Lately I've gotten into watching Instagram reels and sending the really funny ones to my friends. This is the new way to tell them I love them and I'm thinking about them. It's a despicably passive form of friendship.
In this world acronyms rule. ROFL is "rolling on the floor laughing," YOLO is "you only live once" and FOMO is "fear of missing out." It's this last one, the FOMO, that haunts me.
Social media is the place for life posing: first day of school pictures, family vacations, the Taylor Swift Eras tour. Since the pandemic lockdowns we all seem to be simultaneously anxious to prove we actually are living life and determined to keep a public record of said living.
While I'm holding down the couch and reading my 110th book of the year, the social media personas of people I used to know, sort of know, know of, and wish I knew are all pounding the FOMO drums.
I've been trying to focus on IRL (in real life) experiences. Taking my teenager out on a driving lesson, top down on the Jeep. The re-release of "The Goonies" in the theater and a free refill on that large popcorn.
I'm anxious to "touch grass," as the kids say. Get out in the real world. Feel the heat and the heartbreak and the scents and sense of world-without-end, amen.
In November, we'll be getting together IRL in Columbia to celebrate the 2023 Storyfest. If you haven't registered yet, what are you waiting for? The line-up is great, the location is perfect and the accommodations are so flexible they can fit any budget, any traveler, any level of commitment.
Go all in. Get your spot reserved. Commit to do the IRL thing. Don't wait for your SCWA friends to send you Instagram reels of how much fun they had there without you. How's that for drumming up some FOMO?
Kasie Whitener
President, SCWA Board of Directors
Events and Education
REGULAR PRICING FOR 2023 STORYFEST EXTENDED THROUGH SEPT. 22
Haven't purchased your tickets for 2023 Storyfest yet?
We understand. It's been a busy summer with August vacations, the start of school, family visits and a last drive to the beach.
Don't fret. SCWA has extended its regular admission conference fee through Sept. 22.
That means you'll have until then to register under regular conference prices: $265 for SCWA members and $340 for nonmembers.
It's a great deal. We've finalized our faculty list and schedule, adding a new literary agent, publisher, poet, novelist and thriller writer. This year's conference will be our biggest in years.
Here are just a few reasons to buy your ticket now:
Extended price break.
23 craft sessions and panels.
Three keynote speakers.
Three master classes.
In-person critiques with literary agents and editors.
Open mic.
A slushfest, queryfest and Q&A with agents and editors.
Can't make it? Consider a donation to the conference. We're paying for a number of student tickets to introduce younger writers to SCWA. Your contribution will help a new generation of writers. Go to Donate Now.
Hub City Press in Spartanburg will offer a Winter Intensive writing workshop from Jan. 12 through 14, 2024. Acclaimed writer Dorothy Allison, the author of Bastard Out of Carolina, a National Book Award Finalist, will lead the workshop. Carter Sickels, the Hub City author of The Prettiest Star, will offer a craft capsule workshop on Sunday.
The Winter Intensive is a brand-new program that consists of a weekend of dedicated fiction workshops with limited participants (10-12 per class). It is geared toward experienced writers who are working on a book-length project and will benefit from a dedicated workshop environment. Applicants must be 21 years or older.
Several Hub City Press editors and authors will appear at 2023 Storyfest.
As we gear up for 2024, the dedicated SCWA Board remains committed to serving your needs and ensuring that SCWA continues to be the leading organization you've come to know and love. But, our vision for the future goes beyond our current efforts, and for that vision to fully blossom, we need you!!
Are you passionate about our annual writing conference's structure? Do you have fresh ideas about our chapters/critique groups, or the unique benefits we offer our members? Or perhaps you envision a direction for SCWA that we haven't yet explored. If so, we need your voice.
Whether your forte is event planning, marketing, fundraising, financial management or organizational development, there's a place for you on our leadership team. Even if you're just starting out in these fields, your enthusiasm to learn and contribute is equally invaluable.
We invite you to consider a position on the SCWA Board of Directors. Whether you're keen on actively guiding our organization as a director or lending your expertise as an advisor, we believe your input can help shape the future of SCWA.
Interested? Reach out to Laura Corbin, SCWA administrator, at administrator@myscwa.org for a board application. We're eager to welcome new perspectives and continue our journey together.
