ONLINE WORKSHOPS:

SPONSOR:  The Passionate Ink Chapter of RWA
TITLE:   Word Choice Workout

DATES: August 9, 2010 – August 15, 2010

INSTRUCTOR: Natalie and Matt Duvall

DESCRIPTION:  This workshop teaches fix-up strategies and steps to prevent the boring from
overwhelming the bland. Members should have completed work to use for class.

DEADLINE: August 9, 2010

FEES: $15 for Passionate Ink Members; $20 for non-members

FMI: More info on the workshop page at http://www.passionateink.org/workshops/ or email workshopsATpassionateinkDOTorg

SPONSOR:  PASIC

TITLE:  Secrets of World Building

DATES:  September 1 – 30, 2010

INSTRUCTOR:  CJ Lyons

DESCRIPTION:  Topics covered in this highly interactive workshop will include: Micro-world building details;
how to show, not tell; 3D characters; taboo topics; power of myth; Darwin’s Rules, and more.

DEADLINE:  August 27, 2010

FMI:  http://pasic.net/class_registration.php

SPONSOR:  Heart of Dixie, RWA

TITLE:  Pitch, Pile, or Public: Three Paths To Publication

DATES:  September 7-21, 2010

INSTRUCTOR: Kira Sinclair, Kimberly Lang, & Lynn Raye Harris

DESCRIPTION:  This workshop prepares you for success on the three most common paths to an editor or
agent’s desk: the pitch, the slush pile and public attention.

FEES:  $20

FMI:  Register at: www.heartofdixie.org.  Other:  online@heartofdixie.org

SPONSOR:  Orange County Chapter of RWA
TITLE: Understanding Men

DATES:  August 16 – September 18, 2010

INSTRUCTOR:  Dr. Debra Holland

DESCRIPTION:  This five-week class teaches you how the male brain and hormones make a man think, feel, and behave, especially in relationships. New material covers male sexuality and how that affects responses, attitudes, and behavior.

FEES:  $20 for OCC members; $30 for others

FMI:  http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassAug10.html

SPONSOR:  Orange County Chapter of RWA

TITLE:  Creating that Fatal (or Not So Fatal) Flaw

DATES:  September 6 – October 2, 2010

INSTRUCTOR: Laurie Schnebly Campbell

DESCRIPTION:  This course teaches how to give likable, plausible characters a truly compelling conflict using Enneagrams.

FEES:  $20 for OCC members; $30 for others

FMI:  http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html

SPONSOR: Red River Romance Writers

TITLE:  Social Networking for Unpublished and Published Authors

DATES:  August 9 – September 6, 2010

INSTRUCTOR: Beth Barany

DESCRIPTION:  This class teaches how to get clear on the purpose of your online presence; set your user profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and Plaxo; build your base of friends/fans/followers; craft useful and effective content aligned with your purpose; use your social networking time effectively; and create a plan for change as your career changes.

FEES:  RRRW Members – $20; Non-members – $25

FMI:  http://redriverromancewriters.com/workshops.php

CONTESTS:

SPONSOR:  Maine Chapter RWA

TITLE:  2010 MERWA Synopsis Contest [Electronic entries]

DEADLINE:  Oct. 1, 2010

FEES:  $20.00

FMI:  http://www.mainerwa.com/ or email coordinator Lori Libby, MERWAsynopsis@gmail.com.

SPONSOR:  Missouri Romance Writers

TITLE:  GATEWAY TO THE BEST   [Electronic entries only]

DEADLINE:  September 10, 2010; entries accepted from noon August 2, 2010

FMI:  www.morwa.org

Leanna graduated with a BFA in Theatre from Miami University, with a focus in the Victorian Era. A scholarship to study in London helped set the course for her STRANGELY BEAUTIFUL series. The dramatic, historic, spiritual and paranormal are the primary forces in her lyrical, eerie, atmospheric fiction.

While performing in the regional theatre circuit she adapted works of 19th Century literature for the professional stage and her one-act plays such as Favorite Ladygarnered national attention and continue to be produced around the country.

She hit the fantasy fiction scene with her novella, DARK NEST, which won the 2009 Prism Award for excellence in Futuristic, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, THE STRANGLEY BEAUTIFUL TALE OF MISS PERCY PARKER is the first in her Strangely Beautiful series of ghostly, Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels published by Dorchester Publishing and landed on Barnes & Noble’s mass market and overall Bestseller List.

Leanna uses her background in theater to break down theatrical constructs and uses a unique hybrid approach in writing her novels.

Direct Your Book! Theatre Techniques to a Blockbuster Novel:

When Leanna began doing interviews about her fiction, she realized her process had a unique angle to offer; that it’s defined in theatrical terms. Crack open a whole new way to think about your fiction by using techniques inherent to actors, directors and other theatre professionals. As an author, think about what it takes to step into the role of actor, director, cinematographer, etc. and feel the lightbulbs go off as you troubleshoot your way towards an engaging, character-rich, one-of-a-kind hit novel.

Mark your calendars as this workshop begins on Thurs. March 26th and will run through the weekend. There will be three sessions. This will be a yahoo loop. RWA-WF members are being offered a discounted price of $20 for this workshop. All non-WF members are welcome and can also participate in the workshop for $25.

You may pay via paypal: payments to treasurer.rwawf@gmail.com, please include your name, RWA# (if applicable), email address and the workshop name in the Comments section;

or check: RWA-WF Treasurer, 9710 Velilla Road, Burke, VA 22015, please include a note with your name, RWA# (if applicable), email address and the workshop name.

The final day to register for this workshop is March 20th. Please contact Maggie Marr at marrmrgrt AT sbcglobal DOT net for more information.

Maggie Marr – VP-Programming

Over the next year, WF will attempt to host six workshops. The first workshop has not been scheduled yet but we are looking at a February date for the first one. Workshops will include speakers on topics that are relevant to our careers. We will have workshops that address craft, career, publicity, marketing and any other topic that our membership thinks is helpful and interesting. If you have workshop and/or speaker ideas, please forward them to marrmrgrt [at] sbcglobal [dot] net.