Member and Org News & Announcements
We post our members' accomplishments on our public-facing web page. Please share your news on the Member Forums or email it to editorbawl@gmail.com, and we'll contact you to get the details.
2025 Events!
Kicking off 2025 with a list of what our calendar looks like for the year.
| When | What | Member Leader |
| Every Monday and Wednesday morning | Write-Ins, online | Becky Ellisor |
| Every 3rd Saturday of the month | Write-In, online & in-person | Julie Pitzel |
| Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month | Critique Group (in-person) | Kate Sanger |
| Every 4th Wednesday 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Freeman Memorial Library | In-Person BAWL Meetings | Kate Sanger |
| April In-Person Meeting | Elect BAWL Officers (Pres., VP, Treasurer, Sec.) | Current President (or officer) |
| July | 2025 BAWL Anthology (start) | TBD |
| November | 2025 BAWL Anthology (deadline) | TBD |
| The 14th of every month |
BAWL Newsletter including Member created FEATURE article |
Kelley Garcia YOU! |
| Real Time / On-going | Website updates | Kelley Garcia |
| On-going / As Needed | Website, Feature, Anthology, Substack Editor | Becky Ellisor |
| On-going / As Required - BAWL Treasurer | Handles our bills and memberships |
Becky Ellisor, BAWL Treasurer |
Kelley Garcia
January 31, 202: Kelley story was selected and published in: Lost in the Stacks, An Anthology of Library Stories by Hawai'i Fiction Writers. This delightful collection is available through Amazon KDP.
Book Description from Amazon: An anthology of twenty-four all new short stories with “libraries” as their common theme by fourteen authors, members of Hawai'i Fiction Writers.
Brett Botbyl, who authored a short story for BAWL's 2023 Anthology, Space, is a member of the Hawai'i Faction Writers group and a close friend of mine. He invited me to submit a story to their anthology, Lost in the Stacks, and my story was accepted. Lost in the Stacks is full of fun and interesting stories.
BAWL Monthly Meetings are back!
These meetings are planned for the fourth Wednesday of the month from 6:30 to 7:30pm at the Freeman Memorial Library hosted by Kate Sanger.
This first event will be February 26 and the speaker is Doug Williams.
Doug Williams is an award-winning screenwriter, author, and playwright. His script Black Star Rising, based on the life of Barbara Jordan -- one of the most prominent African-American political figures in the latter 20th century -- has been honored in 40 film festivals, winning eight best screenplay awards. A short film he wrote and produced, A Bullet For Your Thoughts, has been similarly recognized, winning awards for best film, best noir, best thriller, best mystery, best actor, and best supporting actor and actress. His latest, a female-based thriller titled The Kronos Protocol, has also won numerous competitions, earning praise for both the writing and the story. Critics compared his novel Nowhere Man to Homeland and House of Cards, and he co-wrote A Sacred Duty, the true story of a federal whistleblower who helped expose a conspiracy and coverup that killed hundreds of American veterans.
He’ll be discussing how screenwriting informs novel writing and vice versa -- structure, themes, chapter transitions, and pacing.
His new novel, Failure Point, is available at retailers everywhere.
"A sharply rendered thriller...Williams delivers a polished story with a hardboiled edge, lively action, and plenty of intrigue." -- The BookLife Prize from Publishers Weekly.
Christmas Eve Tradition by J.A. Guynn - 1st Place winner of the Kayla Hicks Short Story 2024 Contest
J.A. Guynn is a BAWL member and a participant in the BAWL Critique Group. John "Tony" Guynn lives in Alvin, Texas, with his librarian wife.
Tony shared the following, regarding the achievement, on the BAWL Facebook account:
"Woke up to a surprise this morning. A month or so ago, I entered a couple of short stories in a contest held by Kayla Hicks (@klhicks912 on Twitter). This morning, I have: "I am excited to announce the winners of my short story contest! 1st place- @JAGuynnAuthor - Christmas Eve Tradition. I am honored and humbled that one of my stories was selected for first place! You can read it here. Also, credit to my wife for creating the title image. For those who participate in the critique group meetings on Wednesday evenings, you've already heard the story."
