January 2012
Title: Incorporating Humor Into Your Writing
Instructor: Ally Broadfield
Date: January 2 – 27, 2012
Classroom: Foothills
 DESCRIPTION: Humor is a part of our everyday lives. It can inspire hope, relieve tension, and help connect us to one another. Learning to use humor effectively will enhance your work and may even boost your creativity by challenging you to approach your craft in a new way. Even if your subject matter is serious, the subtle use of humor can help ease tension and give your reader a chance to breathe again after an intense scene. Learning to be funny is one of the most difficult writing skills to master, but as long as you possess a sense of humor, this class will teach you the skills you need to add humor to your stories.
BIO: A graduate of The George Washington University, Ally Broadfield is a former school librarian whose passion is sharing knowledge. She has participated in several RWA sponsored workshops and has studied every book about writing she’s been able to get her hands on since she decided to stop dabbling and get serious about being published. Known for her witty dialogue, she firmly believes that humor belongs in every story. She is a News Writer for the Best Friends Animal Network and an RWA PRO. Her first manuscript she didn’t consign to the dust bunnies under her bed is currently on submission. She writes historical romance and young adult paranormal/fantasy romance, and is an active member of SCBWI and several RWA chapters, including YARWA, FF&P, HHRW and NTRWA.
Title: Show & Tell: An Interactive Workshop
Instructor: Shannon Donnelly
Date: January 2 – 27, 2012
Classroom: Prairie
 DESCRIPTION:Both showing and telling are valuable tools for any writer--writers need both narrative passages as well as dramatic scenes, so each has its own place within any writer's skill set. In this workshop, we'll use writing examples to figure out the truth hidden in the advice to "show, don't tell." Learn how "show, don't tell" really means "show more with dramatic scenes, and tell only when you need to move the story along."
The "showing" part of the workshop blends a set of exercises to strengthen an understanding of what makes a scene come to life by using more vivid descriptions to reveal characters--their thoughts and emotions--by showing them in action and using deep POV.
The "telling" part of the workshop includes tips, tricks, and techniques to help strengthen narrative and identify when it's time to "tell" your story to the reader to compress information, smooth transitions, or otherwise better establish settings and scenes for the reader.
Topics we'll cover:
- Definitions -- what is showing, what is telling
- Telling: Use of the Narrative Voice
- Breaking it down part 1: Showing to Pull a Reader into Your Scenes
- Breaking it down part 2: Better Narrative (so a reader doesn't skip this)
- Going Deeper in Viewpoint to Better Show a Character's Inner World
- Transitions & Word Count--Where Telling Really Helps
- Showing and Telling--Mixing it up Again
BIO: Shannon Donnelly's writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, RWA's Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"..."wonderfully uplifting"....and "beautifully written."
Her Regency romances can be found as ebooks on Kindle, Nook and at Smashwords. She has had novellas published in several anthologies, has had young adult horror stories published and is the author of several computer games. She lives in New Mexico with two horses, two donkeys, two dogs, and only one love of her life. Shannon can be found online at sd-writer.com, facebook.com/sdwriter and twitter/sdwriter.
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February 2012
Title: Demystifying Social Media
Instructor: LaTessa Montgomery
Date: January 30 – February 24, 2012
Classroom: Mile High
DESCRIPTION: This workshop is aimed at anyone who wishes to learn the basics of social networking and how it can be used to expand their author’s platform; with heavy emphasis on blogging, and specific focus on Twitter and Facebook
Jumping into social media can be daunting task. With my workshop, I take the fear out of this process by breaking up social media into easy to manage chunks. This is a hands on workshop through which I walk participants through each lesson and have virtual classroom hours establish so we can interact with each other real time via Twitter and IM to aid in the learning process.
BIO: An avid reader of all things fiction since childhood, La-Tessa's love affair began at the age of five. It was then she met her best friends Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys at the local library. In junior high, she met the Wakefield twins from Sweet Valley High and they shared several adventures. However, in high school she discovered the enchanting world of romance and has been hooked ever since.