Sharon Thomas Secretary
Membership
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: GABRIELLE CONTELMO
Each month, we spotlight an SCWA member, picked at random. For September, we recognize Gabrielle Contelmo. She grew up in New York's idyllic Hudson Valley and graduated from Union College with a psychology degree, which she now uses to psychoanalyze her characters. She has worked as, among other things, "the world's worst waitress," an intern at the FDR Presidential Library, a property manager in Boston, a legal assistant in northeastern Tennessee, and a full-time writer and artist in Little River, South Carolina.
Contelmo's non-fiction publications include an academic paper on the psychology of dreams and articles for architectural magazines. Since finding SCWA's Short Fiction group, her short stories, which often feature monsters with a twist, have been published in Grim & Gilded, 3Elements Literary Review, and Potato Soup Journal. She says she is "so glad to have found such a supportive, generous group of writers."
Contelmo currently is working on a contemporary romance novel, which she hopes to have traditionally published. You can read more about her work at gabriellecontelmo.com.
CHARLESTON CHAPTER TEMPORARILY INACTIVE
We also want to recognize and thank Austin Hehir for his past service as leader of the Charleston Chapter. Because of other commitments, he has stepped down from this role. We are in conversations now with a possible replacement and will let you know as soon as the chapter is up and running again. Thanks for your patience.
NETWORKING GROUP PILOTS
This fall, we are piloting two networking groups. Why? Because we recognize that while chapters/critique groups are a mainstay at SCWA, not everyone is a chapter member. We want to provide opportunities for our members to network around specific topics of common interest. Unlike chapters that are ongoing, these ad hoc groups may opt to last a few months or longer — the group will decide. The networking group will have a leader who will help facilitate the discussions. However, they are much less formal than chapter meetings and the group can decide their own guidelines.
Here are the two networking groups we are piloting this fall:
NaNoWriMo: Directors Ash Smith and Charles Hall are leading an SCWA group interested in participating during November. (See more on NaNoWriMo below.)
Self-publishing Networking Group: For this pilot, we will invite those who attended the recent Indie Author One-Day Camp to participate. President Kasie Whitener will lead a session before the fall conference and another one after it. The group then will determine whether it wants to appoint a leader and continue into 2024.
WANNA NaNoWriMo WITH US?
National Novel Writing Month, lovingly known as NaNoWriMo, is a project that began in 1999. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to bring together writers to network and to help participants learn to write that first draft without getting bogged down in self-editing. Just focus on the writing and keep going. The goal is simple: write 50,000 words between Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. You can work on a novel, a novella, a collection of stories — whatever project you choose.
If you want to participate, it's simple. Go to www.nanowrimo.org and create a profile. You name your project for this year and then the fun begins on Nov. 1. When writing, keep track of the number of words you write that day or time frame. One way is to write down your starting word number and then subtract the end word count number. You go to the website and enter that number each time you write or a total for that day. When you reach your 50,000 word count, copy and paste the story into their final word counter. This will verify your "win."
Afraid that you won't make the 50,000 word count? That's okay it's still fun to play and make the attempt. Last year, 413,295 people participated in NaNoWriMo and out of that number, 51,670 people completed the challenge. This year more people are expected to participate.
The main goal is to have fun, come together with other writers and help you get to where you can put words to the paper in your first draft. Board member Ash Smith has participated in NaNoWriMo since 2016 and while they don't make the goal every year, they still find it to be a great springboard to get into a new project or jumpstart an older project.
We invite you to join us this November as SCWA comes together and joins the NaNoWriMo community. We will host virtual write-ins and share thoughts and encouragement on both Facebook and in the SCWA Members Forum. For this pilot group, non-members are invited to join us as well — so bring a friend! If you're interested in NaNoWriMo and want to participate with Ash and director Charles Hall, just email SCWAMembership@gmail.com and we'll connect you.
CHAPTER SURVEY FOR ALL MEMBERS IN SEPTEMBER
This fall, instead of the usual membership survey, the all-member survey will focus specifically on SCWA's chapters. We want to know what's working and what can be improved. If chapters don't interest you or meet your needs, we need to know how to make them better. We encourage you to respond, even if you’re not currently participating in any chapter.
Your feedback is essential for our annual planning process, so please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us when you receive the September survey, expected to be distributed Monday, Sept. 18. Thanks!
HOW CAN WE HELP?
For questions on any of this information or if you just to share your comments with us, email SCWAMembership@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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