When he is not writing, he enjoys reading a variety of genres, watching movies with the Mrs., and is an avid desktop gamer. He has participated in writing panels as a moderator and panelist at BrazCon.
J. A Guynn has published two flash fiction stories in the online journal Setu, and The Branded epic high fantasy trilogy: Skald, King, Conqueror.
You can check out Kayla Hicks on Substack.
Congratulations to Tony on 1st place and we hope to see more of his work in 2025!
November 19th
Due to a lack of use the Member Forums have been removed from this website.
Just keeping it fresh, folks!
- Webmaster
Becky Ellisor
October 31, 2024: Becky Ellisor has published her book of poetry titled, "Carrying On With Words". It's available through Amazon KDP.
Book Description from Amazon:
Carrying On encourages thoughts to evoke hope, patience, and compassion for your fellow earth dwellers. If you were looking in a real live bookstore, you could peruse the poem on the back cover to get an idea of what you might find inside. So here is the poem on the back cover.
And here's another from page 42.We Are All Heroes, Sometimes
She gave up her seat to an older woman.
On his walk to work, he picked up a can
someone threw out the window of a passing car.
A busy man talked to the scared little girl
with all the love he gave his own children
until he found her mother at the front of the store.
He threw up his arm and blocked a passerby
who was stepping out into the street
when he heard a car coming fast.
They invited the new kid to their table
when no one else did.
He gave a kidney to someone he never even met.
We drop coins into the bin for hungry people.
They decided to start a foundation for homeless children.
A doctor saved her life.
A dying man left his life savings to provide scholarships
for other immigrants from his country.
A little girl made friends with another little girl
who was physically scarred by a fire.
He pitched in and helped because he could.
She stood up for her friend in her darkest moment.
He needed a friend, so she became his friend.
What you do for others is what makes you a hero.
What you do for yourself is necessary to live,
but it’s not what makes life worth living.
Just knowing you are a part of humanity
and taking on simple tasks other people won’t –
just because it matters
– makes you a hero.
When you die, it’s what you did for others
That will make your passing easier.
A hero lives in all of us
if we only seize the opportunities.
What is time?
Is it time now?Will it be time later?Was it time before now?Who knows the time?There is always time.There was always time.There will always be time.Everything comes from time.Before anythingThere was time.Before existenceThere was time.When nothingnessExisted long enough.Time came to be.Then, time counted.And now, always will.Numbers beginAnd end with infinity.So does time.Time is everythingBut there is never enough.Not because of timeBut because of us.Life has a startAnd an end.Time has neither.It just seems short.Time constrains life.Only because we count it.But if we don’t keep trackWe lose it.
It keeps us going.
The awesome cover art was created by Elektra Rose.
BAWL Critique Group Scheduled!
It is with great pleasure that we announce the BAWL Critique Group in-person events are back!
Starting on August 21, BAWL will begin hosting a critique group on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at Freeman Memorial Library from 6:30 to 8:00 pm CDT. Please be sure to bring five copies of seven (or fewer) pages of your work to be critiqued.
The current schedule is August 21, September 18, and October 2 and 16. Due to scheduling conflicts, there will be no meetings the week of Labor Day. Hosts will be Kate Sanger and Kim Glaus Late.
Kate Sanger is a writer of speculative fiction, non-fiction, fiction, and poetry… and a lover of the Oxford comma. She teaches English and creative writing and has published over 90 pieces of fiction and nonfiction. Kate has been a long-time associate of the Bay Area Writers League.
You can learn more about Kate from her Amazon writer page.
If you have questions for Kate you may contact her at 409-789-8008.
Kim Glaus Late is an as yet unpublished author with hopes of having something published soon. She writes fiction and will defend her right to use two spaces after a period with her last breath.
If you have any questions for Kim you can contact her at 281-455-9039.
Kelley Garcia
July 27, 2024: Kelley Garcia has published her book of short stories called, 30 Stories in 30 Days, A NaNoWriMo Project. It's available through Amazon KDP.
