Applications for Admission are OPEN for 2023.
Facilitators
Carolyn Haines
Joe Formichella
Carolyn Haines
Carolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of over 80 books. She is the 2010 Harper Lee Award winning fiction writer and was inducted into the Alabama Writers' Hall of Fame in 2020. She was honored by a Lifetime Achievement Award with the Mississippi Writers Guild. Haines writes in a number of genres, but loves mystery, gothic th
Carolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of over 80 books. She is the 2010 Harper Lee Award winning fiction writer and was inducted into the Alabama Writers' Hall of Fame in 2020. She was honored by a Lifetime Achievement Award with the Mississippi Writers Guild. Haines writes in a number of genres, but loves mystery, gothic thrillers, general fiction, short fiction, and horror. A native of Mississippi, Haines lives on a small farm in Alabama now where she runs Good Fortune Farm Refuge, a 501c3 nonprofit to help animals.
Carolyn will be speaking on the importance of having an agent and how to find the right agent for your project.
Frye Gaillard
Joe Formichella
Carolyn Haines
Frye Gaillard, writer in residence at the University of South Alabama and former Southern Editor at the Charlotte Observer, is the author of more than 30 books, exploring themes of social justice and Southern music, religion, politics, and culture. His award-winning titles have ranged across the genres of history, memoir, journalism, cri
Frye Gaillard, writer in residence at the University of South Alabama and former Southern Editor at the Charlotte Observer, is the author of more than 30 books, exploring themes of social justice and Southern music, religion, politics, and culture. His award-winning titles have ranged across the genres of history, memoir, journalism, critical essays, and historical novels for young readers. Three of his books have been adapted as public television documentaries, and Gaillard has co-authored the script for two of those, including the Emmy-winning "In the Path of the Storms." His critically praised books have included A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, an NPR Great Read of 2018 and winner of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Museum Literary Prize; Cradle of Freedom: Alabama and the Movement That Changed America, winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award; The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina, for which Gaillard received the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Humanitarian of the Year Award; and Watermelon Wine: The Spirit of Country Music, featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame. His byline has appeared in such publications as The Guardian, The Bitter Southerner, The Oxford American, The Washington Post, Sojourners, Journal of American History, Outside Magazine, The Progressive, and Parade Magazine. Gaillard has served as writer in residence for the Honors College at Johnson C. Smith University (HBCU), and Queens University in Charlotte, NC. His other recognitions have included the Clarence Cason Award, the Eugene Current-Garcia Award, and the Alabama Governor's Award for the Arts. Gaillard’s latest book, The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance, co-authored with Pulitzer Prize winner Cynthia Tucker, was named by NPR to its list of Best Books in 2022.
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Joe Formichella
Joe Formichella
Joe Formichella
Joe Formichella is a multiple literary award winner, including a Hackney Literary Award (short fiction) and a Foreword magazine nonfiction
book of the year (Murder Creek). He was also a finalist for a national IPPY award for
true crime (Murder Creek), a finalist for a New Letters Literary Prize, and a Pushcart
Prize nominee. His nonfiction A
Joe Formichella is a multiple literary award winner, including a Hackney Literary Award (short fiction) and a Foreword magazine nonfiction
book of the year (Murder Creek). He was also a finalist for a national IPPY award for
true crime (Murder Creek), a finalist for a New Letters Literary Prize, and a Pushcart
Prize nominee. His nonfiction A Condition of Freedom was installed in the both the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the
Negro Leagues Hall of Fame. He is the author of the novels Waffle House Rules (an AL
200 Bicentennial pick for county-wide read and 2020’s Lumpers, Longnecks and One-Eyed Jacks (an Indie Book Awards
national finalist for best regional [northeast] fiction). Another new novel, Caduceus (an
Alabama Writers Conclave award winner for best first chapter of a novel), is a work in
progress, along with Immortalizing Hudson. He lives near Fairhope, Alabama, at
Waterhole Branch Productions, with his wife, author Suzanne Hudson.
Suzanne Hudson
Laine Lawson Craft
Joe Formichella
Suzanne Hudson is the internationally prize-winning author of three novels, (one, In the Dark of the Moon, submitted by the publisher for a
National Book Award and two
collections of short stories (the first, Opposable Thumbs, a John Gardner Fiction Book
Award finalist). Her short fiction and essays have been widely anthologized. Her 2019
“fi
Suzanne Hudson is the internationally prize-winning author of three novels, (one, In the Dark of the Moon, submitted by the publisher for a
National Book Award and two
collections of short stories (the first, Opposable Thumbs, a John Gardner Fiction Book
Award finalist). Her short fiction and essays have been widely anthologized. Her 2019
“fictional-ish memoir,” Shoe Burnin’ Season: A Womanifesto, and her comic novel, The Fall of the Nixon Administration was released in the spring of 2020. Hudson lives near Fairhope,
Alabama, at Waterhole Branch Productions, with her husband, author Joe Formichella.
