Calling for:
Florida Romance Writers of South Florida cordially invites speakers to submit proposals for our Fun in the Sun Conference to be held for the second time at sea! Join us for a four night cruise to Key West and Cozumel aboard the Carnival Destiny and use this unique opportunity to present a writing workshop at our on-board conference. Our goal is to present diverse and interesting workshops that can hold their own against the attractions the ship will offer! Compensation for presenters will include a $50 discount off the FRW registration fee for each workshop. Send your proposals by e-mail to Kathryn DePalo at depalok by May 15th, 2010. We will select programs on a first-come-first- serve basis, as well as by diversity of subjects. Feel free to contact Kathryn with any questions you may have. For additional Conference information go to: http://frwfuninthesunmain.blogspot.com/
Call for Promo items! It’s time for the annual Winter Rose Awards Luncheon
and they are looking for promo items for goodie bags for guests. Books,
bookmarks, business cards, whatever you wish to send. They expect between
20-40 people at the event. You can send your items by May 10, 2010 to:
Denise McDonald; Yellow Rose Romance Writers; 8100 Gardengate Court; Fort Worth, TX 76137-6071 or emailinfo.
Workshops
The Dreaded Synopsis instructed by Elizabeth Sinclair will begin on April 12 – 16, 2010. Every Novelist Needs A Synopsis! Submission guidelines for virtually every agent or publisher seeking novels include a request for a synopsis. Ergo, every novelist or aspiring novelist needs to know what a synopsis is and how to write one that will catch an editor’s fancy. In this workshop, acclaimed romance writer Elizabeth Sinclair gives all the details…what to do and what not to do…to make your synopsis the effective selling tool you need. This online workshop is presented by HHRW. The registration fee is $10 for HHRW members and $20 for others/ The deadline for this class is April 10, 2010 and registration may be done at http://www.heartsthroughhistory.com/classreg.htm.
The 12 Steps of Intimacy and Weaving Romance and Suspense into a Seamless Tale with Linda Howard workshop will be on Saturday, June 5, 2010 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Pikes Peak Romance Writers is pleased to announce that NYT bestselling author Linda Howard will teach a workshop on The 12 Steps of Intimacy and Weaving Romance and Suspense into a Seamless Tale. Through this workshop, participants will learn how to create page-turning sexual tension in their novels from a master at the craft. Howard will discuss her popular “Twelve Steps of Intimacy” and how these steps can be used to effectively create both emotional and physical tension between characters. She’ll also cover how to use conflict to spice up the sensuality in your work and balancing romance and suspense in fiction. The cost of the workshop is $35 for Romance Writer of America members and $45 for nonmembers if registered before June 1, 2010. You must be at least 18 years old to attend. For registration instructions, please go to www.pprw.org.
Calgary RWA is thrilled to present its annual May 2010 SPRING WORKSHOP FEATURING ALICIA RASLEY! Join the members of CaRWA for an intensive writing workshop with acclaimed writing instructor Alicia Rasley at the picturesque Redwood Meadows community hall for her TURBO CHARGE YOUR STORY FROM BEGINNING TO END – SCENE, CONFLICT, AND PROPOSAL will beSaturday, May 29th, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Redwood Meadows Community Hall, Redwood Meadows, AB Canada. The fee is $65 for CARWA members and $80for others. Deadline to register is May 28, 2010 and may be done at: http://www.calgaryrwa.com/about.html.
Louisville Romance Writers is pleased to announce the online workshop, HOW TO BUILD THE PERFECT MAN, a fun-filled, interactive, informal presentation by published author Sara Reinke. The class will begin on April 19th through April 23rd. Registration deadline is Friday April 16, 2010. Every author strives to create within their work, characters that spring to life from the page, and are believable, sympathetic and dynamic to readers all at the same time. But the only way that your character will ever feel real to your reader is if he or she is first real to you. From the way they look to their chosen career; from their ambitions, problems, personality traits and more, as the writer, you must know them inside and out. This workshop introduces you to some tools you can use to create characters, breathe life into them through your words and maintain consistency in them throughout your book. Utilizing in-classroom exercises, participants will learn how to match personalities, names and even faces with their heroes, heroines and villains. Registration deadline is Friday April 16, 2010. Sign up at www.LouisvilleRomanceWriters.net or email Sandy Loyd – sloyd. The fee for LRW member is $15, RWA member $20 and all other $25.
