Chicago Writes

Host WC Turck speaks with First Chapter contest winners, Cheryl L. Reed and Mary Dean Cason about landing the right agent, characterization, story structure and more. The opening chapter to Map of My Escape by Cheryl L. Reed captured first place in this year’s very competitive first chapter contest. Cheryl was awarded a full scholarship to attend either the All-Genre Novel-In-Progress (NIP) Bookcamp & Writing Retreat held on June 12-18, 2022 near West Bend, Wisconsin Second place went to the first

Anne Beall and Judi Goshen are the publishers of Chicago Story Press. Their latest book is a collection of stories expanding upon concepts of love titled Storytellers' True Stories about Love. Chicago story press.com is the website. For Submissions to Chicago Story Press, click HERE Find Anne Beall's books and blog HERE Anne is also CEO of Beall Research a Boutique full-service market research partner and consultancy. Subscribe to our Podcast by visiting Chicago Writes.org

In the May episode of Chicago Writes, a Podcast of the Chicago Writers Association, host WC Turck talks Branding with Michael Finney. Michael Finney is a Business Strategy Consultant focused on Media and Message. Find his workbook and course "How to Create a Personal Band in 10 Steps" at michael-finney.com. Back in February we heard from David W. Berner about Substack, the online publishing forum. In this two-part interview, David updates us on his experiences with Substack with some lessons

In just 3 short years the Chicago Writers Association's Let's Just Write! An Uncommon Writer's Conference has become a must attend event for Writers and Authors. In it's first 2 years Let's Just Write earned critical accolades from Writer Magazine, calling it one of the Best conferences in America. This year's sold-out conference exceeded expectations. In this value-added Episode we bring you a few of the voices from presenters and attendees, with expert tips and advice from the conference. A list

Continuing with our spotlight on the CWA Book of the Year award winners for 2021, this episode features our outstanding authors for Indie and Traditional Non-fiction. Plus CWA announcements and upcoming events! Edith: The Rogue Rockefeller McCormick by Andrea Friederici Ross describes the enigmatic and rebellious life of industrialist John D Rockefeller’s daughter. Andrea talks about this enigmatic personality, and discusses lessons learned in researching and writing biography. Attorney Gary V

Libby Fischer Hellmann and Rachel Swearingen are the 2021 Chicago Writer's Association Book of the Year winners for Fiction. In this Episode Libby and Rachel talk about the Art and Business of Writing, Marketing and more. Libby Fischer Hellmann's website is https://libbyhellmann.com/ Rachel Swearingen's website is https://www.rachelswearingen.com/ And don't forget to visit www.chicagowrites.org

Rachel Swearingen won this year’s award under Traditional Fiction for her latest work is “How to Walk on Water and Other Stories.” In 2019, the Guild Literary Complex named her one of 30 Writers to Watch. She lives in Chicago and teaches in Cornell College’s low-residency MFA program. www.rachelswearingen.com is the website.

Critically acclaimed author Libby Fischer Hellman writes strong women. From her Ellie Foreman Mysteries, to the suspenseful adventures of blond and beautiful Chicago PI, Georgia Davis. And Hellman has taken us around the world, to war, and across history through the eyes of female characters-you know, the other half of the world. She is also a 2021 Chicago Writer’s Association’s Book of the year award Winner for Indie Fiction. No spoiler alerts here. We are after the nuts and bolts of writing