BIO: Anna Hackett is a mining engineer by day and a writer by night. She delights in combining action, adventure and a healthy dose of romance in her paranormal stories. An experienced trainer and presenter, Anna loves sharing the writing craft tips and tricks she's learned as a writer. Anna currently writes short stories for Silhouette Nocturne Bites. Her latest release, Taken by the South Wind, is the second story in the Bites-only series, The WindKeepers.
Title: Breathless Prose: Putting Suspense In Your Romance
Instructor: Kara Lennox
Date: February 7 - March 6, 2011
Classroom: Flatirons
DESCRIPTION: Whether you write about cowboys and babies or cops and serial killers, you must include suspense in your book if you want to keep the reader turning pages. "Suspense" doesn't always mean bullets flying; family dramas, urban fantasies and sexy romps are fraught with their own brands of suspense. In this workshop we'll focus on how to write a story that keeps your reader turning pages. Topics covered include when and how to reveal secrets to your characters and your readers, strategic placement of action scenes vs. love scenes, chapter beginning and ending hooks, and lots more.
BIO: Kara Lennox (a.k.a. Karen Leabo) has written more than 50 contemporary novels of romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin/Silhouette and Bantam Loveswept. Most of these have been sold on proposal or synopsis alone. Her books frequently appear on romance bestseller lists and have finaled in several romance industry contests including the National Readers' Choice Awards, the Holt Medallion competition, and the RITA®. Her Harlequin American Romance PLAIN JANE'S PLAN won a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice award. An incurable plotter, she has always enjoyed sitting down to write the synopsis and would love to show other writers how to find pleasure and satisfaction in synopsis-writing.
Back to the top
March 2011
Title: Using the Rule of Six To Strengthen Everything From Plot to Titles
Instructor: Shirley Jump
Date: February 28 - March 25, 2011
Classroom: Foothills
DESCRIPTION: Capitalize on this technique marketing gurus have used for years to find the "thought not thought of yet" and avoid duplicating a plot line, character quirk or other idea already out there (that you may have seen subconsciously). Then learn how to use this technique to take your writing deeper and draw out more emotion, more conflict...more of everything! It's truly astounding when you see it in action. With this interactive class, New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump will show you how to use "Shirley's Rule of Six" for everything from plot to word choice. The result? More powerful writing that has that unique touch editors today are looking to buy.
BIO: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing women's fiction and romantic comedies (Vegas Pregnancy Surprise, July 2010) to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. As AJ Whitten, she also writes horror young adult novels for Houghton Mifflin's Graphia imprint with her daughter (The Well, September 2009). She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Visit her website or read recipes and life adventures at her blog.
Title: Writing Naked: Finding & Developing Your Authentic Voice
Instructor: Wendy Lyn Watson
Date: February 28 – March 25, 2011
Classroom: Prairie
DESCRIPTION: We hear it all the time from editors and agents: “I love your voice,” or “I’m looking for a strong voice.” A writer’s voice is a combination of style, tone, and theme. Voice is not your story, it’s the way you tell it. The great thing about voice is that everyone has one (really!) and each one is unique. The trick is to define your voice, to develop it, and to make sure it shines through in your story. In this interactive workshop, you’ll engage in writing exercises aimed at identifying and developing your voice. You’ll leave with a better sense of what makes your writing your writing and a set of tools to help you make your voice even stronger.
BIO: Wendy Lyn Watson writes deliciously funny cozy mysteries with a dollop of romance. Her Mysteries a la Mode feature amateur sleuth Tallulah Jones, who solves murders in between scooping sundaes. While she does not commit--or solve--murders in real life, Wendy can kill a pint of ice cream in nothing flat. She's also passionately devoted to 80s music, Asian horror films, and reality TV.
Back to the top
April 2011
Title: Stripping Down the Hero/Heroine Archetypes
Instructor: Tonya Kappes
Date: April 4 - 29, 2011
Classroom: Mile High
DESCRIPTION: This course will take participants through the characteristics of the 8 hero archetypes, and the heroine archetypes.
The core or base archetype of your character acts as a compass for your hero or heroine. Everyone embodies more than one archetype, however one stands out as the primary.
