networking

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NJRW – 2011 Writers’ Conference, Day 1

This weekend I’m attending the Put Your Heart in a Book writers’ conference sponsored by the New Jersey Romance Writers.  Three hundred plus writers, agents, and editors are gathering to celebrate writing. It’s a much anticipated, much loved regional conference. Many arrived Thursday to hit the ground running early Friday morning.

In Friday’s three-hour Pre-Conference workshop, NY Times and USA Today best-selling author Brenda Novak spoke on Emotion: The Heart of the Novel.  A few highlights from her talk – Creativity happens in a series of tiny sparks, she said.  The more ideas we have the better.  Take risks.  Expect to make lots of mistakes.  Develop a network of colleagues.  More than anything, she said, creativity is about hard work and sticking with it.  I especially enjoyed her words on subtext in our writing.  We write who we are, she said then told of a writer who’d written a stellar lighthearted contemporary; every part was technically perfect – the plotting, dialogue, character development.  But the inherent negativity of the author bled through and the manuscript never sold. Subtext, she said, will leak through.

After Brenda Novak’s superb presentation, I joined up with three writers I’d met last year – Laura Thomson, Marta Bliese, and Laurel Wanrow.  All are members of the Maryland Romance Writers.  We stepped out into the chilly October air and across the parking lot to the Kona Grill for lively conversation over lunch.

Friday afternoon was divided into three forty-five minute workshop sessions.  Each time slot provided a choice of six workshops to attend.  For my first session, I chose to hear Brenda Novak again, this time speaking on Networking: Sowing the Seeds of Success.  The equation for writing success, she said, is to present a quality product (our writing), have an eye for opportunity, a credible source (can you deliver?), and the right networking mentality.  She gave pages of helpful info in a short amount of time.

My second session was given by award-winning author Annette Blair who writes single titles and vintage magic mysteries.  Annette spoke on Stuck in the Middle – A Life Raft of Solutions.  She recommended reading Christopher Vogler’s THE WRITER’S JOURNEY (several times), and referred also to workshops by Barbara Wallace and Deborah Hale.  The more conflict in your story, the more pinches and twists, she said, the stronger your middle will be.   She passed out a worksheet that she advised using as a template for our sagging middles and which we reviewed in detail.  Incredibly helpful.

My third and final Friday workshop was NY Times bestselling suspense author Laura Griffin.  Her topic was How to Make Any Book a Page Turner.  We need to open our book with a character the reader can care about then immediately introduce conflict into the story.  One of her many suggestions:  Each chapter must end with a hook.  Beyond that, she said, end each chapter with a powerful and vivid word.  Instead of “a pool of blood on the floor” write “on the floor was a pool of blood.”  More vivid, more emotional.

At 6 pm we all gathered outside the Diamond Ballroom for a cocktail reception before the awards ceremony.  Midway through wine and pasta, fire alarms blinked and blared, although the sound was muffled by our conversations.  We were asked to vacate to the parking lot and front lobby area.  Fire trucks arrived and firemen trooped into the building.  The adventure sparked some writers’ imaginations and provided fuel for some future scene. 😉 Within several minutes, though, we were allowed to return and resume our reception.

Each year, NJRW honors its contest winners in an awards ceremony.  The Put Your Heart in a Book award is for unpublished writers.   This year’s winners:

Put Your Heart in a Book

  • Short Contemporary – Judith Wherett – RUNNING FOR HER LIFE
  • Single Title Contemporary – Jeanell Bolton – PASSION
  • Historical – Dianna Quincy – TEMPTING BELLA
  • Paranormal – Dawn Groszek – ROSE OF HOPE
  • Romantic Elements – D. B. Schuster – BREACH OF CONTRACT

The Golden Leaf is awarded to those contest winners who are published with an RWA recognized publisher.  After each category’s finalists are announced, an intriguing snippet of the winning entry is read by sultry-voiced Anne Walradt.  This year’s winners:

Golden Leaf

Hall of Fame Inductee, Cara Summers

When authors succeed in winning three Golden Leaf Awards within a category, NJRW inducts them into the Golden Leaf Hall of Fame.  Friday’s ceremony was crowned by inducting two such authors – historical author Hannah Howell  for her award-winners in the Novella category, and Cara Summers for her award-winning Short Contemporaries.

