Like Giant Redwoods Authors Helping Authors

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

I recently attended the Southern Authors Event at the Collierville Burch Library in Collierville, TN. Author Steve Bradshaw put it together with 11 other authors from the Mid-South region. Deanna Britton, Director of the Collierville Burch Library assisted in the event and was in attendance. Annette Mastron, our Communications Director of Southern Writers Magazine and I covered it before with ads and blogs on Suite T and during the event as well. It was an exceptional event and one they all should be proud of.

Seeing the cooperation of the authors, Deanna Britton and Southern Writers Magazine brought back to me the importance of supporting each other. A topic I covered in the past in a Suite T Blog titled The Secrets of the Giant Redwoods and Southern Writers Magazine. Here is a portion of that below. You may read the blog in it’s entirety at this link.

The ancient redwoods live 500 to 800 years with the oldest being 2000 to 2200 years old. They do stand tall and proud and appear to do so with such great ease. Many standing over 200 feet tall. The tallest, believed to be the world’s tallest tree, is said to be 379 feet. Such great height must surely need great support and it has but not as you would think. The roots of those redwoods are only 10 to 12 feet deep. So how do they support themselves? 

Their roots may not be deep but they spread out 3 to 5 times their height. A 200-foot redwood could have roots spreading out 600 to 1,000 feet. The tallest could spread out 1100 to 1800 feet.  But that is not their only secret to their support. Each redwood tree’s roots, while spreading out to great lengths, are also intertwining with the roots of each tree in their immediate area. They support each other.

Thinking on this, I wondered what it would be like to have such a support system. Individuals intertwined with other individuals. All are supporting one, and one is supporting all. Believe it or not that is what Southern Writers Magazine was founded on. We began with the vision of “a magazine by writers and for writers”. It has developed into over 3,000 authors sharing their ideas with them. Each author like a giant redwood intertwined with other authors supporting them as they are supported.

Our hope at Southern Writers Magazine is that with this support we all can grow tall in our craft and have a long career as writers. We know with the continued support of each of you this can happen. If you haven’t joined the forest of authors do so. Add your support and enjoy the support of others. Southern Writers Magazine will be here for your continued success.