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URLDavid W. BettertonPleasantville Stories: Sex, Dancing, and Shooting U.S. Navy Jets (Growing Up in South New Jersey in the 1960s) is a collection of short stories and poems all about growing up in small-town Pleasantville, NJ, in the 1960s. P’ville Stories is available at most retail outlets. Please leave this field empty Hi there!Thanks for stopping by! Join our mailing list for news and updates from your favorite local writing group! Once a month, never any more. We’ll never share your info. We know you have enough to read! Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Max Burger’s published book, Even in Death, a mystery/thriller of the Irish Troubles, has received a favorable review from Midwest Book Review. In addition, an excerpt, “Lost and Found,” from another manuscript by Max Burger, My Father’s Father, for which he is seeking publication, has been published in The Jewish Fiction Journal. About Even in Death: After the Dublin car bombings in 1974, Harold Stokes, ME, and his new assistant, Samantha Monaghan, begin the last autopsy of the casualties. This unidentified victim is not an Irishman, but an Israeli, killed by a bullet, not a bomb. Before they can finish……(continued)

By Susan Rosenbluth On July 7, SJWG members were invited to spend the day at Bradley Beach at the Rosenbluths’ beach house. After a bagels-with-the-trimmings brunch, some of those who came used the time to enjoy the surf and sand; others spent the afternoon relaxing with ocean breezes on our porch. As the day wore on, those who had signed up to read my novel, Blurred Vision, as Beta Readers, were kind enough to share their thoughts about the book, and then we ate dinner at Kaya’s Kitchen, a vegan restaurant in nearby Belmar.

Gail Priest is excited to share that her latest novel, Soul Dancing, was selected as an American Fiction Awards finalist in Women’s Fiction. Firebird Book Awards awarded it first place in Cross Genre and second place in Women’s Fiction. It was also a Regal Summit Book Awards winner in Paranormal Fiction. About Soul Dancing: When ninety-year-old Shirlene Foster dies, she is shocked to wake up in another woman’s body. Even more astonishing, she’s in a hospital delivery room, about to give birth. Fearing no one will believe her, she attempts to hide her true identity, but acting like a twenty-year-old……(continued)

SJWG member Jennifer Cohen, publishing as Jennifer Leigh, has released Bridge Between Stars, now available on Amazon! About Bridge Between Stars: A girl living her life in the shadows is thrust into another realm where her identity is revealed, sparking an inevitable rebellion. Elora has lead a tragic life that has left her alone, unwanted, and yearning for more. A voice of love beyond the stars calls for her and she is thrusted into another realm where she learns her true identity. She is star-born; bearing the star of chaos and creation. The voice who she has longed to see……(continued)

By Susan Rosenbluth It’s a fair bet South Jersey Writers Group members lucky enough to attend the June 6th presentation by literary agent Andrea Cascardi left the meeting with perhaps the most important takeaway possible for an author trying to win representation: Make the first sentence of your query count. “Considering the number of queries most agents receive, you have only that one sentence to convince the agent to go on to sentence number two,” she said. This most sensible piece of advice flies in the face of what many in the industry consider the first of the quintessential “rules” of……(continued)

We’ve read middle grade by Amy Holiday and a witchy family saga by Noelle Gallagher. Now we’re moving into mystery/thriller territory with Susan Rosenbluth’s novel! The Beta Reader Book Club is a semi-monthly meetup for writers to submit their finished manuscripts to a group of willing readers, who will The RSVP deadline is June 2. Readers will be selected and manuscripts will be sent by June 7. Members will be offered the option of Kindle format, PDF, MS Word, or Google Docs. The Book Club Discussion Date is likely to be Sunday, July 7–a day at the beach at Susie’s……(continued)

Please join us for the launch of Gail Priest’s new book, SOUL DANCING, published May 7, 2024 by Red Adept Publishing! Kathleen Long, USA Today Bestselling Author, will be hosting and interviewing Gail. She’ll read a short passage from Soul Dancing, and there will be lots of giveaways! Books will be for sale (20% of the proceeds will go to the library), and Gail will personally sign them. (You can also bring books you’ve already bought to be signed!) Gail’s fourth full-length novel is Women’s Fiction with a paranormal twist.Visit www.gailpriest.com for her other titles. Congratulations Gail! We can’t wait to celebrate with you! RSVPs are……(continued)

Hosted By Amy and Susan R. Thursday, June 6, 20247:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT Details Andrea Cascardi is a children’s book agent. She will talk about the process by which an agent evaluates potential clients, and what the market looks like these days for picture books and middle grade. About Andrea: Andrea Cascardi held senior editorial and publishing roles at Random House, Disney/Hyperion, and Egmont USA. As an editor, she acquired and edited Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King winner Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold, the Raffi Songs to Read series, and Pura Belpre winner Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez……(continued)

Good news to share! Gail Priest’s next novel, Soul Dancing, is being released by Red Adept Publishing on May 7, 2024! There’s a Kindle preorder sale (only $2.99) going on now! Gail describes Soul Dancing as a women’s fiction novel with a paranormal twist. She thinks men will enjoy reading it too. Please consider preordering and signing up for her newsletter for updates. Soul Dancing description: When ninety-year-old Shirlene Foster dies, she is shocked to wake up in another woman’s body. Even more surprising, she’s in a hospital delivery room, about to give birth. Fearing no one will believe her,……(continued)