After the awards ceremony I was invited to attend a late night gathering hosted by the group from Maryland Romance Writers.   Several of us sat talking, laughing, sharing our stories, and working through two pitch sessions.  Saturday would be another full day.

Writers, what did you find most valuable about this conference or another you may have attended? Please share your comments.   ♥

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NJRW Chapter Meeting & Why I Belong

The New Jersey Romance Writers met Saturday, March 19, at the Hilton Woodbridge in Iselin, NJ. At the General Meeting, President Shirley Hailstock and NJRW’s Board updated members on the group’s finances, the new website, upcoming events including April’s Special Event, planning for October’s Put Your Heart in a Book conference, and the status of NJRW’s writing contests.  Hospitality Chair Val Luna handed out Hershey’s Kisses for those who submitted manuscripts since last month, Hershey’s Hugs for rejections, and a sprig of flowers for recipients of good news.  The Heartline Herald editor, Joan Raleigh, asked for member volunteers to write articles for the newsletter.  Volunteers are always needed and it is a great way to network.

Author Terri Brisbin

Member Kathye Thornton shared information about CTRWA’s upcoming Connecticut Fiction Fest 2011 on May 14 in North Haven, CT.  Keynote Speaker is Eloisa James.  Those attending will have the opportunity to pitch their books to acquiring editors and agents.  Noted authors will present workshops on a variety of topics.  All for only $99. Side note: I’ve learned Kathye has two how-to e-books (pdf) of interest – MS Word 2007 for Writers and also a guide for earlier Word versions.  Useful!

Member Terri Brisbin provided an update on NJRW’s exhibit at the NAIBA tradeshow to be held September 21-22 in Atlantic City.  NJRW will invite our published authors to man booths to sign their current releases and network independent booksellers.  The goal of our involvement is to promote the romance genre and provide information about local authors to the booksellers.

After the General Meeting and a short break, this months’ three featured authors presented their latest books then held a short book signing.  Included were Authors Terri Brisbin –  HIS ENEMY’S DAUGHTER, Shirley Hailstock – SOME LIKE THEM RICH, and Renee Ryan – DANGEROUS ALLIES.

Guest Speaker Renee Ryan

The monthly program featured author Renee Ryan who spoke on The Art of Layering: From First Draft to Final Manuscript. She began by stating that she received 187 rejection letters before selling her first book.  She kept them all.  She entered multiple contests and studied the craft of writing. After her first sale it would be nearly seven years before her next.  During that time she went back to studying craft and discovered the art of layering.  She said if we take away only one thing from her talk, we should remember “the one thing you control is your craft.”

Ms. Ryan discussed her eight-step process in layering.  Step One is to write a first draft.  After that, using examples from her work, she showed how to layer each scene with movement, senses, dialogue, emotion, and so on.  Layering makes the scene come alive.  It allows an author to show, not tell.  It allows for deep point of view letting the reader feel she is deep in the mind of the character.

NJRW President Shirley Hailstock

She also provided helpful tips, answering questions such as “What do I do if a scene isn’t working?” (Use highlighters to color code dialogue, emotion, etc.) and “How can I write what a tornado feels like if I’ve never been in one?”  (Watch You Tube!).

Sensational workshop, dynamic speaker!

News Flash…Renee Ryan chaired the RWA Workshop committee for RWA National in NYC this year.  Click here for the amazing line-up of workshops to be presented.

Following a pleasant lunch with our fellow writers down in the hotel’s restaurant, we went back upstairs where we broke into two groups. NJRW’s published authors met for a monthly Published Authors session.  President Shirley Hailstock led a useful Hands-On session for those not yet published.  Writers brought the first 250 words of their manuscripts for a fascinating and very helpful discussion about opening lines.

Simply one meeting, free and available monthly to members of NJRW.  One hand reaching forward, one hand reaching back – writers helping writers. It’s what RWA is all about. ∞