Please Note
The meetings listed below have already taken place.Most WRW meetings are taped. If you would like to check out the tapes from a previous meeting or workshop, please contact our Library/Archives Chair, Julie Stewart.
December 9, 2007
WRW’s Annual Holiday Party
WRW member Jeanne Adams kindly hosted this year’s holiday party at her house in Potomac, Maryland.
Thanks Jeanne!
A good time was had by all.
November 10, 2007—Michael Hauge!!
NOTE: This event is full. No new registrations are being accepted.
This meeting was not taped.
Date: Saturday, November 10, 2007
Time: 8:30 a.m.—5:00 p.m.
Location: Bethesda Marriott Grand Ball Room
5151 Pooks Hill Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
Directions
This will be a full day workshop with Michael Hauge. Continental breakfast, buffet lunch, afternoon coffee break/snack are included.
Registration/Continental Breakfast — 7:45 am - 8:45am
Introductions/Announcements — 8:45 am - 9:00 am
The Hero’s 2 Journeys: THE OUTER JOURNEY — 9:00am - 10:30am
Morning Break — 10:30am - 10:45am
The Hero’s 2 Journeys: THE INNER JOURNEY — 10:45am - 12:00 pm
Buffet Lunch — 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Love Stories and Romantic Comedies — 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Afternoon Break — 3:00pm - 3:20pm
Log Lines, Pitches, and Adapting Novels to Film — 3:20pm - 5:00pm
During this special, all-day seminar, Hollywood script and story consultant Michael Hauge, best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read, will present his unique approach to creating compelling fiction, and eliciting emotion in your readers through story concept, plot structure, character development and theme. Michael will then reveal his proven method for getting the people in power to read your manuscript or screenplay. For further details please check out Michael’s website .
October 13, 2007
Location: Chantilly Regional Library
4000 Stringfellow Rd
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 502-3883
Directions: here
10:15 – 12:15
Are Our Male Characters True to Live or the Way We Want Men to be?
As you develop your male characters do you ever wonder if you understand men and just what makes them tick? At a recent WRW meeting, the speaker made a statement that she thought most men did not have much of an inner life. Is this true? Come hear another WRW member’s point of view about men and their inner life and how they differ from the way women view the world and love relationships. Karol Orceyre, LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) is a therapist in private practice who has plenty of experience listening to men in both individual and couples counseling sessions. She will share with us what she hears from men. What makes them fall in love. What keeps them in love. Just how they are different from women--not that anyone knows that for sure.
This workshop was originally scheduled for February 2007 but was rescheduled for October 2007.
2:15 – 4:15
WRW member and romantic suspense author Karna Small Bodman talks about “Turning White House Experiences into Published Novels.”
Karna Small Bodman served in The White House for 6 years. She’ll tell us how she wove some of those experiences into political thrillers with strong romantic elements and got contracts for two hardcover novels.
September 29, 2007
What it Takes to Thrive — or at Least Survive — in Today’s Historical Romance Market
Location: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Service Center
Conference Room A
4805 Edgemoor Lane; Bethesda, Maryland
Directions: here
Phone: 240-777-8200
Schedule:
(For descriptions of the sessions, see below.)
10:00 a.m.
Keynote Address, followed by Q&A
Susan King
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
How to Thrive - or at least Survive - in Today’s Historical Romance Market
Panel Discussion with Mary Blayney, Victoria Bylin, Diane Gaston, Sally MacKenzie, and Tracy Anne Warren
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
General Annual Meeting and New Member Welcome Lunch
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Doddering Butlers, Pert Housemaids, and Faithful Retainers: Busting the Servant Myths
Presented by Janet Mullany
Session Descriptions:
How to Thrive - or at least Survive - in Today’s Historical Romance Market Panel Discussion
WRW has some of the best historical romance authors in the business. Hear a panel of them discuss their strategies for success in today’s market.
Panelists: Mary Blayney, Victoria Bylin, Diane Gaston, Sally MacKenzie, and Tracy Anne Warren
Moderator: Michelle Butler
Some of the questions addressed during Susan King’s keynote address and the panel discussion may include:
How did you break into the historical romance market? How has your career progressed? What is the most important thing you have done in terms of your writing career?
What is the state of the historical romance market today? Where do you think it is going? What changes have surprised you in the past 5 - 10 years? What do you think it takes to succeed in the historical market today? Do you need an agent? How important is historical research? How important are time periods and settings to the marketability of a novel? Have you ever changed your stories to make them more marketable? What kind of impact has your marketing efforts - such as participating in an online blog and having a Web site - had on your career?
