limits “on the longevity of art” and “to continue growing readership and exposure for impactful works of our time.” Tide presents “a continuous ebb and flow / diurnal recirculation.”
Last but definitely not least, three of Sharon’s poems were included in the anthology Grateful published by Quillkeepers Press in November, 2023. The poem titles are: “Creative Process”; “Great Expectations”; and “And the Universe Responds”.
Sharon Ludan lives in Kailua, on Oahu. She joined Hawaii Writers Guild in March of 2022.
Published! Congrats to Carol McMillan
Scriptless, Carol McMillan’s coming of age memoir published in June tells the story of the metamorphosis of the author’s life from that of a sheltered suburban white girl toking marijuana and dancing to Janis Joplin during the Summer of Love in San Francisco to that of a dedicated teacher in an inner-city Oakland school who is fully awakened to white privilege and committed to using her skills to help her students succeed.
The change in her consciousness is prompted by a spiritual epiphany she has about the Oneness of the Universe while on an entomology expedition across Africa. Returning to California after her journey, she discovers that the Flower Children she had left behind have come to the same realizations she has and that she is not alone in her new struggle for justice and equality.
Carol describes herself as “an anthropologist who loves language.” Both of those aspects of her personality are on display in her new book.
Scriptless was a finalist in the American Writing Awards in 2023. For more details, see our feature story elsewhere in this issue on our members who won awards in this contest.
Carol McMillan lives in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since February 2019 and served two terms as its president.
Published! Congrats to Don Mules
Don Mules, who writes under the pen name D. Ward Cornell, has continued his unbroken streak of qualifying for a “Congrats” in every issue of Member News so far. He also tied his personal record of publishing three books a year again in 2023. (However, he says he’s a little disappointed that he hasn’t yet attained what he considers to be the industry standard among science fiction writers of four books a year.)
Mules’ first book of 2023 was reported in the Spring 2023 issue of Member News. That book, the first book in his newest science fiction series, Echoes of Extinction, was published in March.
In July, he published Book Two in the series, Reverberations: Echoes of Extinction; and releases of deliveries of Book Three, Mists of Time: Echoes of Extinction, were scheduled to begin on December 15. Book Two debuted in the No. 2 slot among new releases in hard sci-fi, and Mules reported that Book Three had already claimed the No. 1 slot while it was still in presale.
Mules likes to give his readers variety of choice in formatting, making his books available in eBook, paperback, Kindle and in audio. He published six audio book this year from among his previously published and newly published books: Eleven Days in August; Revelation in September; Echoes of Extinction in October; The Institute and Reverberations in November and Emergence in December.
“It’s been a busy year,” Mules said, and he doesn’t foresee it slowing down in 2024. “I’m targeting two or three e/print books in 2024, plus four more audio books.”
Mules lives on the Kohala coast of the Big Island. He joined Hawaii Writers Guild in November 2019.
Published! Congrats to Wendy Noritake
One day this past August, Wendy Noritake put on her diving gear, grabbed her underwater camera and waded into the ocean. She was on a mission to write another story for Kohala Mountain News. This one was about the Finescale Triggerfish, a fish that makes nests, much like birds do, in which to lay its eggs.
“When snorkeling at Māhukona,” she explains in the resulting story, “I noticed round sand patches in the deeper waters in front and to the south of the lighthouse.” She wondered what they were, so she took a picture of one and sent it to Hawaiian Reef Fishes author John Hoover, who pegged it as the nest of a triggerfish.
After that, Wendy started paying more attention to those sandy patches. One day, she saw a triggerfish darting frantically around its nest. A large cone snail had invaded. Other reef fish began to congregate and seemed to be feasting on the eggs the triggerfish had laid. She tried her best to chase them away, but the damage had been done.
“I felt bad for her,” Wendy wrote in an illustrated story for the Mountain News to commemorate the occasion. Here’s a link to the story. (It starts on page 10, so keep scrolling down in order to get to it): https://kohalamountainnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-08.pdf.
Wendy Noritake lives in North Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since September 2020.
Published! Congrats to Tessa Rice
In 2022, Tessa Rice published her first book, Eternus: Adeo, Book One of the Eternus Trilogy. In July 2023, she published the rest, the Eternus Trilogy, a teen and young adult science fiction saga set in a dystopian society.
In the year 2300 AD, humanity finds itself teetering on the edge of annihilation, consumed by chaos and despair. Amidst the ruins of this dystopian world, a ray of hope emerges in the form of a young girl named Dawnielle. As she navigates the treacherous labyrinth of a futuristic world ruled by ruthless factions, she discovers the true extent of her powers and the role she must play in the fight for survival. Alongside a diverse group of rebels, each bearing their own burdens and secrets, she battles against formidable enemies and confronts the darkest aspects of humanity. In her quest for love, peace, and hope, she must confront her deepest fears and make sacrifices that challenge the very essence of her being.