Suzanne will be speaking on the pitfalls of the writing business and how to avoid them.
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Laine Lawson Craft
Laine Lawson Craft
Laine Lawson Craft
Laine Lawson Craft (www.lainelawsoncraft.com) is a best-selling and award-winning author, popular media host, and in-demand speaker. The founder and publisher of WHOAwomen magazine (2010-2018), she regularly hosts online challenges and masterclasses as well as Facebook Live events that reach thousands. Her Warfare Parenting podcast encou
Laine Lawson Craft (www.lainelawsoncraft.com) is a best-selling and award-winning author, popular media host, and in-demand speaker. The founder and publisher of WHOAwomen magazine (2010-2018), she regularly hosts online challenges and masterclasses as well as Facebook Live events that reach thousands. Her Warfare Parenting podcast encourages parents of adult children. Laine and her husband, Steve, have three children and live in Florida. Laine's current book The Parent's Battle Plan has been consistently #1 and #2 in several categorie on Amazon for the past three weeks since its launch. She has recently been a guest on Fox Business's Podcast, ABC, Fox, and Moody Radio.
Laine will be speaking on how to market your book and podcast online and the importance of public relations.
Lisa Diane Kastner
Laine Lawson Craft
Laine Lawson Craft
Lisa Diane Kastner is the Founder and Executive Editor of Running Wild & RIZE Presses in Los Angeles, California. Featured in FORBES and several other publications, she’s been named to multiple “Best Of's. A writer and editor for more than twenty years, she has an MFA, and an MBA. Lisa began Running Wild & RIZE with the belief that we c
Lisa Diane Kastner is the Founder and Executive Editor of Running Wild & RIZE Presses in Los Angeles, California. Featured in FORBES and several other publications, she’s been named to multiple “Best Of's. A writer and editor for more than twenty years, she has an MFA, and an MBA. Lisa began Running Wild & RIZE with the belief that we can change the world through story. Her novel, CURE, written under the pen name of Kali Metis was called, “A study of otherness, identity, and belonging in the shape of a high-stakes supernatural adventure, Metis changes up the werewolf genre in a beguiling mix of medieval and modern. With a touch of romance and a good dose of danger, CURE eclipses expectations.” —Lee Murray, USA Today Bestselling Author and Bram Stoker Award® winner.
Lisa will be speaking on what publishers are looking for in a writer, how to submit to anthologies, and how to craft the perfect query.
Bob Zellner
Bob Zellner
Bob Zellner
Bob Zellner is a Brewton native and civil rights activist. Official Bio coming soon.
Hosts
Mandy Haynes
Holly Hart Shirley
Holly Hart Shirley
Mandy Haynes writes literary fiction with a southern drawl. She’s the author of two short story collections, one novella, and the editor of several anthologies. Mandy is the owner of three dogs write press, llc, and the creator, publisher, and editor-in-chief of WELL READ Magazine.
She, her three pups, and one turtle, have recently moved to Alabama from Amelia Island and are loving it.
Holly Hart Shirley
Holly Hart Shirley
Holly Hart Shirley
Holly Hart Shirley is the fifth generation of her family to have lived and worked at The Holley House. She is an NCIDQ certified interior designer who came out of the closet as a writer a few years ago. Holly's blog Deep South Ramblings has steady traffic and the disaster relief Facebook page she administered had 27 million page views the
Holly Hart Shirley is the fifth generation of her family to have lived and worked at The Holley House. She is an NCIDQ certified interior designer who came out of the closet as a writer a few years ago. Holly's blog Deep South Ramblings has steady traffic and the disaster relief Facebook page she administered had 27 million page views the first week it was live. She has spoken all over the country about how to leverage social media in times of disasters. Holly is a contributing writer for WELL READ Magazine and is working on a memoir entitled Blackwater Birthright. She is past winner of the Stardome Comedy Club's Open Mic Night contest in Birmingham, Alabama, where she currently resides with her husband Jimbo. She has been a part of the Yale Writers Workshop multiple years and is a professional screenwriting member of Writers Boot Camp out of Los Angeles.