Have you started writing in other subgenres? If so, why? How have you had to change your writing, your story-telling or your voice to suit the reader expectations for the new sub-genre? How has your earlier experience in historical romance helped you in the new sub-genre? What is the state of the market for your particular sub-genre? Where do you think it is going?
What would your advice be to somebody thinking about writing a historical romance? What sparks your creativity and provides inspiration? How do you balance the creative side of writing with the business side of writing? Why do you write? What have you struggled with most in your career? What craft element has been the hardest for you to master?
General Annual Meeting and New Member Lunch
Join the Board and general membership from WRW to review our 2007/2008 operating budget—Come on! We need a quorum!!—hear about the issues and programs for the next year, meet the officers, and welcome new members.
This lunch and meeting will take place in the meeting room at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Service Center. Members are invited to bring their own lunches and drinks or you can arrange for a boxed lunch to be brought in. See boxed lunch options below.
Doddering Butlers, Pert Housemaids, and Faithful Retainers: Busting the Servant Myths
If you write historicals, you know someone has to haul hot water upstairs so the heroine can be surprised while bathing, straighten out the hopelessly rumpled bedclothes, repair the ripped petticoats, and lace up the stays. Servants in the noble and not-so-noble houses of England were everywhere, the discreet keepers--but not always--of the household secrets. Author Janet Mullany will tell you what life was like downstairs in the butler’s pantry and servants’ hall, and who did what where and when upstairs to add historical authenticity to your work.
Boxed Lunch Options
Lunch is being provided by the Corner Bakery.
Please make your selections from the menu below.
Fresh Salads
$6.00 per person (includes tip and delivery fee)
Chopped Salad: A Cafe favorite with roasted chicken, bacon, avocado, bleu cheese, tomato and green onions with sweet and spicy house vinaigrette on iceberg and romaine lettuce.
Chicken Caesar Salad: A classic Caesar with roasted chicken, spicy croutons and Parmesan cheese on romaine lettuce.
Harvest Salad: This unique salad features roasted chicken, green apples, walnuts, bleu cheese, currants and harvest croutons with balsamic vinaigrette on mixed greens.
D.C. Chicken Salad: Diced roasted chicken, green apples, currants, red onions, celery, mayonnaise and toasted almonds.
Tuna Salad: Tuna, crisp celery, red and green onions, and mayonnaise with a hint of Dijon mustard and fresh basil.
Sandwiches
$11.00 per person (includes tip and delivery fee)
Served with bakery chips, a fresh baked sweet and seasonal fruit.
Sandwich Selections:
Chicken Pesto, Ham on Pretzel, Southwest Roast Beef, Turkey Frisco, Turkey Swiss, D.C. Chicken Salad, Tomato Mozzarella, Tuna Salad
If you would like WRW to arrange for a boxed lunch for you at this meeting, please email Mary Lenaburg at
Orders must be sent to Mary Lenaburg by NO LATER THAN Monday, September 24, 2007.
I will be collecting your lunch money that morning, please bring cash if you are able, exact change is preferred. 
Thank you for your patience. I am looking forward to seeing everyone.
Fondly,
Mary Lenaburg
WRW Programming Co-Chair
June 9, 2007
Let WRW jump start your creativity before the two-month summer break!
Location: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Service Center Conference Room A
4805 Edgemoor Lane
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
240-777-8200
Click here for Directions
10:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.
Jumpstart Your Next Book
Researching, plotting, or just plain procrastinating about your next manuscript? Attendees should come armed with a notebook and index cards for this intense workshop. Writers will be expected to: create characters, plot, and theme. In addition, “voice” and “tone” will be addressed as well as research and creating a working calendar.
Presenter: Sophia Nash’s first three novels won eight national awards including the prestigious RITA Award and a spot on the American Library Association’s “Top Ten Romances of the Year.” Sophia was born in Switzerland, raised in France and the United States, but says her heart resides in Regency England. Her ancestor, an infamous French admiral who traded epic cannon fire with the British Royal Navy, is surely turning in his grave. Before pursuing her long held dream of writing Historicals, Sophia was an award winning television producer for CBS, a congressional speechwriter, and a nonprofit CEO. Look for Sophia’s first Avon Historical ~A Dangerous Beauty~ to hit the shelves June 2007.
2:00—4:00 p.m.
