Together we can!
2013 Online Workshops
Colorado Romance Writers, Inc. is pleased to present our 2013 Online Workshop Series! Each workshop is conducted via EMAIL only, no real-time or live chats. Once registered and several days before the class begins, participants will be invited to a Yahoo Groups classrooms for the length of the workshop, and then removed when it is over.
Workshops are open to everyone interested in the subject matter, regardless if you are a writer or your location. The only requirement is that you have email capability. For more information contact the Online Workshop Coordinators, Larri Winslow or Lori Corsentino. Please use the workshop title in the subject header for all correspondence.
To Register: Navigate to the desired workshop description from the listing below. Click the PayPal button and follow the prompts. Your receipt will be your registration confirmation. You will receive an invitation to join the Yahoo loop several days before the workshop begins.
Subscribe to CRW's mailing list! The purpose of this list is solely to share news of upcoming monthly Online Workshop Series workshops sponsored by Colorado Romance Writers, Inc. This is not a chat loop and you can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you!
Workshop Fees: Workshop fees will vary depending on length and nature of the class. Standards for a regular, 4-week course are:
$20 per workshop, CRW members
$25 per workshop, all other participants
Professional Series, short duration, and other special classes may have a different cost structure. See the workshop details for more information.
[Refunds available until 24 hours prior to class start.]
We hope you enjoy your experience with us here at Colorado Romance Writers, Inc. Check out all of our wonderful Online Workshop Series offerings in the table below! Click on the workshop title to link to specific dates and details.
| April, 2013 |
To Agent or Not to Agent |
Show and Tell: An Interactive Workshop Instructor: Shannon Donnelly Dates: April 1 - April 26, 2013, 2013 Classroom: Flatirons Plotting, Craft, Characterization, Writing Fundamentals |
| May, 2013 |
Synopsis Writing with the Plotting Wheel +PLUS+ The Question of Queries |
Social Media Rock Stardom Instructor: Lisa Pietsch Dates: April 29 - May 24, 2013 Classroom: Prairie Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Professional Development, Industry, Social Media |
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The Push/Pull/Lock of an Effective Opening |
SKINWALKING: Intimate Character POV |
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Close With and Destroy - The Fine Art of Close Quarters Battle |
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| June, 2013 |
The Secret to Building an Effective Fiction Writer's Platform |
Genre Cliches Instructor: MM Pollard Dates: June 3 - June 14, 2013 Classroom: Flatirons Specialty Research, Specialty Studies, Genre, Craft |
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Avoid the Rough: Turning Your Story Idea into a Workable Plot with a Broad Strokes Outline |
Cross Marketing Magic Instructor: Deborah Riley-Magnus Dates: June 3 - June 28, 2013 Classroom: Red Rocks Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Industry, Indie Publishing, Social Media, Advanced Students |
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A Writer's Guide to Psychology |
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| July, 2013 |
World Building |
Author vs. Editor Instructor: Robin Matheson Dates: July 22 - August 2, 2013 Classroom: Prairie Networking, Professional Development, Industry, Publishing |
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Twisting History: Writing the Alt Historical Novel |
Blog Touring for Rock Stars Instructor: Lisa Pietsch Dates: July 22 - August 2, 2013 Classroom: Cherry Creek Networking, Professional Development, Promotions, Social Media, Publicity |
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| August, 2013 |
The SIX Senses: Character-Driven Description To Enhance Character POV |
Beyond the Basic Google Search Instructor: Ally Broadfield Dates: August 5 - August 30, 2013 Classroom: Flatirons Writing Development, Research, Craft |
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The 4 1/2 Paths to Publishing in the 21st Century |
Revision Hel--No Heaven Instructor: Laurie Schnebly-Campbell Dates: August 19 - August 30, 2013 Classroom: Red Rocks Editing, Writing Development, Craft |
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| September, 2013 |
Killer Openings |
Platform Building, One Plank at a Time Instructor: Deborah Riley-Magnus Dates: September 2 - September 27, 2013 Classroom: Prarie Professional Development, Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Industry, Indie Publishing |
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You Are What You Say |
Engage Your Reader with Attention-Grabbing Prose Instructor: MM Pollard Dates: September 16 - September 27, 2013 Classroom: Cherry Creek Writing Development, Craft, Wordsmithing |
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Coffee Break Social Media |
I'm Back From Writing Conference: What Do I Do Now? Instructor: Tina Gerow Dates: September 2 - September 13, 2013 Classroom: Loveland Professional Development, Promotions, Industry, Networking |
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| October, 2013 |
Plan for your Best NaNo Ever! |
Gargoyles, Shifers , Succubus & More: Writing Believable Non-Humans +PLUS+ Settings for Paranormal Stories Instructor: Tina Gerow Dates: October 7 - October 25, 2013 Classroom: Flatirons Specialty Research, Characterization, Plotting, Genre, Writing Development, Paranormal |
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Vickie & Bertie |
The Editing Dilemma Instructor: Becky Martinez Dates: October 7 - November 1, 2013 Classroom: Red Rocks Editing, Writing Development, Craft |
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Create Peace and Harmony in Your Writing |
Online Workshop Descriptions
Title: To Agent or Not to Agent
Instructor: Donna Alward
Dates: April 1 - April 5, 2013
Classroom: MileHigh
Classifications: Business, Professional Development, Industry, Networking, Publishing
Description: Taught from the perspective of an author who started her career without an agent and now has one, this workshop will cover topics concerning an agent’s role in your career, what you can (and should!) do yourself, how to get an agent and the dynamics of the agent/author relationship.
Topics covered by this online class will include:
- Lesson 1: Do You Need An Agent? -- Going it alone, markets, what you can do yourself and things to look for in a contract
- Lesson 2: Help Me Help You – What Does An Agent Have To Offer? -- Negotiation, advocacy, and peace of mind
- Lesson 3: I’m Convinced – Now What? -- Do your research, and getting an agent’s attention – selling the book vs selling yourself
- Lesson 4: How Do You Know It’s Right? -- Author/agent expectations and the dynamics of the author/agent relationship.
- Lesson 5: The Agent Contract: Know What You’re Getting Into -- What to look for before you sign on the bottom line
- Lesson 6 (optional): Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Q&A
BIO: Donna Alward is an award-winning author of over twenty Romance novels for Harlequin Romance and Samhain Publishing. Her debut Harlequin, HIRED BY THE COWBOY, won the Bookseller’s Best Award for Best Traditional Romance, 2007 and she was a 2012 RITA finalist. She belongs to the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada RWA Chapter and has had articles published in both Author Magazine and The Romance Writers Report. To learn more about Donna visit her website at www.donnaalward.com.
Title: Show and Tell: An Interactive Workshop
Instructor: Shannon Donnelly
Dates: April 1 - April 26, 2013
Classroom: Flatirons
Classifications: Plotting, Wordsmithing, Characterization, Writing Fundamentals, Writing Development, Craft
Description: "Show, don't Tell" is a cliché that has almost lost its meaning. But "showing" and "telling" are both valuable tools for any writer. In this workshop, we'll use writing examples to figure out the truth hidden in this tired phrase.
The "telling" part of the workshop includes tips, tricks, and techniques to help improve narrative and identify when it's time to tell your story.
The "showing" part blends a set of exercises to strengthen an understanding of what makes a scene come to life.
Topics we'll cover:
- Telling: Use of the Narrative Voice
- Showing to Pull a Reader into Your Scenes
- Descriptions: How to Make them Vivid
- Deep Viewpoint to Show a Character's Inner World
- Time, Transitions & Word Count--where Telling Helps
- Showing and Telling--Not Absolutes
- Write to Your Strengths: When to Show, When to Tell
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 work has been on the top seller list of Amazon.com and she recently published Paths of Desire, a Historical Regency romance, of which Romantic Historical Lovers notes: “a story where in an actress meets an adventurer wouldn’t normally be at the top of my TBR pile; but I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author and so I thought I’d give this one a go. I’m glad I did. I was hooked and pulled right into the world of the story from the very beginning…Highly recommended.” Paths of Desire and her other Regency romances can be found as ebooks with on all ebook formats, and with Cool Gus Publishing.
