Karyn Polewaczyk ~ Writer and Marketing Consultant I’ve been writing—as in, getting paid for it—for seven years. Without a journalism or English degree, and without knowing a single soul in publishing when I first started out (which was in the depths of the Great Recession, and even then, I was able to secure regular, paying … Read more
ANATOMY OF A SUCCESSFUL NOVELLA: HOW TO WRITE SHORT Creating an effective novella is one of the most challenging and satisfying adventures in fiction-writing. It also strikes fear in many romance writers’ hearts. How is it possible to make a believable love story in 20-40,000 words? With character arcs, love scenes, and an engaging plot? … Read more
Stumped Whether you’re just starting a manuscript or already halfway through, not-yet-published or a veteran author, getting caught in the net of “What comes next?” can happen to anyone at any time. In this workshop, Audra North offers a few tips for how to get unstumped, no matter where you are in the process. Real-life … Read more
Writing Your Way with Scrivener Want to know what makes this popular writing software so great? Or maybe you’re already a Scrivener fan and want to know how to get even more out of it. Gwen Hernandez, author of Scrivener For Dummies discusses the advantages of using Scrivener over a standard word processor, and offers … Read more
Romance Tropes and Feminism This workshop will address some common romance concepts through the lens of how romance novels can help support positive relationships among women. Where does our writing fall into unconscious patterns that perpetuate harmful ideas? Jealous “other women,” slut shaming narratives, even the careers we choose for our protagonists all affect the … Read more
Fifty Shades of Green: How to Write Smut for Fun & Profit This workshop is Lori’s  favorite lecture and teaches how to work your erotic fantasies into sellable smut. She has taught this at writers’ conferences, feminist gatherings, senior centers, a farm women’s collective and a bachelorette party (she was the entertainment) and every time … Read more
CHANGE FOR MAY MEETING! The Fifty Shades of Green workshop has been rescheduled for the June meeting. The May 2nd meeting will be a roundtable discussion.
Join author Sara Humphreys for a fun, lively chat about writing, getting published, and balancing family with work. She’ll share the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a romance writer in today’s ever-changing world of publishing. Bio: Sara Humphreys is a graduate of Marist College, with a B.A. Degree in English Literature & Theater. … Read more
Creating Realistic Characters Our scheduled speaker is unable to attend our meeting due to a family emergency, we are going to take the opportunity to share our own ideas about how to create characters! Amanda Torrey, program director, will begin by sharing strategies, tools, and techniques she has discovered for building characters from the inside … Read more
Oh My Blog!! Are you puzzled by the concept of blogging? Do you have a blog but have the distinct feeling no one is looking at it? Do you face the thought of a blog tour with dread, because you can’t think of what to write about over the course of 20 or more articles? … Read more