Saturday, May. 5th 2018 Guest Speaker - at 2pm in the Community Room on the 3rd Floor of the Palos Verdes Library, 701 Silver Spur Road, in Rolling Hills Estates. Wanda Maureen "Mo" Miller "The Perils of Publishing"      Like her main character, Grace Marie, Wanda Maureen Miller grew up on an Arkansas farm, read and wrote for escape, got an education, and moved to California. She taught college English and published four other books in various genres. She is retired now and lives in Manhattan Beach, CA, with a retired doctor. She has a daughter and granddaughter living in North Carolina and still owns the farm she grew up on.      About “Last Trip Home”      “Who do you thank you are, the Quane of Anglund?” That’s what Grace Marie’s father used to say to her whenever he thought she was getting out of her place. In her fifties now, Grace Marie is a college professor living in a beach town in California, and when she gets a phone call telling her that her father is dead, she is glad. She hopes her return for his funeral will be her “last trip home.”      As a young girl Grace Marie struggled to escape from poverty, her father’s lecherous, controlling grip, and a husband in the Klan. Determined to get an education, she clawed her way to a comfortable life and a home with indoor toilets—but her most unexpected struggle turned out to be survivor’s guilt, so she kept returning home to “fix” her family and the sharecropper shack. After her father’s funeral, Grace Marie burns down the family home—only to discover that she has unexpected ties to both the land and the people in her community. She realizes she will never have a “last trip home.”                     https://lasttriphome.wordpress.com/ Note: This meeting of the SOUTHWEST MANUSCRIPTERS, will be on: Saturday, May 5th, 2018 2-4:00pm, in the Community Room on the 3rd Floor of the PV Library, 701 Silver Spur Road, in Rolling Hills Estates. Try parking on the roof, as the 2nd floor parking is usually packed. Contact Carol at: (310) 676-7494 or carol.ann.sperling@gmail.com for further information. Future Meeting Times and Dates: Saturday, June 2, 2018 from 2 to 4pm - Guest Speaker: Rebecca Forster Saturday, July 7, 2018 from 2 to 4pm - Guest Speaker: Elaine Ash August 2018 - Picnic - Date and Place TBD Don't forget! the Betty Simmons Short Story Fiction Contest Entries are due by the June 2nd Meeting! - See Below... Barbra Simpson, Contest Chair Due to our annual Poetry Program, now occurring later in the year, we are changing the order of the contests around. SWM Contest Rules Betty Simmons Short Story Fiction Contest Deadline: June 2nd, 2018 SWM meeting. Contest Chair: Barbra Simpson barbrassimpson@aol.com (310) 376-8234 1. Contest is limited to SWM members only. 2. Four dollars non-refundable fee for each entry. Cash or check OK. One check can cover multiple entries. Make check payable to Southwest Manuscripters and bring to the meeting or send to the SWM Contest, 872 - Fifth Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 3. Maximum three entries per person. In keeping with the purpose of the SWM to encourage writers, especially new writers, only previously unpublished material is allowed. That means not seen in any medium (book, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, internet) with circulation of more than 200 readers. Rule of Thumb: If a judge may already have seen your entry, it is ineligible. 4. Print four (4) copies of your entries, one per each judge. Article entries must be double-spaced... but single-sided, with an easy-to-read typeface, and legible. If the entry can't be read, it can't be judged. [Note: Times-Roman or Courier 12 is standard.] 5. Note word count on page one (max 2,000). Do NOT put personal info on the pages. 6. Entrant's name may not appear anywhere on the entry. Put NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE and TITLE of entry as you would like to see them on award on a 3x5 card. You may also indicate intended market (e.g., children's magazine, sci-fi magazine). 7. Although the contest has four judges, no judge is obliged to provide a written critique. 8. Awards will be presented at the SWM meeting in the month following the contest deadline. Winners of more than one top award will receive one certification for the highest scoring entry and honorable mention for any others. In case of a tie for a top award, each individual entrant will receive the same award. 9. Members who wish their entries to be published in The Write Stuff, may forward their entries, winning or not, after the contest, to Southwest Manuscripters, TWS Editor:           van42@hotmail.com 10. Entries that do not comply with the above rules will be rejected and the entry fee will be forfeit. Give entries, checks and cards to the Contest Chair or mail them to: SWM Contest, 872 - Fifth Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 or bring to the Mar. 3rd, 2018 SWM Meeting (or before). Do NOT mail entries to the Editor or to the SWM P.O. Box. Basically what the above is saying: A) Submit 4 (four) copies of your work, without any personal info on the sheets, just the title. B) At the same time, include a card or paper with title and your personal info. C) Send them to or give to Barbra at the above address or at the next meeting along with your check or cash. D) Pick up your award at the following meeting. SIMPLE!