Pacific Northwest Writers Association
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WRITERS ASSOCIATION
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FEBRUARY E-NOTES:

E-Notes is your monthly electronic newsletter full of the latest news about the literary world. Our newsletter is a PNWA Member Benefit.

Please send us an email if you would like to place an announcement in next month's E-Notes: enotes@pnwa.org



(Announcements must be received by the 20th of
the previous month to be included).


PNWA NEWS:

MONTHLY SPEAKER MEETING:

February 11, 2010 (NOTE EARLY DATE)

Chinook Middle School @ 7:00 P.M.

(2001 98th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004)


Robert J RaySpeaker: Robert J. Ray

Topic: Story, Structure, Subplot, Scene, Style: Keys to Rewriting Your Novel

  

The key to rewriting your novel is a workable plan: Story first, then Structure, Subplots,  (Key) Scenes, and Style. The toughest rewriting task is fixing your subplots. Before you can fix a subplot, you must peel it away from the novel, using tools like Character Arc, Character Grid, Scene List, Scene List, Scene Profile, Scene Template, and Core Story. Learn how to use these tools and make your rewrite hum in a hands-on workshop (with writing in the room) led by Robert J. Ray, using techniques from his latest book, The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel.


Participants should bring a prose sample, two pages, 

double-spaced.

 

Author Credits: The Weekend Novelist, The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery, The Weekend Novelist Redrafts the Novel (London), The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel (New York), Bloody Murdock, Murdock Cracks Ice, Dial "M" for Murdock, Murdock for Hire, Merry Christmas, Murdock, The Hitman Cometh, The Art of Reading: A Handbook on Writing, Small Business: An Entrepreneur's Plan (5 editions).




PNWA member Deborah Schneider's Promise Me, her newest Western historical romance,now available from the Wild Rose Press.

Promise Me is the story of young widow Amanda Wainwright, who arrives in a small mining town in Montana determined to fulfill a death bed promise to her husband and improve the lives of the miners living there. When she meets Samuel Calhoun, they can't resist a sensual attraction, but Sam is more than the charming businessman he seems, because he has a secret mission to fulfill and falling in love might not just be foolish -- it could be deadly.

To learn more, visit Deborah's website at www.debschneider.com

 

 


PNWA member Diane Kinman's novel, Condo Divas, is coming out in February 2010 through Wimer Publishing Company. She's already researching the sequel, looking for condo stories. Do you know one? www.condo-divas.com

 


 

PNWA member Christy Karras's two new books from Globe Pequot Press --

Motorcycle Touring in the Southwest and More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Utah Women -- were published in January and are available from booksellers and at Amazon.com.



PNWA member Naseem Rakha's debut novel The Crring Tree was one of five recipients of this year's PNBA Book Award. Rakha, a former public radio reporter, takes a provocative and moving look at how a family deals with a brutal murder, and the upcoming execution of the killer. Rakha's novel has been called haunting, groundbreaking, and powerful. Rights have been sold in ten countries, and it is also available in audio.

www.naseemrakha.com



Scale Your Project Management Efforts to Maximize Success!

From PNWA Member David Pratt:


One size does not fit all in project management. Selecting an approach that is appropriate for the size and complexity of a project is essential to achieving success. Over-managing a small project can bog it down in bureaucracy, while a laid-back approach can lead to disaster on a complex project.

 

Pragmatic Project Management: Five Scalable Steps to Success will help you select the methodologies and tools that will enable you to expend minimum effort to achieve maximum gain on your project. This clearly written guide lays the groundwork with a chapter on project sizing and management scaling and follows with chapters on each of the five essential elements of pragmatic project management:

  • The project charter

  • The project team

  • The project plan

  • Project issue management

  • Project status tracking and reporting

 

Practical tips and a checklist are included at the end of each chapter. Use the checklists as you plan and execute your project to keep it on track and to scale.

 

Dave Pratt, PMP, is the principal of DHP Project Services, an IT project management consulting firm. He has more than twenty years' experience managing projects of all types and sizes in both the public and private sectors. He has been a freelance writer for more than twenty-five years, with several fiction and nonfiction books, and more than fifty articles and stories in print.  Dave currently teaches project management at the South Puget Sound Community College in Lacey, Washington, where he helped design the project management certificate program.

 

Pragmatic Project Management, Five Scalable Steps to Success is due for release by Management Concepts in late February, 2010.



CONTEST/SUBMISSIONS:

PNWA LITERARY CONTEST:
It's your chance to shine. Every writer knows there comes a time to send their work out into the world. Don't miss this opportunity to put your work to the test and compete with some of the best at the Annual PNWA Literary Contest. There are twelve categories with cash prizes; and each qualified entry receives two critiques. In addition, finalists' entries are read and judged by an agent or editor to determine the top three in each category. Winners are announced every year at the PNWA summer conference to an audience of writers, agents and editors.

