Award-winning author Glen Erik Hamilton was entertaining and thought-provoking. He shared his techniques and tricks for managing our external environment, our internal mindset, and shifting our mental gears between writing and rewriting our work. In other words, how to shut out the real world and allow room for fictional ones. Hamilton explained that he takes … Read more
The invitation asked people to bring: A song parody, a poem written by you or someone else, a funny or touching story about a wonderful (or heartbreaking) holiday memory, a limerick or a haiku or even a run-on sentence… and if you read something while wearing a Santa hat, so much the better. The thirteen … Read more
Past president Luanne Brown hosted Flash Fiction Night and began the program with trivia questions about the game of Clue. After we displayed our knowledge—or failed to do so—some shared stories and others listened. The 250-word (sometimes more) stories that were told included the following titles: The Samurai Sword Tiff for Two The Coroner’s Coronary? … Read more
Jennifer McChord and Roberta Trahan provided insights into balancing plot and character development. Jennifer is Executive Editor and Associate Publisher at Epicenter-Coffeetown-Camel Press, and Roberta is a best-selling author. The presenters pointed out that thrillers tend to be more plot driven while cozies are more character driven and that most authors have a preference for … Read more
Dawn Dowdle of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency presented answers to questions from a member survey about working with an agent. Of members who took the survey, 17% had an agent and 57% were looking for an agent. Some of the questions Dawn answered: What can an agent do for an author that they couldn’t … Read more
A small group of members gathered at the upper shelter at Richmond Beach Park in Shoreline and chatted about books, the weather, Covid 19, life events, etc. The weather cooperated by staying comfortably warm with a pleasant breeze off the water. The sky wasn’t as smoky as it had been just the day before. There … Read more
Tara Gavin, a professional editor at Alcove Press/Crooked Lane Books, made the following points during her presentation and Q&A: What an editor looks for first in an intellectual property is saleability. The editor works with the author on how to best present the project to readers. Sometimes acquisition is based on whether or not the … Read more
Christopher J. Jarmick, owner of BookTree, Kirkland’s independent bookstore, discussed the challenges small bookstores face in today’s book market. He covered his journey from script doctor and screenwriter in LA to his current role as bookstore owner, writer and poet. In addition to explaining how to get your book and/or an event into his bookstore, … Read more
Curtis C. Chen is a published author who told us the story of how he came to have an agent by writing a correct query letter. He said it must be professional, clear, and describe the story with a good, distinct description that gives the essence of the novel. Other suggestions: Include your genre, pitch … Read more
This trio of successful series writers shared their tips and experiences on how to write series and problems you might encounter. Cynthia Blair, writing as Cynthia Baxter, covered the nuts and bolts of series writing with a series of colorful slides to illustrate her main points. She included how to make the characters’ world interesting … Read more