“Mauled Men, Drowned Dames and Crispy Critters: a Body Disposal Primer for Writers” with Jeanne P. Adams
February 26, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Online ClassHi everyone! Check out the exciting online classes offered by the
Orange County Chapter of RWA!
“Mauled Men, Drowned Dames and Crispy Critters: a Body Disposal Primer for Writers”
with Jeanne P. Adams
March 14 – April 9, 2011
with the Grammar Divas – Annie Oortman & Darlene Buchholz
April 11 – May 7, 2011
Love grammar? Hate grammar? Love to hate grammar?
Contrary to popular belief, grammar is not a sinister conspiracy plot designed by evil English teachers (the Grammar Gods) to ruin every writer in the free world’s fun by screwing with personal style. (Seriously, it’s not.)
From subject-verb agreement to passive voice, faulty construction to misplaced modifiers, word choice and usage to quotation marks and commas, the Grammar Divas (an English teacher and a professional copywriter) sort through the all the rules and share in a fun yet informative way the ten most important grammar issues every fiction writer should understand and practice.
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html. Check out our full list of workshops.
Want to be notified personally two weeks before each class? Be sure you’re signed up for our Online Class Notices Yahoo Group!
or send a blank email to OCCRWAOnlineClassNotices-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Calls for Submissions
February 26, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives
9 to 5: Love, Danger and Romance for the 21st century heroine
February 11, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as 9 to 5, blogging, books, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, danger, dangerous, job, professions, romance novels, writing, writing process, writngMeet EVELYN Q. DARLING, Romance Reporter at Large, in her first blog today:
In the past, creating a job for a romantic heroine usually meant she was either a governess, a nurse, or in the early twentieth century, a “typewriter,†better known as a secretary.
Take a letter, Miss Jones…
To all writers of romance novels.
Dear Miss, Ms. or Madam:
It has come to this reporter’s attention that several of you have veered away from writing about governesses in dark, gloomy manor houses and pert, red-cheeked nurses and turned to writing about heroines who carry guns, sport black leather and can take a man down in fifty seconds flat.
Really.
What happened to the days when all a heroine had to do to get her man was flutter her black lace fan and bat her soot-caked eyelashes? (Ample cleavage didn’t hurt either.)
It was so much easier when all a writer had to worry about was how many flounces graced her heroine’s gown or the number of hooks on a corset. (A heroine’s age at marriage also determined the size of her waist: if she wed at 18, she aspired that her waist remained at 18 inches.)
And if all else failed, there was always the “smart†heroine who wrote novels, solved mysteries or planted her delicate boots on foreign soil and showed her moxie by becoming a globe-trotting adventuress.
Sigh. Ah, for the good ole days before our heroines decided they wanted equal rights between the sheets. And on the job.
Now to create the modern heroine, a romance writer has to know the difference between a Glock and a Sig Sauer (the latter sounds like a deli sandwich).
Be able to “street speak†in urban fantasies, suck blood without smudging her lipstick in vampire thrillers and shape-shift into an exotic creature with all her parts intact.
So I’m asking all you romance writers to drop me a line and tell me what “dangerous professions†for a heroine you’ve seen in recent novels or in a novel you’re writing.
What’s new for a heroine in the 21st century in the world of “9 to 5†that you haven’t seen or written about before?
I’ll be eagerly awaiting your answers.
Who knows?
Maybe we can start a new trend: Dangerous heroines in tight corsets and red high heels who live in an abandoned subway tunnel and belong to a secret society of lusty Victorian vampires who feed on handsome firefighters.
Then again, maybe not.
Best regards,
Evelyn Q. Darling
Romance Reporter At Large
“Artwork by Jina Bacarr”
The Blonde Samurai: “She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha ,Cleopatra’s Perfume, Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs
visit my website: http://www.jinabacarr.com/
News You Need by Kitty Bucholtz
February 9, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as It's Worth It
As you’re working through your new goals for this year, you may find some helpful information in the following articles. It’s been one of those months where every other email I open has some great tidbit in it and I wanted to share it all with you. Some of it is news, some are warnings, some have opportunities, and some have ideas for your craft. Hopefully, some of it will help you to have a more successful year! 🙂
I saw a documentary on TV that a friend of mine produced and it was so fascinating that I went online to find more information. Here is a post from 2009 at The Book Deal about how your brain works and whether you can help it become more creative to improve your writing.