Each archetypal character centers upon specific traits. Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of these traits, how they become part of the hero/heroine regardless of era or genre, and how they are not a cookie cutter rendition of a hero, but a foundation upon which a 3 dimensional character is created.
BIO: When Tonya's husband realized her spending on handbags had been passed up by spending on books, he encouraged her to write her first novel.* Easily influenced by his good looks (okay-he's really smart too), Tonya began writing under a big oak tree during her son's football practice.
After getting lost in a whole new world (in her mind-that could be dangerous), Tonya found that she is not only addicted to coffee, she is addicted to writing.
Tonya is currently working on a Women's Fiction novel featuring a quirky and funny heroine who is learning about reconnecting with family and finding true passion.
When not writing, you can find Tonya talking with writer's groups and Romance Writers of America® Chapters about all the heroes we love to read and write about.
Tonya's first book, Carpe Bead 'Em, will be published by Turquoise Press in May, 2011, and The Ladybug Jinx will be available July 2011.
Title: The Regency Woman
Instructor: Nancy Mayer
Date: April 4 - 29, 2011
Classroom: Flatirons
DESCRIPTION: The Regency woman. She was a woman of stern morals and little laughter. A governess who didn't feel oppressed and a governess who did. She owned her own business. She was an author, a poet, a scientist, a runaway. She lived a discreet and quiet life and she was notorious. She was the faithful wife and the mother of many children, or a divorced woman who had to give up her children to escape her husband.
No one pattern, not even a pattern card of propriety, fits all the women but despite their differences there were some things they had in common. The class will look at the world of the Regency woman from the domestic, political, social, and economic angles, using the lives of real women as examples. While I will try to include a great deal of new material, some of the information I have presented before has to be repeated.
BIO: Nancy Mayer has been trying to write Regency romances for more years than she wants to remember. She is always getting distracted and sidetracked by research.
Nancy has given many workshops on various aspects of regency life as well as a talk at a Beau Monde convention. She is a member of the BeauMonde RWA® Regency research online chapter, and the HTHRWA online chapter. She has been a member of the Jane Austen and Byron societies for many years and has found much of interest in the story of their dissimilar lives.
Back to the top
May 2011
Title: Let Your Character Do the Driving
Instructor: Becky Martinez & Sue Viders
Date: May 2 - 27, 2011
Classroom: Foothills
DESCRIPTION: Each character has his/her own story to tell. It is up to the writer to make that happen and to make the reader care enough about that character to keep turning the pages. How can you make certain you're headed in the right direction and keep that character true to the plot? How can you keep your plot from overwhelming your characters? This class on character driven plotting can help. Here's a method that melds the character and story together so that one doesn't work without the other. Learn how to build the plot with your character in mind and how to develop your characters so that the plot becomes their own!
This unique class can help you learn to use your character to help you get through those problems of a sagging middle. Use your plot to test your character and make him/her shine!
The 8 lectures include:
1. Building a Compelling Character
2. Understanding Emotion and the Character Arc
3. Making Character and Plot Work Together
4. Using Backstory to Develop Tension
5. Using Fear, Flaws and Secrets to Propel Action
6. Building Character with Setbacks
7. Closing the Character Arc through Change
8. Putting it all Together
BIO: Sue Viders is the author of more than 20 books, numerous articles and columns for both artists and writers. Her writing book Heroes and Heroines, Sixteen Master Archetypes, is used in many college and university writing courses. Her latest book, 10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters is gaining use as a practical workbook for writers who want to develop their characters.
She is a practicing artist, seminar leader, and educator with on-line classes both for writers and artists. Her latest product for writers is Deal a Story; an interactive card game consisting of 101 cards and six sections and is based on her Heroes and Heroines book.
Becky Martinez is an award-winning former broadcast journalist and published author. Her latest book, Deadly Messages was published by The Wild Rose Press in February 2010 and was an Aspen Gold finalist. She has had several short stories published and contributed a short story to The Trouble with Romance, an anthology that was a 2007 New Mexico Book Award finalist.
She was also one of the co-authors of Ten Steps to Creating Memorable Characters, a workbook for writers. For the past six years she has been teaching writing classes, both online and in person.
Title: What Does Nora Roberts Know That You Don’t?