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.
Title: Close With and Destroy - The Fine Art of Close Quarters Battle
Instructor: Todd Stone, Major, United States Army (Ret.)
Dates: April 29 - May 24, 2013 (Rescheduled from April)
Classroom: Castle Rock
Classifications: Specialty Research, Plotting, Characterization, Craft, Genre, Military/Combat
Description: In this informational workshop you’ll get the down and dirty details of the fine art and brutal action steps that small military units take when they execute close combat missions from a retired US Army Ranger, Airborne (Army parachutist) Infantry officer and former instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point—who is also an award-winning multi-published author!
We’ll walk through ambushes, assaults, clearing a room, clearing a trench, knocking out a bunker, and raids. Our workshop will cover the tactics and skills that are essential to all infantry advances, basic small unit organization, and discuss step by step how small combat units close with and destroy their enemies. Close quarters combat is short, nasty, brutish chaos, but we'll make some sense of that chaos so you can have a better understanding of small unit military actions and so write more compelling scenes.
This eight lesson workshop is appropriate for authors at all levels who wish to ensure their description of modern combat is more accurate, who wish to have a better understanding of small unit military actions, or who are building fictional worlds with warrior or military backdrops, backstories, or scenes.
BIO: Todd Stone is former Army Infantry Airborne Ranger and Instructor at the US Military Academy at West Point and is the multi-published award-winning author of NOVELIST'S BOOT CAMP and the presenter of The Novelist's Boot Camp Workshops. The NBC Workshops have been featured at venues such as RT, RWA National, The University of Wisconsin Writers Conference, Love is Murder Mystery/Suspense Conference, DUCKON Science Fiction Convention, The School of the Arts at Rhinelander, and at RWA chapters across the country. Visit his website at www.storytellerroad.com for free downloads from NOVELISTS BOOT CAMP.
Title: The Good, the Bad, and the Necessary: Critique Groups
Instructor: Ally Broadfield
Dates: April 1 - April 26, 2013
Classroom: Red Rocks
Classifications: Professional Development, Networking, Personal Development and Growth, Writing Development
Description: Critique groups are an essential element on the journey to publication for most writers. We’ve all heard successful authors talk about how integral their critique partners are to their success, but we’ve also heard, or in some cases experienced, the negative side of critique groups. A good critique group will give you encouragement and support, create accountability, and help you take your writing to a new level.
In this workshop you’ll learn why you need a critique group, how to choose the group that’s right for you, how to recognize when it’s time to leave a group, when it might be better to use a critique partner or beta reader, how to set up and run your own group, how to give a critique, and how to get the most out of the critiques you receive.
- Why You Need a Critique Group
- Finding and Choosing the Group that’s Right for You
- Reasons to Leave a Critique Group
- Critique Partners & Beta Readers
- Setting Up & Running Your Own Group
- Maintaining a Group Long-Term
- How to Give a Critique
- How to Get the Most Out of the Critiques You Receive
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: Synopsis Writing with the Plotting Wheel +PLUS+ The Question of Queries
Instructor: Becky Martinez
Dates: April 29 - May 24, 2013
Classroom: Foothills
Classifications: Craft, Promotions, Submissions, Querying, Pitching, Professional Development
Description: Synopsis Writing with the Plotting Wheel – 2 weeks
Synopsis writing can be a real problem, but there is no need to fight over how to write a synopsis. Learn what you need to include in a good synopsis and then get information on how to use the Plotting Wheel to solve the synopsis problem with a minimum of hand wringing. The Plotting Wheel is a formula devised by Becky Martinez and Sue Viders that helps in the plotting process, but it can also provide an easy outline form to get the synopsis written. Go quickly around the wheel in ten easy steps and come out with a workable synopsis at the end!
The Question of Queries – 2 weeks
A good query letter can be every bit as important as the opening pages of your novel. It’s your first opportunity to show your writing skills to a prospective agent or editor. Make it count! Make it shine! A good query letter should make that editor and agent want to read your material instead of simply casting it aside to look at some other time. How can you learn to write the perfect query letter? What should be in your query? How do you start and how do you tell enough without getting too long winded? Here’s a chance to learn how to make those query letters sing and how to make agents and editors look forward to your work. Get practical information and the chance to work on your own queries and have them critiqued.
BIO: Becky Martinez is an award-winning former broadcast journalist and published author. Her latest work, Shadows from the Past, is a gothic novella published by The Wild Rose Press. Released in March 2012, it has received excellent reviews. Her first romantic suspense novel, Deadly Messages, was an Aspen Gold finalist and received 4 stars from RT Book Reviews. She has also had several romance novels and short stories published, including “Trouble in the Rockies,” which appeared in the anthology, The Trouble with Romance, a New Mexico Book Award finalist.
She is the co-author of the how-to writing book, 10 STEPS TO CREATING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS and currently teaches online writing classes and presents in-person workshops on writing and editing.
Title: Social Media Rock Stardom
Instructor: Lisa Pietsch
Dates: April 29 - May 24, 2013
Classroom: Prarie
Classifications: Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Professional Development, Industry, Social Media
Description: You got the call! You have just been offered a publishing contract and soon you will be up to your eyeballs in edits. Who has time to write and get their name out there? If you have 30 minutes a day for 30 days, you can be a social media rock star before your book hits the stands. Still trying to get that contract? Publishers love rock stars. This is for you too! Are you a small publishing house hoping to expand your online presence? This program will get you on everyone’s radar.
BIO: Lisa Pietsch is a U.S.A.F. veteran, a multi-published novelist and freelance writer, a social media marketing consultant, has been the managing editor for five content rich online communities and several online and print newsletters, the Co-Founder/Managing Editor of SAXtreme Magazine and the mother of two boys. She has an A.S. in Business Management from the University of Maine and has been immersed in social media marketing for the past eight years. She has a passion for foreign languages, travel and adventure. Lisa currently lives in the Hill Country north of San Antonio, Texas.
When her first novel, The Path to Freedom, was published in electronic formats in 2008, Lisa realized her marketing efforts would need to take a left turn at traditional and become largely electronic as well. Since then, she has developed tools and handbooks that teach authors and small press publishers how to market their books and their brands without breaking the bank. She is available for both workshops and private consulting.
Follow Lisa’s adventures online at www.LisaPietsch.com
Title: The Push/Pull/Lock of an Effective Opening
Instructor: Lydia Sharp
Dates: April 29 - May 17, 2013
Classroom: LoDo
Classifications: Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Inciting Incident, Writing Fundamentals
Notes:
- Student Skill Level: Beginning to Intermediate
- Recommended for: Unpublished novelists
- We will be using The Shifter by Janice Hardy as a study guide after each section of the lecture. Please read at least the first chapter of the book before the first day of the workshop. It should be available through your local library and wherever books are sold.
Description: A fiction writing workshop for beginners and querying novelists struggling to get agent/editor interest in their sample pages, and everyone in between. This workshop will be held once per week for three weeks. Each day will include a combination of lecture, Q&A, and homework assignments.
At the end of the three weeks, students are encouraged to use what they learned to revise their manuscript opening and submit their first chapter (or first 10 pages, whichever is shorter) to the instructor for a one-on-one critique.
