James River Writers

06/09/2026

Look out for the Members Only Newsletter that drops tomorrow! Award-winning, and National Bestselling author, Rachel Beanland (), takes us behind the scenes of her creative process and a gives us an exclusive chat about her new book, "The Half Life." Don't miss out, become a member today, www.jamesriverwriters.org/memberships

06/05/2026

Member News: JRW Member, Amanda Creasey, is partnering with local bookshop, Book People, to offer a dog-friendly writing workshop this July! Writers are encouraged to bring up to two canine companions along for this playful, dog-centric writing workshop on July 11 and July 25. https://www.bookpeoplerichmond.com/event/2026-07-11/writers-best-friend-workshop

06/02/2026

Are you considering getting an MFA in Creative Writing? Gary Dop, founding director of Randolph College's MFA low residency creative writing program has a few tips for writers considering the MFA route. Look out for the article in the Members-Only Newsletter dropping in inboxes on June 10th. Not a member yet? Join us: jamesriverwriters.org/memberships

05/31/2026

ICYMI: Check out Howard Owen's article "The Value of the Second (and Third) Self-Edit" in the May's Members-Only Newsletter! A new Members-Only Article and Writer's Spotlight feature drops on June 10th. Sign up to become a member just in time to get it: www.jamesriverwriters.org/membership

05/29/2026

The Authors Guild has an important webinar coming up. Scammy/spammy emails are proliferating. (JRW even got one for an actual author named James Rivers!) Protect yourself by being informed.

As a wave of scams targeting authors continues and evolves over time, authors need to know how to avoid them and what to do after communicating with a scammer. FBI Agent John Gill joins us to explain the hallmarks of […]

05/29/2026

Member News: JRW member, Amanda Creasey, is leading a writing workshop that STINKS! The workshop in in collaboration with Rising Dawn Yoga Studio and Possum-Bilities where participants get to write with Frick and Frack, ambassador skunks, in a two-hour mindfulness creative writing workshop in Fredericksburg on June 27. More info:

05/28/2026

Member News: JRW member William Campbell's book, "Soldier for the Union," was accepted for publication and will be released July 7,2026. The novel is a war story and a love story told through the eyes of a battlefield medical unit. It is available for pre-order. In the meantime, check out "Civil War Dispatches" Substack; created to support the book and is focused on Civil War history and Civil War medicine.
https://bookshop.org/a/3037/9798897471638

05/27/2026

Shout out to award-winning editor and novelist, Rachel McRady (), for being in our Writer Spotlight for the month of May. Rachel wrote "Sunseekers" and she tells us all about it (and more about her writing process) in JRW's Members-Only Newsletter.
Sign up to become a member today to catch up on all our exclusive content.
www.jamesriverwriters.org/membership

05/23/2026

Member News: JRW member Amanda Sue Creasey is featured on the podcast, Drinking with Authors. Join her, her adopted dogs, and her adopted parrot as they chat with best-selling author Nick Savage about tea, writing, animals, the querying process, and the Salem witch trials. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LlNYtAfy6g

05/18/2026

Tomorrow night our ED, Katharine Herndon, will be on The Literary Grapevine online with Kim Wells Eley of KWE Publishing. Tuesday, May 19 6:00 pm EST, https://www.kwepub.com/event-details-registration/the-literary-grapevine-james-river-writers-success-stories-and-what-agents-really-want