The Catholic Writers Guild (CWG) teaches me about writing through its website, blog, critique groups, networking and conferences. Talking about CWG (and our local DFW Catholic Writers) teaches me what a privilege it is to speak about these interconnected organizations on the air. Here’s a link to my interview with Ram Rodriguez of Guadalupe Radio Network (GRN) KATH 910 AM for “Interview of the Week” about the Catholic Writers Guild and the DFW Catholic Writers.

The 20-minute interview consisted of question-and-answer interchanges about our local DFW Catholic Writers Groups and the international professional organization that started it all, the Catholic Writers Guild.

In this fast-paced exchange, Ram Rodriguez, host of “Interview of the Week,” and his listeners discovered that the DFW Catholic Writers group is for writers of fiction, non-fiction, adult, young adult, children’s books, sci-fi, family histories, devotionals, plays, blogs and newsletters. They learned that at the meetings everyone gets a chance to talk about his or her writing, to present a few pages for the group to critique, to ask questions about writing technique, marketing, self-publishing vs. traditional publishing houses as well as offer writing, marketing, blogging or publishing tips.

I explained that DFW Catholic Writers helps writers through networking, marketing, critiquing and encouragement. The local group is a mini-version of what goes on in the Catholic Writers Guild on FaceBook, CatholicWritersGuild.org and their live and on-line conferences.

Where it all began

I well remember my first interview. What an experience! It was in the spring before the 2012 CWG Live conference came to Dallas-Ft. Worth that summer. I was called on to promote the conference twice on GRN, which airs in the North Texas area, including Fort Worth and Dallas.

The Catholic Writers’ Conference joined with the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show in Arlington, TX, located midway between Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas. I stood up during the introductory session and asked the local writers who wanted to form a local Catholic writers group to meet me outside. A dozen or so enthusiastic writers gave me their contact information. That’s how the DFW Catholic Writers began.

When, where, how and PR

We struggled to get started, define our mission and agree on procedures. We searched for the right place to meet and finally settled on a large centrally located bookstore with a conference room and free Wi-Fi. It has big library tables and an in-house café for our once-a-month lunchtime meeting. Soon we added a second meeting, this one at night across town at the Catholic University of Dallas. Two locations, one at noon and one at night, same great group. What more could you want?

One of our members, Lisa Nicholas, created a blog for us to inform and encourage new members. The blog, plus email reminders, helps us keep the meeting times and places straight.

GRN obliged our need for publicity with Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and more interviews. The attendance at our meetings fluctuated with the timing of the PSAs, decreasing during Sharathons with no PSAs and increased when the PSAs resumed after the fund-raising effort ended.

Both the DFW Catholic Writers and Catholic Writers Guild give professional support to my writing career in comparable ways, like tasting an international coffee in a local coffee shop.  I’m learning so much more than writing skills when I accept the privilege of promoting these two interconnected groups — and interviewing is so much fun!

Nancy Ward, convert, journalist, author, and speaker, writes from Texas about Catholicism, conversion and Christian community at NancyHCWard.com, JOYAlive.net, and other websites and magazines. Through her Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story workshops, retreats and DVD, she shares her conversion story in Catholic parishes and at conferences, equipping others to share their stories. She contributed to the award-winning The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion, facilitates two Catholic Writers Guild critique groups, serves on the Guild’s Board, and speaks at national writers conferences.