COURSES
Wardrobes, Warblings, Weapons and Words:
Shopping, Entertainment, and Slang for Your Historical Characters
Presenter: Beth Daniels, aka Beth Henderson
To get the right feel in a historical novel, it’s all about stage setting, looking right, sounding right, and having the right “water cooler” chit chat for the people who traipse through your historical landscape. Can you trust what you’ve read elsewhere? Maybe, maybe not. So how do you decide what you need BEYOND the plot? And where do you go to find it?
Those are exactly the questions that this workshop addresses.
In fact, we go looking FOR dresses! Yes, shopping with your heroine is the first thing on the list, whether she needs to don farthingales or those frisky little flapper frocks. We’ll spend a full week searching out everything the well prepared heroine might need.
Then during week two, we pry the hero away from napping in a comfy haystack or armchair and trail after him as he roams through gun shops, smith’s forges (for swords, knives), armament rooms (maces, axes, armour, shields, bows and arrows), and then looks over the available carriages from horse drawn to snappy 1920s motor cars. He shouldn’t mind this sort of shopping.
But historicals of any kind are not ALL dire events to be dressed right to endure, be they ballrooms or battlefields. No, characters like to be entertained as well, so we’ll look at entertainments, songs, musical instruments, poetry, paintings, plays, games of chance and dances for flirtation. And while our characters chat each other up we’ll make sure they drop a few words to tell readers they aren’t in the 21st century anymore, so we’ll use appropriate slang or phrasing or words that can be slipped into conversations.
And we’ll do all that in four short weeks.
Instructor: Presenter Beth Daniels is the author of six historical novels (and 20 other non-historical novels) and holds a BA in History and a MA in English Composition and Rhetoric. She is also a researchoholic, and not only will share sources but issue Challenges (otherwise known as Assignments) to send participants off each week to ferret out their characters’ most necessary accoutrements, build era perfect party mixes, and quip the most atrociously amusing fribbles.
The workshop caters to pre-published, minimally-published and multi-published writers looking for a way to lift their historical novel out of the ordinary run of things. Participants don’t need a work-in-progress, but do need at least a hero and heroine who will appear opposite each other in a forthcoming tale.
The time periods covered will be basically Renaissance/Elizabethan through the 1920s, but those looking to deck out early to late medieval characters are welcome as well.
DATE: March 1 - 29
Registration deadline is February 27th.
COST: $10 Dunes & Dreams RWA Members/ $25 all others (US funds only – paypal or checks)
http://www.dunesanddreams.org/writing-workshops
Power of the Senses: Enhancing Author’s Voice, Characterization, and Conflict
by Bill Haggart
March 7 – 25, 2011
Each of us have our own unique way of learning, and part of that style involves which senses we favor in experiencing the world—even how we write and how we love. Everyone prefers one sense over the other four: Kinesthetic, Tactual, Auditory, and Visual. Those preferences shape a writer’s voice, brand, writing processes as well as the characters they create. How their novel’s conflict and romance develops depends on how their characters learn. In this interactive workshop, Participants will:
1. Identify their own sensory preferences with a short profile, discovering how sensory preferences affect their behavior. This includes their own writing processes.
2. Explore how sensory preferences influence a writer’s voice and Brand. As romance writer Virginia Kendra observes: “This is part of author voice. Our choices of significant, specific details awaken our readers to what it is we see” —or hear, feel or do. Our choices depend in part on our preferences. We will examine the writing of well-know authors to illustrate this aspect of the author’s voice, as well as developing your unique brand.
3. Examine how sensory preferences can help a writer decide how to use the senses, actually deepening a character’s POV. Julia Ross observed, “Even when a scene is deeply emotional and full of sensory input, it’s often more powerful to limit the character’s awareness to just one or two senses at a time.” Sensory Preferences reveals these sense choices naturally, enhancing characterization. Participants will practice creating distinctive characters and deep POVs with learning styles.
4. Learn how to differentiate Author Voice from the characters’ POV. This includes all aspects of their novel, from first meet, attraction and learning to love, conflict, sexual desire and satisfaction, as well as how conflict is resolved.
