Join contemporary romance author Summer Kinard and Light Messages Publishing to celebrate the launch of her debut novel set in Durham! Meet the author, drink good beer, and win fun prizes. Reading begins at 3:30. Signings throughout the event.

July Workshop: Building Your Brand Online
Instructor: Tivi Jones
Length – 2 weeks
Cost- $25 ($20 for HCRW and CRW members)

Class description:

Use marketing, media and moxie to create a brand that sells! We’ll go over branding tips and techniques as well as help you craft a marketing strategy that fits your personality and schedule and delivers results.

Topics: Branding & online marketing.

Audience: authors who need to brand themselves or rebrand; authors looking to expand their influence online.

Instructor bio

Tivi Jones has been in the marketing, media and business development fields since 2003 and has had the opportunity to work with many brands, companies and entities such as: Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Boeing, United States Department of Defense, Elle Magazine’s E. Jean Carroll, Ehow, Livestrong, Houston Chronicle, SheKnows.com, Sourcebooks, Uchic, Carolina Parent magazine, Scoutie Girl and more. Tivi has a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Journalism/Advertising.

After you’ve registered, you can check out your payment options here!

INSTRUCTOR: Pat Haggerty

DATES: Begins August 5th, runs for 4 weeks

COST: $25/ or $20 for HCRW members

CLASS DESCRIPTION

*please note that this workshop is appropriate for using Scrivener on both PC and Mac*

Most writers have a working knowledge of word processing. Word, Pages, Word Perfect, whatever the tool, we’ve all spent time hunched over a keyboard trying to get our thoughts down in a usable format for our teachers, editors, friends, or work partners. Word processors are effective at general document creation and formatting, but tend to fall short when our needs turn towards structured long or short form writing.

Scrivener is the premier application for the creation of novels, novellas, and like works. This course will teach you, the writer, how to best use Scrivener for everything from planning your scenes to generating output for your critique group, e-reader, or publisher.

Topics will include:

Yup, that says Scrivener, now what?

• Getting around the home screen
• Knowing enough to get writing
• Starting a new Novel
• Editing 101

But I’m no pantster, I need to plan before I write.

• Capturing your plan and Synopsis
• Setting up the Corkboard
• Getting index cards created and organized
• Outlining

What do you mean I don’t have to worry about chapters yet?

• Organizing and reorganizing with the Binder
• Creating parts, chapters, scenes
• Sorting things the way you want
• Mapping into your template
• Editing options and views

Whew, my book is ready, now how do I get it out?

• Compiling basics
• Choosing an output format
• Compiling to PDF
• Compiling for Kindle
• Revisiting the template and formatting options

I’ve lost work before and now I’m paranoid, how can Scrivener help?

• Backing up locally automatically
• Backing up to the cloud (Dropbox) automatically

I can do this geek thing, what other cool things should I know

• Capturing versions with snapshots
• Getting your phone to help
• Ending with some Lagniappe

INSTRUCTOR BIO

After four years in the USMC, Pat Haggerty studied Actuarial Science and Computers at Georgia State University. He has spent the past 16+ years developing and delivering technical training courses for Learning Tree International and runs a successful consulting practice doing web application development for clients ranging from the United State Marines to Delta Airlines.

Seven years ago, stuck reading a mediocre book in yet another hotel, Pat decided to try his hand at fiction. He may not be published, but these days you are much more likely to find him spending his evenings writing romance than code. Patrick is an active member of RWA, RWAustralia, RW New Zealand, and is VP of Membership for GCRWA, and VP of OIRWA.

Once you’ve signed up, head on over to the online workshop payment page!

Presented by Shannon Donnelly

Start date- September 1

Length- 4 weeks

Cost- $20 for HCRW member, $25 for all others

Please register by August 30th!

Show and Tell: an Interactive Workshop

Shannon Donnelly

Both showing and telling are valuable tools for any writer–writers need both narrative passages as well as dramatic scenes, so each has its own place within any writer’s skill set. In this workshop, we’ll use writing examples to figure out the truth hidden in the advice to “show, don’t tell.” Learn how “show, don’t tell” really means “show more with dramatic scenes, and tell only when you need to move the story along.”