The narrative Tessa Rice has crafted explores human courage, the transformative power of love, and the unyielding spirit of hope in the face of unimaginable adversity.
Tessa Rice lives in Captain Cook on Hawaii Island. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since October 2018.
Published! Congrats to Heather Rivera
Dr. Heather S. Friedman Rivera, one of our most prolific members, reported the publication of her thirteenth book in July, a novel titled Chasing Chance.
The “Chance” of the title is Eliot Chance, a successful author with a talent for unearthing private insights into the lives of other people. But when he uses this ability to inadvertently discover that a man is planning to kill his fiancée, Chance gets in over his head. His employee, Dusty, has a talent, too. Her talent is keeping secrets, and she will do whatever it takes to help her employer—even if it means risking her own life. With danger closing in, Chance and Dusty set out to save his fiancée from a deadly trap that threatens all of them.
By the way, Heather says her fourteenth book will be out early in 2024 and, in addition, she has started a new novel. “I'm keeping busy,” she says. Watch for more details in the Spring issue of Member News. Heather has published books in the categories of adult fiction, children’s fiction and nonfiction.
Heather Rivera lives in Pahoa, Hawaii. She has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since December 2018.
Published! Congrats to Youfeng Shen
If Guild member Youfeng Shen is looking happy in the picture, it’s probably because she just published her third book in October. After two memoirs about her own life (A Mountain on My Back, about growing up in Mao’s China, and Embracing My New World, about her life after emigrating to the United States), Youfeng took a deep breath and set to work on her first novel, a book of historical fiction about her own grandmother.
The result is Xinghua—The Woman Who Held Up the Sky. Xinghua, whose name means “Apricot Blossom”, was born into a scholar’s family in 1901 while the apricot tree in the courtyard of the family home was in bloom. After thousands of years of ruling dynasties, Xinghua was born at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the very last ruling dynasty in China. China was on the cusp of rapid change. Born into a culture where women’s feet were still bound, Dong Xinghua was spared the worst of that cultural practice when it was outlawed while Xingua was still growing up. She also lived to see the day when Mao Zedong proclaimed that “Women hold up half the sky”, and, in her own family, she put that precept into practice throughout her life.
Xinghua’s generation witnessed the two World Wars, the Japanese invasion and occupation of China, the Civil War between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party, the “Great Leap Forward”, a three-year famine that killed millions of Chinese people, and Mao Zedong’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
Based on the journal Xinghua began keeping at the age of twelve, the novel tells the story of her own transformation as her culture transformed around her. From an obedient young girl, she grew into a strong woman, standing up for herself, her family, and the people around her. Living with unusual resilience, compassion, and courage, she stood, it was said, “like an iron statue, tall and unafraid, on her tiny five-inch feet.”
Whether you are interested in stories about strong women, or in the dramatic sweep of change in Chinese history during the 20th Century, this is a book you will not soon forget.
Youfeng Shen has been a member of Hawaii Writers Guild since September 2020. She lives in Sacramento, California, with her husband, Lee Maxey, who is a strong supporter of her writing. They are planning a trip to China in 2024 to see Youfeng’s relatives who elected to stay in the country of their birth.
Published! Congrats to Diann Wilson
FINALLY”, said Diann Wilson, “after working on it for about six years, I have finally published Goodbye Big City Hello Big Island.” Wilson was referring to her new book of linked short stories about fleeing corporate life on the mainland for rural life on Hawaii island.
When a sisters’ trip to celebrate retirement from the corporate rat race ends in an accident, it leads to an impulsive decision to make a move. The author and her husband trade big city living for nut farming and leave mainland friends behind. This collection of stories, which chronicles the author’s own transition, will likely appeal to anyone who’s dreamed of making a daring life change.
Colorful characters add dimension to a book packed with the surprisingly challenging yet funny aspects of island life.
Having completed the saga of her move from the mainland to Hawaii, Diann and her husband were planning a move to Arizona in November. When she left, Diann carried with her many memories of her life in Hawaii. “I am grateful to members of my writers' groups who helped with encouragement and feedback,” she said. “I am also grateful to HWG as I was able to read two of the stories from the book at readings that HWG sponsored at the North Kohala Library.”
Diann, we are grateful to you, too. Diann served as president of Hawaii Writers Guild for two years during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the beginning of that difficult period, she obtained a YouTube channel that enabled the Guild to continue to reach out to its members and the public at a time when in-person events were being curtailed because of the pandemic. For the time being, despite her move to Arizona, she continues to make videos for that channel. [Editor’s Note: see the video she recorded with Margaret Zacharias mentioned in our main feature story on Latitudes in this issue.]