Gary Midge, a writer friend, encouraged me to join Western Writers of America a few years back. My historical novels set in early Minnesota are not typical westerns but WWA includes frontier with the western genre. Western Writers of America has been a good fit for me.
I attended the 2011 WWA convention in Bismarck and met interesting people and made great writing connections. ROUNDUP MAGAZINE, the WWA publication, is most enjoyable. Last year, BIRDIE received the 2012 Spur Award for Best Juvenile Fiction set in the west and this year BLOOMING PRAIRIE was a runner up. I’ll be going to Las Vegas the end of the month to attend the convention and participate in the Spur Finalist Luncheon and Panel.
The WWA conventions always include lectures by world-famous historians and professors. Through WWA I have learned about the Indian tribes of the Northern Great Plains, the Mandan settlement in Bismarck, Civil War medicine, and other great topics besides studying western film genres, digital publishing and using social media to promote author platforms. You can check out this year’s convention at www.wwa.com
I’m thankful my friend told me about WWA. If you write fiction or non fiction set west of the Mississippi River, you might check out membership, too.