Week one will cover:
- How to push the reader from page to page
- Instilling a sense of forward movement
- Handling backstory in the opening chapters
- Selecting an appropriate starting goal for your lead
- Keeping the reader engaged beyond the first chapter
Week two will cover:
- How to pull the reader in with voice
- Necessary elements of a strong character voice
- Creating unique characters
- Effects of author style and point-of-view
- Pitfalls that detract from voice
Week three will cover:
- How to lock the reader into your story with the 3 Cs of Act One
BIO: Lydia Sharp is an author of young adult contemporary, fantasy, and romance. She has been dedicated to helping fiction writers improve their storytelling skills through her blog The Sharp Angle (since 2009), the award-winning Writer Unboxed blog (since 2010), and the Write It Sideways blog (since 2012). In 2013 she began an editorial internship with Entangled Publishing. Lydia's newest book, Mismatched, releases from Musa Publishing in May 2013. For a list of all her books, and all the places you can connect with Lydia, please visit her website.
Title: SKINWALKING: Intimate Character POV
Instructor: Renee Wildes
Dates: May 13 - May 24, 2013
Classroom: Cherry Creek
Classifications: Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Editing, Writing Fundamentals
Description:What IS Skinwalking?
Skinwalking is where a writer “puts on” a character and lives inside them. Every observation & impression, every thought, every feeling & emotion is conveyed by the writer so the reader can not only read but EXPERIENCE the story along with the character.
This is what we'll cover:
- Thoughts on Characterization—Why CHARACTER is more important than STORY (and my own journey into grasping POV—with Suzanne Brockmann & a manuscript called “Second Chances” that NO ONE will ever see!)
- Character Development—Plotting vs. Pantsing, How a Character Outline will help “lock it down” for you the writer, make it easier to STAY in THAT perspective
- Description from the Character’s POV—What do THEY know and notice? What matters to THEM?
- Character Emotion—How to channel & convey a variety of emotions from THAT character’s life experience?
- Those pesky little old TELLING words—How to substitute action and dialogue, both verbal and internal, to convey the msg. better.
- Quick Tips—A List to Keep Handy
- Characterization References (Books & Otherwise)
After each lesson the class will try their hand at the technique discussed. I’ll do a critique & post (w/o names) for whole class. I strongly believe in the “learning by doing” mantra. Participation is expected and strongly encouraged.
For students to leave with a clearer understanding of the importance of close POV and to have the basic techniques to achieve it, the ability to bring the reader along for the ride.
BIO: Renee Wildes is an award-winning local Wausau writer. She grew up reading fantasy authors Terry Brooks and Mercedes Lackey and is a huge Joseph Campbell fan, so the minute she discovered romance novels it became inevitable that she would combine it all and write fantasy romance. Renee is a history buff, from medieval times back to ancient Greece, esp. Sparta. As a Navy brat and a cop’s kid, she gravitated to protector/guardian heroes and heroines. She’s had horses her whole life, so became the only vet tech in a family of nurses. It all comes together in her critically acclaimed Guardians of Light series for Samhain Publishing – fantasy, action, romance, heroics and lots of critters!
Visit Renee at:
Website: www.reneewildes.net
Personal Blog: www.reneewildes1.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ReneeWildes (@ReneeWildes)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/renee.wildes
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003ZMXWQE
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2465877.Renee_Wildes
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/renee.wildes
Yahoo Group: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/reneewildesromancefantastique/
Publisher: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/renee-wildes
Title: The Secret to Building an Effective Fiction Writer's Platform
Instructor: Ann Charles & Jacquie Rogers
Dates: June 3 - June 14
Classroom: MileHigh
Classifications: Professional Development, Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Industry, Indie Publishing
Description: In today’s publishing atmosphere, we’re responsible for our own promotion and marketing. Whether you have one manuscript ready to submit, or are multi-published, now’s the time to begin building the platform that will help you achieve your career goals.
What is a platform? Your internet presence, name recognition factor, publishing history, social networking positioning, workshop presentation résumé, just to name a few.
This class is a hands-on workshop—be ready to work in the trenches alongside your classmates, and emerge with a solid plan to create or augment a platform best suited to your writing style and strengths.
To qualify for this class, you must have completed and polished at least one manuscript which you deem ready for submission to agents and editors (because until you have a manuscript ready, you have no product to sell).
BIO: Ann Charles -- Ann is an award-winning author who writes romantic mysteries that are splashed with humor. Her book NEARLY DEPARTED IN DEADWOOD won the 2010 Daphne du Maurier for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense Award and the 2011 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award for Best Novel With Strong Romantic Elements. The third book in her Deadwood Mystery series, DEAD CASE IN DEADWOOD, won a Best of 2012 for Romantic Suspense award from Suspense Magazine.
A member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America for many moons, Ann has a B.A. in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of Washington. She is currently toiling away on her next book, wishing she was on a Mexican beach with an ice-cold Corona in one hand and a book in the other. When she is not dabbling in fiction, she is arm wrestling with her two kids, attempting to seduce her husband, and arguing with her sassy cat. Most nights, you can find her hanging out on Facebook—especially around midnight when her quirky fictional world comes to life.
Website: www.anncharles.com
Facebook: Ann Charles (Personal page and Author page)
Twitter: @DeadwoodViolet and @AnnWCharles
Jacquie Rogers -- Jacquie is a former software designer, campaign manager, deli clerk, and cow milker, but always a bookworm. Reading is her passion--westerns, fantasies, historicals of any era, and all with a dash of romance. If a writer can make her laugh, she'll buy every book that author ever wrote. She’s a country girl by birth, but now lives in suburbia with her very patient husband who doubles as her IT guy. You can never take the country out of a girl's heart and that’s why her stories often take place in rural Idaho where she grew up. (Hearts of Owyhee series and some of her short stories, too.) She’s a member of Romance Writers of America and Western Fictioneers.
Check out her website: http://www.jacquierogers.comor visit her on Facebook or Twitter (@JacquieRogers).
Title: Genre Cliches
Instructor: MM Pollard
Dates: June 3 - June 14
Classroom: Flatirons
Classifications: Specialty Research, Specialty Studies, Genre, Craft
Description: Your first draft is probably littered with clichés. Your hero has a heart of gold. Your heroine has the patience of Job with the hero. He saves her in the nick of time from the terrible, horrible, evil serial killer villain.
Clichés are more than just dead-beat words and phrases that have lost their original meaning and their cleverness in making comparisons. Genre fiction has clichés in characters and plots that most readers expect and some complain about.
This workshop isn’t about shredding that draft and starting over. I’ll give you lots of ways to work with or around clichés of all kinds:
- Clichéd words and phrases – Lessons 1 and 2
- Clichéd characters – Lessons 3 and 4
- Clichéd plots – Lessons 5 and 6
Homework? You bet! I was an English teacher for fifteen years, after all. Think of homework as opportunities for mini-edits by an editor (me).
BIO: As an English teacher for fifteen years and, currently, as acquisitions and copy editor for Black Velvet Seductions, MM Pollard has had the mission to find and correct ungrammatical grammar, misused usage, problematic punctuation, and poor writing in others' work.
MM has helped many writers improve their language and writing skills through her fun workshops. Yes, the basics of English composition can be fun! She has presented workshops on Writers Online Classes, Savvy Authors, Orange County RWA, Colorado RWA, Passionate Ink RWA, and Celtic Hearts RWA, just to name a few. She is sure she can help you, too, master the fundamentals of English composition.
MM’s blog: http://queenofenglish.wordpress.com
Title: Avoid the Rough: Turning Your Story Idea into a Workable Plot with a Broad Strokes Outline
Instructor: Catherine Chant
Dates: June 3 - June 21
Classroom: Grand Mesa
Classifications: Craft, Characterization, Plotting
Description: Do you have a story idea but aren't sure what to do next? Have you started writing a story, but now find your plot stuck in a corner? Have you lost interest in your story idea because the plot became boring? Whether you're a plotter who loves to outline or a pantser who prefers to hit the open road without a map, a broad strokes outline can help you avoid the pitfall of the unworkable plot.
