IWSG: Writing Playlist

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive. Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

APRIL 1 QUESTION - If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?

MY ANSWER - My playlists change frequently but often highlights hits from the 1980s and 90s. While I enjoy other time periods, those seem to be the ones I'm drawn to the most, but the genre changes based on mood and needs. I'm just as likely to listen to classical as rap and enjoy country just as much as rock and pop. I'm fortunate to have a family that loves music just as much as I do so they are just as eclectic in their tastes.

How about you? If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?

8 Submissions Due by March 31

Eight submissions open with a March 31 due date:

1. EYE CONTACT AWARD IN GENRE FLASH FICTION

https://sites.google.com/setonhill.edu/eyecontact/guidelines/genre-flash-fiction-prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Theme Symphony. Genre Fantasy. Submit the best genre story that lands 1000 words or less by the deadline — and that also fits the theme — and you could not only be accepted into the magazine but win a cash prize (or gift card equivalent) of $250!

2. COPPICE PRIZE
https://www.redbudwriting.org/coppice-prize-2026
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The Coppice Prize is an annual short story competition run by the Redbud Writing Project. Every year, we invite writers around the world to submit a short story, up to 4000 words. The contest is open to writers who identify as belonging to marginalized or under-represented groups (e.g. cultural identity, income level of your family, racial identity, gender identity, disability, or something else). Winners and the finalist receive review and feedback from a literary agent. Winners also receive $600 (first place), $300 (second place) and $100 (third place).

3. CLAIRE HARRIS POETRY PRIZE
https://gooselane.com/pages/claire-harris-poetry-prize-submissions

NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Eligible writers include Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada who are writers from Black, Indigenous, or other racialized communities and who have not previously published a book-length collection of poetry. (Poets who have published a chapbook, but not yet a book-length collection, are eligible to apply). Manuscripts should be book-length works of poetry, i.e., approximately 48-100 pages. The prize includes a cash award of $1,000, a contract for the publication of the collection under the icehouse poetry imprint in the following year (2027), and public readings in at least three Canadian cities.

4. FOLEY POETRY CONTEST

https://americamedia.submittable.com/submit
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Each entrant is asked to submit one poem of 45 lines or fewer. Poems should not be under consideration elsewhere. Poems may address any topic. The winning poem will be announced in early June and published in the print edition of America. The cash prize is $1,000. Three runners-up will also be published in subsequent issues.

 

5. PARSEC SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://parsec-sff.org/short-story-contest/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The 2026 Contest theme is "Metamorphosis." No minimum, no more than 3500 words. Stories will be judged on writing quality and effective use of the contest theme. The contest is open to non-professional writers who have not met the eligibility requirements for SFWA Full Membership. Writers meeting the SFWA Associate level of membership are eligible to submit to the contest. Submitting to the contest implies consent for printing in the Confluence program book and publication in a short story contest ebook that will be distributed to Parsec members. First-place receives $200 and publication in the Confluence program book and 2026 short story contest ebook. Second-place receives $100 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. Third-place receives $50 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. Youth Story Prize receives $50 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook.

 

6. THE ILSE SCHWEPCKE PRIZE FOR WOMEN'S TRAVEL WRITING
https://societyofauthors.org/prizes/other-prizes/ilse-schwepcke-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. This prize is for non-fiction prose works of travel writing and not open to fiction or poetry. The winning author will receive £5,000. Entries must be written in English and not translated works. Submissions must be made by an established commercial publisher.

 

7. ANN PETRY AWARD

https://redhen.org/ann-petry-award/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The Ann Petry Award is for a work of previously unpublished prose, either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a minimum of 150 pages, by a Black writer. Grand prize $3000, publication by Red Hen Press. 

 8. WILD LOT PRESS

https://wildlotpress.com/submissions

NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31 2026. Wild Lot Press, with the assistance of the Pennsylvania Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator Program (CEAP), is publishing an illustrated nonfiction anthology book about night, with the working title Nightness: Ruminations on the Darker Side of Day. We’re looking for essays/creative nonfiction of any length, from snippets and passing anecdotes to longform opuses, that take keen interest in what happens between dusk and dawn in the wild spaces of our world, or better still, in the liminal spaces that bridge the human-centric, built world and the extra-human margins that encircle us. The winning essay will receive a prize of $250; all selected contributors will receive free copies.

