Writers’ Corner Weekly Round Up: Worskhops and Contests

The Carolina Romance Writers Chapter of RWA is pleased to announce the June Online Workshop: Everything You Wanted To Know About Writing Contests But Were Afraid To ask by Amy Atwell. Overwhelmed by the number of writing contests out there? Unsure whether to enter? Unclear about why you should enter? This class is geared for unpublished writers seeking feedback and/or a chance to final in the hundreds of writing contests offered through RWA® chapters. The workshop is June 1-27, 2010 and deadline to register is May 25th and may be done atworkshops. For more information on 2008 Golden Heart® finalist Amy Atwell please go to http://www.amyatwell.com.

Can you say what your book is about in 25 words of less? This is
essential to both writing a tight book and then selling it. We’ll discuss ways to find and state your original idea so that you stay on course while writing the book and with which you can excite those you tell it to when trying to sell it. The Original Idea — The Heart of Your Story and Key to Selling Your Book Workshop by Bob Mayer will be online beginning May 3 to 13, 10. The course will be $10 for ESPAN RWA members, $15 for non-ESPAN RWA Members and $25 for non-RWA and registration or other information my be found at http://espan-rwa.com/workshops/.

Is your writing muse giving you trouble? Keeping you from finishing your current manuscript? Let D.D. Scott help you get it all sorted out with her June On-Line Workshop: Muse Therapy. Registration is now open through May 31, 2010. The call will run June 1 – 28, 2010. Muse Therapy is all about injecting life into tired and/or stressed out muses. D.D. will give writers fun and fabulous tools to analyze their muses; funks, reign in their creative divas and up their page counts. D.D. Scott’s romantic comedies are all about sexy, sassy, smart, career-driven women and the men who complete them. D.D. Scott was once a small town newspaper crime reporter and now a HarperCollins Publishing Returns Center Executive Assistant, she’s learned great fiction comes form the street as well as which jacket covers meet early deaths. The cost of the workshop is $20 RWA Members and non-members: $25. To register, send a check or Money Order in U.S. dollars, made out to STAR On-Line Workshop, and mail to: STAR On-line workshop Coordinator, PO Box 6, Willseyville, NY 13864. Or, if you have a PayPal account, you can pay by going to http://www.PayPal.com. Select the “send money” button, enter the amount due, and STAR’s email address for payment: starpay. Then send your registration information (name, address, phone number, email address, RWA#) to Carol Henry at: carolhenry.

WritersOnlineClasses.com is proud to present one of several online May classes Nuances of a Crime Scene instructed by former FBI investigator, Phyllis Middleton. This class will delve into the scene of crimes, what to look for, and how to handle it. The instructor is planning to go much deeper than a nuance version of crime scene processing, but the subtleness cannot be overlooked. Some of the subjects Middleton will explore are scene response, scene searches, scene sketches, latent fingerprinting, and photographing the scene. She will also post crime scenarios and will want to see students try their hand at “responding” to this scene and writing the “police report.” I will give you extreme degrees in handling a crime scene from the very cold to the hottest of days and from the cleanest room to the dirtiest. This is a 4-week class will run from May 1 to 31 will cost $30. Registration is extended to May 7, 2010 and may be done by going to For more information or to register, go to www.WritersOnlineClasses.com OR email info. While employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the tender age of nineteen, Phyllis Middleton was trained in the Science of Fingerprints. This training included the classification, comparison and search methods used by FBI and known throughout the USA. For more information on Phyllis Middleton please visit www.mycreativepassions.com.

Orange County Chapter of RWA announces, “Another Time, Another Place” with Terry Blain beginning on May 10 and ending on June 15, 2010. Historical romances should transport readers to another time and another place. This workshop will help students with the tools they need to transport their readers. The workshop will cover a discussion of all the elements that make a historical romance historical. Items covered include aspects of research, such as where to look for information, how accurate the writer should be and keeping records of research. Also covered is how to integrate information in to the framework of your story through the craft of writing. Topics covered will be settings and costume, attitudes and social mores, dialog, including using dialect or not and, of course- sex scenes. Enrollment Information may be found at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassMay10.html. The cost $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members.

THE LESSONS OF FIREFLY: LEARNING FROM THE WORKS OF JOSS WHEDON”
with Jacqui Jacoby will be sponsored by the Orange County Chapter of RWA. In this workshop, Ms. Jacoby will reveal the lessons of FIREFLY. By using class participation and examples from the episodes, she will translate with words what Mr. Whedon was teaching us on screen. This workshop will be June 14 – July 10, 2010 and more information may be found at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html.

