Next Meeting of the Authors Guild of Tennessee

November 6, 2025

The Guild will meet next Thursday, November 6, at Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut, from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

We’ll hold an open forum for members to share their least and most effective methods of formatting, designing covers, publishing, marketing, and selling books.

Topics will include:

1. Sales from online platforms, retail locations, and fairs/festivals.

2. Publicity sources — newspaper or online sources.

3. Using an agent

4. Pricing strategies — eBooks, paperback, and hardcover.

5. Writing contests.

6. Book cover design.

7. Getting reviews.

Hope to see everyone at the meeting. Guest are welcome.

Mountain Makins Festival

Rose Center, 442 W. 2nd N St.  Street, Morristown, TN

Saturday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 26, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Mountain Makins is an Appalachian Folk Life Festival celebrating the unique culture of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Known for high-quality crafts and artisans, the festival features a juried arts & crafts fair, top regional musical talent, storytellers, authors, craft demonstrations, and children’s activities. All activities take place at historic Rose Center. Preview Party- Friday October 24 6:30 pm – 9 pm, Festival Days- Saturday & Sunday, October 25 & 26, 2025.

Several members of the Authors Guild of Tennessee will participate, signing and selling their books representing multiple genres, including memoirs, historical fiction, murder mysteries, and local stories. Come out and meet the authors and hear about their stories.

Kaye George’s Crime Stories Included in Newly Released Anthologies

In Crime Songs, stellar cast of sixteen crime writers brings you their crime stories inspired by Tom Waits, Blondie, The Clash, Lana Del Rey, AC/DC, and more. Bestselling, indie, and transgressive writers combine to give you dark, noir, cozy, and all possibilities in between. Make Crime Songs your number one.

In After Dark, dive into your next sleepless night with this spine-tingling horror/thriller anthology collection by 20 amazingly talented authors!

Stories included featuring: Mayhem, ghost, demons, monsters, bumps in the night, altered reality, fractured reality, fractured psyches, haunted people & places.

New Release by Susan Kite

Three stories depicting the early years of Zorro — the masked defender of the poor and downtrodden!

Return with Honor — Ten-year-old Diego de la Vega, brutalized by a bully, must decide how to stand against a larger foe while maintaining a semblance of honor.

European Encounter — En route to a European fencing tournament, university student Diego dons a dark disguise to rescue his new friend, the mute Bernardo, from a false charge of theft — and from the confines of a German prison!

California Encounter — General de Silva arrives in Spanish California, accompanying a new magistrado. Will Diego’s fencing master help or hinder Zorro in his battle against a corrupt commandante?

New Release by David Johnston

AGT member, David Johnston, has just released his second book of poetry titled More Poems & Musings from Walden Ridge. 

In this follow-up to Poems & Other Musings From Walden Ridge, find yourself lost in our spiritual connection to the forests, mountains, and rivers that make up our beautiful world. Enjoy another peek into life on Walden Ridge and immerse yourself in a place where time moves more slowly, the music of nature is ever-present, and the morning coffee just tastes better.

New Release by Cheryl Peyton

How did Adam and Eve talk to each other? How were people able to speak different languages after the Tower of Babel was brought down? How many Greek words are in our English vocabulary? How many Latin, French, German, and Spanish? What were the influences on American English in various parts of our country, manifested in regional accents?

These and other similar questions will be answered in this book by tracing the roots of American English from Biblical times to the Norman Conquest, to the waves of immigrants who arrived on our shores and shared their language and social traditions. All these influences have converged to create a rich and heterogeneous American language and culture.

New Release by Bill Barbour

In Barriers, the author examines the reasons why people may not attend church. As he points out, some attended a church in their youth but stopped going for various reasons. Some still attend church but do not have a complete understanding of the theology and meaning of Jesus’ teachings. Others reject all religions because they consider anything unseen and unheard to be fantasies, or that God did not act the way they expected.

The author writes that his own faith journey grew as he learned more about God and Jesus by studying the Bible.

Through the topics discussed in this book, he hopes to bring people to, or back to, Christianity, and enhance their knowledge so that their faith grows stronger.

Latest Release by the Chota Writers Circle

The Chota Writers Circle has released their latest anthology of eleven short stories.

A thirty-two-year-old divorcee is excitedly making plans to move in with the man she is dating. What could go wrong? She couldn’t imagine what would happen next.

Making a movie in the “Halloween” series with Jamie Lee Curtis brings more scary moments to the prop man than were on the screen.

A short hospital stay for a football injury brings a visitor who will change a high school boy’s life.

These and eight other short stories by members of the Chota Writers Circle will entertain, surprise, and enlighten you with stories covering a range of genres.

Knoxville Voyager Magazine Interview

“Life and Work with Jim Hartsell”

The Knoxville Voyager magazine, an LA-based bi-monthly publication, features an interview with AGT member Jim Hartsell in its latest issue.

In this entertaining article, Jim discusses his childhood in Tennessee and his career in education, which involved working with troubled teens. He also commented on other challenges in his life, including being present during a church shooting.

Jim discussed his writing, with emphasis on his Boone Series, a coming-of-age story set in Appalachia, which spans six books, and spoke of his collection of children’s books, also comprising  six volumes, matching his six grandchildren.

Here’s the link to the article. Jim’s Interview

Authors Guild of Tennessee Presents

Prizes to Winners of LCHS 2024-2025 Writing Contest

AGT president Cheryl Peyton and Writing Contest Co-ordinator Dr. Jerry Morton presented awards to the first and

second place winners at the Lenoir City High School Awards programs on Monday, May 5 at 11:00 a.m. for the Underclassmen, and on Tuesday, May 6 at 6:00 p.m. for the Seniors.  First Place winners received an engraved plaque and a monetary gift. Second Place winners received a Certificate of Achievement.

Underclassmen winners: 

1st pl., 1st period, Abby Holm for “The Teacup Cruiser”

2nd pl., 1st period, Vanessa Singletary for “Apocalypse on Zephyr”

1st pl., 5th period, Vinncent Taylor for “A Desperate Grasp”

2nd pl. 5th period, Xander Brock for “Plague”

Senior winners:

1st pl., 2nd period, Maxx Brown for “Appreciation”

2nd pl., 2nd period, Natali Ortega for “Eternal Summer”

1st pl., 4th period, Isabelle Mayes for “Superstitions — Here Comes the Tide”

2nd pl., 4th period, Ruby Bridges for “Dead Together Forever”

We congratulate all the winners and wish them much success in the future.

Creative Writing Contest

Lenoir City High School

2nd Semester 2023-24

In the second semester of the 2023-4 school year, Angela Crabtree, teacher of the junior/senior writing classes at Lenoir City High School, selected poetry as the literary form for the Creative Writing Contest sponsored by the Authors Guild of Tennessee.

The first- and second-place winners in Ms. Crabtree’s two classes are linked under this notice. Again, the students were not assigned particular subjects but were encouraged to write from their personal experiences and viewpoints. The poems are honest and personal and sometimes reflect harsh realities in each student’s life. They are all well-written and create word pictures of place and time.

The Authors Guild of Tennessee is proud to publish these outstanding literary accomplishments on our website with parental consent for students who are minors.