Avoid the Rough (or as I like to call it Avoiding the "Rough" in Rough Draft) guides you in creating a broad strokes outline at the "idea" stage, so you get the "big picture" of the story right away and can more easily spot and correct plot problems, such as the sagging middle or superficial conflict, before they become writing roadblocks that waste your time. If you're stuck in a story, the broad strokes outline can help pinpoint where you might have taken a wrong turn and guide you back to the right course. You don't necessarily need to write a bad "rough" first draft. A little planning can save you a lot of time during revisions. And a broad strokes outline, which only hits the high points of the story to keep you on track, won't bog you down with so many details you feel stifled. You can still write by the seat of your pants, if that's your style, but the outline offers you some boundaries so you don't disappear into the weeds and have to start all over.
And as a bonus, your outline quickly converts into a brief synopsis with only a little editing and gives you a head start on your query letter.
The instructor will give feedback on all homework and offer students the opportunity to submit homework privately if they don't feel comfortable sharing their plot ideas in a public forum. Students who complete all the exercises will have a broad strokes outline and a draft of a brief synopsis completed by the end of the workshop.
BIO: Catherine Chant is a PRO member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and a Golden Heart® finalist. Her first novel, WISHING YOU WERE HERE (Soul Mates Book 1), a young adult time travel romance, was released December 1, 2012 and is available at Amazon.com.
Catherine worked for fifteen years at Boston College as a computing & communications consultant and spent several of those years serving as BC's web information services manager, maintaining and supporting the university web servers. She now provides freelance web editing and design services to other writers and clients such as BC's Lynch School of Education. Her short fiction and non-fiction work has appeared in RWA newsletters, CharacterS, SchoolArts, MetroKids, Twilight Times, Apollos Lyre, and various instructional websites where she writes about computers, gaming and crafts. She writes original knit and crochet patterns, available at Craftsy.com and sells handmade items through her Etsy store Crafts By Cathy.
She is currently working on a new young adult suspense novel and Book 2 in her Soul Mates series. You can visit her online at http://www.catherinechant.com
Title: Cross Marketing Magic
Instructor: Deborah Riley-Magnus
Dates: June 3 - 28
Classroom: Red Rocks
Classifications: Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Industry, Indie Publishing, Social Media, Advanced Students
Notes: This workshop is very interactive with a high degree of instructor involvement, and includes assignments which will be reviewed and discussed.
Prerequisites: Students must have a book released and/or a back list they wish to create new sales for.
Description: Have your book sales slowed or come to a dead halt? Looking for a way to revive sales on your backlist? There is real magic in every author’s arsenal, you just need to know where to find it and how to turn it into more book sales.
We'll be studying:
- Creative “Sales” Thinking, 101 - Exploring marketing possibilities outside of the norm
- Expanding your Platforms - Gaining added exposure to new and unique-to-your-book audiences and delving into different arena for exposure of your book
- Genre Game Skills - Understanding the Genre Game and how using it can grow huge audiences
- Approaching and Maintaining Alternative Markets - Who to approach, how to approach them, and how to maintain and expand new alternative markets
- Evaluating Your Successes - Tools and tips on how to test your cross marketing efforts, and most especially, how to tweak those efforts for even better results
BIO: Deborah Riley-Magnus is an author and an Author Success Coach. She has a twenty-seven year professional background in marketing, advertising and public relations as a writer for print, television and radio. She is the author of Finding Author Success: Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power within your Manuscript.
As an Author Success Coach she focuses exclusively on publicity, marketing and promotional solutions for authors. She teaches live and online Author Success Workshops and has spoken at many writers groups and conferences in both states of California and Pennsylvania. She also coaches authors, one-on-one to help them create marketing strategies and learn techniques for sales success.
Deborah produces several pieces weekly for various blogs and websites including her industry blog, Deborah Riley-Magnus, Writeaholic, where she passes on value added nuggets of wisdom and skills for authors struggling to understand marketing, promotions and publicity techniques. She is a published author of both fiction and non-fiction.
Cold in California, book one of The Twice-Baked Vampire Series was released in July, 2011. Her non-fiction, Finding Author Success: Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power Within Your Manuscript was release in November, 2011. Her second fiction, Monkey Jump, book two of The Twice-Baked Vampire Series was released in June, 2012.
She belongs to several writing and professional organizations and is a member of the WriteSex Blog Group as the marketing, promotions and publicity expert. She serves as the Marketing Director for Assent Publishing where she is also an Acquisitions Editor for womens fiction, and romance. She can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she has lived on both the east and west coast of the United States and has traveled the country widely.
Links:
"Finding Author Success" available in print and ebook on Amazon,B&N, Apple and Sony!
I blog - http://rileymagnus.wordpress.com/
I teach - http://theauthorsuccesscoach.com/
I fiction – http://coldincalifornia.com
I write - http://deborahriley-magnus.com/
I tweet – http://twitter.com/rileymagnus
I facebook - http://www.facebook.com/deborah.rileymagnus
I should be sooo tired!
Email Address: writerchef@sbcglobal.net
Title: A Writer's Guide to Psychology
Instructor: Sandy James
Dates:June 10 - June 14
Classroom: Loveland
Classifications: Specialty Research, Characterization, Craft
Description: This workshop empowers participants with some basic psychological principles that will give them tools to use in their characterizations. The workshop includes theories on motivation, explanations of emotion, and discussions of personality formation. Sigmund Freud’s defense mechanisms are a “must know” for writers. Without a grasp of concepts such as rationalization, sublimation, and projection, authors miss some fantastic opportunities to make their heroes and heroines consistent and endearing.
BIO: Sandy James is a graduate of Indiana State University and Indiana University. She has taught at Greenwood High School for eighteen years and is an adjunct professor of psychology to Indiana University. She belongs to the American Psychological Association, Association of Psychological Science, and Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools.
Sandy is a past president and secretary of Indiana RWA and their current PAN Liaison. A proud contest diva, she has finaled or won over fifty contests including being a HOLT Medallion winner. She is multi-published, and her Alliance of the Amazon series books have been among Carina Press’s bestselling titles. In December, she signed on with Grand Central Love Forever for a new contemporary romance series. Her agents are Joanna MacKenzie and Danielle Egan-Miller of Browne & Miller Literary Associates.
Title: World Building
Instructor: Monette Michaels
Dates: July 8 - July 12
Classroom: Foothills
Classifications: Craft, Specialty Research, Specialty Studies, Plotting, Characterization, Craft
Description: The criteria of a good fictional world are a world (a) in which the readers can immerse themselves and (b) one they want to revisit.
The approach to this class will be lecture and hands-on exercises with specific comments and assistance from the instructor. By the end of the class, the student will have worked on creating a fictional world from both the micro-and macro-cosmic aspects.
The student should come to class with at least a general idea of the genre in which they wish to create world and a general idea of what type of world they wish to construct.
BIO: Our instructor writes as both Monette Michaels and Rae Morgan. Published since the late 1990s, Monette is currently published with Liquid Silver Books where her Security Specialists International series (Eye of the Storm and Cold Day in Hell) and Prime Chronicles books (Prime Obsession and Prime Selection) are top sellers.
As Rae Morgan, Monette writes the Coven of the Wolf Series ( Destiny’s Magick, Moon Magick, Treading the Labyrinth, and a novella“No Secrets,” in Zodiac Elements: Water) and various other single titles.
For the first years of Liquid Silver Books, Monette was the Acquisitions Editor and also edited books. She is currently a Senior Editor over the Terran Realm line of books, a shared world concept, and still reads and edits for the main lines of LSB, as needed.
Title: Author vs. Editor
Instructor: Robin Matheson
Dates: July 22 - August 2
Classroom: Prarie
Classifications: Networking, Professional Development, Industry, Publishing
Ten Things I…About You!