5. Explore how sensory preferences can enhance believable conflict. Any conflict begins with the senses. Examples will demonstrate what readers know intuitively—the simplest things count. Including learning preferences can make conflicts between characters far more real and dynamic. Throughout the course, activities will be provided for writers to practice with the methods offered, including feedback from the instructor.
Bio: Bill Haggart has been an educator for over thirty years. He has been a teacher, an educational trainer, consultant and executive with a national training company. He now heads up his own consulting business, Insights & Innovations. He has presented to over 180,000 educators nationwide and worked with over 400 schools and organizations. He is the creator of the Kaleidoscope Profiles, a popular learning styles inventory. He is also the author of several educational books and articles. He has been a member of RWA since 1998, as well as a terrific local group, the Sacramento Valley Rose. He has won and placed in nearly a dozen contests such as ‘The Molly’ and ‘Suzannah’ and “The Merritt” with both his contemporary, time-travel and Regency novels. A member of the Beau Monde since 2000, Bill presented at their conference in New York in 2002 and 2006. This workshop, “The Power of the Senses; Enhancing Author’s Voice, Characterization, and Conflict” has been well-received by several writing groups, including The Sacramento Valley Rose. A history major, he particularly loves the Napoleonic war period and the Regency.
REGISTRATION ENDS March 2nd
Non-members $20; Elements Members $12
To register for this workshop, click here.
http://www.elementsofrwa.com/workshops.html
From Nancy Drew to You, Writing Mysteries for YA
Instructor: Linda Gerber
March 7th- April 1st 2011 Standard Workshop
Writing for teens is no mystery. This month long-workshop helps eliminate murdered manuscripts, death by dialog, killer clichés, and fatal flashbacks – all in time for prom.
Instructor: Linda Gerber is the best-selling author of the YA novels TRANCE, THE DEATH BY BIKINI MYSTERIES series, S.A.S.S. NOW AND ZEN, and S.A.S.S. THE FINNISH LINE. Her next book, CELEBRITY is due out Spring 2012.
Linda recently returned to life in the Midwest after four years in Japan, where she served as the Regional Advisor for the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her books have been honored as ALA Popular Paperback, Junior Library Guild, Women’s Sports Foundation recommended read and Literacy Lab recommended read selections.
She has spoken at conferences and taught workshops both at home and abroad. Currently, Linda lives and writes in Dublin, Ohio, blissfully ignoring her husband, four kids, and one very naughty puppy.
Registration Deadline: March 7th
Register at http://www.carolinaromancewriters.com//march11.html
Regular, (Month-long) classes, consisting of at least 2 lessons per week for CRW and HCRW members is $15, all others $25
OMG I Love It: Writing the YA Teens Want to Read
with Suzanne Lazear
February 14 to March 12, 2011
Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassFeb11.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass
The Young Adult market seems the place to be, but how to you not only make your story stand out in the crowd, but write a story teens want to read?
Teens are smart, savvy, and the books they read today are not your mother’s teen fiction.
Come join us and find out what teens expect out of a YA novel and how to write the YA story you want to tell in a way that appeals to today’s teens. Learn about the different genres from paranormal to contemporary and from clean teen to racy reads.
This hands-on class will work on the mechanics of writing YA and how it differs from writing for adults. Topics include creating realistic dialogue, characters, worlds, and plots teens can relate to, tone and pacing, and other differences and avoiding common YA pitfalls as well as what teens expect from today’s YA authors.
All YA manuscripts in all genres are welcome from “I have an idea” to polished and ready.
Instructor: Suzanne Lazear writes for teens because her dancers made her and she never looked back. Sometimes known as “Lolita Suzanne,” she’s a regular blogger at the Steampunk group blog Steamed! www.Ageofsteam.wordpress.com and a member of the Los Angeles Romance Writers. She’s never had trouble standing out in the crowd, but wearing a tiara will do that.
