I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime, and have found a great deal of support for my writing and help over the years from those organizations and their sub-chapters. For several years, I was vice-president and then president of the Southeast chapter of MWA. And though I’m not as active in it as I’d like to be, I also belong to Murder We Write, the NC Triad chapter of SinC.

I’ve also belonged to several sub-chapters of RWA including both my local ones, Carolina Romance Writers and Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, and a number of online chapters. The one closest to my heart since I was a founding member of it is the Gothic Romance Writers chapter.

It’s always been a small chapter with usually around two dozen or so members, and we’ve sometimes let conversation lapse for long periods of time. But when a member needs help or support, these ladies (yes, we’re all ladies) have rallied around.

We live in different parts of the world, most of us in the U.S., but not all. We are different ages and ethnicities, at different stages in our careers, have varying interests and employment. What links us is a love for reading, writing, and talking about Gothic novels.

Right now, though, this chapter is in a bit of a bind. Membership has fallen over the last couple of years and the chapter is in danger of disbanding. I would hate to see that happen! We’re in the process of revamping our website to make it friendlier and more useful and hope to get more interesting discussions going.

But we need a few more members to rejoin or new members to sign up. If you’re already a member of Romance Writers of America (the sole criteria for membership), please consider joining or rejoining Gothic Writers and help us get this chapter on firm footing again. Join here: http://www.gothrom.net/onlineapp.html