Book excerpt: For 35 years, SouthWest Writers, headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has helped authors find their voice, through a strong collaboration of 350+ writers, editors, illustrators, publishers and marketers, gladly sharing their expertise through meeting presentations, workshops, classes, conferences and one-on-one mentoring. For more information on the group go to www.southwestwriters.com. Their motto is "Writers Helping Writers, and one of the fruits of that labor is their annual short writings contest, open to everyone. It gives writers of prose and poetry, both fiction and non-fiction, an opportunity to showcase previously unpublished work. Their 2021 contest featured 20 categories, including Animals, Biography, Crime/Mystery, Fantasy/Futuristic/Science Fiction, Historical, Humor, Horror/Suspense/Thriller, Love, Loss, Memoir, Nature, Romance, Spirituality, Social Consciousness and Travel; a literary smorgasbord containing something for every reader's taste, with several proudly showcasing southwestern themes; Native American culture, Cowboys, even alien encounters. From 337 entries received--each double-judged--the top 58 were selected for cash awards and publication. Authors published here include Chris Allen, Lynn Andrepont, Lynn Assimacpoulos, Larry Baer, Heather Bennett, Alane Brown, Bailey Burk, Joe Cappello, John Cornish, Rebecca Dakota, Donald de Noon, Vanessa Foster, Matthew Geyer, Jenny Hansen, Pk Hill, Kathleen Holmes, Carlton Holt, Ed Lehner, Laina MacRae, Conor McAnally, Tony Major, Marcia Meier, Jennifer Mitchell, Claire Murray, Matt Nyman, Sue Ann Owens, Laurie Pals, Meg Scherch Peterson, Elise Phillips, Charles Powell, Lucy M. Quinn, Dustin Ramsbacher, Carol Rawie, Tisha Reichle-Aguilera, Kimberly Rose, Lois Ruby, Lynne Sebastian, Avraham Shama, Michelle Smith, Anna Sochocky, Dana Starr, Maggie Griffin Taylor and Emmaly Weiderholt. You are sure to enjoy their imaginative, thought-provoking and entertaining stories and poems.