PWN Success Stories

We are thrilled to share recent success stories of our writers and instructors!

Natasha de Carvalho’s flash piece “Caught in the Act” was published in The Sun’s “Reader’s Write” December edition. The opening line says it all: “When my seven-year-old walked in on my husband and me…” Natasha says: “I  workshopped this piece in Project Write Now’s Memoir Writing Intensive class. It was interesting to see how they edited an already very short piece, and also a reminder on how long the lead time still is for print publications; It seemed like ages between submission, acceptance, and final publication.” 

“The tools and techniques work” says Lizbeth Finn, Program Manager of PWN’s Screenwriting Academy. Her screenplay The Curse of Snake Hill won several awards including:

– Best Horror Screenplay in the New York International Film Awards (October 2021),
– Best Feature Script in the Rome Movies Awards (October 2021), and
– Best Feature Script in the Sweet Democracy Film Awards (November 2021).     

When asked about how this came about, Lizbeth said: 

“To test the tools and techniques I’ve been teaching for the past two years in the PWN Screenwriting Incubator, I took a script that I wrote ten years ago and revised it. I was so focused on the rewrite that I put my YA novel aside and brought script pages into my PWN KidLit class and they graciously humored me and provided feedback, proving the PWN community is essential to the writing process. After months of revising and polishing, I decided to submit the script to festivals as a way to test the waters so I could guide my students through the contest/festival process. And luckily, the results have been positive and reaffirming. The tools and techniques work. And my students are already starting to win their own awards!”

Two PWN 2021 Screenwriting Incubator students, Amy and Michael Etra, won Hollywood Script Awards’ Best TV Pilot for their script “Old Daddy.”  

“We could not have gone this far without the PWN Screenwriting Incubator. Our instructor Liz Finn guided us through the entire process, pushing us to live up to our potential during and after class, showing patience with our mistakes and complimenting us on our success.” 

During the lockdown, while the rest of us were watching Tiger King, Lori Heninger created and published a children’s book. Reading excerpts of her book at PWN’s Open Mics helped her realize that there was something there. Lori said: 

“Outside Inside Outside was written while my grandson napped. I watched him for his first year and a half while his parents worked, and I read the classics to him: One Fish Two Fish, Where the Wild Things Are, etc. I became fixated (as I am wont to do) on the idea that there are things that start outside of something, then go inside, then come back outside. The poems were funny and after I wrote them, I put them away until PWN’s Open Mic gave me the chance to read them to others—the reaction was hilarity, open-mouthed laughter, and I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something with these.’ During the pandemic, I created illustrations from fabric and found objects to go with each poem and because I was told over and over ‘No one publishes poetry collections for children,’ I decided to do it myself. My husband did the layout (thank you, Marc). Outside Inside Outside is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The BIGGEST shout-out to PWN—without Open Mic, this book would not exist!”

Co-host of PWN’s Debut Review, Courtney Harler published “How to Put Forth, to Go Forth: Thoughts on Process & Product” in the Masters Review Blog. Courtney said: “I wrote the piece based on the conceptual work I’ve done for PWN’s Sub & Pub Class and Club. Designing those classes, while also deeply considering other recent experiences in the literary world, helped me clarify my thoughts on the topic.”

Tina Hudak, a frequent participant in Lunchtime Write-In, had a flash fiction piece “Every October’s End” published in Spillwords this past October.

This Fall, Shanda McManus, a PWN instructor and participant in the 2021 Novel Incubator, had her piece “Fingernails” published in CrazyHorse Journal. Shanda said: “This piece is an excerpt from my memoir Missing Pieces that I am now querying. I completed this project through the PWN Novel Incubator (even though I wrote a memoir). The incubator cohort was incredible and helped me reach the goal of completing the manuscript. I submitted this piece in December 2020 and did not hear anything until September 2021. So sometimes a long wait can still mean yes.”

Lou Storey, a participant in PWN’s Fresh Reader program as well as a Poetry student, has had several recent publications: 

– “Never Finished” in the October 2021 issue of Burningwood Literary Journal;
– “Newfangled,” one of fifteen short story contest winners published in Stories Through the Ages, Living Springs Publishers; and
– The poem “The Man That Set Me Free,” featured in Beyond Words Queer Anthology 2021.

Lou said: “Laura Cyphers, along with the members of PWN’s Poetry group, provided ongoing support and inspiration for my writing, as did my participation in PWN’s excellent Fresh Reader Program.”