Categories:
  1. Mainstream
  2. Historical (NEW THIS YEAR)
  3. Romance
  4. Mystery/Thriller
  5. Science Fiction/Fantasy
  6. Young Adult Novel
  7. Non-Fiction Book/Memoir
  8. Screen Writing
  9. Poetry
  10. Short Story
  11. Children's Picture Book or Chapter Book
  12. Adult Short Topics (Article/Essay/Short Memoir)

Please visit our website (www.pnwa.org) for details and contest entry form.



SAN LUIS OBISPO NIGHTWRITERS

21st Annual 500-Word Short Story Contest and Poetry Contest (Forty Lines Maximum)

 

First place award is $75, Second place award is  $50 for both short story and poetry.

Finalists receive a certificate.

 

The contest is open to everyone, but eligible NightWriters will be entered into a drawing for a scholarship to the 2010 Central Coast Writers' Conference.

Want to join? New memberships that are combined with a contest entry will save $5. 

 

Entries must be based on the theme of trust and betrayal.

Use your imagination to expand this theme into a unique story or poetry idea.

 

All entries must be postmarked by April 30, 2010.

Entry Fee: $10 for first story or poem, $5 for each additional story or poem.

 

e-mail (as attachment only) to

SLOnightwritersevents@yahoo.com

Or mail to

SLO Nightwriters Contest

5458 Bolsa Road

Atascadero, CA 93422

 

For complete rules and guidelines, judging criteria and other info, go to www.slonightwriters.org.

 

 


SCRIPTAPALOOZA TELEVISION WRITING COMPETITION:

Call For Entries

 

Hey, all you TV writers, this is your chance to change the way you watch TV!

 

Scriptapalooza TV has seen major success in its twelve  years. Two writers won Emmys, and numerous writers have gotten agents, managers and meetings.

 

Deadline is April 15th.

 

The four categories include:

  • Existing one-hour shows such as Lost, FlashForward and CSI

  • Existing half hour sitcoms like The Office and Two and a Half Men

  • Original pilots

  • Reality shows (for reality shows we would like a 1-5 page synopsis only)

 

Supported by the Writers Guild of America, West Registry and the Writers Guild of Canada.

 

www.scriptapaloozaTV.com

323.654.5809 office

info@scriptapalooza.com

 


 

NAUTILUS AWARDS DEADLINE EXTENDED

New Closing Date - February 28th

We've had an amazing number of requests to extend the closing date of the  2010 Nautilus Awards.  There seems to be a lot of delay due to an  accumulation of  Holiday Backup -- The Weather -- The Flu --  General Melancholy and - Procrastination.  Not to worry -- Some of our staff and judges have been delayed by the same array of circumstances. All of you have asked for "a little more time" to gather and send your books, and our decision to extend the Nautilus Awards closing date to February 28th has been received with both relief and glee.  

Please consider this our official announcement that we will extend the 2010 Nautilus Book Awards until February 28th in order to make "the last minute" a little bit farther away.

Click here for Guidelines and Entry Information


CLASSES/WORKSHOPS:

2010 SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE & PRECONFERENCE. 

February 11th-14th at the Mark Hopkins Hotel. Enhance your writing and writing career! Limited to 300 attendees for extraordinary interaction with literary agents, editors, publishers and bestselling authors including Jacquelyn Mitchard, Steve Berry and Tamim Ansary. Event and contest details available at www.SFWriters.org.


Featuring:

Sheldon Siegel & Robert Dugoni will be "Putting the Thrill in Thriller Writing" during their session.Two (yes, TWO!) N.Y.Times bestselling authors show you how it's done...so you can do it, too!   



2010 PEN TO PRESS WRITERS RETREAT

This is a one-of-a-kind writers' retreat you simply can't pass up! Come excited and leave inspired, ready to improve your writing and get that manuscript published! 

 

Pen to Press Retreats are five intense, hands-on, inspiring days that teach participants how to shape and present a saleable manuscript. You'll learn in a variety of settings, from workshops to one-on-one mentoring sessions to seminars. To that end, you will write and revise, have portions of your manuscript critiqued, and revise some more. This is a remarkable opportunity to transform your writing!

 

To top it off, throughout the last two days of each retreat, all of our participants are given exclusive, one-on-one time with agents and editors to whom they can pitch their work.

With this retreat under your belt, who can stop you? 

 

Participants will be assigned to a class of twenty and a team instructor. (Our instructors are all successfully published authors and excellent teachers, with many award-winners and New York Times and U.S.A. Today bestsellers.). With this group, you will spend five days working on specifics to improve your manuscript. During classes and panel discussions, you'll learn details about characterization, plot, dialogue, pacing, voice, marketing, pitching, contract negotiations, etc., all of it geared around your specific work.