2026 A to Z Challenge Master List Opens

Don't forget to join the "A to Z" blog hop and post your theme reveal if you have not already done so. Also, today is the official open of the Master List if you have not signed up yet.

I thought about joining again this year, but I've just taken on too many responsibilities at the moment and I'm not certain I'll be around to post each day, let alone have time to visit all of the blogs each day. I do plan to stop by and visit as possible. I just know it will be difficult to dedicate a lot of time over the next two months.

Best of luck to all who are participating. I look forward to visiting as possible.

To learn more about this challenge, or what you can expect to see this April, be sure to follow their website http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ 

Theme reveal sign up: March 9
Theme reveal closes: March 14
Master list opens: March 23
Master list closes: April 4
After-survey: May 4-9
Reflections: May 3-8
Road-trip: May 11

Have you ever participated in this challenge? Will you be taking part this year? What other hops or challenges do you enjoy?

2026 St. Patrick's Day

March 17 is the traditional day to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Some of the best-known celebrations in the United States include Walt Disney World's Raglan Road experience, Chicago River Dyeing, and parades in New York.

If you're interested in participating in some St. Patrick's Day fun, but not quite sure how or where near you, check out this article I shared a couple of years ago: Irish Classics, Prompts, and Party Tips.

Feeling Lucky? Check out the post about where I and a few other writers get their inspiration: https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2022/03/feeling-lucky.html

Some additional educational and fun holiday ideas include:

• Streaming Irish jigs and songs.
• Watching traditional Irish dance on YouTube or chrome cast to your TV.
• Adding green food dye to your short bread cookie recipes.
• Sewing or gluing crazy Green Irish hats, ties or belts using felt, ribbons, or fabrics.
• Cooking Irish Stew, scones and clotted cream or butter from scratch or from cans. 
• Telling Irish fables about leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, or gnomes.
• Reminding your children about the “kiss of the blarney” and the folkloric tradition known today as “the gift of the gab”.
• Research the real St. Patrick.

How about you? Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day? How are you spending this time?

IWSG: Book Launches

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive. Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

MARCH 4 QUESTION - What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

MY ANSWER - I've never launched a book alone because I've never attempted to publish an entire book. I have had the pleasure of working with many others on launching anthologies I was fortunate enough to appear in alongside. So, I look forward to reading what the other IWSG members say on this subject. 

How about you? What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book?

A to Z Blogging Challenge 2026

It's almost time for the annual "A to Z" blogging challenge. Most repeat participants have already begun planning their posts for this April and will soon be posting theme reveals. Are there any themes you would particularly care to see, or learn about in April?

Sign-ups usually begin in March.  Followed by a schedule similar to below:

Theme reveal sign up: March 9
Theme reveal closes: March 14
Master list opens: March 23
Master list closes: April 4
After-survey: May 4-9
Reflections: May 3-8
Road-trip: May 11

To learn more about this challenge, or what you can expect to see this April, be sure to follow their website http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/ 

Have you ever participated in this challenge? Will you be taking part this year? What other hops or challenges do you enjoy?

15 Reminders of Love

Valentine's Day may be over, but celebrating love doesn't have to be forgotten. As a reminder of this to myself, here are a few of my old loves and reads:

1) My family

2) My friends

3) Reading

4) Writing. 

5) Love is in the Air - Time to spread some love... a few of the authors of FIRST LOVE, IWSG Anthology #7 would like to share some lovely thoughts about how they and/or their characters romanticize Valentine's Day!

6) These are a Few of My Favorite Weird Things - a few things about myself that readers found interesting or funny.

7) 5 Step Formula for Plot Structure - a quick and reliable formula to help plot or revise a story of any length or genre.

8) When God Says Wait - a good read for anyone struggling with patience.

9) Loving Castle - a favorite television series that I'm enjoying rewatching.

10) Creativity, Inc - a great book on creativity and leadership.

11) Bernard Pivot Blogfest - one of my favorite questionnaires of all time.

12) Loving a Great Character - some of my favorite characters of all time.

13) Dulcinea and New Links - my dogs favorite questionnaires of all time.

14) Show, Don't Tell - a favorite exercise I use with students when teaching inferences and the concept of Show, Don't Tell.

15) Summer Literary Trips

How about you? Did you revisit any old loves this month?