New Release by Susan Kite

The world’s only nuclear research submarine has been dragged into an alternate universe. There is no United States, no way home, and no other vessels like her. Captain Lee Zuved and the crew of Sea Dragon must forge a new existence in this strange and eerie world as they desperately search for a way back home.

But survival becomes complicated when they’re caught between warring nations, kidnapped by those who covet their technology, and forced into conflicts not theirs to fight. Then something far more terrifying emerges. Ancient earth spirits, awakened and merged into a single destructive entity, are bent on destroying all of humanity.

Sea Dragon faces an impossible choice. They can hide and wait for a way home that may never materialize. Or they can stand and fight for a world that was never theirs-knowing if they fail, there may not be a world left to save, in any universe.

The Authors Guild of Tennessee Meeting

Thursday, April 2, 2026

The Authors Guild will meet from 10:30 a.m. to noon next Thursday at the Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut. Our special speaker will be Pete Wyatt, a Tennessee native and retired game warden. Pete is the author of three books recounting humorous adventures in his 37 years’ work as Boating Officer, Game Warden, Wildlife Biologist, and Regional Wildlife Manager, titled An Appalachian Gamekeeper’s Soliloquy of Humorous Tales, Vols. 1-3.

His latest work, Restless Spirits, is a collection of 22 supernatural tales rooted in the folklore, ghost stories, and cryptid legends of East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina. This book explores the eerie mysteries of the Southern Appalachian Highlands.

Readers will encounter cryptid creatures like the Beast of Wolf Hills and the Black Panther of Hells Canyon, as well as tales of witches, Civil War ghosts, and ancient curses. Equal parts historical and haunting, this compendium captures the raw magic and horror of Appalachia, where superstitions still thrive in the modern world.

Pete will offer his books for sale at the meeting. Visitors are welcome.

World’s Fair Park

Saturday, March 7, 2026 11 am – 3 pm

The event features a pet parade beginning at Willow Ave. and ending at World’s Fair Park, followed by a festival with nearly 100 vendors, food trucks, and a costume contest. AGT members Cheryl Peyton, Kit Sexton, and Jeri Weems will attend to sign and sell their books related to the love of animals and their relationships with humans.

Come out and join the fun!

New Release by Cheryl Peyton

Currently, there are 89.7 million pet dogs in the United States: purebred, cross-bred, and multi-bred. All of them trace their ancestry to a now-extinct grey wolf species. Today, all dogs still share 99.9% of their DNA with the modern grey wolf and belong to the same species, Canis lupus.

This book explores how the domestication of the wolf thousands of years ago led to the development of over 300 breeds of dogs worldwide. Why do we have so many breeds? What are their similarities and differences? Central to this study is the thesis that dogs have earned the title “man’s best friend” because of their significant impact on society and the countless individuals whose lives they have enriched.

New Release by Katherine Kirby Smith

(Katherine Parr)

Faith, hope, and betrayal. In 1860, Jane Burnett and her family flee poverty in Scotland to join the Mormon church, taking advantage of its fund to support immigrant settlers in Utah. Sailing the Atlantic, traveling by train to the Midwest, and joining a wagon train, the Burnetts finally arrive in burgeoning Salt Lake City. Jane marries Jim Smith, a successful rancher, and raises their children in the Promised Land. However, the promise is broken by a dark secret held by church leadership. Knowledge of that secret forces Jane and her family to leave Utah for Montana where the Indian Wars once again test her resilience.

New Release by Chota Writers Circle

The Chota Writers Circle is comprised of new authors and members of AGT, including Bill Barbour, Carmen Flores, John Forcum, Kathy Parr, Cheryl Peyton, Chuck Roseberry, Frank Snyder, Jeri Weems, and Curt Young. Their latest anthology of short stories is Winter Tales, 14 short stories set in the winter.

The stories recall memories of the wintertime, including working on the Paramount lot at Christmastime, surviving a storm at sea in Antarctica, family celebrations in winter, sheltering from blizzards in the rural northwest, the future AI influence on Christmas, and imagining how the first wolf approached the cave dweller’s fire to form a bond that would continue for thousands of years.

The book is available on Amazon as a paperback and an eBook.

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.