Short Recap of RWA National 2012
August 6, 2012 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as 2012 National RWA Conference, eBooks, Linda O. Johnston
Last month I blogged about how it was almost time for the Romance Writers of America National Conference. This month, at PAW, we’re all going to discuss what we learned there.
But of the workshops, the Published Author Network (PAN) retreat programs, and other events I was able to attend, one thing was made abundantly clear: all of us, even major publishers, are accepting the wave of the future. E-books, and e-versions of print books, are only going to get bigger.
I get it. I still like to hold a real book in my hands and be able to turn the pages. But I also have a Kindle and enjoy its convenience and portability, too. I recognize reality, so I’ll try to adapt as much as I need to both in my writing and reading.
How about you–were you there? What were you particularly interested to learn?
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?
August 2, 2012 by A Slice of Orange in category Archivesby Jann Audiss
August Online Class
July 26, 2012 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives tagged as Charlotte Carter, Charlotte Lobb, Online Class, Writing HumorCharlotte Carter has authored fifty-six books under various pseudonyms for Harlequin American, Love & Laughter and Duets as well as Dorchester. She is currently writing for Love Inspired and Guideposts Books. Noted for her light-hearted touch, she is a frequent workshop presenter and has taught an online Joke Writing class.
Her honors include Best Harlequin American and Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times and the National Readers’ Choice Award. In her spare time Charlotte performs standup comedy——G-Rated Humor for Grownups.
The Burden of Specialness
July 24, 2012 by A Slice of Orange in category ArchivesHigh Tide Floats All Boats
July 19, 2012 by A Slice of Orange in category ArchivesMonica Stoner, Member at Large
Through a series of fortunate events, Susan Elizabeth Phillips visited the LERA chapter of RWA to chat about the life and business of writing. She got to know her audience by asking the usual question about how many in the audience were published (a lot) how many were nearly published, how many were writing on a regular basis and how many were telling lies to themselves. She nodded to the sheepish hands raised at this last question, and moved on into the meat of her talk.
She spoke frankly about how she produces best selling award winning books, from “monkey writing” on yellow pads to final edits. SEP is a pantster of the first degree, pulling stories from a phenomenally creative mind and the world around her. It’s an arduous process, she writes slowly and the rewrites are a bear. But it’s the way she writes.
For those who admitted to not producing the pages needed to finish a book, she offered suggestions on how she gets past the blocks, and how to pull pages out of our heads. “You can fix a bad page, as long a you have a page to fix,” was one of the aphorisms offered. Yes, we’ve heard it all before, but to hear such from someone who has long since arrived and still suffers from the angst and insecurities so many of us deal with brought it all home.
As the hour wound down, she reminded the published among us to bring copies of our books to the signing that night so she could introduce us. When someone commented on her generosity, she said when she made a similar remark to Sandra Brown, also known for her generosity to other authors, she was told “High tide floats all boats.” The goal is to keep writers writing and readers reading.
That evening, as many members of LERA as could make it showed up for the talk and signing at a library, to ensure she would have an audience. As if she truly needed help filling the chairs. Before she started to talk about her own books, she held up the books brought by LERA members, one at a time, while we introduced ourselves and our writing, so the readers in the audience could jot down the information about authors new to them.
High tide indeed. I want to be her when I grow up.
One of those books I held up was Teach Me To Forget, a story of hidden pasts and possible futures. My writer self is Mona Karel, who is much more fun to be around.
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