Former four-term CCWC President Kevin Symmons is having a successful 2016. Since the New Year dawned he’s had some exciting publicity! A great review on his 2015 novel Chrysalis and a piece on his writing bio in the flagship publication of the thriller genre (International Thrillers Writers Monthly) in December by David Healey seemed to set the stage!  After Kevin’s enjoyable presentation on the “Lost Art of Writing a Love Letter” at the spectacular Thomas P. Crane Library, Lane Lambert of the Quincy The Patriot Ledger wrote an impressive feature which appeared on the front page of the Arts section on Valentine’s Day. He was also featured in the Living Arts section South Shore Living Magazine for February, thanks to editor Maria Allen. His graduate Alma Mater also featured him in the Babson Alumni Magazine for February with two other graduates. The article, written by John Crawford, was titled “Second Acts…” and it explored the second careers of former grad students who have gone on to success in fields unrelated to business. Finally, he has appeared in a Christi Enright blog post, again about his writing and literary success. But this one should prove very exciting since Christi also writes for none other than The Huffington Post and will be sharing her article with them in the near future!

In addition to his success in the area of publicity, Kevin has also had two of his novels that were selected by Amazon for their Encore Program reach the top ten in their respective sub-genres. Out of the Storm hit #2 in Techno-thrillers late January while another of his earlier novels, Rite of Passage reached #10 at the same time in Occult Thrillers. “Admittedly, it’s a heady feeling and great fun to have two of your novels reach the rarified air of Amazon’s top ten… even more so when they do it in the same week,” Kevin admits.

Finally, he spent an hour in February on The Jordan Rich show. Jordan is one of Greater Boston’s premier radio hosts and known for specializing in interviewing writers. “As always Jordan was gracious, supportive, and well-prepared. When Jordan is your host there’s never a question as to whether he’s read your book or not. Plus, working with him–it’s my 4th or 5the time now– is just plain fun!” Kevin volunteered.

Take a look at the latest success stories of our hardworking members:

Sharon D. Anderson, Ph.D., has published a short guide for writers who want to make money with their books as a “real” business, titled Writing as a Retail Business: A Guide. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Writing-as-Retail-Business-Guide-ebook/dp/B0010KV5SA.

Sandra Bolton sold a short screenplay to a production company to be produced and entered in Film Festivals 2016-2017 across the country. She also created and self-published the book Explore Contemporary Marstons Mills, Cape Cod.

Anita A. Caruso will be selling her books– memoir As Ever, Pudd and her children’s books Brayden’s Magical Jungle and Brayden’s Magical Carousel Horse— on April 8th at the Cape Cod Cultural Center from 5-7:30pm, in a program sponsored by the National League of American Pen Women, Cape Cod Branch, titled “How to Sell Yourself and Your Art.” She will also be interviewed on “Books and the World,” Cape Cod Writers Center’s cable TV show, on April 22nd at 1pm on her two children’s books.

Donna Walo Clancy just released a new NA book on February 27th. The Big Mistake Club is available on Kindle Unlimited and in print.

Jim Coogan and Jack Sheedy of Harvest Home Books were notified on February 20th that their 2015 Summerscape issue received 2nd place from the New England Newspaper and Press Association for the category of general interest supplements.  Summerscape, which annually focuses on aspects of Cape Cod History, is jointly sponsored by the Barnstable Patriot and Cape Cod Times newspapers and reaches over 60,000 readers.

Debi Graham-Leard was interviewed for the CCWC local cable program “Books and the World” on Friday, Feb 27, regarding her new book The Uninvited Guest. 

On March 17th, Arlene Kay will join Sisters-in-Crime authors at a panel in Chelmsford, addressing “Methods of Murder” (oh no!).

Christine Lajewski’s horror flash fiction, “Tight Squeeze,” will be featured online by the Flash Fiction Press on April 10. (Sign up for a free subscription and get a free story every day.)

Carolyn LeComte will be participating in a Fiction Writers’ Workshop on March 12, from 10-12 at the Sandwich Library. After a panel discussion by four published authors, there will be a fun writing exercise for the attendees, who are encouraged to bring a one-page piece they are working on to read for short comments from the panel and audience. The public is invited – there is a ten-dollar charge. More info on the Sandwich Arts Alliance website.

Diane McDonough’s poem “A Prompting in Winter (Prince’s Cove)” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by National League of American Pen Women poetry editor, Treanor Baring.

Death at the Paris Exposition by Frances McNamara, the 6th book in the Emily Cabot Mystery series, has been accepted by Allium Press of Chicago and will be published in the summer. Other titles in the series include Death at Woods Hole.

Maxim D. Shrayer’s recent memoir Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story was reviewed by the Boston Bibliophile: http://www.bostonbibliophile.com/2016/02/review-leaving-russia-jewish-story-by.html. Shrayer’s essay “A Purim Shpil in Soviet Moscow” was featured in Mosaic Magazine: http://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/2016/02/a-purim-shpil-in-soviet-moscow/.

The South Chatham Writers’ Workshop is pleased to announce its summer 2016 sessions. 18–22 July 2016: Nonfiction & Memoir Writing;
25–29 July 2016: Fiction Writing. For more information, visit: http://shrayer.com/scww-index.html.

Barbara Eppich Struna, author of The Old Cape House, The Old Cape Teapot, and the upcoming release of The Old Cape’s Hollywood Secret, will be hosting the Sisters In Crime, New England booth at the WZID Women’s Expo at the Center of NH/Radison Hotel on Saturday, March 12 from Noon until 2PM. Stop by to say Hi and then enjoy the rest of the expo, where adventure and fun await you with over 140 exhibitors. New Hampshire Womens Expo

Current CCWC members are invited to submit their news to the next Member News Roundup, which will be posted to our blog and Facebook page on the first Tuesday in April. To have your news included, please email a one or two sentence announcement to writers@capecodwriterscenter.org no later than Friday, April 1st. (If you submit an item as an April Fools’ joke, we WILL post it, so beware!) Write “Member News” in the subject line, and be sure the announcement includes your name exactly as you would like it to appear. We do not have room for longer articles or reviews, but you may include an email or website link so readers may contact you or find further information. If you have multiple events, signings, etc. coming up, the best way to publicize these is with a link to a calendar on your own blog or website. (Please note that we reserve the right to edit any announcement for length or for potentially offensive or controversial content.)