Her Steampunk Dark Fairytale for teens, “Innocent Darkness” will be released by Flux in August, 2012. She occupies a small corner of the West Coast where she lives with the hubby, the tot, a hermit crab, and two chickens, and is currently trying to make a ray gun to match her ball gown.
Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassFeb11.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Mauled Men, Drowned Dames and Crispy Critters; a Body Disposal Primer for Writers
with Jeanne Adams
You’ve axed, shot or otherwise knocked off a key character in your latest book, now what? You have to do SOMETHING with the body! Find out everything you ever wanted to know and how to use minutiae of death to throw your characters together or drive them apart.
Jeanne P. Adams knows a thing or two about getting rid of a body. She is a multi-published author of romantic suspense novels as well as a non-fiction writer and consultant with twelve years of funeral business experience.
Check out our full list of workshop at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html
Create Your Own Author Website
Instructor: Karen McCullough
Date: April 4th- April 29th 2011 Standard Workshop
Workshop: This workshop is for authors who want to create their own web presence but don’t know where or how to start. We’ll cover all the necessary procedures for creating your own website, from registering a domain name to choosing from the variety of hosting options to actually setting up the pages. We’ll talk about laying out the site template, building the menu structure, and look at the elements that give a site that professional edge. The instructor will share some of the secrets of appealing design and show how to create great looking graphics. As part of the class each participant will actually create a website from scratch, with the guidance of the instructor and input from other participants.
Instructor: Karen McCullough spent fifteen years as a programmer/analyst until burn-out forced a career change. She moved into writing and editing, working in the trade publishing industry for many years, while at the same time developing her fiction skills until she sold her first novel to Avalon Books in 1990. Her last few years in the corporate world were spent managing websites for a number of trade publications. Fed up with corporate bureaucracy, she retired from the rat race in 2005 and opened her own web design/development business, Karen’s Web Works. She’s now designed or maintained more than a hundred websites for a variety of clients, including authors, organizations, and small businesses.
Registration Deadline: April 3rd Register at http://www.carolinaromancewriters.com/april11.htm
Regular, (Month-long) classes, consisting of at least 2 lessons per week for CRW and HCRW members is $15, all others $25
For more information, email Carole at: workshops">workshops
What I Wish I’d Done Before I Published
February 7-21, 2011
San Diego RWA
In this workshop, Ann will cover the essentials for career building, promo and marketing are a lot of it, but it’s more on how to get started, resources and ideas for setting up a website, social networking sites, media kit, career planning, organization, etc
R. ANN SIRACUSA is involved in many activities, but her two favorite are traveling the world and writing fiction. This talented author combines those loves into novels which transport readers to exotic settings and immerse them in romance, intrigue, and foreign cultures.
Ann lives in San Diego, California, and writes full time. She has been active in Romance Writers of America since 1985 and recently served two terms as Co-president of the San Diego RWA Chapter. Her first novel was published in 2008, and since then Sapphire Blue Publishing has released four more works.
http://www.rwasd.com/training/index.html
Mid-Willamette Valley RWA Presents our March 2011 online class:
World-Building for Writers
Taught by Rebecca Lynn
Description: A world-building course focusing on all facets of fictional writing, not just on fantasy and paranormal books. Historical fiction and contemporary genre fiction writers need to know how to world-build, as well. World-building, at its foundation, is about incorporating details into narrative. This class will start with the basic building blocks of a world (whether known or invented) and move toward the integration of research and worldbuilding into narrative fiction.
Week One: You Are God – The building blocks of fictional worlds; the two main methods of world-building.
Week Two: The Genesis Effect - Organizing and ordering your fictional world; resources for world-building in genres.
Week Three: Hobbits and iPods and Claymores, Oh My – Integrity in your fictional world; dissecting student examples.
Week Four: Writer as Weaver - Integrating world-building details into narrative and dialogue.
Instructor: Rebecca Lynn took an MFA in Creative Writing and an undergraduate degree in Linguistics and Literature, and has taught both writing and literature courses on the collegiate level. She has published short fiction as well as some short non-fiction, and academic articles.
Class runs from 3/1/2011 to 3/31/2011. Cost is $20 for MWV RWA members and $25 for non-members.
