A Slice of Orange

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

“The Regency Woman”
with Nancy Mayer
March 15 – April 10, 2010

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassMarch10.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass@yahoo.com

ABOUT THE CLASS:

Ever wonder if Regency women really could get away with some of the things you read about? Do you have a story where you ask yourself, “Can she do that…?” Nancy Mayer has worked to answer many questions on women of the Regency Era and in this workshop she will share what she has learned.

This workshop will focus on Regency woman and their roles, expectations, rights, and power. Including common myths and mistakes writers make in their stories. (Like can or how do woman obtain financial independence, and can they maintain it in marriage.)

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Nancy Mayer has been researching the Regency for decades and trying to write for more years than she likes to remember. She has given several workshops on Regency subjects including one for the Beau Monde conference in Reno.
See her webpage for examples of some of the subjects she has covered: http://www.susannaives.com/nancyregencyresearcher/

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassMarch10.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members

Coming in April 2010–

“What Does Nora Roberts Know That You Don’t? —
Learn How to Unlock the Simple Secrets Behind Every Best Seller
and Blockbuster Film” with Carol Hughes
Learn about the 18 scenes that every story contains, no matter its length or genre. Find out how to identify your character’s mental gender and what impact that has upon readers. Discover how your character’s arc drives your story and how your story drives your character’s arc. Learn the four throughlines of every story and how to weave them together.

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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This month, I’m blogging around the blogosphere on various aspects of the science of birth order, looking at how a person’s position in their family – oldest, middle child, youngest, or only child – affects their personality, decision-making, education, career and even their marriage.

I’ve read a few books on the subject, but my favorite is The New Birth Order Book, by Kevin Leman. I bought the book because I was interested in understanding my kids better…and along the way I gained some insights into myself and my husband. I’m an oldest child; he’s a psychological oldest (meaning, in this case, there was a big age gap between him and the next kid up the line) with a heavy dose of middle child thrown in.

How does this affect our personalities, and our relationship? We’re both fairly strong-minded…oh, okay, I’ll come right out and say it. We’re both bossy control freaks! As you can imagine, that leads to sparks. But I can console myself with the fact I’d rather have a healthy discussion with someone as opinionated as I am, rather than deal with one of those complex, brooding middle children, or an undisciplined, never-serious youngest child. Of course, I’m probably the worst nightmare of those other birth orders, too!

Now, I know this is generalizing. But there are lots of insights in Dr. Leman’s book that provide food for thought about how we recognize and deal with our own flaws, plus how we deal with conflict with others.

The book also gave me insight into the characters in my novels. When I read it a few years ago, I realized that in most of the romance novels I’d read, and all of the ones I’d written, the heroes were oldest or only children, or psychological oldest children. Not surprising – romance novel heroes are usually successful, commanding, often bossy, and those are often traits of the oldest or only child.

I found I shook up my writing when I considered other birth orders for my characters, both heroes and heroines. I’ve recently completed two trilogies – Those Merritt Girls is a Harlequin Superromance trilogy about three sisters which ended in January with Her Surprise Hero, and for Harlequin NASCAR I wrote three books about the Matheson brothers. The last in the series, The Comeback, is out this month. It was a lot of fun creating a realistic family dynamic for those series, based on the mindsets of different birth orders. The characters’ goals and conflicts rose naturally out of their birth orders, and that made it easier to develop each story.

Got any comments about birth order – yours, your siblings’ or your significant other’s?