Instructor: Carol Hughes
Date: May 2 – 27, 2011
Classroom: Prairie
DESCRIPTION: What does Nora Roberts, Stephen King, George Lucas (STAR WARS), Stephen Spielberg (E.T.), Terry Russo (SHREK/PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), James Cameron (TITANIC/AVATAR) know about writing that makes them the mega stars that they are? How are they able to turn out the constant string of stories that they do while you are barely able to struggle to the final page of your current WIP? Why did TITANIC and AVATAR each gross over $1 BILLION in ticket sales in only a matter of weeks? Are you interested in learning the secret techniques that each of these mega stars has in common? It’s not as hard as you think – not if you know the simple-to-master writing secrets that they know and haven’t shared with you.
Seasoned pro or beginning writer, pansters or plotter – it doesn’t make any difference. You already know that writing takes a lot of hard work, perseverance, talent and a hearty dose of luck. Without the necessary writing tools to craft your wonderful story ideas into a finished work that people want to buy, all the hard work, talent, luck and perseverance in the world is useless without a solid, well-crafted story full of multi-dimensional characters to make you story come alive for every reader – or movie-goer. Do you know what the 18 scenes are that every story contains, no matter its length or genre? Do you know what impact your character’s mental gender has upon readers? Do you even know what your character’s mental gender is? Do you know how your character’s arc drives your story? Or how your story drives your character’s arc? Do you know the quick and easy way to create heart stopping dilemmas for your characters that drive your readers wild? Do you know what the 4 throughlines of every story is? Do you know how to weave them together?
Every successful story contains characters that come alive for the reader. Every successful story is built on a solid, easy-to master, story structure that works every single time. Every successful story lives on in the hearts and minds of readers because their authors have mastered the simple secrets needed to turn them into writing super stars. And you can, too. Join us and give Nora Roberts something to worry about.
BIO: From Oscar’s Annual Bash to Cannes’ glitzy Red Carpet. From fabled palaces to rat-infested tunnels. From the floor of the Coral Sea to the vacuum of space. From the rain slicked streets of midnight Paris to the bombed out streets of Beirut at high noon. Writer Carol Hughes has lived and written about sights, adventures and characters that have dazzled audiences, and raised more than a few eyebrows, around the world. Dashing Alpha males, deadly killers, fictional red-haired mermaids, and celluloid heroes – she’s known them all. She’s navigated the killer-infested back alleys of Europe’s grandest cities and the shark-infested corridors of Hollywood’s studios – and picked up enough secrets and tips to make living – and writing – an adventure in itself.
Back to the top
June 2011
Title: Ebook and Digital Publishing: Is it for me?
Instructor: Suzanne Rock
Date: June 1 - 24, 2011
Classroom: Mile High
DESCRIPTION: Digital books are becoming more and more popular. Devices such as the Kindle, iPAD and Nook have brought ebooks into the limelight and provided many new and exciting publishing opportunities for writers. Despite this, many are still confused about the epublishing process. This course is for beginners who want to learn more about digital publishing and determine if it's a good fit for them. We will touch on big vs.small epress, self-publishing, vanity publishing, contracts, promotions and dealing with epirates. By the end of class, the student should have a good understanding of the options available nd have the tools they need if they wish to move toward digital publication.
BIO: Suzanne Rock writes dark, paranormal, erotic fiction for Loose Id and Red Sage Publishing. Readers can find information about her latest releases by visiting her website, her Facebook page or her Goodreads account.
When not writing, Suzanne can be found chatting on Twitter, watching her favorite television shows (Supernatural and Trueblood), or reading a good book.
Title: Essential Web Marketing for Fiction Authors
Instructor: Carolyn Cooper
Date: May 30 – June 24, 2011
Classroom: Flatirons
DESCRIPTION: Get the most from your marketing time & money. Learn the 8 biggest mistake fiction writers make in their online marketing and how to avoid them. Hone your critical tools to save time and increase impact of your marketing & promotional efforts. This introductory course covers the essential aspects of 21st Century promotion with an emphasis on social networking techniques. Fiction authors face unique marketing challenges in selling to two audiences (editors & readers) and in providing them with an experience as opposed to information.
While all marketing is personal and targeted today, for a fiction author it personally targets your bottom line. Discover how to find, capture and grow your personal evangelizing fan base using cost-effective (often free) methods.