I’m excited to find out about John Maxwell’s new 1-minute word-of-the-day videos. John is an excellent motivational speaker and writer. I’ve read several of his books and they have helped me in building the kind of writing business I can be happy with. I get the daily video in my Inbox and each one helps me to focus on a characteristic that could make me a better leader, including leading myself.
There are some writing contests that are gimmicks for bad business. Agent Janet Reid tells you about one to beware of (though I think with all the bad press this last week, the contest’s web site is already down) and she gives you the warning signs for future reference. The Writer Beware blog also has a good post on agent solicitations and how to spot the red flags. And here’s an article from WritersWeekly about a company that buys 5-star book reviews and recruits writers to write them.
Paperback Writer (Lynn Viehl) posted a list on her blog of ten writing opportunities she’s found recently. Cindi Myers also posts writing opportunities every week.
The Romance Writers of America’s Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter’s blog is bursting with great articles on the craft – world building and more world building, creating a story bible, secrets of successful authors, point of view, what to do with your blog, and so much more. This is a great blog for picking up lots of useful tips!
At Inkhaven, there’s a re-post of a blog called Lessons from the Slush Pile. The author is an Assistant Editor at a magazine.
I’ve seen a few emails about Jerry Seinfeld’s Don’t Break the Chain calendar. CJ Lyons talks about it here. It’s a fun and simple way to keep working on your writing career every day. Download your own free calendar from The Writer’s Store here.
I’m linking to this 2006 interview with YA and children’s book writer Cornelia Funke because I love her work! As with so many great writers, there are lots of little encouragements and tips to be gleaned by reading the interview.
Finally, living in Australia, I must comment on the Queensland floods. A friend of a friend posted this article about the amazing generosity of strangers and included pictures of her mother’s house and the wonderful people who helped them clean up. The generosity of writers and readers around the world is helping to replace books in libraries, and give books away to people who have lost everything and need a little storytelling escape. The Romance Writers of Australia have organized ways for you to help here.
Kitty Bucholtz is a writer and speaker, and a member of Romance Writers of America and Romance Writers of Australia. She co-founded Routines for Writers (http://www.routinesforwriters.com/) a web site dedicated to helping writers write more. In 2011, Kitty will receive her Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing from University of Technology, Sydney.
0 0 Read moreThe Romance of Cookbooks
February 8, 2011 by A Slice of Orange in category ArchivesOkay, I confess. The five pounds I gained over Christmas and New Year are still there. Still stopping me from wearing my jeans (for some reason, my family objects when I leave my jeans even discreetly unzippered). Still making me remove my wedding ring in the hope of tipping the balance of my bathroom scales one measly ounce in my favor.
It shouldn’t be this way. Theoretically, the moment the addition of cranberry sauce to every sandwich ceases, the moment the last remnants of the Christmas pudding have been washed down with whipped cream, those five pounds should melt away. Slowly, maybe, but melt nonetheless.
Ain’t happenin’.
And I know why. Because I was given a total of five cookbooks for Christmas and my adjacent birthday – the works of Yotam Ottolenghi, Gordon Ramsay, Peter Gordon, Darina Allen and Bill Granger now grace my kitchen shelves. (No one gave me the new Nigella Lawson book, but that’s a whole ’nother grudge…are you reading this, family dearest?).
I love reading cookbooks – I can do it for hours at a time. But reading’s not enough…then I have to cook the stuff. Then I have to eat it. Yep, instead of sipping on fat-busting green tea while I eat bland chicken salads, I’m whipping up lamb curry, ricotta hotcakes with maple syrup, crème brulée. And eating them.
I’m doomed.
Oh, well, might as go out in style…maybe tonight I’ll try the pork fillet stroganoff.
When I’ve finished eating and am lying on the sofa too stuffed to move, I’ll be ready for more cookbooks to read – I’d love to know your favorites!
2 0 Read moreFeatured Books
THE TRUTH THAT CAN’T BE TOLD BOOK 2
Unrequited love, quiet shame, guttural fear are the truths we hide from the world…often from those we love the most.
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Lauren Vancouver is the head of HotRescues, a no-kill animal shelter north of Los Angeles, but it's often human nature that puts her in the path of danger.
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