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OCCRWA October 2010 Online Class — A Body Disposal Primer for Writers with Jeanne P Adams

September 26, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as

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Hi 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
October 11 – November 6, 2010

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassOct10.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass@yahoo.com


ABOUT THE CLASS:

You’ve axed, shot or otherwise knocked off a key character in your latest book, now what? You have to do SOMETHING with the body! Even if the forensics, murder, or death aren’t central to the story, there is that annoying dead guy to dispose of. So, decisions, decisions. Is an autopsy necessary? A funeral and burial? Lots of plot possibilities, but the details!

Find out everything you ever wanted to know about the pernicious particulars of body disposal and how to use minutiae of death to throw your characters together or drive them apart. Learn about embalming, vaults, cremation, reconstructive cosmetics, coroner’s reports, death certificates and more at this get-the-basics research track online class.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Jeanne P. Adams knows a thing or two about getting rid of a body, in reality as well as in books…her third book, Deadly Little Secrets (Zebra, Sept. 2010) is already being hailed as “One of the best Suspense Books of the Year!” by Romantic Times. It’s also a TOP PICK and garnered 4.5 stars, as did her second book Dark and Deadly. Her award winning debut, Dark and Dangerous, was also an RT TOP PICK.

In addition, Jeanne is a multi-published non-fiction writer and consultant with credits in magazines such as Forbes and Nature. She worked in the funeral business, both for a cemetery and several funeral homes, for twelve years. In her reading, she’s winced over a variety of mistakes dealing with the story’s dead guy (or gal) which led to this class!

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassOct10.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members

Coming in November 2010–

“The Tiny Art of Elevator Pitches: How to Craft Them & How to Use Them”
with Carrie Lofty
November 15 – December 11, 2010

If you’ve ever considered attending a conference, you’ve probably heard the term “elevator pitch.” It’s nothing more than a bare-bones summary of your novel. But reducing tens of thousands of words down to 30 or less can be difficult, daunting, and confusing. What to leave in? What to ignore? How to give it punch and drama? Instructor Carrie Lofty will share the elevator pitches that got her in the door, as well as her techniques for making them both concise and effective.

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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July OCCRWA Online Class — Break Free From the Slush Pile – CJ Lyons

June 23, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as

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

“Break Free From the Slush Pile
with CJ Lyons
July 12 – July 24, 2010

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassJuly10.html
This is only a 2-week class.
COST: $10 for OCC members, $15 for non-members
If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass@yahoo.com

ABOUT THE CLASS:

Join award-winning medical suspense author CJ Lyons as she explains the secrets to successful pitching, tips to engage an editor or agent through your query letter, and reveals the creation of a high concept.

CJ has received requests for manuscripts every time she pitched. She’ll help you feel more comfortable during your pitch session and more confident with your pitch. This workshop will help you polish your query letter, create a pitch, and prepare you for meeting an agent or editor.

About the Instructor:

As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about. In addition to being an award-winning medical suspense author, CJ is a nationally known presenter and keynote speaker. She has been invited all over the country to present her workshops and speak to audiences ranging from physicians to first responders to romance and thriller authors including: Colorado Fiction Writers, Oklahoma Writers Federation, the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, RWA National, MWA’s Sleuthfest, Lowcountry RWA’s Master Class, Left Coast Crime, and PennWriters, among others.

CJ’s award-winning, critically acclaimed Angels of Mercy series (LIFELINES, WARNING SIGNS, and URGENT CARE) is available in stores now with the fourth, CRITICAL CONDITION, due out December, 2010. Her newest project is as co-author of a new suspense series with Erin Brockovich. To learn more about CJ and her work, go to http://www.cjlyons.net/ .

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassJuly10.html
COST: $15 for OCC members, $20 for non-members

Coming in August 2010–

“Understanding Men”
with Dr. Debra Holland

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. This will be a five-week session with new material that this award-wining romance writer, who also is a noted psychotherapist and consultant, has developed on how male sexuality affects responses, attitudes and behaviors.

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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e-maginings: Passion, Heat & Ecstasy

January 16, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

Next month, I’ll be teaching an online class on writing erotic romance with Dee Ann Palmer w/a Carolina Valdez. Passion, Heat & Ecstasy: Writing the Erotic Romance is sponsored by the Yosemite chapter of RWA and runs from Feb. 1 to 26. Details are at http://www.yosemiteromancewriters.com/6.html; scroll down to find our class.

I’ve been compiling my section of the bibliography for the class, and decided to pull out a couple of books to recommend here. Both books are available at Amazon.com if you can’t find them in the bookstore.

Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance by Angela Knight, Loose Id, LLC, 2007. In my opinion, this is the best book to get if you want to write erotic romance. Knight understands the genre and has some useful tips, like her “romantic conflict” chart.

Knight distinguishes between sensual and erotic romance by looking at what drives the story. In her opionion, what drives sensual romances “isn’t sex, but not having sex”. In order to maintain sexual tension between hero and heroine, the writer devises external and internal reasons why going to bed with each other is a bad idea. The actual act of making love often signals a significant drop in sexual tension and the writer then has to find a way to make the conflict kick in again.

Erotic romance is driven by what she calls “romantic tension”, in other words the central conflict that makes the HEA ending seem problematic. This means strong conflict, esp. in a full-length novel.

Conflicting Desires: Notes on the Craft of Writing Erotic Stories by Han Li Thorn, Velluminous Press, 2007. A good how-to book geared to mainstream erotica but not romance. Chapter 4 on The Erotic Promise is particularly useful and there are several appendices, including an Erotic Lexicon.

In the above chapter 4, Thorn posits that writers of erotic literature make three promises to their readers: to arouse, to entertain and to offer something deeper, whether in depth of charaterization, complexity of plot, or eliciting an intellectual or emotional depth. In erotica, the first promise must be kept, but if you can deliver on the other two promises, you work will stand out.

