Looking Back and Looking Ahead: TAF’s Year in Review for 2025

By Maya Spikes

It’s time to look back on 2025. Can you believe how quickly we’re moving through this decade?

Here are just some of the special moments that made 2025 a memorable year for TAF and its members:

In keeping with our desire to provide interesting and informative resources for writers, we continued publishing monthly posts on our TAF Blog. These essays and articles, written by members, cover many aspects of writing and publishing. This year, we had another eclectic mix of topics which included poetry, shadow writing, romance writing, mental health writing, and tips about avoiding scams. If you haven’t read it yet, check out our blog here.

In May, more than 100 aspiring and professional writers attended our annual Write Now! Conference. Our keynote speakers were New York Times best-selling author S.A. Cosby and writing coach and longtime publishing editor Tiffany Yates Martin. Conference sessions included: “A Sense Of Place: Travel Writing For Beginners” by Stephanie Elizondo Griest, “The Devil’s In The Details: Specificity In Nonfiction Writing” by Don Vaughan, “Fantasy Worldbuilding & Real-World Research” by Whitney Hill, “Using Poetry To Elevate Journalistic Writing” by Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld, “Throwing A Pitch That Lands” by David Menconi, and “Creative Marketing For Self-Publishers” by Rebecca Dalton.

In July, we welcomed the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers (HCRW), formerly a chapter of the Romance Writers of America, to TAF! Andrea Wenger, a longtime member of both organizations, realized they were a natural fit and suggested the merger. Both organizations focus on support, education, and networking for writers and authors. HCRW holds quarterly face-to-face events, a monthly Book-in-a-Week writing competition, and periodic educational webinars, now offered through TAF. We appreciate the expertise and other resources HCRW brings to TAF, and are enriched by the participation of these writers with big hearts!

In September, we continued our growing series of anthologies with the publication of The TAF Omnibus Vol. IV (Stories, Essays & Poems) edited by Arlene Bice. The TAF members who contributed their talents made this year’s collection our largest group anthology yet, coming in at just under 250 pages.

Throughout 2025, we continued our monthly meetings and hosted three TAF Talks, all via Zoom. Featured meeting speakers included author Nanette Vaughan, TAF founder Don Vaughan, Saturday Evening Post website editor Jennifer Bortel, children’s magazine editor Troy Brownstein, hurricane expert Jay Barnes, editor and romance author Andrea Wenger, and Wake County Public Libraries Director Tammy Baggett, along with Wake County Public Libraries Senior Library Manager Theresa Theall.

We also featured a special poetry workshop hosted by poet Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld, as well as a romance roundtable discussion with romance writers Sherri Hollister, LaVerne St. George, and Angela Rush.

Our first TAF Talk guest for this year was author S.A. Cosby. We also hosted our first Editor Roundtable during another TAF Talk with Therese Castillo (Veterinary Practice News), Jennifer Bortel (The Saturday Evening Post), Moriah Richard (Writer’s Digest), and Sheree Renee Thomas (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction).

As we look forward to 2026, be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s Write Now! conference. Our conference planning committee is currently finalizing arrangements for this event, which will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at The McKimmon Center in Raleigh. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements about guest speakers, session topics, and other conference details! You can find updates on our conference page.

And finally, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to all of our TAF members for making 2025 another successful year. Thank you for helping us maintain a growing community of professional writers who support and encourage each other in their creative endeavors.

I wish you much writing success in 2026 and beyond. Happy Holidays!

Maya Spikes

Executive Director, Triangle Association of Freelancers