The connection between author and editor remains one of the most unique in business. This workshop will review 10 key factors that can make or break a successful author-editor relationship. Apply the 4 Components of a Business Plan as it relates to authors. Special attention will also be paid to the nitty-gritty behind the 3 levels of the editing process.
There will be lots of opportunity for Q&A.
Workshop Outline
- Publishing is a Business
- Authors are a Business, too
- An Author’s Job: Part 1: Learn Your Craft
- An Author’s Job: Part 2: Follow the…Submission Process Rules
- An Editor’s Job: Part 1: Rejection Letters
- An Author’s Job: Part 3: Professionalism
- An Editor’s Job: Part 2: The Nitty-Gritty of the Editing Process
- Author/Editor Teamwork: Revisions and Edits
- An Editor’s Job: Part 3: What it isn’t
- Pick Your Battles
There will be lots of opportunity for Q&A.
BIO: An award winning author, Robin Matheson holds an honors specialist degree in Classical Civilization and English and a Master of Education. She’s taught numerous courses at college, overseas and, more recently, online courses on writing. One of Robin’s greatest passions is traveling. In addition to their home base, she and her family have also lived in South East Asia and South Africa. Visit her at www.robiemadison.com
Title: Twisting History: Writing the Alternative Historical Novel
Instructor: Beth Daniels
Dates: July 8 - July 12
Classroom: LoDo
Classifications: Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Editing, Specialty Research, Genre Specific
Description: Whether your goal is to write in the Fantasy genre or spin a Steampunk tale, if you are setting your tale in Earth’s historical past chances are you’ll be warping it to your own needs. In other words, you’ll be writing an alternative historical novel.
These are storylines where William the Conqueror dies at Hastings rather than Harold, so the Saxon line continues and the Normans lose big; where the American Colonies are French rather than British, or the local tribes win the day; where Hitler never rises, Napoleon becomes a farmer in Sicily and in France they eat cake; where the asteroid misses Earth and the dinosaurs never die out. They are tales where reality and legend blend together or theories, machines and marvels from the future become everyday elements a century or two before they actually did.
Storylines where “WHAT IF” gets milked for all it’s worth and imaginations are urged to run rampant!
But which “what if” questions should get asked first, or last, or asked at all? That’s what this mini workshop looks at and explores.
The only requirement is that participants be willing to share, imagine, and go beyond what they’ve ever envisioned before. There will be three lectures, three Challenges (Assignments) and a Q&A session to end the week.
BIO: Beth Daniels does have a background in graphics advertising layouts but she had to teach herself how to use the programs that create covers because she left the advertising field before personal computers began being used to do layouts. After a sufficient amount of mental and muttered swearing, she worked out the kinks and is willing to share. You can find samples of the covers she created by looking up Kindle or Nook e-books by Beth Henderson, her pseudonym.
Title: Blog Touring for Rock Stars
Instructor: Lisa Pietsch
Dates: July 22 - August 2
Classroom: Cherry Creek
Classifications: Networking, Professional Development, Promotions, Social Media, Publicity
Description: The book tour is dead. Long live the blog tour! Are you ready to take your act on the road? Have you ever wondered how authors plan and execute blog tours? It’s very simple and does not cost a dime. I’ll show you how to use the Blog Exchange program, plan your tour for a week, a month or a year, and write all of those blogs. It’s easier than you think. This is the difference between Mr. 305 and Mr. Worldwide. Are you ready for the big time?
BIO: Lisa Pietsch is a U.S.A.F. veteran, a multi-published novelist and freelance writer, a social media marketing consultant, has been the managing editor for five content rich online communities and several online and print newsletters, the Co-Founder/Managing Editor of SAXtreme Magazine and the mother of two boys. She has an A.S. in Business Management from the University of Maine and has been immersed in social media marketing for the past eight years. She has a passion for foreign languages, travel and adventure. Lisa currently lives in the Hill Country north of San Antonio, Texas.
Whe her first novel, The Path to Freedom, was published in electronic formats in 2008, Lisa realized her marketing efforts would need to take a left turn at traditional and become largely electronic as well. Since then, she has developed tools and handbooks that teach authors and small press publishers how to market their books and their brands without breaking the bank. She is available for both workshops and private consulting.
Follow Lisa’s adventures online at www.LisaPietsch.com
Title: The SIX Senses: Character-Driven Description To Enhance Character POV
Instructor: Renee Wildes
Dates: August 5 - 16
Classroom: MileHigh
Classifications: Characterization, Plotting, Editing, Craft, Writing Development
Notes: This course is designed for beginner to intermediate level writers.
Description: This course involves how to incorporate intensive multi-sensory description based on the character’s knowledge and observations into your work. Through this study, students will begin to understand how description is a tool to further character development & POV. They will also learn how to be multi-sensory without being “flowery”—NO “laundry lists” or mirrors! More importantly, students will learn to be CHARACTER description and not AUTHOR description.
Here's a outline of what we'll study:
- Purpose/Introduction—What’s the big deal anyway?
- SIGHT
- SOUND
- SMELL/TASTE
- TOUCH
- The SIXTH Sense—Intuition / “Gut Feeling” / Instinct
- Putting it all together (Avoiding the Dreaded “Purple Prose”)
After each lesson the class will try their hand at the technique discussed. I’ll do a critique & post (w/o names) for whole class. I strongly believe in the “learning by doing” mantra. Participation is expected and strongly encouraged.
BIO:Renee Wildes is an award-winning local Wausau writer. She grew up reading fantasy authors Terry Brooks and Mercedes Lackey and is a huge Joseph Campbell fan, so the minute she discovered romance novels it became inevitable that she would combine it all and write fantasy romance. Renee is a history buff, from medieval times back to ancient Greece, esp. Sparta. As a Navy brat and a cop’s kid, she gravitated to protector/guardian heroes and heroines. She’s had horses her whole life, so became the only vet tech in a family of nurses. It all comes together in her critically acclaimed Guardians of Light series for Samhain Publishing – fantasy, action, romance, heroics and lots of critters!
Visit Renee At:
Website: www.reneewildes.net
Personal Blog: www.reneewildes1.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ReneeWildes (@ReneeWildes)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/renee.wildes
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ReneeWildes
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2465877.Renee_Wildes
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/renee.wildes
Yahoo Group: www.groups.yahoo.com/group/reneewildesromancefantastique/
Publisher: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/renee-wildes
Title: Beyond the Basic Google Search
Instructor: Ally Broadfield
Dates: August 5 - 30
Classroom: Flatirons
Classifications: Writing Development, Research, Craft
Description: DESCRIPTION
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: The 4 (and a half) Paths to Publishing in the 21st Century
Instructor: Kris Tualla
Dates: August 12 - August 23
Classroom: Grand Mesa
Classifications: Publishing, Industry, Professional Develop, Indie Publishing
Description: Aspiring authors today are faced with deciding how they want their work to be published. In this presentation we will look at the four legitimate paths leading to a successful career as an author—and the one illegitimate path which far too many ignorant authors choose.
The information in this presentation is critical for anyone considering a publishing career.
BIO: Kris Tualla, a dynamic award-winning and internationally published author of historical romance and suspense, writes with a fast-paced and succinct style. Her plots are full of twists, passion, and very satisfying outcomes! Kris started in 2006 with nothing but a nugget of a character in mind, and has created a dynasty with The Hansen Series and its spin-off, The Discreet Gentleman Series. Norway is the new Scotland!
