RWA Chapter Contests
The Golden Network is offering the Golden Pen contest, open until August 15, but if you enter by July 15, you’ll get $5 off of your entry fee. Categories and judges: Historical – Deb Werksman, Sourcebooks; Inspirational – Melissa Endlich, Steeple Hill; Novel with Strong Romantic Elements – Valerie Gray, MIRA Books and SPICE Books; Paranormal – Leis Pederson, Berkley Publishing Group; Romantic Suspense – Holly Blanck, St. Martin’s Press; Series Contemporary – Susan Litman, Harlequin; Single Title – Katherine Pelz, Berkley; Young Adult – Regina Griffin, Egmont USA. Read the Rules and Guidelines
Valley of the Sun Romance Writers’ 2011 Hot Prospects Contest closes September 1st, 2011. Categories/Judges: Historical/Regency – Katherine N. Pelz, Berkley, and agent TBA; Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal – Deborah Werksman, Sourcebooks, and Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency; Romantic Suspense – Amy Pierpont, Grand Central Publishing, and Paige Wheeler, Folio Literary Management; Contemporary Long/Single Title – Jennifer Enderlin, St. Martins, and Michelle Grajkowski, 3 Seas Literary Agency; Series Contemporary – Johanna Raisanen, Harlequin, and Leanne Morgena, The Wild Rose Press. For More Information, entry form, and rules
The 2011 Launching A Star Contest, run by the SpacecoasT Authors of Romance (Florida STARS), is open. Entry deadline is August 25, 2011. Categories and judges: Single Title (including women’s fiction) – Emilia Pisani/Simon & Schuster Gallery Books and – Sara Megabow/Nelson Literary Agency; General Paranormal – Meredith Giordan/Berkley Jove and Marlene Stringer/The Stringer Agency; Futuristic/Fantasy – Leah Hultenschmidt/ Casablanca-Sourcebooks and Ethan Ellenberg/Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency; Historical -Amanda Bergeron/Harper Collins Publishers and Laura Bradford/The Bradford Literary Agency; Series Contemporary -Susan Litman/Harlequin Special Edition and Roberta Brown/Brown Literary Agency; Romantic Suspense -Holly Blanck/St. Martin’s Press and Chelsea Gilmore/Maria Carvainis Agency; Inspirational -Natalie Hanemann/Thomas Nelson and Suzie Townsend/Fine Print Agency; Young Adult – Kristin Daly Rens/Harper Collins and Becca Stumpf/The Prospect Agency. For more information
RWA Chapter Conferences and Workshops
Vancouver Island Chapter presents the Online Class All Things Tudor, 15 July- 19 August 2011. Instructor: Sharron Gunn w/a Sheila Currie. Tudor England refers to the period between 1485 and 1603. Learn about a time of confident trade and exploration, a splendid era of aristocracy. Registration
Southern Magic invites you to the all day workshop EMPOWERING CHARACTER’S EMOTIONS by Margie Lawson July 23, 2011, Saturday, from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Homewood Public Library in Birmingham, AL. Margie Lawson—psychotherapist, writer, and international presenter – developed psychologically-based editing systems and deep editing techniques used by everyone, from new writers to multi-award winning authors. She teaches writers how to add psychological power to create page turners. For more information
Los Angeles Romance Authors presents a Special Workshop featuring Eric Stone on Building Better Characters, Saturday August 6, 2011 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Sportsman’s Lodge Hotel. How to figure out who your characters are and what to do with them once you’ve got them. How to allow your characters to help you write your book and how to keep them in line if they start to get out of hand. Creating realistic, convincing, engrossing characters is vital to writing, any kind of writing, that captures and captivates readers. For more information
Celtic Hearts presents Viking Age Britain – Instructor: Sharron Gunn. The course will explore Viking Age Britain: Scotland, Ireland and the north of England. The society and culture of the period—battling and feuding, farming and feasting, the role of women, societal laws and honour. WWW.CELTICHEARTS.ORG/WORKSHOPS
Yellow Rose RWA presents an online workshop Ebook & Digital Publishing: Is it for me?, taught by Suzanne Rock, Aug 1-28, 2011. This course is for beginners who want to learn more about digital publishing and determine if it’s a good fit for them. We will touch on big vs.small epress, self-publishing, vanity publishing, contracts, promotions and dealing with epirates. By the end of class, the student should have a good understanding of the options available and have the tools they need if they wish to move toward digital publication. Register
Elements of RWA Online Workshops, August 1 – 12, 2011: Deep POV, by Camy Tang. Want to rivet your reader to the page? Want to make your writing richer emotionally? Want your characters to be more vivid? Learn ways to draw the reader into the mind, body, and soul of your characters through deep point of view techniques. http://www.elementsofrwa.com/workshops.html
The Heart of Dixie chapter of RWA presents the online workshop Fat Free Writing or How to Avoid Wordiness in the Editing Stage, by The Grammar Divas. August 17-31, 2011. The Grammar Divas demonstrate techniques to identify and correct common author mistakes. Discover how to identify which words add meaning to a sentence and which just take up space. Learn alternatives to wordy, verbose, overstated, or pompous phrases. Devise strategies to help you write precisely what you mean every time. www.heartofdixie.org
RWA’s Mystery/Suspense Chapter is pleased to announce our COFFIN College of Felony and Intrigue MURDER ONE online Workshop for the month of August 2011. An Introduction to Violence, taught by Rory Miller, a seventeen-year veteran of a metropolitan correctional system. This course will cover the basics- Who (predators, hustlers, cops and citizens) the what (levels and types of violence) the how (injury and force) where (the social milieus where violence is the norm) and why (motivations) as well as the emotional weight and aftermath of a single violent encounter, multiple encounters, and living in a violent environment. For more information check out our website