First Coast Romance Writers (Jacksonville, FL), is pleased to offer a full day master class on Screenwriting Tips for Novelists. This workshop, presented by screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff, will be held on Saturday, May 8 from 9 AM to 4 PM in Jacksonville. Alex’s debut ghost story, THE HARROWING, was nominated for an Anthony Award and a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel. Her supernatural thrillers THE PRICE and THE UNSEEN are also now out from St. Martin’s Press, with BOOK OF SHADOWS and a paranormal suspense for Silhouette Nocturne coming in 2010. Alex recently won the International Thriller Writers Thriller Award for Best Short Fiction of the year for her short story, “The Edge of Seventeen”, in THE DARKER MASK. Romance writers, as well as novelists from all genres, are welcome and lunch is included. For more information on the workshop, please visit www.firstcoastromancewriters.com.
Conferences
Heart of the West Utah RWA presents their Annual 2010 Writers conference, Out, Out Damned Plot, A conference in five acts, will be held at The Grand Summit at The Canyons in Park City, Utah on October 8-9, 2010. Special guest author, Christine Feehan, #1 New York Times bestselling author, has over 40 novels published, including four series. Each of her four series has hit #1 on the NY Times. Her debut novel Dark Prince received 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature for 1999.
Since then she has been published by Leisure Books, Pocket Books, and currently is writing for Berkley/Jove. She has received numerous honors throughout her career including being a nominee for the RWA’s RITA. She has received a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times and the Borders 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. The Keynote Speaker is Sue Grimshaw, who is the romance book buyer for Borders and Waldenbooks stores for the past eight years. A highly sought after expert in her field, Grimshaw is frequently consulted by publishers, and over the years has been honored to speak to thousands of romance writers and
readers at conferences and workshops. She is the host of the “Borders True Romance” program on Borders Media, where she interviews the world’s most accomplished Romance writers. She also keeps Romance book lovers engaged and entertained with her Borders blog – the “TrueRomance” blog. Editor Heather Osborn will also be at the conference. As well as other features such as: a conference photographer, Erin Summerill, Client Attraction Modern Marketing Duo marketing team Shahar and Nashlah Boyayan. There will also be workshops, Editor/Agent Panels, Pitch Appointments, Heart of the West Contest awards and book signing, special surprise guests for YA Fae Soiree and the James Caan Ceremony. Registration fee is $159-$175 – Late Fee $10 after 9/6/10 and my be done at www.utahrwa.com or by contacting Lesli Lytle lmuirl.
Contests
The Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award is sponsor by the Ancient City Romance Authors is pen to RWA members with the first print novels with first print copyright of January 1, 2009 — December 31, 2009. Entry will need to include 3 signed copies of each entry. (Book length, at least 50K, e-books are accepted in bound, hard copy.) Categories are Short & Long Series Contemporary Romance, Contemporary Single, Title Romance, Romantic Suspense, Historical (includes Regency) Romance, Inspirational/Traditional Romance, Paranormal Romance (includes fantasy, time-travel, futuristic), Strong Romantic Elements, Erotic Romance. Judges are Romance Readers and the final judges are booksellers, librarians, romance readers Top Prize: 1st Place winners in each category will receive a trophy and a
winner’s graphic to include on their web site. 2nd and 3rd Place winners will receive a certificate and a graphic for their web site. The Fee is $15.00 and deadline is July 5, 2010. For more information visit http://www.acrarwa.org/.
A Contest for Unpublished Manuscripts is presented by the ALASKA CHAPTER of ROMANCE WRITERS of AMERICA. The 3rd annual Alaska Break-Up Contest is calling for unpublished authors. In Alaska they undergo a phenomena they lovingly call Break-up. It’s when the ice and snow finally melts away, and the darkness of long winter nights gives way to even longer summer days. Do you have a break-up scene or dark moment in your romance manuscript? If so, they would love to see it. Submission deadline is midnight May 1st. 2010. Enter your best break-up or darkest moment scene. Entry must not exceed 10 pages. All categories and heat levels welcome. Please include a set-up scene (1-3 pages) to assist judges in understanding entry selection. Set-up scene will not be judged. Final winners will be judged by Laurie M. Rauch, Executive Editor of Samhain Publishing. Winning entry will receive a reading by Elizabeth Pomada of Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency. Submission guidelines and more information may be found at http://www.akrwa.org. The entry fee is $30.00.