Kris is an active member of Romance Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime. She is an enthusiastic speaker and teacher, and created Arizona Dreamin' - Arizona's first romance-reader event: ArizonaDreaminEvent.com - and it's author-focused companion: BuildintheDream.com
Title: Revision Hel--No Heaven
Instructor: Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Dates: August 19 - August 30
Classroom: Red Rocks
Classifications: Editing, Writing Development, Craft
Description:Every writer knows about Revision Hell. But the chance to re-"envision" any concept that's attracted attention can be a golden opportunity. This workshop covers the psychological and the practical aspects of revision: when to do it, why (and why not) to do it, how to make the process easier, and--most important of all--how to know when you're finished.
There are eleven steps to revising, although writers rarely need all of them...because some things you KNOW you did beautifully. It might be desciption, dialogue, character, action, or other skills you take for granted because they come naturally (to you, yes, but not to everyone else). So we look at how to develop a checklist of those items that DO require attention during the revision process:
- Plot & Character Arcs
- Thematic Highlights
- Action / Narrative Balance
- Dialogue & Description
- Fact-Checking
- Cutting or Lengthening
- Nit-Picking
- Readers
- Scheduling
Finally we'll address the question of "how much is too much" and how to know when revision becomes an excuse to avoid moving forward--followed by tips for getting past that final hurdle and sending the book off to its destination.
BIO: With half a dozen romance novels and a Master's in Counseling, Laurie draws information for this workshop from her background as a therapist AND a novelist who's lived through everything from Second Book Syndrome to winning Romantic Times' "Best 200 Books of All Time" award. Whether in person or online (at BookLaurie dot com), she's known for workshops that leave participants feeling like they’ve really rolled up their sleeves and LEARNED something. Just ask any writer who's taken one of her classes!
Title: Killer Openings
Instructor: Alexa Bourne
Dates: September 2 - 27
Classroom: Foothills
Classifications: Plotting, Craft, Writing Development
Description: Many people browse through a bookstore, pull a book off the shelf and read the first page. They decide right then, based on the 1st line, 1st paragraphs and 1st page, whether or not they’ll buy the book. Killer Openings dissects those all-important elements.
Students study good and bad openings and discuss why they do or don’t work. They also submit their own opening lines/paragraphs/pages and receive critiques from the class.
BIO: Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romantic suspense writer by nights, weekends and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She is thrilled to be writing for Decadent Publishing and to have the chance to share her love of Great Britain with readers everywhere. She is a contributor of the Daily Dose of Decadence blog and the Get Lost in a Story Blog.
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. She loves to hear from readers. To find her, visit www.alexabourne.com or http://alexabourne.blogspot.com, http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexaBourne or follow her on Twitter @AlexaBourne.
Title: Platform Building, One Plank at a Time
Instructor: Deborah Riley-Magnus
Dates: September 2 - 27
Classroom: Prarie
Classifications: Professional Development, Promotions, Publicity, Networking, Industry, Indie Publishing
Prerequisites: Students must be preparing to write a book, writing a book, or recently have released a book, fiction or non-fiction.
Description: An author’s platforms are what you stand on, it’s where you create awareness for yourself and your book and where you shout your message to reach prospective fans and book buyers. It’s time for a serious approach to platforms building, social media and time management.
This month, well study:
- Author Platform and Book Platform -- Yes you need both! We'll discuss how and why you need them and how to efficiently create them.
- Networking - Twitter, Facebook, email groups, group memberships, face to face networking. ALL IMPORTANT
- Getting Attention - How to get it and how to make it work for you.
- Know your Market - Who are you writing for? What are they looking for? How can you expand your market by playing the “Genre Game”?
- Effective Pre-launch - How to conceive it, plan it and implement it
- Estimating and Limiting Expenses - Things to watch out for, things to avoid, and how to be tempted the smart way
- Professionals - What you know, don’t know and should know about professionals who can help create your success
- Time is on your side - Wherever you are in your process, there’s time to build the perfect platform IF you use the perfect planks!
BIO: Deborah Riley-Magnus is an author and an Author Success Coach. She has a twenty-seven year professional background in marketing, advertising and public relations as a writer for print, television and radio. She is the author of Finding Author Success: Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power within your Manuscript.
As an Author Success Coach she focuses exclusively on publicity, marketing and promotional solutions for authors. She teaches live and online Author Success Workshops and has spoken at many writers groups and conferences in both states of California and Pennsylvania. She also coaches authors, one-on-one to help them create marketing strategies and learn techniques for sales success.
Deborah produces several pieces weekly for various blogs and websites including her industry blog, Deborah Riley-Magnus, Writeaholic, where she passes on value added nuggets of wisdom and skills for authors struggling to understand marketing, promotions and publicity techniques. She is a published author of both fiction and non-fiction.
Cold in California, book one of The Twice-Baked Vampire Series was released in July, 2011. Her non-fiction, Finding Author Success: Discovering and Uncovering the Marketing Power Within Your Manuscript was release in November, 2011. Her second fiction, Monkey Jump, book two of The Twice-Baked Vampire Series was released in June, 2012.
She belongs to several writing and professional organizations and is a member of the WriteSex Blog Group as the marketing, promotions and publicity expert. She serves as the Marketing Director for Assent Publishing where she is also an Acquisitions Editor for womens fiction, and romance. She can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she has lived on both the east and west coast of the United States and has traveled the country widely.
Links:
"Finding Author Success" available in print and ebook on Amazon,B&N, Apple and Sony!
I blog - http://rileymagnus.wordpress.com/
I teach - http://theauthorsuccesscoach.com/
I fiction – http://coldincalifornia.com
I write - http://deborahriley-magnus.com/
I tweet – http://twitter.com/rileymagnus
I facebook - http://www.facebook.com/deborah.rileymagnus
I should be sooo tired!
Email Address: writerchef@sbcglobal.net
Title: You Are What You Say
Instructor: Kat Duncan
Dates: September 2 - 27
Classroom: LoDo
Classifications: Craft, Writing Development, Wordsmithing
Description: This workshop examines the elements needed to reveal character through dialogue. Using character development techniques you already know such as goals, motivations, and backstory, learn how to reveal strong characters through their words and connect those words to other elements in your story. Successful novels have an increasing amount of dialogue over narration, forcing dialogue sequences to do more and more of the work of telling the story. Learn how to reveal important information about characters, turning thoughts, appearances, and actions into spoken words. Workshop includes lessons on using dialogue to build tension and anticipation, reveal story secrets, enhance setting and hit readers in the gut with emotion. Includes lessons on dialogue tags, and blending dialogue with narration. Examples from bestselling novels offered as models.
BIO: Kat Duncan obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry and German from Regis College in Weston, MA. She is a Fulbright Scholar who spent a year in West Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. She holds a Master's Degree in Special Education from Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She tutors students from elementary through college and beyond in all subjects as well as study skills. Kat writes romantic suspense for The Wild Rose Press and is an indie publisher of romantic suspense, historical suspense and non-fiction shorts on writing. Visit her at http://www.katduncan.net/writeabout
Title: Engage Your Reader With Attention-Grabbing Prose
Instructor: MM Pollard
Dates: MM Pollard
Classroom: Cherry Creek
Classifications: Writing Development, Craft, Wordsmithing
Description: Your story lives or dies on the sentences you write to tell it. Do your sentences give your story life and breath, or do they strangle the life out of your story with boring, same-old, same-old sentence structure?
Remember, variety is the spice of life -- for your story. In this workshop, MM Pollard will cover basic sentence structure and give you concrete ways to vary that structure to engage your reader’s interest. She will share what a writer needs to know to write spectacular sentences that make the reader want to continue reading.
You’ll have plenty of chances to practice the many ways to vary sentence structure; in other words, you’ll have homework. MM will give you feedback on every homework assignment you post. Because she was an English teacher for fifteen years, she’ll even tell you how to punctuate your new sentences.
Reward for doing your homework: MM’s personal feedback on every assignment. Think of homework as an opportunity for mini-edits by MM.