La-Tessa has a BA and MBA in marketing which she utilizes in her roles as business consultant and marketing analyst. Through these roles, she’s become well versed in conventional marketing/PR methods, as well as the ever changing online marketing, SEO/SEM, and social networking avenues. She’s called upon occasionally to teach workshops and host chats on social networking, blogging, and author branding by her local RWA chapter, online writing communities, and local business owners.
La-Tessa is an active member of her local RWA chapter, River City Romance Writers, where is currently serves as Vice President and Program Chair. She’s also a member of Savvy Authors and is Senior Review Editor for www.RomanceInColor.com
Title: Contests: The Basics
Instructor: Alexa Bourne
Date: January 30 – February 24, 2012
Classroom: Flatirons
 DESCRIPTION: Students will explore reasons to enter contests, how to find the right contest for their work, how to follow the “rules,” how to deal with the results/feedback of contests, and finally choose contests.
BIO: Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romantic suspense writer by nights, weekends and all school holidays. She recently signed her first contract with Decadent Publishing for a contemporary Scottish novella, Her Highland Champion. When she's not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV and thinking about exercising. To learn more about her, visit www.alexabourne.com or http://alexabourne.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @AlexaBourne.
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March 2012
Title: Twitter for Novices: Exploring and Enjoying the Twitterverse
Instructor: LaTessa Montgomery
Date: February 27 – March 23, 2012
Classroom: Foothills
DESCRIPTION: Jumping into Twitter can be daunting task, even to those experienced with other social media such as blogging and FaceBook. However, with my workshop, I take the fear out of this process by breaking up theTwitterverse into easy to manage chunks. This is a hands on workshop through which I will participants through each lesson and have virutal classroom hours establish so we can interact with each other real time via Twitter to aid in the learning process.
NOTE: This is a continuation of LaTessa’s previous workshop.
BIO: An avid reader of all things fiction since childhood, La-Tessa's love affair began at the age of five. It was then she met her best friends Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys at the local library. In junior high, she met the Wakefield twins from Sweet Valley High and they shared several adventures. However, in high school she discovered the enchanting world of romance and has been hooked ever since.
La-Tessa has a BA and MBA in marketing which she utilizes in her roles as business consultant and marketing analyst. Through these roles, she’s become well versed in conventional marketing/PR methods, as well as the ever changing online marketing, SEO/SEM, and social networking avenues. She’s called upon occasionally to teach workshops and host chats on social networking, blogging, and author branding by her local RWA chapter, online writing communities, and local business owners.
La-Tessa is an active member of her local RWA chapter, River City Romance Writers, where is currently serves as Vice President and Program Chair. She’s also a member of Savvy Authors and is Senior Review Editor for www.RomanceInColor.com
Title: Selling to Woman’s World Magazine: Beyond the Basics, Part I
Instructor: Kate Willoughby
Date: February 27 – March 23, 2012
Classroom: Prairie
 DESCRIPTION: Woman’s World, one of the last remaining periodicals to publish short fiction, pays $800 for an 800 word romance story, and if you sell to them there’s a good chance over a million people will read your story.
Nice work if you can get it, right? Well, you can. My class, “Selling to Woman’s World Magazine—Beyond the Basics, Part I,” will give you the tools you need to break into this tough market.
Each week we’ll examine one or more key story elements that occur over and over in Woman’s World romantic fiction. These story elements enhance submissions and give them that certain something unique to the publication. Students will complete simple assignments designed to help pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in the stories they’ve been submitting and stories they have yet to write.
We’ll also deconstruct three of the most popular plots. Then, I’ll guide you through the plotting process so that by the end of the month, you’ll be set with numerous plots and ideas, all ready to go. Industrious students may even have finished stories.
BIO: Kate Willoughby’s Woman’s World expertise comes from six years of analysis, writing, and submission to the magazine. In that time, she’s sold to them seven times at a success rate of about 25%. At least five former students have also sold. In addition to her seven Woman’s World stories, she has published eight novels and novellas, print and electronic, with Ellora’s Cave and Liquid Silver Books.
