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“Understanding Men” with Dr. Debra Holland

July 26, 2010 by in category Archives

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Hi everyone! Check out the exciting online classes offered by the
Orange County Chapter of RWA!

“Understanding Men”
with Dr Debra Holland
August 16 – September 18, 2010

Do you wish you had a better understanding of men? Now is your chance to improve your real-life relationships with men and enhance your male characters all through taking the same course.

Extended to include an extra week of information and lectures, during this five-week class you will learn how the male brain and hormones make a man think, feel, and behave, especially in relationships. New material will cover male sexuality and how that affects responses, attitudes, and behavior. We will also discuss how men are portrayed in romance novels versus how men are in real life.

About the Instructor:

Debra Holland, PhD is a popular psychotherapist, consultant, and speaker on the topics of communication skills, relationships, stress and trauma, and dealing with difficult people. In this class, Dr. Debra expands on the workshop she has given at the 2001 National RWA Conference and around the country at various RWA chapters and conferences. Just this year, she has added a new segment covering the anatomy and physiology of male sexuality, as well as male sexual responses, attitudes, and behavior.

Although geared to writers, non-writers will also find the class helpful in improving their relationships with men.

As a multi-faceted author, Debra’s first historical romance, Wild Montana Sky, won the 2001 Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart award. Subsequent books in the series, Wild Montana Sky and Starry Montana Sky both earned finalist honors in the OCCRWA Orange Rose contest. Her fantasy romance, Withea’s Way (retitled Sower of Dreams) was a 2003 Golden Heart finalist. Her science fiction/fantasy novel, Lywin’s Quest, was a 2005 GH finalist.

In 2008, she sold a nonfiction book, Back On Track, to Transformations, and is currently finishing a book on boundary setting with difficult people. Her column, “Ask Dr. Debra” can be found on her website: www.drdebraholland.com

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassAug10.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members

Coming in September 2010–

“Creating that Fatal (or Not So Fatal) Flaw”
with Laurie Schnebly Campbell
September 6 – October 2, 2010

Giving likable, plausible characters a truly compelling conflict is easier with Enneagrams. Counselors and HR managers use this tool to identify the nine distinctive personality types. Each one has its own uniquely heroic and appealing traits, as well as a troublesome (if not fatal) flaw that will naturally bring them into conflict with other people…AND with themselves.

Laurie Schnebly Campbell draws on her background as a counseling therapist AND as a romance novelist who beat out Nora Roberts for Best Special Edition of the Year to help you find out which strengths and weaknesses will make your characters’ lives more rewarding as they reach their happily-ever-after, and more challenging along the way!

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! Sign up at
the bottom of http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html or send a blank
email to OCCRWAOnlineClassNotices-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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2010 Orange Rose Contest Finalists

July 12, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as , , , ,

[Correction, 7-15-10: Our apologies to finalist Deborah O’Neill Cordes for misspelling her name, now corrected below. – Linda and Lynn]

The Orange County Chapter of RWA is proud to announce the 27th Annual Orange Rose Contest top ten finalists. These top ten finalists were selected by overall score, independent of category.

Historical & Regency

Seducing Charlotte by Dora Mekouar, VA

Mainstream with Romantic Elements

Deadly Blessings by Kathy Bennett, CA

Girl Three by Tracy Mastaler, VA

Oak Moon by Laura Templeton, GA

The Miser Who Bought the Farm by Kendel Flaum , SC

The Other Side of Heaven by Deborah O’Neill Cordes & Cary Morgan Frates, WA

Tressed to Kill by Beth Yarnall, CA

Paranormal/Time Travel/Fantasy

Assassin in Love by Amy Raby, WA

Hearts of Darkness by Ciara Stewart , WA

Romantic Suspense

Piercing Velvet by Aimee Carper, MO

Second round scoring is underway and contest winners will be announced in October.

Congratulations to our top ten finalists on their top scoring entries!

Lynn Nissen
2010 Orange Rose Contest Coordinator

Linda McLaughlin
2010 Orange Rose Electronic Entry Coordinator

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Romance Writers of America 2006 Conference in Atlanta with Jina Bacarr

July 11, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yes, you read the title correctly. That’s the RWA Conference in Atlanta back in 2006.

Where did the time go? Several SPICE books, blogs, videos, Tweets and Facebook friends later, I’ve been thinking about all the wonderful things RWA and OCC/RWA offer its members.

Especially the annual conference. It’s always an exciting time. Here’s the official information about this year’s conference:

“RWA is proud to host its 30th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort, July 28 – 31, 2010.

“Be sure to join us to enhance your writing and knowledge of the ins and outs of publishing at more than 100 workshops; get the inside track at panels and round-tables featuring publishing professionals; schedule a one-on-one pitch meeting with an acquiring editor or literary agent; attend parties and network with the stars of romance fiction; and be a part of RWA’s massive, 500-author strong “Readers for Life” charity book signing. And let’s not forget the 2010 RITA and Golden Heart Awards.” For more information go to the RWA website.

To everyone who is going, have a great time!

I’ll never forget my first RWA conference. (What girl ever forgets her first?)

So here is a video I made taking you back to July 2006 and the Romance Writers of America Conference in Atlanta.

From the Literacy Signing to the Spice Books workshop to the Harlequin party and the RITA Awards, re-live the conference in this fun video podcast.

As you can see in the photo above, I signed copies of The Blonde Geisha that year at the RWA Conference in Atlanta.

Hard to believe that since then, The Blonde Geisha has been translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish and two weeks ago it came out in the Czech Republic as “The Geisha with the Emerald Eyes.”

So sit back and relax and come with me as we go back to the RWA Conference in Atlanta in 2006!

Best,
Jina

The Blonde Samurai: “She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.”

Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha ,Cleopatra’s Perfume, Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighsvisit my website: http://www.jinabacarr.com/

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The Cost of Writing by Kitty Bucholtz

July 9, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as

When I was in business school, I learned about opportunity cost. In general, if you have $20 and you want to see a movie, eat lunch out, and buy a new blouse, all the things you don’t do with the $20 is part of the cost of what you do choose to do. So if you buy a new blouse, it cost you $20 plus eating a sack lunch plus not seeing a movie this week. If you go to a movie and have lunch out, it cost you $20 plus foregoing movie snacks plus foregoing a sit-down lunch and eating fast food instead plus waiting to buy a new blouse.

When you choose what to do with your time, what you don’t do is the cost of what you chose to do. Every time I choose to watch an hour of TV with my husband, it costs me an hour of writing (or anything else I might have done with that hour). Conversely, every time I spend an hour writing or working in the evening, it costs me an hour with my husband. How many of us have gone to see a movie that we expected to be fun and came out complaining, “Well, that’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back again!” No matter what you do with your time, it’s time you won’t get back again. That might be what someone was thinking when they came up with the slogan, “Work hard, play hard.”

Instead of focusing on all the things we aren’t getting done (this is me, every day), we need to focus on what is the best use of our time now. In an hour, we might want to stop for a second and ask the question again. Perhaps again in four hours, or in another 30 minutes. If we can tap into a kind of moment-by-moment wisdom and allow ourselves to accept that we likely won’t accomplish everything we want to do – or perhaps even need to do – we can find greater peace and deeper joy in every moment, no matter what we’re doing.

Next week, I’m going to participate in a Book-in-a-Week challenge with my Sydney RWA group. To do that, it will cost me a great deal. I won’t be able to work on my taxes (the Australian tax year ends June 30); I won’t be able to clean my office; I won’t be able to do any but the most basic housecleaning; I won’t be able to hang out with friends, etc. But I’ve decided the cost is worth the benefit. I want to get my book out in August, and this is what it’s going to take.

The following week, one of the first things I’m going to do is clean my office. While this can be a procrastination technique, sometimes not doing it has too high a price. The time it took me to complete my U.S. taxes earlier this year was nearly double because I couldn’t find all my files after I moved. In the last ten months that we’ve been in this apartment, I have spent 20-30 hours (conservative estimate) looking for things that I couldn’t find because I never finished organizing my office (nor the office stuff that never made it into the office). The cost of organizing will probably be 10-15 hours of writing time. But the benefit will be 20-40 extra hours of writing time in the next six months because I won’t have to spend time digging through piles and boxes again.

Opportunity cost can feel double-edged – no matter what good you do with your time (writing, helping a friend), there is some other good you are not doing (spending time with family, doing taxes). And I feel a hundred times worse when I look back and realize I’ve made a poor choice, not even a halfway decent choice. (Because I watched two hours of TV on my lunch break, I now have to write or do taxes when John is home so I can’t spend time with him.) What is a person to do?

I find one of the best sources of wisdom to be the book of James in the Bible. James says trials and testing develop perseverance, which develops character. He says if anyone lacks wisdom, she should ask God who gives it generously to all. If we have faith, but don’t follow it up with work, our faith is pointless. So if I believe I’m good enough to be published but I don’t finish my manuscripts and send them out, my faith in my gifts is useless to me.

But James also encourages us to take a deep breath and remember we’re only human and we all stumble in many ways. He reminds us that bitter envy and selfish ambition do not help us succeed in any goal. He says wisdom that comes from heaven is pure, peace-loving, considerate and more. (You’ll find these in a good writer’s group.) He reminds us that we don’t even know how long our lives are or what will happen in them, so not to get hung up on set-in-concrete goals. We should just say, if God and life allow it, I will do this or that. He also encourages us to have patience, to remember that a farmer does a lot of work, and then does a lot of waiting while the crop grows.

And that is the rounded view of opportunity cost – we make goals, we count the cost, we ask for wisdom, we make decisions, we work hard, we remember we’re only human, and we accept that life may change our goals over time. When I keep this mind, I find my life more peaceful, joyful and productive. I hope it helps you, too.

Kitty Bucholtz is the co-founder of Routines for Writers, a web site dedicated to helping writers write more. She writes romance novels, light urban fantasy novels for adults and young adults, and magazine articles. She is currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Creative Writing program at University of Technology, Sydney.

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Go ahead, make me laugh…

July 9, 2010 by in category Archives

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending a comedy workshop run by Hollywood comedy guru Steve Kaplan. You’d think that nothing robs a joke of its power so much as analyzing it, but actually there were laughs aplenty as we watched clips from Seinfeld, Groundhog Day, Liar Liar and others.

It was a brilliant workshop…I learned a lot. It was especially useful to understand how to maintain a comic sense in scenes where bad stuff is happening. I’m back working on my young adult manuscript with renewed enthusiasm, determined not only to finish it, but to enjoy doing so.

Because while writing can be agony, there’s also nothing more fun. And just maybe it’s my attitude that determines where on the pleasure scale a day’s writing will fall.

In my downtime, I’m reading and watching some funny stuff, both for inspiration and relaxation. On the book front, I’m just about to start Carl Hiaasen’s Skinny Dip, but I could do with some recommendations on the movie front.

Have you seen anything funny lately? The movies that jump out at me from recent viewing are Ghost Town, Sunshine Cleaning, In Bruges (very dark but funny), Groundhog Day (watched for probably the tenth time). Haven’t seen Date Night, but I hear it’s good. My husband loved the The Hangover, but I didn’t so much. I’m going to Toy Story 3 tomorrow, and have expectations of a high laugh quotient.

Let me know if you can recommend a book or a movie that’ll keep me laughing!

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