Agents and editors will be on hand the last two days of the retreat, and they'll be there to spend one-on-one time with you, our participants -- writers who now have a polished pitch for a promising work!

 

The dates for the 2010 Pen to Press Writers Retreat are May 25-29, 2010, and the location will be in beautiful downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.

Interested writers must submit a two-page synopsis of a completed novel or novel in progress along with the first five pages of that novel.  From those submissions, a maximum of 160 participants will be selected.  

 

To find out more about the 2010 Pen to Press Writers' Retreat, visit our website at www.pentopressretreat.com. There you'll find in-action videos and testimonials from past participants. So jump on over to the website and have a look. And we hope to see you at the 2010 PPW Retreat!



EVENTS/SPEAKERS:


MEET THE AUTHOR:

Dr. Wangen - Healthier without Wheat
KCLS (King County Library System) Literary Event

 

Learn how and why people react to wheat and to gluten and the numerous signs and symptoms that are associated with gluten intolerance. Dr. Wangen will review the process that led to the writing of his book, Healthier without Wheat and will explain the difference between celiac disease, food allergies and gluten intolerance.

 

North Bend Library, 425.888.0554

Saturday, February 27, 10:30 A.M.

 

 

St. Valentine's Day Victorian Tea with Local Romance Authors

KCLS (King County Library System) Literary Event

 

Saturday, February 13, 2 P.M.

Bellevue Regional Library (1111 110th Avenue NE, Bellevue)

Meet local authors who delight in creating romantic stories set in the Victorian era:

Megan Chance, Prima Donna

Anthea Lawson, All He Desires

Deborah Schneider, Promise Me

Music, refreshments and a book signing will follow the program.

 

Books will be available for sale at this event.

 

 

A READING COFFEE HOUR IN PORTLAND

Saturday, March 13, 2010

 

Writing can often feel like a solitary journey, but you can grab a warm cup of inspiration on March 13th in Portland, Oregon.  At an informal morning coffee for women writers, you can read your work and listen to the writing of others.  We'll also discuss the A Room of her Own (AROHO) writers' retreat at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.  For well-established authors and beginning writers.  Fellowship with other women writers keeps you writing!

 

Email info@aroomofherownfoundation.org for details and event invitation. Please indicate if you wish to read.

 


MISCELLANEOUS:


SEEKING WRITERS - WRITERS-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

(especially poets!) for Elementary School

 

PNWA is partnering with Echo Lake Elementary School in Shoreline to place professional writers in the classroom for short-term writer's workshops.  Each Writer-in-Residence will work with one grade level to provide students with both inspiration and instruction. By interacting with authors from a variety of genres, students will develop and deepen writing skills as well as understand that writing is valuable both in the classroom and beyond.

 

We are currently seeking an experienced writers and especially poets to work with students in spring of this year. Ideally this person will be:

 

  • Published in some form - books, magazines, newspapers, etc.
  • Enthusiastic about encouraging and teaching young writers.
  • Experienced in working with children (ideally in an educational setting).
  • A good communicator and collaborator.
  • Able to pass a Washington State background check.

 

You would:

  • Work with the teachers of one grade level to create a writer's workshops during February-May 2009.
  • Collaborate with a specified grade level or teacher for 45min - 1 hour on one day a week for up to six weeks to provide direct instruction/inspiration/feedback. Time commitment of about 4 hours/day, one day per week for six weeks. Organization of workshops may vary by grade level.
  • Meet with and provide guidance to the teachers for workshop days between visits. This can happen before or after school as well as during teachers' planning times.

 

What's in it for you?

  • The opportunity to help students develop skills of writing and self-expression and provide teachers with new energy and tactics to teach writing year-round.
  • A chance to improve your own craft through teaching.
  • Name exposure through publicity for the program, including community open-mic readings at a local non-school venue.

 

What is the school like?

Echo Lake Elementary, in Shoreline, Washington, serves a community that is both ethnically and economically diverse. Improving writing is a school-wide goal, and the teaching staff is ready and eager to incorporate professional writers into their classrooms.

 

Interested?

Contact Jeff Ayers, PNWA Board Member, at (206) 542-9938 or  jeff.ayers@pacifier.com for additional information and an application.

 

Authors from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply




AUTHOR-EDITOR CLINIC 2010 

Will 2010 be the year to get your novel, memoir, or nonfiction manuscript in shape? The Seattle-based Author-Editor Clinic has been helping authors revise and polish their books-in-progress since 2004. One reasonable rate for a complete read and thorough editorial critique. Apply by March 19, 2010, for the Spring manuscript session. See our website at www.authoreditorclinic.com or contact administrator Kyra Freestar for details (info@authoreditorclinic.com, 206-300-2601). 



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