Liberty States Fiction Writers

Michael McLaughlin is ecstatic to share he received Best First Sentence Award at
ThrillerFest 2026 for the opening of a thriller novel in progress—”The hole still wasn’t deep enough for Edgar to bury his wife.” Additionally, his short story “The Ballad of Bad Cotty” was selected as a Finalist in the Humor category for the Next Generation Short Story Award. To learn more about Michael and his books, visit:
https://mclaughlinbooks.com/.

LSF Writers Member Lois Winston sat down in early May for a fun interview with author Lyssa Lund. You can view it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5U3nJSUZqc. To learn more about Lois and her books, visit: http://www.loiswinston.com/.

Wishing all the dads out there a very Happy Father's Day! Hoping you spend a lovely day with your loved ones!

LSF Writers Member Yvonne Ventresca is moderating an “opening pages” panel
Sunday, June 28, (free and open to the public) sponsored by MWA NY. Fellow LSF Writers member, Linda Rawlins, is a panelist. To learn more about Yvonne and her books, visit: https://yvonneventresca.com/index.html. To learn more about Linda and her books, visit: https://lindarawlins.com/. To learn more about the event, visit: https://www.mwany.org/event/library-panel-discussion-whats-at-stake-hooking-thereader-from-page-one/.

LSF Writers Member Stacey Wilk is hosting a readers’ conference August 20-21, 2027, at the APA Hotel Woodbridge, in Iselin, New Jersey. The conference will have reader-focused workshops, a murder mystery dinner, an exclusive experience for VIP ticket holders, and a book signing. She would love for you to fill out the author interest form. You can find it at the “Sorry. I’m Booked!” website: https://www.sorryimbookedreaderscon.com/.

LSF Writers Member Jim Gallagher, an illustration graduate of the School of Visual Arts NYC, has captured many iconic images throughout his lifetime. Two are “Here’s Johnny” and “His Honor” Mayor Koch, NY Society of Illustrators. A few of his commissioned pieces are Hard Rock Café Worldwide R&R Portraits, Bell Labs
Nobel Prize Winner Portraits of Penzias and Wilson, Bellcore Labs Portrait of Alexander Graham Bell, Buzz Aldrin B&W Portrait, and Pan Am Museum, Garden City, NY. To view these and more of Jim’s illustrations, visit his Instagram accounts Jim_Gallagher_artwork and gofi gurejim.

This month's workshop is Buzz on a Budget: Smart Marketing for Every Author. Think you need a huge budget to market your book? Think again. Suzanne Uttaro Samuels walks writers through creative, low-cost strategies to connect with readers, from leveraging Substack and social media to partnering with bookstores, libraries, and community organizations. Practical tips and real-world examples will help you promote smarter — not just harder.

Guests are welcome! Meetings are held via Zoom and in-person at the Main Branch of the Edison Public Library.

About the Presenter: Suzanne Uttaro Samuels is a novelist, essayist, and legal scholar whose work explores identity, justice, and memory across generations and borders. Her award-winning stories and essays have appeared in anthologies and literary magazines. Seeds of the Pomegranate is her debut novel.

Suzanne was a finalist in the Women’s Fiction Writers Association’s Rising Star contest and the Historical Novel Society’s First Pages competition, and her work received recognition in the Thomas Wolfe Prize for Fiction. She is currently working on The Orphans’ Wheel, a prequel set in 19th-century Sicily during the Italian Wars of Independence. It follows young Rosina Inglese, the formidable Nonna from Seeds, as revolution and loss shape the legacy to come.

Born and raised in Staten Island, Suzanne spent most of her life in and around New York City. A former professor of law and political science, she is the author of highly acclaimed books on constitutional law, the Supreme Court, and the continuing fight for gender and racial equality. After years in academia, she turned to fiction to illuminate the human stories that are often obscured by legal opinions and government documents.

Happy Throwback Thursday! It's time for a throwback to one of our first meetings in September 2009 with the wonderful Michele Richter, a CPA who was speaking to authors about how to handle their taxes. It's been a wonderful ride in all the years since then and the many workshops we've had. This month's workshop is BOOK BUZZ with Suzanne Uttaro Samuels. We welcome guests to come and visit with us! For more info, please visit www.lsfwriters.com.

LSF Writers Member Joe Smalley had a short story published in the online journal The Rush Magazine. The story is called Wayward Son, and it's a microfiction story about a prehistoric child abandoned by his mother during a time of extreme drought, who is ultimately rescued by beings of an unfathomable origin. It's sort of a prequel to the middle-grade novel I'm pitching. You can read the story at https://www.therushmagazine.com/post/wayward-son. Joe writes as Rusty Arbor, and you can follow him on Instagram at .

LSF Writers Member Michael McLaughlin recently participated in the Author Meet & Greet at Classics Books & Gifts in Trenton and at the Local Authors Day event through Act 2 Books in Flemington. Michael was also interviewed on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, on the podcast Five Compelling Questions With Shawn. You can listen to it on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/0HEEeVEP02b2KTvkVmAh1T. To
learn more about Michael and his books, please visit:
https://mclaughlinbooks.com/.