Book Description:
All these fiction stories were primarily influenced by current events, complicated relationships, war and politics, and or the love of the environment and wildlife—sprinkled with some mysticism, history, humor, horror, and high technology virtual reality stuff. Many of these stories have a single word for a title. These particular stories were written during participation in the Bay Area Writers League (BAWL) write-in events.
The awesome cover art was created by the 2023 BAWL SPACE ANTHOLOGY contributor, Brett Botbyl.
My sincerest thanks to my editor, Becky Ellisor.
You can connected with Kelley here and you can find her on Substack: kelleygarcia.substack.com.
WRITE-IN CHANGES!
The Monday and Wednesday write-in events have had a time change. Instead of 2-4 pm CDT the new time is 9:30 to 11:30 am. Please know that 11:30 am is the absolute latest. When the write-in ends depends on how many participate.
The third Saturday of the month write-in is now led by Julie Pitzel. The time, 3-5 pm, remains the same.
Anyone else interested in leading a write-in in-person or via Zoom should contact editorbawl@gmail.com to establish the event.
Debi Fairchild In On a Roll
First: The Mysterious Man With The Box.
This children's short story Debi Fairchild wrote was published in an anthology in the United Kingdom by Tim Saunders Publishing Company last month.
No further details available. Feel free to respond to Debi about her story, the publisher, and where to purchase a copy of the anthology by replying to her post on the topic in our Member Forums.
Second: We have a winning Poet!
Two of Debi's poems won first and second place in a monthly members only contest with the Abilene Writers Guild. First place winner is The Power of Poetry and second place winner is Life On The Farm. They don't publish your work, the group just gives you a challenge each month to write and they pay prize money for first and second place, so Debi's prize money is $35.00 for both. Look them up at abilenewritersguild.org. Cost to join is $25.00 a year. They don't do virtual meetings and they don't charge a contest fee. but you have to be a member to enter their contests.
Mary Margaret Carlisle
September 15, 1942 – November 10, 2023
Mary Margaret Carlisle founded the Gulf Coast Poetry Society. If you were a poet, a wannabe, or just loved poetry in the Bay Area of Houston, you probably knew of Mary Margaret or, took poetry classes from her or were mentored by her. She was a Bay Area Writers League member and a regular attendee for a long while.
Mary Margaret's accomplishments included being an American poet, writer, essayist, and poetry judge. Mary Margaret Carlisle's work was published in seven editions of the Texas Poetry Calendar, numerous literary journals, magazines, and several anthologies produced by Mutabilis Press, and other online poetry journals. Ms. Carlisle was a member of The Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers, The Texas State Historical Society, The Poetry Society of America, The Poetry Society of Texas, Gulf Coast Poets, Galveston Poets Roundtable, Gulf Coast Women Who Write, The Academy of American Poets, Women in the Visual and Literary Arts and others. Mary Margaret was Sol Magazine's Project Director and chaired Ampersand Poetry Journal's board.
PEN, the National Writing Society, inducted Mary Margaret in 1988. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Houston Clear Lake and was honored with keys from Phi Kappa Phi and Alpha Chi in 1991. She was a featured poet across Texas, including for the Poetry Society of Texas, Poets Unleashed in the Woodlands, First Friday in Houston, Poetry in the Arts, Webster Bay Area Barnes & Noble Reading Series, Austin International Poetry Fest, Seabrook Coffee Oasis, and others. She had both judged and been a featured poet of the Houston Poetry Fest and judged other book and poetry competitions in Texas.
Mary Margaret Carlisle taught over one hundred and fifty poetry workshops and facilitated Poetry Works Workshops across Texas and in the Texas Bay Area. She taught poets how to critique their work and that of others. On occasion, she helped her students and colleagues prepare manuscripts for publication.
She and her husband, Leo Woltz, resided in Webster, Texas, for many years and were active volunteers for the city in many of its endeavors.
The 2023 Bay Area Writers' League Anthology available now!
November 19, 2023: The 2023 BAWL Anthology: Space, is available for order on the Amazon website in both paperback and Kindle formats.
This year nine writers participated. Anyone was welcome to submit up to four items, as the project is limited to the Houston area.