Developing an Outstanding Character Arc Presented by Camy Tang will begin on May 17th and run to May 30th learn how to develop 3-dimensional story characters that will hook an editor’s attention! By the end of this class, you will have: a solid grasp of who your character is–and I’m not talking just favorite ice cream flavor your character’s flaws and heroic qualities to make him/her truly sympathetic to the reader your character’s desire and external goal (you’d be amazed at how this can change from your original ideas about your character as you dig deeper and discover who your character is!)the motivation behind your character’s actions conflict and obstacles that directly impact your character’s external goal the riveting climax of the story–both external events and also internal arc. Whether your story is completed or just in the brainstorming phase, this class will help you create rich characters with strong purpose, a riveting storyline and luscious romance arcs! The fee is $15 members, non- Members $20 and registration may be done at http://www.thebeaumonde.com/academe/. The instructor Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her chick lit Sushi series (Sushi for One?, Only Uni, and Single Sashimi) and her romantic suspense, Deadly Intent. Originally from Hawaii, she worked as a biologist for 9 years, but now she is a staff worker for her San Jose church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service, which specializes in book doctoring. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels and ponders frivolous things. Visit her website at www.camytang.com.

Contests

The Heart of Denver Romance Writers (HODRW) is announcing the 2010 Molly contest. HODRW is taking Entries in the following categories: Contemporary, Single Title, Romantic Suspense, Historical, Paranormal/Time-Travel/Futuristic, and Young Adult. HODRW will accept Electronic entries only and entry deadline: All entries must be received by May 25, 2010. Entries must be received by 11:59pm MDT May 25, 2010. Entry Fees is $30 for all HODRW members, $35 for all RWA members who are nonmembers of HODRW, and $40 for all non-RWA members. To get more information about contest please go to HODRW.com and for general questions ask Lesli Lent at Mollycoordinator.

Toronto Romance Writers is proud to announce the 2010 Toronto Gold Contest (formerly the Original Golden Opportunity Contest). This year’s categories and final round judges are: Contemporary Series – Wanda Ottewell, Harlequin, Contemporary Single Title – Margo Lipschultz, HQN, Historical – Leis Pederson, Berkley. Romantic Suspense – Celia Johnson, Grand Central. Strong Romantic Elements – Kathleen Gilligan, St. Martin’s. Paranormal, Fantasy, Futuristic – Leah Hultenschmidt, Dorchester. Young Adult – Karen Chaplin, Puffin Books. The top entry in each category will be automatically entered in the Gold Ticket Round to be judged by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency. The winner of the Gold Ticket round will receive a three-chapter critique by NYT bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. Deadline for entries must be received by June 1, 2010, 11:59 p.m. EST. Please note that only electronic entries will be accepted. The fee for non-TRW members, $30 and for TRW members it is $25. For more information, official rules, and entry form, please go to: www.torontoromancewriters.com/contest.html.

Northwest Houston RWA announces The 18th Annual Lone Star Writing Competition.
The contest is now open for entries. The Lone Star Writing Competition is one of the few contests with two published authors and one unpublished author judging the first round. Finalists will be sent to BOTH an agent and an editor for judging. The Categories and final judges are: Inspirational Category- Lindsay Guzzardo of Guideposts, BooksAgent Tamela Hancock and Murray or Hartline Literary; Young Adult Category, Kat O’She of Leap Books and agent Tina Wexler of International Creative Management; Romantic Suspense Category, Leis Pederson of Penguin and agent Tina Tsallas of Great Titles, Inc.; Contemporary Series Category, Wanda Ottewell of Harlequin and Pam Strickler of Pam Strickler Author Management; Single Title Category, Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks and Lois Winston – Ashley Grayson Literary Agency; Historical Category, Alicia Condon – Kensington and Sara Megibow – Nelson Literary Agency; Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Category, Tara Gavin of Harlequin Nocturne and Alexandra Machinist of Linda Chester Literary Agency. Early bird entry fee: $5 discount on all entries submitted by midnight May 23, 2010; $15 for NWH members/$20 non-NHW members. Enter after May 23, 2010 – $20 NWH members; $25 non-NWH members. Entries must arrive via email by midnight June 6, 2010. Any entries received after the deadline will be deleted unopened. For more information please visit www.nwhrwa.com. Unpublished may enter any category. Published may enter any category in which they’re not published, or in which they’ve not been contracted for five years. Open to RWA and non-RWA members.

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