Workshop lesson outline:
- Lesson 1: The Building Materials of a Sentence
- Lesson 2: Make Sure You Have the Necessary Supplies or Else
- Lesson 3: Use Concrete Nouns and Strong Verbs to Build Your Reader’s Interest
- Lesson 4: Use Sentence Structure and Sentence Length to Give Your Prose Some Style and Rhythm
- Lesson 5: Play with Word Order to Solve the Problem of the Boring Sentence
- Lesson 6: Build the Unusual Sentence to Grab Attention
BIO: As an English teacher for fifteen years and, currently, as acquisitions editor for Black Velvet Seductions, MM Pollard has had the mission to find and correct ungrammatical grammar, misused usage, problematic punctuation, and poor writing in others' work.
MM has helped many writers improve their language and writing skills through her fun workshops. Yes, the basics of English composition can be fun! She has presented workshops on Writers Online Classes, Savvy Authors, Orange County RWA, Passionate Ink RWA, and Celtic Hearts RWA, just to name a few. She is sure she can help you, too, master the fundamentals of English composition.
MM’s blog: http://queenofenglish.wordpress.com
Title: Coffee Break Social Media
Instructor: Amy Denim
Dates: September 2 - 20
Classroom: Castle Rock
Classifications: Promotions, Publicity, Social Media, Networking, Professional Development
Description: Using social media to build your platform doesn't have to take hours out of your writing time. In this workshop you'll learn how to use social media effectively to get your name and books out across the web in as little as fifteen minutes a day! Some of the topics we'll cover are:
- Choosing the right social media platforms for you
- How to be present across several platforms at the same time
- Finding your people and what to say to them and most importantly
- How to take social media coffee breaks to be present and effective and still have time to write
BIO: Amy Denim writes contemporary romance and loves hot heroes (like chefs and cowboys) and curvy intelligent heroines (like chefs and cowgirls.)
She's been a franchise sales coordinator, a life guard, a personal shopper, and a teacher of English as a Foreign Language. But now she spends her days reading and writing at her local library.
Amy started out her writer's life scared out of her wits because she hadn't yet created an online platform, wasn't on twitter, didn't have a Facebook fanpage and had never even heard of Goodreads. She just wrote books. So she spent a year becoming a social media fiend and now does consulting for creatives on how to use social media effectively. She started Coffee Break Social Media to help writers and artists learn to use SM platforms effectively (without the scare tactics) but still have time to create. She believes social media can be every writer's friend, sometimes they just need an introduction.
Title: I'm Back From Writing Conference: What Do I Do Now?
Instructor: Tina Gerow
Dates: September 2 - 13
Classroom: Loveland
Classifications: Professional Development, Promotions, Industry, Networking
Description: There are books and manuals on pretty much every aspect of being a writer. However, I’ve never come across a manual for getting the most out of attending writing conferences. And even beyond that, there’s no manual to show you how to maximize all that “most” and once you do - what do you do with “it” once you have “it”.
Most writers and industry professionals attend writing conferences, having a great time, but never being able to justify the cost/benefit of continuing to attend such conferences in the future. After all, spouses, bosses and others tend to want to understand the benefit of shelling out money each year (sometimes several times each year) for conference attendance.
So how can you quantify the value of conference attendance not only for all of them, but for yourself? After all, as a writer – you are really a business owner. And part of being a good business owner is making sure to spend your valuable time and hard earned money on things that will bring you a good value and return on your time/money.
To that end, we will be exploring in this class:
- Decide why you want to attend a conference.
- How to choose what conferences to attend.
- How to minimize conference costs and what’s really worth paying for.
- How to maximize your time at conference once you’re there.
- What information to collect while you’re at the conference.
- How to put that information to best use once you get home.
- How you can quantify the value of the conference you attended to your writing career.
We will by the very nature of what we are discussing talk about a wide range of subjects like networking, career building, submissions, pitching, promotions etc. However, this class will specialize in how all those subjects relate to conference attendance. If you are looking for a class specifically on one of those subjects, email me off list and I can point you toward a few, and there are also some terrific books out on some of those subjects!
BIO: Tina Gerow has been writing seriously for publication since 2003. She sold my first book in October 2004 and Into a Dangerous Mind (an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner for 2006) was released in May 2005. She's written five other books as Tina Gerow since then—all paranormal and all a bit on the snarky irreverent side. Early in 2006 she got a call from Audrey LaFehr at Kensington Aphrodisia, who fished her three chapter partial out of her slush pile and offered her a three book deal writing erotic paranormal romance for Kensington. That’s how Cassie Ryan was born. Tina's newest Cassie Ryan book, Seducing the Succubus, releases on October 5th from Berkley Sensations.
Tina has a very varied background. She's worked as a band director (6th grade through high school), taught private lessons for clarinet and saxophone, managed a Dominos Pizza, worked as a House Manager for a Sony Theatres 30-plex, been a Technologies Program Manager and now she's an author who works part time as a barista (hey, Starbucks has great health insurance!)
Tina's a frequent speaker on a varied array of subjects. She's spoken on How to Promote Yourself & Not Just Your Book; Writing Believable Non Humans; Applying Corporate America Goal Setting to Achieving Your Writing Dreams; Sex! On Writing HOT; Living the Life of an Author—Is it Really All Glamour and Bon Bons? as well as other topics. Tina's also spoken on the Paranormal & Erotic Panels at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, several RWA chapter meetings around the nation, several local library events as well as speaking on the Sex panel at the Heather Graham’s Writers for New Orleans Conference.
October, 2013
Title: Plan for your Best NaNo Ever!
Instructor: Todd Stone, Major, United States Army (Ret.)
Dates: September 30 - October 25, 2013
Classroom: MileHigh
Classifications: Craft, Writing Development
Description: A little planning and practice can go a long way to help you get the most out of your 30 days’ of effort in National Novel Writing Month. While NaNoWriMo is all about the intense experience of drafting under pressure, we want you to have your best NaNo ever, and to do that you’ll need a plan and some practice. In this workshop we’ll use a combination of proven techniques from Novelist’s Boot Camps, as well as those borrowed from screenwriting and well-known authors. Our goal will be to get the best 50k words possible. This workshop has been customized for the “write or die” 30 days of National Novel Writing month, and the strategies and techniques presented in these six lessons will allow you to confidently make the most of your intense effort. “Plotters” are welcome, and “Pantsers” you can join in too—and we won’t tell!
Six strategies to get a better NaNo product
- Plan like the best
- Develop your Comprehensive Concept
- Audition your cast
- Cause and effect plotting
- Techniques to kickstart your scenes
- Line up your logistics
BIO: Todd Stone is former Army Infantry Airborne Ranger and Instructor at the US Military Academy at West Point and is the multi-published award-winning author of NOVELIST'S BOOT CAMP and the presenter of The Novelist's Boot Camp Workshops. The NBC Workshops have been featured at venues such as RT, RWA National, The University of Wisconsin Writers Conference, Love is Murder Mystery/Suspense Conference, DUCKON Science Fiction Convention, The School of the Arts at Rhinelander, and at RWA chapters across the country. Visit his website at www.storytellerroad.comfor free downloads from NOVELISTS BOOT CAMP.
Title: Gargoyles, Shifers , Succubus & More: Writing Believable Non-Humans +PLUS+ Settings for Paranormal Stories
Instructor: Tina Gerow
Dates: October 7 - October 25, 2013
Classroom: Flatirons
Classifications: Specialty Research, Characterization, Plotting, Genre, Writing Development, Paranormal
Description: This is a two-part class.
Gargoyles, Shifters, Succubus & More: Writing Believable Non-Humans
Paranormal stories are huge right now, but those of us who grew up reading Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffrey, Terry Brooks, or even Marvel comics (as well as countless others) fell in love with some not-so-human characters long before paranormal was the IN thing in publishing.