The book is divided into four sections: Essays, Poems, Short Stores, and Author Biographies.
Please visit Amazon and order your copy today!
Robert Edward Hawkins
August 19, 1958 - October 19, 2023
Bob passed away on October 19th in Bacliff, Texas after a long, courageous battle with cancer. You can read more details of Bob's life at the Carnes Funeral Home website. You can also leave a story there about Bob, if you have one.
His time spent with BAWL is mentioned: "Bob was an avid photographer, focusing on unique and eclectic subjects and styles. In addition, he was a journal and short story author and served in various positions in the Bay Area Writers League. He was one of the writers published in the 2021 anthology, "Anticipation."
Bob created this website. He established the newsletter style we send out every month. He brought a smile and a good attitude to all he was involved with in the league. He is missed.
Lisa Unfried
October 23, 2023: Lisa Unfried latest book has been published. It is a YA fantasy novel called, "Into the Dragon's Den". It's available through most book sellers and has received great reviews. You can purchase via Amazon here.
Book Description:
Ever wonder if there is more to this life? Daniel did, even though he didn’t realize it. He was just a mild mannered, teenaged boy trying to deal with the challenges of a major move, a lack of friends at a new school, and the school bully’s repeated attacks. All he wanted was to get through school and immerse himself in his video games and hope that life would somehow get better. Then he met the town’s matriarch who offered him something different, an alternate reality.
Follow Daniel as he slips into realms beyond his own. Daniel discovers it takes faith to follow his destiny and learn the truth of his identity. He finds new friends and together they discover the truth of Evil, its tactics for destruction, and its influence on the darkness of their world as they find themselves within the Dragon’s Den.
You can connected with Lisa here (leave your congratulatory message in the forums) and you can find her on Facebook/lisaunfried.
Lulynne Streeter
Lulynne Streeter's poem, titled: Belly of the Whale, has been accepted for the fall edition of EQUINOX online magazine published by https://www.hotpoet.org/.
Ms. Streeter is a long time BAWL member and often joins the weekly write-in events. You can learn more about her by visiting her website, HolleringWoman.com. There are a couple of author profile pages you can also check out to see more about Ms. Streeter. She can be found here on Goodreads and here on Amazon.
Congratulations to Ms. Streeter for her poem and we also look forward to seeing what she's submitted to the the 2023 BAWL Anthology!
Kelley Garcia joins our team as webmaster.
We have a new person volunteering to help BAWL as the website administrator, monthly newsletter editor, and yearly anthology editor. Kelley recently moved to the Houston area and immediately began looking for a writers group to join and found us. We are lucky to have her as you can see from her first (April) BAWL Newsletter.
Follow Kelley on Substack: https://kelleygarcia.substack.com/
The 2022 Bay Area Writers' League Anthology available now!
Eerie Happenings by Ten Writers
Scary, thought-provoking, uncanny short stories and poems make your skin hairs rise. Ten authors share fictional characters, real happenings, light horror, and thoughts on strange events. These stories and poems provoke eerie feelings, happy thoughts, momentary fear, and sometimes laughter.
Read in an afternoon or on the go, while cooling your heels, or instead of twiddling your thumbs when waiting. Great for those times when you have just a few moments to enjoy a good read. Readers will feel surprised, happy, sad, uplifted, satisfied and inspired.
Eerie Happenings is an anthology of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry from local authors in the Houston area.
Available now on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.
JJ's New Novel available now
THANATOS: EVERYTHING DIES
Description:
"Magic is dying and the world is dying with it." The world faces eventual extinction. Gods abandon the world for an unknown cause and as they go, so too does their magic. It's up to a group of mortals who silently pledge to save the world from total extinction. Sacrifices must be made. Magical races are a threat to the very life of the planet. Eyes turn to witches and dragons. An organization known as Thanatos is formed under a common extreme solution. "Every caster or magical creature drains precious time from the world. This news must be kept secret and they all have to die. Everything dies." Please feel free to join us on discord: https://discord.gg/ApMYX8DFMU
Available now on Amazon in Kindle (Free for kindle unlimited members) and paperback formats.