By the end of the lessons, students should: • know the keystones to marketing in the 21st Century, • identified their specific initial marketing targets, goals & needs, • have crafted a core branding guide, • have developed — and ideally put into practice — a basic online marketing plan, • have drafted a realistic marketing budget for both money & time.
Students will be provided with materials to present the information in a variety of formats to meet different learning styles. Additional resources for more information or applying lessons learned will be provided. Students will also be given homework assignments to allow both the instructor and student to assess progress. All materials will be available well in advance of discussions so that students may work in their own optimal method, however, additional class lesson information and references will be posted 3 times a week.
BIO:Currently teaching online marketing for Peninsula College’s Entrepreneur Institute in Washington state, Carolyn E. Cooper has been involved with marketing and publishing for over 30 years. She has worked with online development since 1981 and the internet since 1994, authoring 3 non-fiction titles for middle school children on technical subjects including Electronic Bulletin Board Systems. Carolyn has also performed stand-up comedy and been a comedy, science fiction and business writer as well as presenting workshops (including “Finished Chapter 1 — Ate a German Chocolate Cake: Eliminating Bad & Developing Good Writing Habits”) at several writers conferences such as the Southwest Writers Conference & Tri-City Writers Workshops. She is currently working on finishing her novel instead of the cake, redeveloping her website and creating new online marketing courses and projects.
Back to the top
July 2011 - No Classes
August 2011
Title: Analytics for Authors
Instructor: Carolyn Cooper
Date: August 1 – 26, 2011
Classroom: Mile High
DESCRIPTION:Stop guessing if your marketing is effective and what your readers want. Avoiding wasting your time and money. Learn how to use your free website visitor information (aka metrics) to determine a) where are the best places to spend your time and money to build your audience, b) what’s working (and what’s not) on your website and your marketing efforts, and c) how to get measurable improvements on your marketing ROI (Return On Investment) quickly & efficiently.
By the end of the lessons, students should: • understand how analytics are a tool for measuring marketing performance and effectiveness, • be able to identify key performance indicators in their web statistics to measure and track specific goals, • have specific identified specific indicators and target goals for improvement, • having defined a set of initial specific goals, know how to integrate analytics tracking into future marketing, • know where to find additional resources. Students will be provided with materials and resources to present the information in a variety of formats to meet different learning styles. Students will also be given homework assignments to allow both the instructor and student to assess progress. All materials will be available well in advance of discussions so that students may work in their own optimal method, however, additional class lesson information and references will be posted twice a week.
BIO: Currently teaching online marketing for Peninsula College’s Entrepreneur Institute in Washington state, Carolyn E. Cooper has been involved with marketing and publishing for over 30 years. She has worked with online development since 1981 and the internet since 1994, authoring 3 non-fiction titles for middle school children on technical subjects including Electronic Bulletin Board Systems. Carolyn has also performed stand-up comedy and been a comedy, science fiction and business writer as well as presenting workshops (including “Finished Chapter 1 — Ate a German Chocolate Cake: Eliminating Bad & Developing Good Writing Habits”) at several writers conferences such as the Southwest Writers Conference & Tri-City Writers Workshops. She is currently working on finishing her novel instead of the cake, redeveloping her website and creating new online marketing courses and projects.
Title: Career Self-Mentoring for Writers
Instructor: Kelle Z. Riley
Date: August 1 - 26, 2011
Classroom: Flatirons
DESCRIPTION: Today’s corporate managers function as mentors to their teams. To achieve this they study a range of techniques designed to help them identify and meet the needs of their employees at all stages during a career. Employees in most fields expect - and receive - training, encouragement and one-on-one career counseling to help them achieve their career goals.
Writers, on the other hand, don’t have managers to turn to and often feel alone in their struggles. By studying the same techniques as corporate managers, however, they can learn to recognize the developmental stages within themselves and seek out the specific guidance/mentoring they need at all stages in their career development. In other words, they need to find their own mentors - be it actual people who work one-on-one with them or groups, classes, etc. - to meet their specific needs. It is self-mentoring in that you alone identify your needs and take responsibility for seeking out ways to meet them.
BIO: Dr. Kelle Z. Riley is a 2005 Golden Heart Finalist whose first book - a romantic suspense entitled Dangerous Affairs - was published in 2006. Kelle believes in the magical power of storytelling to entertain, educate and enthrall both readers and writers of all ages.