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April 2012
Title: It Happened Right Here: Writing and Researching a Historical Novel Set in your Hometown or Where You Currently Live
Instructor: Beth Daniels
Date: March 26 - April 27, 2012
Classroom: Foothills
DESCRIPTION: Doing historical research is a wonderful treasure hunt for either novelist or history enthusiast. Re-enactors frequently get rabid about it.
But if you aren’t in a position to travel to the places where the documents can be found – for not everything is available on the Web…yet – what’s a writer to do?
Use what is at hand, that’s what. There’s no reason why where you live, whether it’s your hometown or your current town, can’t supply what you need in the way of events, merchants, businessmen, what was of interest, what was available, prices of things, the local scandals…well, the list could get quite long.
This workshop will get you started along the way. Dipping deeper is always possible but you need to know what to ask for at the library or museum archive first and that’s what we’re going in search of in this workshop.
In 4 weeks we’ll concentrate on events, who’s in the news, who’s new in town, what the social scene is, where to shop, what the upper class, middle class and worker class is wearing, what addresses would make things come alive, what people are paying for things, whether there is a canal, a railroad, a well-travelled trail, a stage line, toll roads, Indian troubles (if you live in the US), immigrant problems (which arise everywhere), if there is a military presence or a war in progress, and how this (and other) information can be used to put that pondering expression on your muse’s face.
It all starts March 26 and concludes April 27. You might need a trip to your local library or historical society but perhaps not if the historical archives of the local newspaper are available online as well as in microfiche form. We’ll be using only materials easily available to you as much as possible. Your search can always extend from there but what we’re after is the data seeds from which a story can grow.
Hope to see you there!
BIO: Beth Daniels currently writes as Beth Henderson and J.B. Dane, though she answered to Lisa Dane and Beth Cruise in the past as well. She has worked with editors at Berkley, Zebra, Leisure, Harlequin/Silhouette, and Simon and Schuster's Aladdin Paperbacks, done e-books for a now defunct company (not her fault, she says), and began her writing life with hardcover books slated for library use with a publisher that got out of the romance business (again, not her fault). More recently she’s had a number of articles about writing picked up by e-zines, saw a short story published in a mystery and suspense magazine that turned up its toes the next year (really, really not her fault), and has a story (“The Dragon’s Tale”) in the MOTHER GOOSE IS DEAD anthology from Damnation Books. She is the author of WRITING STEAMPUNK. And the co-author of LOVING TRIXIE FINE, a Babyboomer contemporary romantic adventure fantasy.
For over a dozen years Beth taught college level composition, both in the classroom and online, and a credit course on Novel Writing. Now she puts her history degree, rather than the English one, to work ferreting out facts about life in Britain and America, then spinning the details off into workshops and in-progress non-fiction tomes. Oh, yes, she also writes novels.
In fact, twenty-eight of Beth’s novels have appeared in print and/or e-book format, and in 12 different languages in over 20 countries.
Visit her website: www.RomanceAndMystery.com
Title: Selling to Woman’s World Magazine: Beyond the Basics, Part II
Instructor: Kate Willoughby
Date: March 26 - April 27, 2012
Classroom: Prairie
DESCRIPTION: In this continuation of Selling to Woman’s World Magazine—Beyond the Basics I, we’ll examine eight more story elements and five plots in our quest to understand just what it takes to sell to Johnene Granger, the discerning fiction editor at Woman’s World.
BIO: Kate Willoughby’s Woman’s World (WW) expertise comes from six years of analysis, writing, and submission to the magazine. In that time, she’s sold eight stories to them at a success rate of about 28%. Her blog, “Writing for Woman’s World,” is a resource for those who want to break into the WW market, and through the original “Secrets of Selling to Woman’s World Magazine” class she’s helped at least six writers sell to the magazine. (Click here for testimonials.) She has also published eleven novellas, print and electronic, with Ellora’s Cave and Liquid Silver Books.