He also states that “erotic conflict is at the heart of erotic story”. Otherwise it’s a spiced-up romance or mystery or whatever, but it doesn’t qualify as “erotica”. This is often easier said than done.

If you’ll forgive a bit of blatant self-promotion, I think my novella Alliance: Cosmic Scandal is a good example of erotic conflict. Here’s the blurb:

When Myrek, heir to the Ziganese throne, becomes ambassador to the planet Mhajav, he hopes to find a cure for his son’s hereditary illness. Then he meets a lovely young geneticist and passion overwhelms his sense of duty. All he can think of is making Khira his own.

Khira is a rarity, a Mhajavi virgin of 25. A child prodigy, she skipped several grades and was underage when most of her classmates went off to sex camp before attending university. Though hopelessly in love with Myrek, she knows their love is doomed. Under Ziganese law Myrek must wed a virgin, but Mhajavi law forbids virgins from marrying.

An erotic encounter in a brothel leads to a fateful decision that defies the laws of two worlds and causes a cosmic scandal.

In this story, the couple fall in love but are unable to marry because of the respective laws of their worlds. Prince Myrek is legally required to wed a virgin, something prohibited by Kira’s world Mhajav. Their solutions to the problem are creative as well as sensual.

As the title of our class says, erotic romance calls for Passion, Heat and Ecstasy.

Have a good weekend.

Lyndi Lamont
website: http://www.lyndilamont.com/

(Disclaimer: Both writing books recommended in this blog were purchased by me personally, not provided gratis for endorsement. LL)

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OCCRWA February Online Class

February 1, 2008 by in category Archives tagged as

COLOR ME BLOGGING
with Suzanne McMinn

February 11, 2008- March 10, 2008

Enrollment Information: http://occrwa.org/onlineclasssignup.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Enrollment deadline: February 9, 2008
Moderator: Kitty Bucholtz at kittyrosebucholtz@yahoo.com

ABOUT THE CLASS:

Want to bring more traffic to your website by adding a blog? Or not quite ready for a website but want to start building your name and attracting an audience with a blog alone? This workshop explains how to launch a blog if you’ve never had one—or how to take your current blog to an all-new level.

Presentation includes: blog basics such as platforms and design, pros and cons of solo blogging and group blogging, blogging ethics and etiquette, and the all-important question of writing and content.

Also included: tips for marketing and promoting on your blog, creating traffic-building interest, developing your unique blogging style, time management for blogging, setting your blogging boundaries, beating bloggers’ block, and how to make money from your blog.

This interactive class will include hands-on blogging with the instructor and your classmates as built-in support, so come join the fun!

About the Instructor:
Suzanne McMinn is the award-winning author of over two dozen novels including contemporary paranormal romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary romantic comedy as well as a medieval trilogy. She lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse in the mountains of West Virginia where she is plotting her next book and enjoying the simple life with her family, friends, and many, many cats. Check out her latest books from Silhouette Romantic Suspense and her blog at http://www.suzannemcminn.com/

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OCCRWA January Online Class

December 31, 2007 by in category Archives tagged as
PITCH PERFECT with Janet Wellington

January 14 – February 10, 2008

Enrollment Information: http://www.occrwa.com/classes_January.htm

COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Enrollment deadline: January 12, 2008
Moderator: Kitty Bucholtz at kittyrosebucholtz@yahoo.com

ABOUT THE CLASS:

Pitch Perfect: Getting to the Heart of your Romance Novel or Women’s Fiction Story (for pitching and for querying)

Everyone needs to learn how to pitch. Okay, maybe everyone except those few heavy hitters who have the luxury of only having to share a vague idea about a story with their editors because their stuff always sells well (we hate them, but let’s move on…).

So, the rest of us need to be able to present our story ideas within query letters, synopses, and during frightening agent and editor appointments at writing conferences!

•Can you use a 3-word phrase to describe your story? How about in one sentence?
•Can you capture the essence of your tale in 25 words or less?
•When your listener wants to know more about your story, do you know what to say and, more importantly, what NOT to say?
•Do you know the biggest benefit of having an agent or editor appointment at a national or regional writing conference?

The main goal of this class is to help you understand the different types (and lengths) of pitches you need to prepare, and for you to learn several ways and styles of organizing your pitch (that you can utilize in query letters as well as agent/editor appointments).

What do you get? If you read and comprehend all the lectures plus complete all the assignments, you will create your very own pitch that you can utilize for query letters, synopsis blurbs, and/or as a verbal pitch to agents and/or editors at conference appointments. Or, this process will clearly point out where you need to do some more work on your story. It might be a painful awakening that you have some serious revising to do, but it will be time well spent.

Either way, you’ll have gotten to the heart of your story.

About the Instructor:

After much hard work and the help of many other published and unpublished writers, Janet Wellington sold her first romance manuscript in 1998. Now, in addition to her own writing, she also teaches writing workshops at conferences and online. And she believes in giving back to the writing community and coaches other writers on craft and how to navigate the publishing maze through her business called Wellington Word, where she offers line-editing and manuscript critiquing.

Her favorite mantra is: If you’re going to dream, dream big…and do it! And she adds, “Getting published is a miracle achieved by four things: (1) Courage, (2) Perseverance, (3) Luck, and (4) Talent…usually in that order!”

PITCH PERFECT with Janet Wellington
January 14 – February 10, 2008

Enrollment Information: http://www.occrwa.com/classes_January.htm

COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Enrollment deadline: January 12, 2008

For more information, please see the website http://www.occrwa.com/classes_January.htm or email moderator Kitty Bucholtz at kittyrosebucholtz@yahoo.com

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