She frequently speaks on women’s issues and writing topics to various audiences. She is a third degree karate black belt, and a certified women’s self defense instructor who teaches workshops on safety, self defense and, for her writer colleagues, how to write convincing action scenes. A Ph.D. chemist and patent holder, she also speaks on science topics at international conferences and seminars.
Back to the top
September 2011
Title: Corsets, Goggles, Airships, Oh My!: Researching & Writing Steampunk
Instructors: Beth Daniels, aka Beth Henderson aka J.B. Dane
Date: September 5 - 30, 2011
Classroom: Foothills
DESCRIPTION: The skies are filled with airships, the ground crowded with ladies in corsets with parasols and men in top hats or derbies leaning on walking sticks. Everyone owns a pair of brass goggles and is up on all the latest in steam powered clockwork technology, the discovery of new lands, and possibly conversant with the paranormal as well. Or considering ways they can take over the world, or at least get it eating complacently out of their hand.
Is this the Age of Victoria?
Not exactly. It's definitely the World of Steampunk. And if you are interested in writing for this subgenre, born of the Romeo and Juliet like liaison of the Historical and the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genres, then researching and writing your story will be a melding of the ways as well.
For research you do need not just into the Industrial Age, but also into the Current Era and the About-To-Be wonders of technology. Steampunk throws them all in the pot and turns them into quite uncommon porridge.
The key is knowing what you can use that actually was and what you can warp, morph, twist, tweak, alter, reconfigure, and dream up in connection with it.
Steampunk is more than merely a pseudo-Victorian world, for it can play out in the future or in an alternate universe just as easily as it can be performed on the 19th and early 20th century stage. But until you know what sort of homework you need to do in preparing to write your story, how can you cook up a lovely steamed meal of fact and fantastic fiction?
This 4-Week workshop tells how by guiding participants through the doors of history and on an excursion into the world of clockwork mechanics as well as highlighting the various elements that make up Steampunk.
For beginning novelists and for those interested in switching to or expanding into a new genre.
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 in the MOTHER GOOSE IS DEAD anthology slated for publication by Dragon Moon Press in 2011.
For over a dozen years Beth taught college level composition, both in the classroom and online, and a credit course on Novel Writing. Five of her former Novel class students are now published.
Twenty-six of Beth's manuscripts have appeared in print or e-book format. These have been historical romantic adventures (6), romantic comedies (10), romantic-suspense (3), and young adult romantic comedy (7). Her titles have appeared in 12 different languages in over 20 countries. At the moment she is working on various manuscripts and attempting a collaboration with another RWA® member on a contemporary/fantasy/romantic adventure. She also ventured into self-publishing to keep her out-of-print backlist in print, but previous e-books in print, and in frustration, to move beyond a manuscript she'd been reworking for editors for a decade with no bites, released a previously unpublished historical romantic adventure set in the American West.
She is a member of Romance Writers of America®, and an active member and volunteer with the Kiss of Death Online romantic suspense chapter
Website: RomanceAndMystery.com
Title: Body Talk: Lying, Loving and the Real Language of the Body
Instructor: Kit Frazier
Date: September 5-30, 2011
Classroom: Prairie
DESCRIPTION: The use of body language adds a rich, colorful layer to fiction, and invites the reader to participate in the story. Your hero may shield his feelings, your heroine may try to soften an emotional blow. Your villain will often happily gallop into a bold-faced lie. But the body always tells the truth.
With a flick of the eye, a twitch of the mouth and even more subtle clues, your character’s body language subconsciously alerts your readers to your character’s big, black secret. Body language builds reader anticipation - it’s the up-climb on the fiction roller coaster.
Through tools gleaned from FBI research and police personality profiling, you can use body language in fiction to convey to the reader the fall is coming, prepare them for the big finale, even when your characters don’t see it coming.
In this class, we’ll take a look at the human body’s unique language of attraction, from first contact to first love, to the subtle signs of deception. And we’ll build a better story, based on the most basic and ancient language - the language of the body.
BIO: Award-winning author and FBI Special Unit liaison Kit Frazier is a professional journalist and winner of Barnes & Noble Author of the Month and Mystery Guild Pick of the Month.