See http://www.midwillamettevalleyrwa.com/online.classes.htm for details
From Concept to Synopsis
Join romance author Marcia King-Gamble as she presents the February FRW online workshop focusing on developing your plot to writing the dreaded synopsis.
Do you have an idea percolating (or maybe you don’t?) This workshop will get you
writing. It covers how to generate ideas when the idea well has dried up. Then
once you get a firm grip around your plot you’ll put together the dreaded
synopsis. By the time you’re through you will have written a query and a
synopsis.
Dates: Feburary 13-27 (Two weeks)
Fee: $20 FRW member & $25 non FRW member
Link to sign up: http://www.frwriters.org/workshops.html
Mindful Creating: coaxing the muse to nourish your writing and your writing life
Mindful Creating aka How to get the most from your muse when you want it, is a month-long workshop focusing on quieting, focusing and working with your creative mind. You’ve taken your Inner Writer on artist dates and talked to her in morning pages; you’ve tried all the writing software and attended all the workshops. You may have plotted six thousand books you haven’t written yet or learned to write a book in a month. And whatever you’ve done is good-but it’s the dating and courtship stage.
Instructor: Mary O’Gara, Ph.D. is an experienced instructor, creativity coach and writer who has returned to C.O.F.F.I.N. with new workshops for more than a decade. In this workshop, Mary brings together her know-how about using the mind from a lifetime of studying psychic and creative subjects. She has been writing for pay since she was 16 and was a professional psychic for more than three decades.
**PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE 27TH day of the month PRIOR to the start of the COFFIN class. Cost of each Workshop is (Currently) $15.00 US for KOD Members, $30.00 US for non-KOD Members. (RWA membership NOT required to take the course).
For more information check out our website at http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org
Historical Forensics
Today we’re all familiar with the marvels of CSI, whether from reading mysteries or true crime or watching television programs and movies. But all these ways to pin the crime — and the criminal — down had to start somewhere! So where and when did it all begin? And what sorts of things were early forensic investigators able to do?
This class will cover the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an era that gave birth to so many forensic techniques: fingerprints, blood typing, firearm’s examinations, toxicology, and the expansion of the autopsy into the forensic arena. This will give the writer of historical fiction the accurate information needed and will give all crime writers a firm foundation for understanding the world of modern forensics.
Dr. Doug Lyle, M.D. will lay the historic groundwork in March 2011′s Murder One workshop, HISTORICAL FORENSICS.
Instructor: The author of FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES, which won the Macavity Award and was nominated for an Edgar in 2005, Dr. Doug Lyle, M.D. writes thrillers (Devil’s Playground, Double Blind and Stress Fracture) as well as crime scene non-fiction, and has worked with writers on television shows such as Law and Order, CSI: Miami, Monk, House, and others. Website: www.dplylemd.com Blog: writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com
**PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE 27TH day of the month PRIOR to the start of the COFFIN class. Cost of each workshop is (Currently) $15.00 US for KOD Members, $30.00 US for non-KOD Members (RWA membership NOT required to take the course).
For more information check out our website at http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org
Breathless Prose: Putting Suspense In Your Romance
Instructor: Kara Lennox
Date: February 7 – March 6, 2011
Whether you write about cowboys and babies or cops and serial killers, you must include suspense in your book if you want to keep the reader turning pages. “Suspense” doesn’t always mean bullets flying; family dramas, urban fantasies and sexy romps are fraught with their own brands of suspense. In this workshop we’ll focus on how to write a story that keeps your reader turning pages. Topics covered include when and how to reveal secrets to your characters and your readers, strategic placement of action scenes vs. love scenes, chapter beginning and ending hooks, and lots more.
Instructor: Kara Lennox (a.k.a. Karen Leabo) has written more than 50 contemporary novels of romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin/Silhouette and Bantam Loveswept. Most of these have been sold on proposal or synopsis alone. Her books frequently appear on romance bestseller lists and have finaled in several romance industry contests including the National Readers’ Choice Awards, the Holt Medallion competition, and the RITA®. Her Harlequin American Romance PLAIN JANE’S PLAN won a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice award.
