The Next Meeting of the Authors Guild of Tennessee

The AGT will hold its next meeting on Thursday, October 1, 2026, at the Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut, from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The featured speaker will be AGT member Debbie Burke, whose presentation is titled “How to Save Money When Hiring an Editor.” Topics include driving down costs when hiring an editor, AI in editing, and much more.

Debbie Burke is an award-winning editor with deep roots in publishing. A former newswriter and columnist for Dow Jones, she became the editor of a regional business journal and lifestyle magazine in Northeast Pennsylvania. Her editing/author coaching company, Queen Esther Publishing LLC, provides editorial services for first-time and experienced authors, small publishers, ghostwriters, and university presses. Burke is also a writing tutor and a member of the (US) Authors Guild, the American Copy Editors Society, AGT, the Editorial Freelancers Association, and many others. She is the author of fifteen books—fiction and nonfiction—covering photography, art, music, and publishing, including three series: Tasty Jazz Jams for Our Times ®, The Way the Light, and The Jazz After Midnight Series, and is the recipient of many industry awards for her books. Find her editorial services website at queenestherpublishing.com and her blog on photography, books, art, and music at debbieburkecreative.com.

Visitors are welcome.

A New Release from Catherine DeGuise

(Sue Hume)

Murders are never expected, least of all in a quiet country setting. One thing we do know is that people are not always as they seem. Everyone has secrets, many have motive.

Harper Malouf moves to a community of mostly retired people. Is life really so boring that murder is the only answer? Find out by reading this compelling story about the human condition and players with varied pasts and presents.

A New Release from Elizabeth Stiles

(Jeri Weems)

Most battles are fought for power. This one is fought for love.

For fifty years, Owen and Lillian have built something rare—a farm sanctuary where the abused and abandoned find safety, grace, and second chances. But now an industrial livestock complex—the kind that chokes waterways and treats suffering as the cost of doing business—has set its sights on the land surrounding their safe haven. Everything they’ve spent a lifetime building could wither in its shadow.

For two years, Jack has thrown himself into his work as a veterinarian at the sanctuary, haunted by a past he’s desperate to outrun. Then Brie arrives, and something he’s kept buried begins to surface. She eases into the rhythms of the sanctuary as if she’s always belonged there—as though the animals know something about her that even she cannot explain. And along the way, it’s the animals who draw her and Jack together.

A New Release by Chuck Roseberry

I was born in Kansas and grew up in Oregon with no ties to the entertainment industry. But I always wanted to be in show business. How did I get my foot in the door? Sometimes you just need a lucky break or a late-night reconnaissance mission on your motorcycle to a garbage can in Coldwater Canyon.

This is my journey to becoming a crew member, and my stories of working my way up from low-budget movies to big-union films and television shows in Hollywood. An old joke I love is about a circus worker who’s complaining about his longtime job cleaning elephant poop. When asked why he doesn’t quit, he replies, “What, and give up show business?!”

Being on the crew of movies and TV shows is like being part of the circus. But hopefully, after reading my showbiz adventure, you’ll see that in a way, we’re just one big dysfunctional family. Above the line, including actors, producers, directors, and below the line, the crew, coming together in pursuit of their shared passion and a paycheck.

A New Release by Cheryl Peyton

In this 10th book of the Alex Trotter series, Alex attends her 20-year high school reunion to share memories and to catch up on the present lives of classmates from her private academy in a western Chicago suburb. She didn’t expect many of those memories to be disturbing and hurtful.

When a classmate is found murdered over the weekend, Alex takes a critical look at all those memories and how her classmates were affected. Can she follow these clues to determine who the murderer is and why they took a classmate’s life?

A New Release by Katharine Kirby Smith

(Kathy Parr)

A children’s book about a baby squirrel who is caught in a storm while his mother is out foraging for acorns.

His nest is blown out of his tree, and when his mother doesn’t return, he is left to face the world on his own. He is caught by a hawk, but his tail breaks away from the talons and he falls safely back into the woods.

Forced to adapt to life without a tail, the squirrel finds shelter with a family in the Great Smoky Mountains.

New Release by Leoma Gilley and Carol Mullen

Whether you’re weary, searching, or simply wanting to grow closer to God, this book will help you make room—room for peace, room for clarity, and room for the divine companionship that has always been waiting for you.

Come Find Space with God offers spiritual practices and reflections to help individuals navigate life’s challenges and deepen their relationship with God.

New Release by Art Stewart

The 34 poems in this book include meditations on mortality, artistic identity, and the search for meaning through language. The title functions both literally and metaphorically—diagnosing the human condition itself, the poet’s relationship to his craft, and the process of reckoning with finite time. The three sections (Searching, Living, and Reckoning) create a clear arc from seeking poetic voice through grounded experience to confronting mortality with acceptance.

New Release by the Chota Writers Circle

The thirteen stories in this anthology reflect both expressions of patriotism on the occasion of our country’s 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The authors include the following members of AGT: Bill Barbour, Carmen Flores, John Forcum, Kathy Parr, Cheryl Peyton, and Chuck Roseberry. 

 The book opens with the story of Roger Sherman, one of the Committee of Five who drafted the document during the Second Continental Congress. He offered a compromise that determined the composition of our government.

       The stories that follow are often poignant. We are heartened to read of immigrants who came here seeking and finding a better life. We are moved by stories of soldiers who were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect our country and defeat our enemies. They often paid the ultimate price. Other stories celebrate the beauty of our country and the welcoming spirit of our people. 

This anthology is available on Amazon as both 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.