Deep Inspiration Through Collaging
Using photos and other visual “cues” can jump start your book! Collaging is a fun and insightful way to begin your book or to breathe new life into your creative process when you’ve reached the dreaded sagging middle. Acting on your creative instincts in a visual way can help make your characters, setting, and plot come to life. No artistic experience necessary! Bring scissors, glue sticks and magazines AND bring a sketchbook, poster board or other surface for your collage creation. This workshop is 99% hands-on!
Presenter: Elizabeth Holcombe has spent most of her life writing and crafting. Her first romance, Heaven and the Heather, was a 2002 Holt Medalion Finalist for Long Historical and a Romantic Times nominee for Best First Historical. Her first contemporary manuscript, All Shook Up, won the San Diego RWA’s Spring Into Romance contest for Long Contemporary. While awaiting the sale of her next book, Elizabeth continues to write every day and to create totes and other whimsies for her successful eBay business Beth’s Bagz.
Get-A-Clue, the program originally scheduled for June 2007, has been postponed.
May 12, 2007
Digging Deeper with Deb Dixon
Time: 10:15 am - 4:45 pm
Location: Herndon Fortnightly Library (Please note, this is a NEW location for us)
Click here for directions
Deb Dixon is returning to speak to WRW members to help them dig deeper in their own work and write the best books they can. Building on the craft concepts of GMC (goal, motivation and confict) and the hero’s journey she explored during her book-in-a-day workshop in June 2006, Deb will present four different workshops that will dig deeper and take your understanding of writing craft to a whole new level. She will use examples from her two Bantam Loveswept Novels DOC HOLIDAY and HOT AS SIN, and copies of those novels are available at half.com for about $5 total including shipping and handling.
Please note that there will be no registration for this workshop, and the chapter will not be serving refreshments.
The Slippery Slope: Building the Big, Black Moment
Learn how to pack some character baggage and create a character arc that builds to an emotional crisis that can help you fuel the resolution of your book. During this talk, Deb will pull apart her Bantam Loveswept Novel DOC HOLIDAY to show how she built its big, black moment from the first page of that story.
The Step-By-Step Interaction of GMC and The Hero’s Journey
Exactly what is Dixon’s GMC (goal, motivation and conflict) doing while Campbell’s Hero takes a Journey? Debra will deconstruct a book, showing you step-by-step how GMC supports each stage of the Journey. How does theory translate into scenes? How do you create scenes that fuel your plot and give you opportunities to get emotional baggage on the table? Using real world examples, Debra puts some meat and bones on GMC and the Journey. During this talk, Deb will pull apart her Bantam Loveswept Novel HOT AS SIN to show how its GMC interacted with the hero’s journey from start to finish of the story.
First Chapters
You gotta have ‘em. They might as well work for you instead of against you. Simple concepts will help you focus your openings so that you pull the reader into your character’s world. Please bring the first few paragraphs of the book you are currently writing.
Another Whack At Conflict
Conflict comes in so many shapes and sizes that it’s hard to get a handle on it. Debra promises to pick up a big stick and whack Conflict into submission. Or at least get it to hold still long enough for writers to wrap their brain around some of conflicts different angles and how to use them to create the tension we need to keep readers turning pages and caring about our characters. During this talk, she will cite examples from the movie Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade.
April 2007
WRW’s annual retreat, “In the Company of Writers,” will be at beautiful historic Hilltop House in Harper’s Ferry, WV, April 27 - 28, 2007.
March 31, 2007
Location: Centreville Regional Library located at 14200 St. Germaine Dr. Centreville, VA 20121-2299
Directions: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/ce/direct.htm
10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Behind the Red Curtain: an Insider’s View of the Inner Workings at Harlequin/Silhouette
Have you ever wondered what exactly happens each day at the Harlequin/Silhouette offices? Now is a chance to peek behind the curtain and find out how the staff of Harlequin/Silhouette operates and some of the tough decisions editors need to make each day. This session will give insight to writers on the demands editors face and how it can influence what type of work they request.
Meredith Hurt worked for Harlequin/Silhouette from 1997-2000 and continues her relationship with them as a freelance editor. You may email her questions in advance at , however not all questions may be answered due to time restraints and appropriateness.
2:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
PR Tips for Pitching and Networking
At writing conferences such as WRW’s own Harper’s Ferry Retreat and the RWA National Conference, RWA members often have the opportunity to pitch their stories to editors or agents. What lessons can they learn from PR professionals who have to pitch their stories to reporters cross the country?
