WORKSHOP! Sharpen Thy Keyboard...

Since I'm once again in deadline hell (with a short story for a Gardner Dozois and George RR Martin anthology...), I'm going to use my blog space to promote the RWA Fantasy Futuristic & Paranormal chapter's upcoming writing workshops. THESE ARE OPEN TO ALL and conducted online, so you can learn whilst wearing your jammies! Check out these upcoming offerings and stay tuned throughout 2010, when your truly will be teaching as well:


\\*****Permission to Forward Granted and Encouraged******//

The Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of RWA Presents:

"Building Blocks of Fiction: Entwining Characterization and Plotting" Led by Author Tambra Kendall

November 9, 2009 through November 23, 2009

What: Learn how characterization and plotting weave together to make your story come alive. Knowing how to blend together characterization and plotting is essential. Being weak in either area can keep you from obtaining the contract you seek. This course will cover character development using GMC which in turn leads us to plotting. Other areas such as scene and sequel and the architecture of a novel are discussed. Please join me as we journey through the development of characters, archetypes plus more. More class material may be added. Discussion/questions throughout class

Who: Tambra Kendall loves writing paranormal romance. She is published with Red Rose Publishing, Aspen Mountain Press and Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. Over the years, she's taught online classes for various RWA chapters, other online writing organizations and has been an adjunct professor at San Jacinto College. Her most recent publication is "Cowboy of the Night" in "Legends of Loving Texas" series from Red Rose Publishing.

Where: This workshop will be conducted via a Yahoo! email loop. Email invitations will be sent 48 hours prior to the beginning of the workshop. Just register for the workshop and complete the payment process via PayPal. The cost is $10.00 for FFnP members and $20.00 for non-FFnP members.

http://www.romance-ffp.com/event.cfm?EventID=68



\\*****Permission to Forward Granted and Encouraged******//

The Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of RWA Presents
How to Write Power Sentences Presented by June Diehl

November 2, 2009 through November 16, 2009

Description: Power Writing will focus on multiple elements needed to build powerful sentences and paragraphs. From strong word choices, varying sentence structure, to putting sentences together to create dynamic paragraphs, the workshop uses examples, including some from published novels, and from the participants' own work, in strengthening the words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs on the page.

NOTE: This is not a grammar / punctuation workshop.

Outline:
The workshop will cover the following:
Strong word choices (use of powerful, active verbs and specific nouns),
Phrasing and sentence structures, including cumulative sentences,
Using the sentence fragment in narrative and dialog,
Paragraphs (rhythm of sentences, combinations of long, medium, and short sentences, using one and two word sentences)

NOTE: There will be assignments for the various subjects covered during the workshop. The participant will be using his/her own writing for some of the assignments.

Instructor Bio: P. June Diehl is the Editorial and Senior Editor for Virtual Tales, the Senior SF Editor for ePress-Online, and also coaches authors. Author of THE MAGIC & THE MUNDANE: A Guide for the Writer's Journey, she teaches/mentors writing classes online at Writer's Village University and for Pearls of Writing as well as having conducted workshops on various elements of creative writing. She is enrolled in UCLA's Writing Program, focusing on long and short fiction. Ms. Diehl has published poetry, short stories, and articles online and in print. She's finalizing a novel and working on four others. The author lives in Virginia with three cats and a dog.

Where: This workshop will be conducted via a Yahoo! email loop. Email invitations will be sent 48 hours prior to the beginning of the workshop. Just register for the workshop and complete the payment process via PayPal. The cost is $10.00 for FFnP members and $25.00 for non-FFnP members.

http://www.romance-ffp.com/event.cfm?EventID=92

For more information contact: workshops@romance-ffp.com


~Linnea

Linnea Sinclair
// Interstellar Adventure Infused with Romance//
Available Now from Bantam: Hope's Folly, Book 3 in the Dock Five Universe
Coming March 2010: Rebels and Lovers (Book 4)
http://www.linneasinclair.com/

Heroes, Finalists and Deadlines...

Daq-Cat, Miss Doozy Kitty and your truly want to extend our deepest appreciation to all heroes, past and present, today as here in the USA, it's Memorial Day: military personnel, law enforcement personnel, emergency medical personnel, emergency veterinary personnel. All those who put their lives on the line for unknown and other unseen others. We salute you, we honor you, we wish you and yours many blessings. We'd not have the life, the freedoms we do today but for your diligence and sacrifices. Thank you.

Shameless BSP: The Prism Award Finalists Are Announced!

Posted with permission:

"Jennette Heikes & Theresa Kovian are pleased to announce and congratulate our finalists in the Prism Contest in alphabetic order:

Dark Paranormal
Immortals: The Redeeming by Jennifer Ashley
Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden
Mona Lisa Craving by Sunny

Erotica
A Mermaid's Kiss by Joey W. Hill
Carnal Desires by Crystal Jordan
Siren Singing by Isabo Kelly

Fantasy
The Dragon Master by Jennifer Ashley w/a Allyson James
Dragonborn by Jade Lee
King of Sword & Sky by C.L. Wilson

Futuristic
Fallen by Claire Delacroix
Moonstruck by Susan Grant
Shades of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

Light Paranormal
La Vida Vampire by Nancy Haddock
The Trouble with Moonlight by Donna MacMeans
Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready

Novella
"The Spacetime Pool" by Catherine Asaro
"Dark Nest" by Leanna Renee Hieber
"Kung Fu Shoes!" in These Boots were Made for Stomping by Jade Lee

Time Travel
Twist by Colby Hodge
Madman's Dance by Jana G. Oliver
A Sexy Time of It by Cara Summers

Young Adult
Cave of Terror by Amber Dawn Bell
CHOSEN: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast
Sleepless by Terri Clark

Category winners and rankings, as well as the coveted Prism Statue Award, will be announced on July 16, 2009 in Washington D.C. at RWAR National and Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter at The Gathering.

Jennette Heikes, Co-coordinator for Dark Paranormal, Erotica, Novella & Time Travel

Theresa Kovian. Co-coordinator for Fantasy, Futuristic, Light Paranormal & Young Adult"

What I find so cool on a personal note is that I blurbed (ie: read the manuscript before publication for a quote/opinion) both MOONSTRUCK and FALLEN and totally loved both books!

I'm also jazzed to see Colby Hodge, Jade Lee, Donna MacMeans, Isabo Kelly, Catherine Asaro, C.L. Wilson and Leanne Renee Hieber on the list. Except for Donna, they were all part of either my Intergalactic Bar & Grille party or the SF/F panel at RT this year. Woot!

Now, back to work for me... (that's the deadlines part). ~Linnea

SHADES OF DARK, the sequel to Gabriel’s Ghost, July 2008 from RITA award-winning author, Linnea Sinclair, and Bantam Books: http://www.linneasinclair.com/

Something cascaded lightly through me—a gentling, a suffused glow. If love could be morphed into a physical element, this would be it. It was strength and yet it was vulnerability. It was all-encompassing and yet it was freedom. It was a wall of protection. It was wings of trust and faith.

It was Gabriel Ross Sullivan, answering the questions I couldn’t ask. Not that everything would be okay, but that everything in his power would be done, and we’d face whatever outcomes there were together.