by Pam Poulsen and Denise McInerney

In 1996, Kathy Caskie saw the potential within WRW, one of the largest RWA chapters in the country, to offer a unique and worthwhile contest to unpublished and published writers, alike. The contest was called Novel Beginnings. Well publicized, this first contest brought in a record number of entries. The awards ceremony was held at the WRW Retreat in Columbia, Maryland in the spring of 1997.

It was at the Retreat in Columbia that most of us learned of the tragic passing of one of our members, Marlene Montano. A tall, attractive blonde, Marlene had only been a member of WRW for a year or two, but had already proven herself an enthusiastic volunteer. Binnie Syril Braunstein had the opportunity to work with her on PR for the Get a Clue workshop. Says Binnie, “(Marlene was) very nice, very bright, funny, and great to work with. We had a lot of great conversations about “Clue” and I was really looking forward to working with her.” Marlene died of an unsuspected aneurysm on a trip home to visit family.

After hearing of Marlene’s passing, Kathy and then-WRW president, Deborah Barnhart, made the decision to call the contest’s award the Marlene Medallion in honor and remembrance of Marlene Montano. The announcement was made at the ceremony that night. Kathy handed over the reins of the contest the next year and, as often happens, few remembered the naming of the award. One who did, having won one of those very first awards, was Pam Poulsen. When we (Pam and Denise) took over the contest two years ago, we not only reintroduced the name, the Marlene Medallion, but we went a step further. We gave the name to the contest. The Marlene Awards was born.

Binnie says, “I...think Marlene would be pleased and honored that her interest in romance writing is perpetuated in the contest that encourages other writers and nurtures their careers—and bears her name.”