Fee: $20 CRW Members; $25 Non-CRW Members. FMI about the workshops or speakers, or to register: http://crw-rwa.ning.com or email Online Workshop Series Coordinator, Karen Docter, at coloromancewritersonlineclasses.
Free Your Muse!
Instructor: Calista Fox (aka Ava McKnight)
Date: March 1-April 12, 2011
Sponsor: Desert Rose RWA
Do you have a story to tell? With the amazing impact technology has had on the publishing industry, now is the perfect time to write that story and get it sold! Multi-published and award-winning author Calista Fox (aka Ava McKnight) is conducting a six-week, online writing course that will cover creative writing mechanics, plot development, characterization, dialogue, writing voice, self-editing and publishing.
Instructor: Multi-published, award-winning author Calista Fox (aka Ava McKnight) began her professional fiction-writing career in 2005, following an exciting career in PR, where she specialized in writing speeches and Congressional testimonies. Her books have received rave reviews, and she has won several contests with publication as the prize. She is also the recipient of Romance Reviews Today’s Best Book of 2008 for its category and a Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi Erotic Novella. In 2007, Calista’s paranormal romance, One Wish, helped to launch the e-publishing venture for print publisher Red Sage Publishing, Inc. She is a college graduate and avid vacationer. She has traveled the country many times over by Lear and Gulfstream jets (thanks to the PR gig), always with her laptop in tow to capture intriguing story elements and locales! www.calistafox.com and www.avamcknight.blogspot.com
Fee: $30 DR Members; $40 All Others.
FMI: www.drworkshops.com Or email workshops
CONFERENCES
GSRWA is accepting session proposals for the 2011 Emerald City Writers Conference
October 28-30, 2011 at the Bellevue Westin in Bellevue, Washington
Be a part of one of the largest regional romance writing conferences in the country. This year our Keynotes include such luminaries as Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love.
You are invited to submit workshop ideas for education and inspiration. In the past, we have featured topics such as:
• Craft
• Writing life
• Career Development
• Industry
• Submissions
• Marketing
• Genres
• Strategies
• Plotting
• Dialog
And More! Get creative!
Submission period opens February 1, 2011. Proposals are due to GSRWA by March 15, 2011.
Authors are also invited to share promotional material with our 300 attendees. Visit www.GSRWA.org for more information.
River City Romance Writers, Chapter 23 of Romance Writers of America®, is holding a spring retreat April 8-10, 2011 near Memphis, Tennessee. Each year we hold a members only retreat, but this year we are opening one day of the retreat to non-members for some special workshops and activities. We can have a maximum of 32 attendees, and with award-winning author Karen Docter and best- selling author and President of Belle Books, Deb Dixon as our special guests, we’re expecting a capacity crowd.
We are seeking donations for two retreat projects:
The first project is our literacy basket auction. We will hold a silent auction to raise money that will be donated to the Memphis Literacy Association, a wonderful nonprofit organization that provides programs for low-literate and disadvantaged families. If you any items or services you’d like to donate, such as book(s), ARCs, a donated workshop seat, etc., it will be greatly appreciated. Not only will you be introducing yourself to a new audience, you’ll be helping a great cause.
The second donation opportunity is attendee goody bags. We welcome any promotional items, and/or author swag you can send us. We’ll have 32 goody bags.
Send goody bag and literacy basket items to the address below by March 17th:
Robin Hillyer Miles
Attn: RCRW Retreat
7092 Alder Wood Drive
Millington TN 38053
For additional information, please visit: http://www.rivercityromancewriters.org/
WisRWA Write Touch 2011 Conference – “Love is Brewing in Milwaukee” will be held
June 3-5, 2011 at The Brookfield Suites Hotel & Conference Center. Please check
our website for details www.WisRWA.org on how to register.
We are now accepting promotional items to distribute to attendees!
Please send all donations of books, bookmarks, and goody-bag items to the address below. Also, for those authors wishing to donate a raffle basket for our literacy fundraiser, please use the same address.
