COFW’s Ignite the Flame Contest is Accepting Entries – Deadline for Contest Entry is May 16, 2011. Tired of entering expensive contests that require you to slave over hundreds of submission pages? Want a contest with experienced judges, wonderful feedback, and outstanding agents and editors who give feedback to the top three in each category? [...]

ONLINE CLASSES/WORKSHOPS: SPONSOR:  The Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Chapter of RWA TITLE:  Advanced Dialogue DATES:  April 4 – 17, 2011 INSTRUCTOR:  Devon Ellington DESCRIPTION: This workshop consists of exercises and homework teaching techniques to provoke sparkling dialogue that reveals and builds character, move along plot, reveal backstory, and enhance setting. This is a participatory class, [...]

** This event has sold out! ** The RWA-WF Board is thrilled to announce that on Tuesday, June 28th, RWA-WF will hold the First Annual RWA-Women’s Fiction Day. Our line up begins at 1 pm with a two-hour presentation by the fantastic Michael Hauge. Michael is considered a genius with story structure. A highly sought [...]

Contests The Magic Moment Contest: Send us your unpublished 10 – page scene featuring that “magic moment” when the hero and heroine first meet. Top 3 finalists get their work in front of an agent actively seeking romance clients! The winner receives $100! Get in on the action by sending us your scene by April [...]

COVER DESIGN You think writing a synopsis is bad?  Try boiling a story down to one image.  A snapshot that must convey tone, period, genre– oh!  And don’t forget to leave room for the tile and the author’s name!  Designing covers isn’t easy.  As a writer, I understand how important the right cover is to [...]

#1 Twitter can make or break our platform This past weekend I taught classes about branding and blogging at the DFW Writers Workshop Conference. One question I kept getting over and over was, “Well if I write a blog, how will anyone find it?” The answer? Twitter. Twitter is like a traffic cop who interrupts [...]

#2 Twitter helps us build our network How many times have you heard, “It isn’t what you know, it’s who you know”? We tend to look to our close network connections FIRST. I have been a Rotarian for 6 years. Rotary is a community service group made up of local business professionals. There are millions [...]

RWA Chapter Contests The Kiss of Death Chapter’s 2011 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in mystery/suspense closes for entries on March 15, 2011. Published and unpublished categories. Unpublished categories and judges: Category (Series) Romantic Mystery/Suspense, Allison Lyons – Harlequin Intrigue and Jennifer Schober – Spencerhill Associates; Historical, Tessa Woodward – Avon and Alexandra Machinist [...]

#3 Twitter provides us mentors that would otherwise be inaccessible  The best way to become successful is to study the success of others. We all have writing heroes. Wouldn’t it be great to be a fly on the wall of our favorite mega-author? With Twitter, polite stalking our heroes is not only possible, but it’s [...]

#4 Twitter gives us insider information: These days it often feels as if we are thirsting for knowledge while drowning in a sea of information. Search engines give us instant gratification, but it would take a thousand lifetimes to sort through all the options clamoring for our undivided attention. How can we possibly manage it [...]