Be part of giving Tuesday w fancy alien peen on KU!

Hey Strawberry Fans!

    Are you shopping all the Black Friday Deals? I must admit I’ve splurged on a cosmetic cart for all my bookmarks, stickers, and show supplies. If you see me wheeling a pink, glittery cart at the next book signing, you know when I bought it. Ask me about the deal, and I’ll give you the whole story, for I love nothing more than sharing my schemes to save money. Are you one of those people who reply to compliments with how you found the item on sale? Samsies.

I’m dropping this special newsletter into your inbox for a very special purpose. If you know me in person, you know the Kentuckiana Romance Writers (KRW) have my heart. We’re releasing our second anthology, and this newsletter is to convince you to at least look at my story, Space for Samhain, on KU for more reasons than it has a hot alien with a fancy peen. If you’re in, here’s where you can find it…

Check out the KRW Anthology Here!

If you want more on why this anthology requires its own special newsletter, STORY TIME!

Nothing makes me happier than meeting with KRW, teaching them, learning with them, and making my community more accepting of romance writers. If you aren’t an author, you might not be aware of the way romance authors are sometimes treated by writers of other genres—downplaying our talent, saying anyone can write romance, and making fun of the genre. Our little nonprofit has grown to 42 members in three states, with our own anthology and book signing, and we are respected in our community. But it's been a tough road to get here.

When I became President of KRW, we had just left the Romance Writers of America. We didn’t like how our members paid about $150/year to them for marginal support…not to mention the implosion that RWA was having at the time. RWA said that our membership had too many non-published and first-time authors to vote in their elections. They wanted us to kick out anyone unpublished to up our percentage or get out.

We got out.

Filing our license to be a 503C compliant nonprofit wasn’t bad…since one of our historical romance authors was a commercial lawyer. And that published author BS? We started our own anthology, and one year ago, 100% of our membership was published. We donated over $1000 to PCAN (pancreatic cancer network) in a former member’s name. (Lisa Trapp passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2023.) Members formed mentorship chains to get their own works off their desktops and into the published markets. We grew.

Now we’re growing again. The membership is asking for writer’s retreats where we can write, take workshops, and learn in an intensive environment together. I have a plan (you know I do. I always have a plan.) However, Kentucky declared a state of emergency for our rising power costs, reduction in SNAP benefits (which 1 in 8 use here), and the loss of jobs. Many of our members are single mothers, on fixed incomes, or just don’t have the funds for something as extravagant as a writer’s retreat. So, this year’s anthology is going to scholarships, for those members to attend with us.

Will you help us? Purchasing the anthology is fantastic, but even reading a few stories on KU will help another author’s dreams come true. How cool would it be to know you are part of someone else’s dream?

Here’s that link again.

Grant Wishes by reading on KU Here!

Blessed Be and Let Magic…Run Through You To Help Others,

Marilyn Barr