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).
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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)
Speaker: 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:
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.
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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:- Mainstream
- Historical (NEW THIS YEAR)
- Romance
- Mystery/Thriller
- Science Fiction/Fantasy
- Young Adult Novel
- Non-Fiction Book/Memoir
- Screen Writing
- Poetry
- Short Story
- Children's Picture Book or Chapter Book
- 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
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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!
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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.
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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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