Betsy Norman
WisRWA WT 2011 Conference Coordinator
P. O. Box 581
Waukesha, WI 53187-0581
Please include your email information in the package for confirmation/receipt of
donated items. Thank you for your consideration and donation. If you have any questions,
please email the Conference Coordinator at betsynorman5.
CONTESTS
Shine Up Those Query Letters …
NHRWA is proud and excited to launch our first annual Query Quandary Contest for unpublished writers. Entries will be accepted from February 1 through March 1, and winners will be announced at our Fall Fling Conference in September. We have a fabulous line-up of final judges, so polish up those query letters and give it a go!
And the Final Judges Are…
We know this is what you want to know, so we won’t make you scroll. We’re very excited to announce the following final judges:
- Historical: Esi Sogah, Avon
- Contemporary Series: Scott Eagan, Greyhaus Literary Agency
- Contemporary Single Title: Elaine Spencer, The Knight Agency
- Mystery/Suspense: Janet Reid, Fine Print Literary Management
- YA: Molly Jaffa, Folio Literary Management
- Paranormal: Suzie Townsend, Fine Print Literary Management
- Erotica: Raelene Gorlinsky, Ellora’s Cave
Entry Details
- Entry Fee:
- $10: NHRWA members
- $15: non-NHRWA members — You do not have to be a member of RWA to enter this contest.
- Queries must be constructed in standard query format and must be no longer than one page.
- You may include an optional 1-2-pg. UNJUDGED synopsis.
- Prizes: Refund of entry fee, certificates
For more information, please visit www.nhrwa.com.
DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2011
The Central Florida Romance Writers of America Touch of Magic contest is open for entries!
Eligibility: Writers who are unpublished in book-length fiction (40,000+ words) in the past five years.
Entry: All electronic. First 25 pages (including Prologue, if applicable), plus up to three page synopsis (unjudged), in .rtf format.
Categories: Historical; Short/Series Contemporary; Long/Single-Title Contemporary; Paranormal; Romantic Suspense; Novel with Strong Romantic Elements; Young Adult
Judges: Published, trained/unpublished
Final Judges:
Erotic: Trish Owens, The Wild Rose Press
Historical: Helen Rosburg, Medallion
Paranormal: Meredith Giordan, Berkeley
Young Adult: Megan Records, Kensington
NSRE: Esi Sogah, Harper Collins/Avon
Series/Short Contemporary: Gail Chasan, Silhouette
Single Title/Long Contemporary: Kate Dresser, Simon and Schuster
Romantic Suspense: Katherine Pelz, Berkeley
Top Prize: certificate, Frog Prince charm, announcement in RWR
Fee: $20 CFRW members; $25 non-members
Deadline: March 20, 2011
FMI, including rules, score sheet, entry form: www.cfrwa.org or email contest coordinator Jessica Souders at j.souders.
The Wisconsin Romance Writers of America Fabulous Five contest is still accepting entries!
This contest is available to writers unpublished in book-length romance fiction during the past five years. All entries must be limited to the first 2,500 words of your manuscript and must be submitted electronically. For an entry form and complete details regarding rules and eligibility, click the Contests link on our website: http://www.wisrwa.org/
Grab this opportunity for a critique of your work and the chance one of our final round judges may ask for more of it. Our fees continue to be among the lowest for contests of this type – just $18 for WisRWA members and $20 for all other entrants.
Deadline for entries is 11:59 CST, March 1, 2011. We have a thirty entry limit per category. Enter early to beat the rush!
Here’s our lineup of categories and final round judges for 2011:
Historical : Emilia Pisani, Gallery Books
Paranormal/Fantasy/Futuristic/Time Travel: Jim McCarthy, Dystel & Goderich
Romantic Suspense: Kimberly Whalen, Trident Media Group
Series Contemporary (Long/short): Kathryn Lye, Harlequin Enterprises
Single Title: Latoya Smith, Grand Central Publishing
Women’s Fiction: Holly Blanck, St. Martin’s Press
Young Adult Leah Hultenschmidt, Sourcebooks Fire
