Page 24 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Winter 2020- Online Magazine
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surprise that women’s clubs were in new writers from all over the that time, no limits were set on
popping up all over the country. area. Many published authors get which, or how many, categories
The men’s and women’s clubs their start by entering contests. a writer could enter. She entered
were quite different. The men’s eight different ones and told her
clubs provided a place to go after This was true for Linda Broday, friends she’d win in all. She went
work and smoke cigars, get a New York Times Best-Selling to the event to hear the results.
drink, and play a Author and PPW The winners and honorable
little poker or pool. member since 2001. She mentions were announced for
For the women’s had been submitting each category, and one by one,
clubs, the meeting her manuscript to she neither won, nor received any
was a social event publishers and getting mentions. She left the meeting
that occurred rejection after rejection. without a single win. She recalled
perhaps once a Then she heard about going to the cemetery to clear her
month in people’s a contest through mind. She saw a quote chiseled
homes. It involved Dorchester Publishers. in the marble. “Triumph comes
dressing up, having She sent a story in. through perseverance.” It was just
tea, and inviting Three weeks later, the the encouragement she needed
guests from other company called her to to continue. Three years later,
towns to travel in let her know they had her first book, which had won
by train and stay taken her out of the nothing in the contests, went on
in hotels. Just as contest because they to be published and won a RITA,
with the men’s club, members of wanted to publish her right away. the highest award for romance
the Panhandle Pen Women were She went on to publish three fiction, according to the Romance
required to be published. books with them. Writers of America.
As the years passed, more women Linda has 27 published works Jodi says her mentor, Loula Grace
began to have full-time jobs. In to date, and she still enters Erdman, a mover and shaker in
1983, meeting times were changed contests, just to see how she PPW, was the inspiration for so
from Tuesdays to Saturdays. I had measures up. Her reasoning: many writers in Amarillo. They
the opportunity to visit with some “A lot of good feedback comes first met at a writing class that
of the members about what it was from those contests.” You can Loula Grace taught at the college.
like then. enter through any of the national Jodi followed Miss Erdman’s
writers’ organizations example of helping
Patsy Dawson joined in 1977, or google “writers’ young authors and,
when it was still operating under contests.” Other good just as Loula had
the original name, Panhandle Pen sources are through been, became Writer
Women. She recently wrote about Writers’ Digest, online, in Residence at West
the club’s transitions, saying that, or industry magazines, Texas A&M.
in those years, “you had to have like ‘Writers and
something published and were Poets.’ Phyliss Miranda
voted on. Our meetings included mentored under
a critique session . . .. Three Jodi Thomas, another Jodi and is now a
professional writers critiqued our New York Times Best New York Times Best
material. Every year, PPW held a Selling Author, first Selling Author as
conference.” Frontiers in Writing got involved in PPW well. She owned
was the name of the conference, through their annual several businesses
and there were yearly contests contest. She had been working and worked as a paralegal. All
associated with it that brought on a book for five years. At she wanted to do was write a
24 Amarillo Senior Link