The “showing” part of the workshop blends a set of exercises to strengthen an understanding of what makes a scene come to life by using more vivid descriptions to reveal characters–their thoughts and emotions–by showing them in action and using deep POV.

The “telling” part of the workshop includes tips, tricks, and techniques to help strengthen narrative and identify when it’s time to “tell” your story to the reader to compress information, smooth transitions, or otherwise better establish settings and scenes for the reader.

Topics we’ll cover:

1) Definitions — what is showing, what is telling
2) Telling: Use of the Narrative Voice
3) Breaking it down part 1: Showing to Pull a Reader into Your Scenes
4) Breaking it down part 2: Better Narrative (so a reader doesn’t skip this)
5) Going Deeper in Viewpoint to Better Show a Character’s Inner World
6) Transitions & Word Count–Where Telling Really Helps
7) Showing and Telling–Mixing it up Again

BIO

Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the “Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer” contest judged by Nora Roberts, RWA’s Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: “simply superb”…”wonderfully uplifting”….and “beautifully written.”

Her Regency romances can be found as ebooks on all formats, and with Cool Gus Publishing, and include a series of four novellas.

She also has out the Mackenzie Solomon, Demon/Warders Urban Fantasy series, Burn Baby Burn and Riding in on a Burning Tire, and the Urban Fantasy, Edge Walkers. Her work has been on the top seller list of Amazon.com and includes Paths of Desire, a Historical Regency romance.

She is the author of several young adult horror stories, and computer games. She lives in New Mexico with two horses, two donkeys, two dogs, and only one love of her life. Shannon can be found online at sd-writer.com, facebook.com/sdwriter, and twitter/sdwriter.

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Writing from the Male POV to Create Stronger Heroes

Instructor: Sascha Illyvich

Course Length: 1 week

Target Audience: All levels of experience are welcome to attend

Prerequisites: A basic understanding of characterization and plot along with how to craft a story

Cost: $20 for HCRW members; $25 for non-members

Description:
In this workshop, learn the ins and outs of character creation from a side of romance we rarely hear from, the male romance reader/writer! Kinky Erotic Romance author Sascha Illyvich shares with us tips on how to create more memorable heroes, avoid some common pitfalls, and have more fun with our writing!

What you’ll learn from this class
• Male Archetypes and how they affect our characters
• How (il)logical men think and why they act the way they do
• How to take any male character from any movie/story and modify him to fit your story
• How to get your man to express his true “self”
• What men REALLY care about and how to work with that for your characters*
• A man’s self view*
• The GAY MALE Viewpoint*
• The Male Cycle of Emotions and how it compares to the female cycle of emotions
• A man’s journey in life
• What men really think

A few extras

Using character creations sheets (don’t groan!) that have all the relevant information you’ll need, you’ll be able to craft male characters that are just as deep as your female characters. Getting inside the heads of your male characters is the most important aspect of “how to write” them.

Cross gender writing can make or break an author’s career if they cannot portray the opposite gender clearly and accurately. With the growing popularity of M/M romances, it’s becoming increasingly important for males to be portrayed in the proper light! We’ll cover all that here, and a lot more, over the week.

Instructor Bio: Sascha Illyvich

I started writing thirteen years ago, releasing poetry and an occasional short erotica story before focusing on kinky erotic romance in various subgenres. My books have been listed under the Road to Romance’s Recommended read list, as well nominated for the CAPA.

I am the former host of the Unnamed Romance Show on Radio Dentata and continue to write for Red Sage, Decadent Publishing, Sizzler Editions, and Total E-bound. Readers can find my work, plus free reads, at http://www.saschaillyvich.com.

Editor at Sizzler Editions, I’m also part of the WriteSex Panel, a blog group that’s defining erotica for writers in any genre! Find us at http://www.write-sex.com

When you’ve registered, don’t forget to check out your payment options!