Link to Womans’ World blog - http://womansworldstyle.blogspot.com/
Link to my website - http://kate-willoughby.blogspot.com/
Link to testimonials - http://womansworldstyle.blogspot.com/p/more-testimonials.html
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May 2012
Title: The W Plot...Or The Other White Meat for Plotters
Instructor: Karen Docter
Date: April 30 - May 25, 2012
Classroom: Foothills
 DESCRIPTION: One of the staples of any writers’ group conversations is the plot. It’s integral to every novel, holds everything together. It’s the vehicle that carries readers from page one to “The End”. It’s one of the scariest things an author faces when s/he decides, hey, I want to write a novel!
How many of us have made this decision, then stared at that blank page or computer screen without a clue how to proceed? What about those of us who write by the seat of our pants, the pantsers? Do we dare risk scaring off our muse by [shudder] plotting our story? How do the mega-plotters, the overachievers, know when it’s time to stop and just put pen to paper?
Join four-time Golden Heart finalist and Daphne du Maurier winner Karen Docter as she shares the “W” plotting technique she’s used successfully for years.
Karen analyzes the movie “Romancing the Stone” to show how the technique works, discussing the detailed plot points for the main characters including the villain. Throughout this 4-week online workshop, you’ll uncover the skeleton of your own novel. Whatever your genre, by the end of the class not only will you have the tools you need to finish plotting your story using the “W”, you’ll have the information you need to write the synopsis we all love to hate…all without writing one word of the novel.
If you’ve already started your novel, that’s okay. It’s never too late to apply the principles of the “W” to your developing story. Have you run into a wall? Don’t know where to go next? Has the story gone flat? Use the technique to pull apart the story elements so you can plug the holes, work around walls that loom in your path, and get your story moving again.
This is a hands-on-your-own-book workshop designed for the novice or the experienced writer.
BIO: Karen Docter won the Category (Series) Romantic Mystery Suspense unpublished division of the 2005 Daphne du Maurier Award. She's a four-time Golden Heart finalist and a charter member of The Golden Network & RWA® PRO®. Also a member of Colorado Romance Writers, Kiss of Death Romance Writers & From The Heart Romance Writers, she writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She holds a B.A. in Technical Journalism. To foster literacy, she’s been a speaker at local Jr./High schools, tutored composition and reading classes, and taught college level English composition. FMI: www.karendocter.com
Title: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Kick-Ass Website
Instructor: Diane Whiddon
Date: April 30 - May 25, 2012
Classroom: Prairie
 DESCRIPTION: Having a professional website is the cornerstone of your marketing plan and now it’s more important than ever. Published authors need to promote online to new and current readers, and unpublished authors need to appeal to agents and editors with a professional website. Social media, including Goodreads, email lists, search engine optimization and techie terms like widgets and plugins can make it that much more overwhelming.
But, it doesn’t have to be! Having an effective, professional website can be easier than you think. You can have a successful online marketing strategy just by talking about what you love most—writing and your books. With the tools and resources you’ll get in this class, you’ll be able to make the most of your website.
What you’ll learn:
- How to create a compelling, interesting author page effortlessly
- The basic pages every site needs and suggestions for their content, including what to put on your home page and books page
- How to develop an easy and sustainable social media strategy for you
- The pros and cons of blogging and list building – what works and what doesn’t
- De-mystifying search engine optimization (SEO)
If you’re motivated, you might just leave the class with completely re-written, highly focused website copy that will appeal to your visitors, a deeper understanding of online marketing and a social media strategy that will work for you.
BIO: Diane Whiddon has been a graphic designer and artist for over fifteen years, and she’s been designing websites since she started Novel Website Design in 2006. She’s an expert in Search Engine Optimization, marketing for creatives and solopreneurs, and translating techie speak to English.
Nothing pleases her more than working with writers and other creative entrepreneurs who love what they do. Helping them shine their lights online and share their gifts with the world to find profit and fulfillment is her greatest passion.
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