1. Congratulations to Stephanie Seguin for her touching publication Skank in Penduline Press, Issue #5. "Don't be fooled by the title," writes WAG President Wendy Thornton. "And don't be fooled by the Zombies, either. This is a heart-breaking story of a kid faced with a tough dilemma. Great job, Stephanie!"

  2. WAG's own Kaye Linden, editor-in-chief of the very first Bacopa Literary Review and its current short fiction editor was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in December 2011. In other Kaye-News, her story Shift in Perspective will be published in the print and online journals of The Shangri-La Shack in late May. "We are so happy to provide a stage for your expression, and truly appreciate you sharin your gift with us and the world," wrote Deanna Askin, founder of The Shangri-La Shack.

  3. WAG member Darlene Marshall (Eve Ackerman) has a new book in her historical romance-of-the-sea series and it is coming out this summer. Look for Castaway Dreams in ebook and print from Amber Quill Press: "A dour doctor (after a fashion), a dizzy damsel (more or less) and a darling (and potentially delicious) doggy embark on the adventure of a lifetime, castaway on a desert island. One of them may have fleas."

  4. From Clint Rhodes, Associate Editor, SixMinuteMagazine.com to Kaye Linden: "I am delighted to be contacting you regarding your submission to Six Minute Magazine. After reviewing your work and discussing it with our selection committee, we are pleased to extend our interest in publishing your story, The Ring of Truth, in our upcoming issue. We are a quarterly-published magazine, and as such, will be releasing our next issue later this spring. We want to thank you very much for submitting to our magazine and look forward to working with you." Kaye also had a piece Agoraclaustrophobia accepted for the May issue in The Feathered Flounder and a story in what Kaye calls a "cute little anthology," Drunk Monkeys called Swords Ready to Drop.

  5. "Thank you for sending us What I should have said... We loved it and would like to publish it in Punchnel's," wrote Punchnel's Ken Honeywell to WAG member Rick Sapp. "Payment coming shortly; we'll look to publish this within the next couple of weeks." [3-27-12] Rick also received a note from Dawn Ius, editor at Vine Leaves Literary Journal: "Thanks so much for finding us :-) We were impressed with your submissions and would like to accept Her Portrait in Black and White, Autumn in Florida and Cutter for the April issue of Vine Leaves."

  6. "I had to share with someone who would understand," writes Larry Brasington. "Good news. My novella, Sum Yung Gye: Adventures of Shane Ireland, Elf Detective, is now number 14 on the best seller list with the Kindle store in the category adventure and #1115 overall. It is exciting to see something I wrote that high."

  7. Sandra Gail Lambert's essay Rolling in the Mud was published in the Spring 2011 The Alaska Quarterly Review. Check it out and let the Review know how much you appreciate fine writing like hers.

  8. Wendy Thornton's essay I'm Not Writing About Robin has won second prize in Literal Latte's Essay Contest and will be published in the spring 2012. Wendy's poem If I Knew How, This is the Sound, Appassionato was published in Love and Other Passions by the Poets of Central Florida, A Contemporary Anthology, Vol 2, Fall 2012.

  9.  Everyone likes a good story about a cat and WAG member Heman "Doc" Harris has published a Kindle Edition ebook available on Amazon.com. Titled Rusty, it is a story of a tomcat "born to a good home and becoming homeless. Surviving in a cold world." Congratulations Doc!

 10. WAG member Stephen Smitherman has published a novel called Island of the Paper Dragons. It is available through Amazon.com where it is called a "science fiction fantasy for young readers. One thousand years in the future, on an Earth completely dominated by a computer network, a great catastrophe occurs. Two survivors living on a remote island in a dragon-worshipping culture must venture across the ocean to seek the truth."

  11. WAG member Mary Bridgman says listen to 89.9 WJCT FM for her frequent essays on First Coast Connect. If you miss the reading or are out of the WJCT listening area, it will be available on the Connect WJCT archive. Chicken Soup for the Soul has sent me a contract for one of my essays," Mary says. "It is called "Wedding Dress Blues" and will likely be included in the book Here Comes the Bride, which should go on sale in May 2012. Also The Florida Writer magazine will publish He Was a Musician, one of my favorite pieces about my late father, in its next issue."

  12. Jack Owen has a wonderful book for sale - for the magnificent price of $1.00 - on Amazon.com. It is titled Revenge of the Pendle Witches. Surely this is a must-read as its 21kb size can be downloaded quickly and reading about witches is always fun.

    FICTION
            First Place - Cècile Barlier for "Legionnaire
            Second Place - Stephanie Seguin for "Candy Andy"
            Honorable Mention - Bruce Hoch for "The Delano Airflow Elegantè"

    SHORT FICTION
            First Place - Grier Jewell for "Girl in the Gibbous Moon"
            Second Place - Margaret F. Chen for "The Yellow Curtain, The Red Floor"
            Honorable Mention - Mureall Hèbert for "Little Johnny's Fingernails"

    CREATIVE NONFICTION
            First Place - Jeremiah O'Hagen for "The Hymnal"
            Second Place - Colleen O'Neil for "Transplant"
            Honorable Mention - Charlotte Berchtold Chung for "Broken"

    POETRY
            First Place - Sb Sowbel for "Room 5, Guest 1: Being Human, American Style"
            Second Place - Nancie Hastie for "Barefoot days fall firefly nights"
            Honorable Mention - Angela Masterson Jones for "I Am My Own Dog"