As a member of Austin Search and Rescue, Kit participates in research and training with the FBI and Austin Police Department, which provides lots of opportunity for murder, mayhem and some really hot guys. [Kit’s picture includes her search and rescue dog, Bodhi.]
Back to the top
October 2011
Title: Writing Compelling Scenes
Instructor: Shirley Jump
Date: October 3 - 28, 2011
Classroom: Mile High
DESCRIPTION: Are your scenes blah instead of blockbuster? Do they lag in the middle, or fall flat at the end? In this month-long intensive online class, you'll learn how to:
- Beef up your scenes
- Add more conflict
- Use every scene to raise the stakes
- Strengthen characterization
- Show instead of tell for maximum bang
- Work with hooks to keep readers turning the pages
- Tighten your pacing
- Create scenes that are unforgettable and powerful
In this interactive class, you'll learn how to edit your own scenes and take them from okay to amazing. In-depth analysis of scenes that work will be part of the class, as will revision of students' current work. Class will also offer hands-on critiques from the instructor, New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump.
BIO: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing women's fiction and romantic comedies (Vegas Pregnancy Surprise, July 2010) to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. As AJ Whitten, she also writes horror young adult novels for Houghton Mifflin's Graphia imprint with her daughter (The Well, September 2009). She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Visit her website or read recipes and life adventures at her blog.
Title: The Plotting Wheel
Instructor: Becky Martinez & Sue Viders
Date: October 3 - 28, 2011
Classroom: Flatirons
DESCRIPTION: No matter what method of plotting a writer uses, there are certain elements that need to go into any well told story. This class introduces the various elements that make up the spokes of The Plotting Wheel? and shows how to use those spokes to move their story along into a well-developed plot.
The plotting wheel can help the writer make certain they're headed in the right direction with their plot and that the story is moving forward through meaningful action, building tension and good pacing. The plotting wheel can help get a story off to a good beginning, help prop up a sagging middle and provide help to insure there is a satisfying climax and conclusion.
The class runs for four weeks, with two lectures a week, on Monday and Thursday. Each lecture also includes exercises on the various spokes in the plotting wheel. Both Becky and Sue will individually critique completed exercises and as well as answer questions and provide ideas for improving their work.
The lectures include the following:
1 - How the wheel came about, and how to use it
2 - Character with s/he Crusade and Cause
3 - Complications
4 - Companions
5 - Clashes and the Crisis
6 - How the character Changes
7 - Climax and Conclusion
8 - Putting it all together
BIO: Sue Viders is the author of more than 20 books, numerous articles and columns for both artists and writers. Her writing book Heroes and Heroines, Sixteen Master Archetypes, is used in many college and university writing courses. Her latest book, 10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters is gaining use as a practical workbook for writers who want to develop their characters.
She is a practicing artist, seminar leader, and educator with on-line classes both for writers and artists. Her latest product for writers is Deal a Story; an interactive card game consisting of 101 cards and six sections and is based on her Heroes and Heroines book.
Becky Martinez is an award-winning former broadcast journalist and published author. Her latest book, Deadly Messages was published by The Wild Rose Press in February 2010 and was an Aspen Gold finalist. She has had several short stories published and contributed a short story to The Trouble with Romance, an anthology that was a 2007 New Mexico Book Award finalist.
She was also one of the co-authors of Ten Steps to Creating Memorable Characters, a workbook for writers. For the past six years she has been teaching writing classes, both online and in person.
Back to the top
November 2011
Title: 10 Commandments of Grammar for Fiction Writers
Instructors: The Grammar Divas, Annie Oortman & Darlene Buchholz
Date: October 31 - November 25, 2011
Classroom: Foothills
DESCRIPTION: The Grammar Divas field lots of questions about grammar, but the most frequently asked is -Which rules are the most important ones for me to follow as a commercial fiction writer?? Our answer? ?All of them!? That response never thrills anyone. So, we got to thinking. What are the most important grammar issues for a commercial fiction writer? Which ones are must-follows and which are kinda-follows? We put our heads together and came up with what we consider are the ten most important grammar issues every commercial fiction writer should understand and practice.