Everyone who reads paranormal loves all the non human characters. After all, vamps, shifters and all the rest are characters who draw us in and keep us there. But they aren’t just humans with fangs or fur. If their ‘species’ isn’t an integral part of their character, your reader will not suspend disbelief long enough to fall in love with them.
Let me take a little side tangent here to say that in this context, I use the term paranormal very loosely. As in—anything not “normal” or for our purposes—not entirely human. So, just remember, I’m talking characters, not marketing terms or how book stores or publishers use the word (which has changed over the years and will most likely continue to.)
As I referenced above, publishing continues to re-class where/how these characters are used—Frankenstein, ghosts, fairies, elves, succubuses, gargoyles, vampires, mutants, shape shifters, nagas, sphinxes, wizards, witches, zombies (I could list several pages if I really put my mind to it) have been seen in nearly every genre on book store shelves from non fiction to romance and I haven’t checked—but maybe even self-help!
Writing any character is a difficult balancing act using motivation, personality types, realistic reactions (which map to their past experiences) and many other factors. But when your character isn’t exactly human—or even not human at all, this adds another dimension entirely to the equation.
Many authors who have been quite successful writing human characters, but had a difficult time making the jump to a non human character found that they had forgotten to factor that important “otherness” or “differentness” in when creating this new character.
So, we will be exploring in this class:
- What is that other dimension that needs to be added into the equation?
- What makes paranormal characters special?
- How does an author get a reader to suspend disbelief?
- How does the author create a non human so real that they jump off the page and into a reader’s (and an editor’s and agent’s) heart?
We will by the very nature of what we are discussing talk a little about general character building, but this class will specialize in non human characters. If you are looking for a class on basic character building, ask your wonderful FF&P moderator if there are any upcoming classes on it, and there are also some terrific books out on the subject!
Settings for Paranormal Stories
BIO: Tina Gerow has been writing seriously for publication since 2003. She sold my first book in October 2004 and Into a Dangerous Mind (an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner for 2006) was released in May 2005. She's written five other books as Tina Gerow since then—all paranormal and all a bit on the snarky irreverent side. Early in 2006 she got a call from Audrey LaFehr at Kensington Aphrodisia, who fished her three chapter partial out of her slush pile and offered her a three book deal writing erotic paranormal romance for Kensington. That’s how Cassie Ryan was born. Tina's newest Cassie Ryan book, Seducing the Succubus, releases on October 5th from Berkley Sensations.
Tina has a very varied background. She's worked as a band director (6th grade through high school), taught private lessons for clarinet and saxophone, managed a Dominos Pizza, worked as a House Manager for a Sony Theatres 30-plex, been a Technologies Program Manager and now she's an author who works part time as a barista (hey, Starbucks has great health insurance!)
Tina's a frequent speaker on a varied array of subjects. She's spoken on How to Promote Yourself & Not Just Your Book; Writing Believable Non Humans; Applying Corporate America Goal Setting to Achieving Your Writing Dreams; Sex! On Writing HOT; Living the Life of an Author—Is it Really All Glamour and Bon Bons? as well as other topics. Tina's also spoken on the Paranormal & Erotic Panels at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention, several RWA chapter meetings around the nation, several local library events as well as speaking on the Sex panel at the Heather Graham’s Writers for New Orleans Conference.
Title: Vickie & Bertie: Researching the Victorian or Edwardian Tale (1830-1919) - With or Without Steampunk Twists
Instructor: Beth Daniels
Dates: October 7 - November 1, 2013
Classroom: Grand Mesa
Classifications: Specialty Research, Genre, Writing Development, Historical
Description: It’s familiar, it’s the past, it’s popular. What is it? The modern 19th century novel. That is, a modern novel SET in the 19th century.
It can be a Regency, sure, but that’s really the Georgian Era. When we think 19th century,
we’re more likely to picture the Victorian age and then slip into the Edwardian, which is really
early 20th century, but not all that different in many ways.
In 4 weeks this workshop looks at all things Victorian and Edwardian: wardrobes, weapons,
entertainments, songs, cant/slang, inventions, science…well, a lot of what a writer needs to
know about in building their own Victorian or Edwardian world.
We’ll also take a stroll into Steampunk where all things Victorian and Edwardian are
celebrated and warped, twisted, and mutated into an alternative historical.
This is an information laden workshop that will pose some Challenges to participants in
shorting out what they need, give some suggestions on finding the answers, or guiding
anyone interested in tinkering with history for their own means.
Some of the things mentioned are coinage, where to shop for a Worth gown, why walking
sticks really don’t have swords in them but could, and what a wonder maps are in charting
your way about a London town that no longer exists.
BIO: Beth Daniels currently writes or has written under a lot of names (Beth Henderson, Lisa Dane, Beth Cruise, J.B Dane, Nied Darnell…oh, and as herself). 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 SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A NOVEL. And the co-author of LOVING TRIXIE FINE, a Baby Boomer contemporary romantic mystery 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: The Editing Dilemma
Instructor: Becky Martinez
Dates: October 7 - November 1, 2013
Classroom: Red Rocks
Classifications: Editing, Writing Development, Craft
Description: You’ve written “The End” to your story and now you’re ready to send it out. Wait! Not so fast. You need to spend some time making certain that your final product is the best you can do. Learn how to edit your story to get rid of unnecessary words, to add stronger verbs or to improve your dialogue. Learn how to make certain your chapters end at the right place and how hooks can keep the reader going. Find out how to make certain your manuscript is polished before it heads out the door.
BIO: Becky Martinez is an award-winning former broadcast journalist and published author. Her latest work, Shadows from the Past, is a gothic novella published by The Wild Rose Press. Released in March 2012, it has received excellent reviews. Her first romantic suspense novel, Deadly Messages, was an Aspen Gold finalist and received 4 stars from RT Book Reviews. She has also had several romance novels and short stories published, including “Trouble in the Rockies,” which appeared in the anthology, The Trouble with Romance, a New Mexico Book Award finalist.
She is the co-author of the how-to writing book, 10 STEPS TO CREATING MEMORABLE CHARACTERS and currently teaches online writing classes and presents in-person workshops on writing and editing.
Title: Create Peace and Harmony in Your Writing
Instructor: MM Pollard
Dates: October 7 - November 1, 2013
Classroom: Loveland
Classifications: Writing Development, Personal Development and Growth
Description: Every good romance novel has great conflict – internal conflict within the main characters to give the story its angst and external conflict between the hero and heroine to keep them apart for most of the story.
Strong conflict makes the story exciting and worth reading, except when the conflict is between subjects and verbs or between pronouns and their antecedents. Conflict here and your manuscript will never be published.
Subject—verb agreement and pronoun—antecedent agreement are basic to using our language effectively to communicate to your reader. The problem is it is easier for parents and teenagers to agree on a curfew than it is for these parts of speech to agree in your story.
In this four week workshop, MM will show her students how to create peace and harmony among subjects, verbs, and pronouns in your writing. At the end of the workshop, students will be able to create agreement between subjects and verbs and between pronouns and their antecedents.
Agreement between parents and children – sorry, MM can’t help anyone with that.
BIO: As editor for Black Velvet Seductions, MM Pollard has read many entertaining and thought-provoking stories over the past two years. She has also found some common mistakes in punctuation, grammar, and usage in these manuscripts.
With fifteen years of experience teaching English, MM decided to start her own workshop business, Workshops with MM. She has helped many writers improve their language and writing skills through her fun workshops. She has presented workshops for many RWA chapters, Savvy Authors, Writers Online Classes, and in her own virtual classroom. She is sure she can help you, too, master the fundamentals of English.
Visit MM’s blog MM’s Fundamentals of English at http://queenofenglish.wordpress.com.
E-mail her at mmpollard@live.com.
© 2013 Created by Elizabeth L Pelletier.
