Louisville Romance Writers Online Class Schedule
2007
Check back often to see new classes
added!
JANUARY
DATE: January 15-February 9, 2007
Class Title: Save My Story! A Toolkit for Structural Repairs
Instructor: Blythe Gifford
Cost: $15 LRW Members/ Others $25
Cutoff date to receive registration and payment: January
10, 2007
CLASS SUMMARY:
You’ve finished a book and it feels like topsy turvy house: The room where the plot is supposed to be is too big. The romance room is lopsided. The heroine’s room doesn’t have any windows and the hero’s room is missing all together. Now what?
If you’ve ever struggled with an out of kilter story, this workshop will provide you with the tools to fix it. Assuming you already know the basics, we will walk through the four act structure and overlay that with the hero’s journey. Then, we’ll go through each of the four elements that must be present in your story and describe what must happen in each act by element. Four acts; four elements; four weeks and you’ll have your new writing year off to a great start.
BIO: After many years in public
relations, advertising, and marketing, Blythe Gifford stopped sublimating and
returned to her first love, writing historical novels. Her first novel, THE KNAVE AND THE MAIDEN,
was released by Harlequin Historicals in January
2004. Booklist called it a “wonderfully
romantic debut,” All About Romance named it a “Buried
Treasure” of the year, and it was a double finalist in First Coast Romance
Writers’ Beacon Contest, taking second in the Best First Book category and
third in Best Historical. Blythe has
spoken on a variety of topics at local RWA chapters, regional conferences, and
at RWA’s National Conference. You can visit Blythe at
www.blythegifford.com.
FEBRUARY
DATE: February 1-28, 2007
Class Title: The Great Agent Search
Instructor: Jenna Peterson
Cost: $15 LRW Members/ Others $25
Cutoff date to receive registration and payment: January
29, 2007
CLASS SUMMARY: The Great Agent
Search
Whether
they have finished their first manuscript or their tenth, many authors are
overwhelmed by the daunting task of searching for an agent. This workshop breaks the agent search down
and discusses common issues.
Part One:
Who Needs An Agent?
This
section includes the pros and cons to having an agent, including what most
agents do, both for an unpublished client and one who already has a contract to
negotiate.
Part Two:
How Do I Find An Agent?
This part
deals with the actual searching portion of an agent search. I discuss, in detail, several methods of
finding an agent, all based on my own experience (from personal agent searches
and information garnered for my industry website).
Part Three:
What Do I Do Now That I Have An Agent Interested In Me?
This
section will help a potential client handle agent interest in a professional
manner. It discusses everything from
asking the right questions to following their gut when it’s right.
Part Four:
What Do I Do Now That I’ve Hired An Agent?
This
section deals with what authors should expect from their agents and how the
relationship between author and agent shifts once they’ve hired someone.
Part Five:
What If I Want to Fire My Agent?
This is one
of the concepts I get the most questions on. Discusses reasons why you might
fire your agent and how to go about doing it so that you don’t burn bridges.
Part Six:
But What If I Don’t WANT An Agent?
A final discussion on how an author can still pursue a
romance career without dealing with an agent. Discusses
approaching editors on your own and resources available to deal with your own
contracts.
BIO: Jenna Petersen started writing full-time
in 1999 when her husband said, “You’re only happy when you’re writing, why don’t you do that?” In 2004, her dream came true when her
literary agent called to say she’d just sold two books to
In addition, she has run The Passionate Pen since 1999. This popular site for aspiring authors contains information on literary agents, publishing houses, articles about writing and the industry, links and Jenna’s Diary toward and beyond publication. You can find her at http://www.jennapetersen.com/ or http://www.passionatepen.com , where you can also link to both her author sites.
MAY
Date: MAY 15-30, 2007
Class Title: THE CARE AND NURTURING OF THE CRITIQUE
RELATIONSHIP: How to start, nurture and maintain this unique partnership on
your way to publishing success.
Instructor(s): Beth Burgoon
and Tawny Weber
Cost:
$15 LRW members/Others $25
Cutoff
date to receive application and payment: May 8, 2007
CLASS
SUMMARY:
(Monday) Day one: Introduction, class overview
(Weds) Lesson One: Critique Partner relationships --
Finding what works for you. Agreeing on the CP relationship -- A
test period, how will you work together, what do you expect from the
relationship. Growing and maintaining your CP relationship -- Are you in
it for the long haul? Career pace and jealousy.
(Fri) Lesson Two: Plotting/Brainstorming and
setting goals with a CP -- Two heads are better than one, how do you
plot/brainstorm with a partner? Do you want to? How to use
the CP relationship to help you achieve your goals.
Week 2 -- Mon, Weds and Fri -- broken down into
daily samples & homework
Lesson Three: Nitty Gritty
of critiquing -- Meshing voices, giving and getting
feedback. Voice and how nurture your CP's
style. What kind of feedback is useful, what's not.
Ways to word your suggestions so they don't come across as
orders, learning to read between the lines in emails and critiques (and when
not to).
BIO:
Tawny Weber
Three time Golden Heart finalist Tawny Weber is usually found
dreaming up stories in her
BIO: Beth
Burgoon
Double Golden Heart finalist, Beth Burgoon
writes emotionally intense romantic suspense with just a hint of snark. As a PRO member of RWA, she's volunteered in
numerous positions before her Critique Partner became overwhelmingly demanding
and took over her spare time. Beth writes full time from her home in
northwestern
OCTOBER
Date: OCTOBER 1-15, 2007
Class Title: The Art of Storytelling
Instructor: Best-selling author Allison Brennan
Cost: $15 LRW members/Others $25
Cutoff date to receive registration and payment:
September 24, 2007
Blurb: Art
of Storytelling.
Everyone thinks they know the
rules for what makes a good book. Even the "experts" like Stephen
King, Donald Maass, Christopher Vogler,
Sol Stein and Debra Dixon sometimes disagree. But what REALLY makes a good
story and how can you discern when to take advice and when to ignore it? Come
ready to discuss story problems, editor or agent comments, contest entries,
critique partners, or your own personal concerns about your writing and
together we can weed out the chaff from the wheat and find ways to strengthen
your storytelling.
BIO:
Ever since I was young, writing was for fun. A hobby. Sure, I wanted
to write a book and be published, but I never finished anything so didn't feel
the pressure to try and get published.
Shortly after the birth of my third child, I committed myself to finish one of
the many books I'd started, then seek publication. I
thought finishing the book
would be the hard part, but I managed to finish five books in less than two
years. Learning the ins and outs of the publishing business is an on-going
experience!
The two years between my commitment to writing and
selling my first book was a crucial learning experience. When I completed my
fifth book, I sensed this was it,
and queried a handful of top agents. I landed my dream agent, Kimberly Whalen
with Trident Media Group, who went on to sell my romantic suspense, now known
as THE PREY, a week
after sending it out.
Allison is a member of Romance Writers
of America, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. Her
romantic suspense debut trilogy, THE PREY, THE HUNT and THE KILL, are early 2006 releases
from Ballantine. Look for her 2007 trilogy books: Speak
No Evil, See No Evil and Fear No Evil. You can visit her at: www.allisonbrennan.com