Bio:Grammar wasn't Annie Oortman's first love (actually, it was a cute boy in her second-grade class named Henry Talley) or even her second (avoiding barn work). However, after getting an A for content but an F for readability on a third-grade book report, she learned having great ideas was one thing, communicating them well on paper another. Annie became a disciple of the church of Proper Grammar and card-carrying member of The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (www.spogg.org). Nowadays, she diagrams sentences for fun (yes, for fun), corrects her children when they say "I did good on the test" (I did well.), and argues with fellow grammar devotees on the acceptability of ending a sentence with a preposition (don't do it).
BTW, Annie is hoping to see her name on the cover of a fiction novel soon... very soon. (And, if you're wondering, Henry Talley never even noticed Annie as he had a mad crush on blonde-haired, blue-eyed Libby Boxler.)
Darlene Buchholz fell in love in the first grade with a boy named Neil. He shared his crackers and milk at recess after someone took her snack and never got caught. She's loved romance and intrigue ever since. By the third grade, she discovered Nancy Drew mysteries and developed a great passion for perky heroines who drove convertibles (proof they were in charge of their own lives). She wrote her own one-hundred-page mysteries, giving the heroine a much better hero than wimpy Ned Nickerson, who seemed more fashion accessory than hero. What woman wouldn't prefer a cowboy or a cop named'well, Neil, of course?
Darlene never thought of grammar as a challenge. It was, instead, a tool to help her express the ideas she felt passionate about. She served as a peer mentor in junior high and high school. Becoming a high school English teacher was a natural for Darlene. She loved sharing ideas expressed in great literature and exposition.
Now, family raised, Darlene has decided to write stories again. She writes romantic suspense, and sometimes her heroines drive trucks rather than convertibles. Her heroes are still cowboys and cops. She hopes to publish soon.
Title: Writing Between the Sexes (Using Gender Differences to Create Believable Characters)
Instructor: Leigh Michaels
Date: October 31 – November 25, 2011
Classroom: Prairie
DESCRIPTION: Have you ever read a mystery where the heroine sounds like an oversexed gangster? Or a romance where the hero sounds more like a girlfriend than a man? Chances are, the oversexed heroine was created by a male author; the tender, emotional hero by a woman. Men and women think, act, and talk differently – which causes problems for writers who are trying to create characters of the opposite sex.
Learn about the most common gender differences, and use them to create believable characters of the opposite sex. (And along the way, you may get some great ideas about how to deal with your husband, boyfriend, boss, big brother, or other assorted males -- or for the first time, understand what's really going on inside the head of your wife, girlfriend, mom...)
BIO: Leigh Michaels is the author of nearly 100 books, including 80 contemporary novels, three historical romance novels, and more than a dozen non-fiction books. More than 35 million copies of her romance novels have been published. A 6 time RITA finalist, she has also received two Reviewer's Choice awards from Romantic Times, and was the 2003 recipient of the Johnson Brigham Award. She is the author of On Writing Romance, published by Writers Digest Books. Leigh also teaches romance writing on the Internet at Gotham Writers’ Workshop. She lives in Ottumwa, Iowa. For more information, please visit www.leighmichaels.com.
Back to the top
DESCRIPTION: Many writers groan when they have to write sex scenes. 'It's all tab A in slot B! It's boring!' A New York Times bestselling author of erotic romance shows how to write love scenes that will inspire anything but yawns. Topics include: how to use love scenes to develop characterization, conflict, and the growth of the romance. She'll also cover how to create a range of sensuality, from sweet to erotic. If you've ever wondered how to give your love scene that extra sparkle, she'll provide valuable hints.
DESCRIPTION: Short stories pack a big punch! They can provide a path into the publishing world, a way to build writing credits or advance your career as part of an anthology. Not to mention that in today's busy lifestyle, readers are looking for convenient reads of the perfect length. So what's the difference between flash fiction, short stories, novelettes and novellas, and why write one? How can writing a short story help with crafting full length books? Anna Hackett provides writers with the skills they need to write a short story: from structure to pacing, characters to conflict. The course includes interviews with bestselling authors, insights from Deep Editing expert, Margie Lawson on how to revise short stories, and fun exercises to practice your new skills. By the conclusion of SHORT STORY, BIG IMPACT you'll have all the tools you need to write a compelling story to take you down the short story road to success.
