Conflict Soup – What can we do to take a romance from good to amazing?There are three kinds of conflict in a romance novel: internal, external, and sexual. We will discuss methods for enhancing and defining all three of them. I will provide how-tos for keeping a “conflict journal” to help with your story work. … Read more
Find Your Inner Muse: Your internal critic feeds on your own self-doubt, anxieties, and fears. To quiet her, you must starve her out. Our internal editor is a different voice from the one that misdirects our energy by demeaning our efforts. The internal editor is smart and savvy and helps us improve our work. The … Read more
Local RI comedian Alison O’Donnell will share funny and painfully true stories about the men she’s met and dated from a variety of dating websites. Meet dozens of the author’s most memorable and unforgettable dates! The Weary Widower, The Desperado, Mr. Clean, and Ivan the Terrible are just a few. With each tale, you’ll learn … Read more
How to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon Amazon is a great place to sell books, but most authors (and publishers) underutilize the free systems Amazon offers. Metadata, keywords, and Amazon’s backend systems are also something that are often misunderstood, and underused. This deep dive class will dig into all of the pieces that … Read more
Have you ever wanted to set up an Amazon Advertising campaign for your book but the thought of slogging your way through the set-up process scared you silly? Help is on the way. This presentation uses screen shots, examples, and step-by-step instructions to guide you through each of this advertising option. The step-by-step instructions will … Read more
In the November newsletter, Tina O’Reilly contributed a thoughtful article about the challenges of trying to balance the varied demands of publishing and marketing books, from cover design and formatting to investing time on social media, and time and money on ads on many platforms with actually writing those books. Our December meeting will be … Read more
If you are able to open yourself up and connect to an audience to show the truth of who you are, that’s authenticity. It sells. Reflecting the authentic in your work is a crucial skill. I will share my journey of how I excavated my truest self and found passion for what I wanted to write. … Read more
Debra Spark: Writing in a Time of Disaster “Why write?” Alex Chee asked after 9/11, questioning not the content of his writing but the very point of putting pen to paper. How do we understand our vocation or make any sort of meaning when confronted with the tragedies of our times, the daily horrors that seem … Read more
Gail Eastwood & Liberty Blake: Sources for Building Memorable Characters Since ancient times, people have tried to understand and categorize the aspects that make up character –the traits, behaviors and psychology of fellow human beings—or even animals! Today, after a discussion about the foundations and added layers that give both depth and contrasting variety to … Read more
June 6th Carolyn Betensky: Badass Women & the Nineteenth-Century Novel (via ZOOM) The Victorian era is commonly thought to be a time of extreme prudery and rigidly defined gender roles. Yet novels from the nineteenth century — especially those by women writers such as the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon — suggest … Read more