Rogue Chris Goff’s cousin Mer and great-aunt Evie Box

All of us have a Rogue woman in our lives – a mother, a grandmother, a favorite aunt, someone special to us. In honor of Mother’s Day, the Rogues want to hear about yours. We want to know what makes your Rogue Woman such a standout, such a kick-ass Rogue.

We invite you to tell us about the Rogue Woman in your life, in a paragraph (or two). Those selected for Honorable Mention and the winner will be featured in our Mother’s Day Blog on May 12th. Please feel free to attach a photograph. We would love to honor your Rogue Woman alongside the women who have helped shape the lives of some of the Rogue Women Writers.

The DEADLINE for Submission is Midnight, May 10th. Paragraphs and photos can be sent to Chris Goff at RogueWomenWriters@gmail.com. The winner—the Rogue Reader with the most kick-ass Woman in their Life—will receive a $40 Gift Card to the Tattered Cover Book Store. Please know, while we are sure we’ll want to deem all entries the winner, there is only one prize. 

Don’t wait! Get your entry in today!

Here’s an example to get you started:

by Chris Goff

Mardee McKinlay

My mother was an incredible force, a woman who made things happen. When I was eight, my father fell skiing, broke his leg in nine places and was out of work for a year. Knowing that her job would not pay the bills, my mother went out to find a better paying job. It wasn’t the first time. Before I was born, she had applied for a job with Vogue magazine in Chicago. The editor was looking for an “assistant,” someone who could take shorthand and manage his correspondence. My mother didn’t know the first thing about being a secretary, but she marched in with her steno pad. During the “test,” she scribbled lines, wrote down the big words that he used, and then crafted her own letter. She recalled him seeming confused, but he gave her the job. Five years later, with an offer of Junior Editor of Vogue magazine in New York City hanging in the balance, she quit her job to have me.

In 1963, she took those same powers of persuasion and talked her way into a job as secretary to the Community Affairs Director of Channel 9, KUSA in Denver. Within a year, she was the Director. By the end of eighteen years, she was a Vice President of Gannett Broadcasting Co.  In 1987, she died of cancer, but her legacy lives on. Mardee McKinlay was definitely a rogue force to be reckoned with.