by Gary Fearon, Creative Director
While universally recognized as a distress signal, “Mayday”
is also what today is, and I’ve mock yelled it at least once every year on this
date, usually to some tolerant friend who pretends to appreciate my often
groan-worthy puns. Perhaps broadcasting it to the blogosphere today will
finally get it out of my system.
Meanwhile, it’s appropriate that this attention-getting term
is derived from the French phrase m’aider
(“help me”) because today the magazine staff’s attention is focused on two things
intended to aid our fellow writers.
First of all, being May 1st, the newest edition
of Southern
Writers Magazine hits the virtual streets (online and by mail) today and
it’s packed full of bestselling authors and topnotch writing advice. Notable is the fact that this issue includes
a special emphasis on research and
historical writing, two areas you’ve been requesting. You’ll find helpful insights on bringing
history to life from Ann H. Gabhart, learn how to do reliable internet searches
with Sheila S. Hudson, and get inspiring thoughts on writing memoirs from Kimberly
Rae. You’ll also sit down with Allison
Chase, Robert Noonan, Dorothy Love, Mona Hodgson, Ed Southern, and others who
share their secrets of artfully capturing history on the printed page.
Have I mentioned Viggo
Mortensen? A familiar face to moviegoers
(Lord of the Rings is just the tip of
the Viggo iceberg), you’ll discover a whole new side of this prolific poet in
an exclusive interview with Sherry Perkins. And if you saw Courageous at your local cineplex you’ll especially enjoy Vicki
Moss’ conversation with author and producer Michael Catt. Look over the shoulder of
children’s illustrator Robert J. Blake, get a look at Vicki Allen’s private
writing hideaway, and discover how daily discipline helps Irene Latham find
publishing success.
There’s lots more and I could go on all day about the May
issue, but you’ll see for yourself. Just
keep telling us what you want in the mag and who you want to read about, and
we’ll keep delivering. As our editor
Susan Reichert said back in issue #1, this is your magazine, and you are
helping to make it what authors tell us is their favorite publication for
wordsmiths.
As for the other May
Day event on our minds: Tonight at midnight is the deadline for our Short Story Contest 2012! So you still have time to get your 1000-word
opus into us for a chance to win cash prizes, subscriptions, and an appearance
in a special short story issue we’ll publish of the winning entries. Details and
guidelines are a click away. Thank
you for participating, and good luck!
Well, this has turned out to be one big shameless plug for
the mag and the contest, but today it’s all we can think about here so I hope
my enthusiasm has been at least a little contagious. In any event, we all
learned a little French today. M’aider!