After a discussion of how to pitch a book to an editor or agent, attendees will break into groups of two and work on improving their pitches for 20 minutes or so. Everyone will then regroup, and volunteers will give their pitches to all attendees. A panel of experts, including Meredith Hurt and Diane Perkins, who also writes as Diane Gaston, will offer suggestions on how to further improve those pitches.
February 17, 2007
Location: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Service Center Conference Room A
4805 Edgemoor Lane
Bethesda, Maryland
240-777-8200
Directions: Here
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The Writer’s Life
In a recent survey on programming preferences, WRW members indicated that the one topic they were most interested in besides craft was the writer’s life. In this panel discussion, several successful WRW members will share how they have mastered the writer’s life. Panelists will include: Darlene Gardner, Elizabeth Holcombe, Diana Peterfreund and Mary Jo Putney. A fifth panelist - a successful writer published since the 80’s in several genres - may be able to participate depending on when her first grandchild is born.
Questions that the panel will cover may include:
Why do we write?
What sparks creativity and provides inspiration?
How do you balance your writing, your family and your day job if you have one?
With a very sedentary profession, how do you maintain your health?
How do you handle professional jealousy?
How do you deal with rejection?
How important is persistence? What helps you persist?
Do you belong to a critique group? Why or why not?
How do you listen to critiques or reviews without feeling attacked?
How do you manage your time?
How do you handle a deadline when confronted with a crisis?
How do you manage copy edits?
How do you address writer’s block?
How do you balance the creative side of writing with the business side of writing?
How did you manage to get published?
Once you’re published, how do you schedule your time so you can keep publishing regularly? Do you finish a book and then write a proposal for the next book? Or do you try to have a proposal on an editor’s desk while writing your current book? If so, how do you manage that?
2:00 - 4:00
The workshop originally scheduled from 2:00 - 4:00 — Are Our Male Characters True to Life or How We Want Men to Be? — has been cancelled due to the health of the speaker.
Instead, we’re being treated to the workshop that Jeanne Adams presented at RWA in Atlanta: “Limbo-Limbo: A Fun Survival Class for the Not Yet Published ”
By Jeanne Adams
Are you an RWA Member who’s still waiting, waiting, waiting to get The Call? You’ve finished the manuscript. You’ve queried agents, editors, and everyone you can think of to sell your story.
Now what? How do you stay excited about writing the next manuscript when you haven’t yet sold the first one? Or the fifth?
Dance into this presentation, get lei-d and join us for a laugh-filled, entertaining and useful class on how to stay motivated when you’re in limbo. Your somewhat-musical host is an RWA PRO member and Golden Heart Finalist who also awaits The Call. Learn secrets to blast the blues, when all feels bleak. With a great deal of humor, she’ll walk you through establishing personal milestones and show how to use those to keep writing. Working together, we’ll craft a Feel Good Plan for handling rejection. Most importantly, we’ll share tips and tricks for keeping your bum in the chair.
Be silly, get flexible and dance away the rejection blues while learning essential strategies for thriving, not just surviving, unpublished limbo.
January 27, 2007
Location: Tysons-Pimmitt Library in Falls Church, Virginia
Directions: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/ty/direct.htm
10:15 - 1:00 — Voice
Voice . . . editors always say they want books with strong, individual voices, but what on earth does that mean? When Kathleen Gilles Seidel last spoke to WRW on this subject, she focused on the moments in a book during which a reader is aware of the author’s voice. In this workshop she will guide the participants through a set of exercises designed to help writers grow more confident about the nature of their own voices.
2:30 - 4:30 —The fifth almost-annual “Judging Writing Contests” workshop
If you plan to judge a contest, if you plan to enter a contest or if you’re just thinking about doing either, we’ll have plenty to interest you.
Denise McInerney has been a WRW member since 1995 and has presented this workshop numerous times along with Pamela Palmer Poulsen. Denise and Pam, co-chairs of WRW’s own Marlene Contest for three years, were invited last year to bring the Judging Workshop to the Virginia Romance Writers Chapter in Richmond and also to First Coast Romance Writers in Jacksonville, Florida.
The workshop is fast-paced, lively and interactive, and each attendee receives a set of detailed handouts. Everyone is welcome--published or yet-to-be published, contest judging newbie or veteran. Many members attend more than once, often as a “refresher” prior to either entering or judging a contest.
We’ll discuss the differences between critiquing and judging and also how to avoid “bleed-through” and personal biases. We’ll also spend time on how to evaluate craft elements such as plot, motivation, conflict, etc. and also discuss Denise’s favorite subject, the all-important “Making Comments.”
Chocolate will be provided to keep up our energy. Hope to see you there!
