PNWA Member Book Signings

Please join us Saturday, December 17, from 1:00pm - 3:00pm for a multi-author book signing event at the PNWA Writers' Cottage! The event will feature several talented local authors:

David Ash

Janice Clark

Nathan Everett

Beth Rice

Joan Richter

Carolyn Warren

Shannon Winslow

As usual, the event will take place at our Writers' Cottage location in Issaquah's Gilman Village (317 NW Gilman Blvd, space #8, Issaquah, WA 98027). We hope to see you there!

2012 PNWA Literary Contest

It's that time of year again! 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 two in each category.

Categories:

1. Mainstream
2. Historical
3. Romance (accepting electronic entries only)
4. Mystery/Thriller
5. Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror
6. Young Adult/Middle Grade
7. Non-Fiction Book/Memoir/How-To
8. Screenwriting
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. The contest deadline is February 17, 2012 (and please note that this is a received-by date, NOT a postmark date).

PNWA member Jodine Turner's new novel, Carry on the Flame: Destiny's Call, is now an Award-Winning Finalist in the New Age fiction category of The USA "Best Books 2011" Awards, sponsored by USA Book News. Carry on the Flame was a finalist in this year's PNWA 2011 literary contest. Book Two, Carry on the Flame: Ultimate Magic, releases November 2011.

Humanity is in the midst of the greatest crisis in their evolution. Sharay is the one chosen to show the way forward and  help humankind move through the fear and dark times of today's world. Born into a lineage of priestesses in modern-day Glastonbury, England, Sharay's way is blocked by her jealous Aunt Phoebe, who uses black magic against her to steal her fortune and magical power. When Phoebe commits Sharay to a psychiatric ward and accuses her of murder, Sharay struggles with the temptation to fight Phoebe's vengeance with her own. Through the ancient Celtic ceremony of Beltaine, Sharay experiences profound sacred union with the Welshman Guethyn, who shows her how to open her heart. But Sharay must learn to transform her hatred for her aunt in order to claim the mystery held deep within her cells that will allow her to fulfill her destiny and prove that the ultimate magic is the power of divine love.

www.jodineturner.com

Former PNWA President Gordon Kirkland's new novel for the holidays was released on September 24^th and hit the Amazon Kindle Parenting & Family Humor Bestseller List just two days later. It joins four of Kirkland's other books on already near the top of the list. (Only Jenny McCarthy comes close with three books in the top 100.) The Plight Before Christmas is the story of a family facing numerous comedic calamities and disasters in the days leading up to a holiday season in the early 1960s. The book is also available in paperback from Amazon. Anyone buying the paperback version can email their purchase confirmation, along with their mailing address, to promotion@gordonkirkland.com and receive a free signed bookplate for their book(s).

PNWA member James E. Lalonde announces that the new video trailer  for his urban fantasy thriller, Holotar: Last Queen of the White Shamans, is now available for viewing.  The video for this PNWA Literary Contest finalist novel by Lalonde will be featured in a Kindle Nation promotional campaign in December and January. "Marketing a novel, in particular an e-book, involves a whole new approach to publishing and marketing. The video trailer is now an essential element," says Lalonde. The video trailer was produced and directed by Gina Lalonde, a film school graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, featuring local actors and an original musical score. It is on the novel's website at www.Holotar.com and on YouTube (at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzwq6mcSPag&feature=youtu.be). The novel is available now on Kindle, Nook, all Apple products and other e-readers via Smashwords.  Holotar is the first book in a series about a boy who can Google minds.

PNWA member Joan Shott announces the publication of her novel, The Hummingbird War, now available in e-book format and paperback.

PNWA member Karen Fisher-Alaniz, who connected with her publisher at the PNWA conference in 2010, has just published her first book. Alaniz's memoir, Breaking the Code - a Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything, was released on 11/1/11. When her father, a WWII veteran, began having nightmares and flashbacks more than 50 years after the war, she started to ask him questions. What she learned is that the war stories she'd heard as a young girl were only the abbreviated version. Eventually he would give her more than 400 pages of letters he'd written to his "folks" during the war. And over the course of several years, she learned the real story. Her father had not sat behind a desk during the war, as she'd been lead to believe. He had been a top secret code breaker aboard submarines and ships off the shores of such places as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was aboard one of these ships that he would experience such severe trauma that the truth remained locked away for half a century. This book is about the trauma of war, the tiny decisions that lead to unintended outcomes, and ultimately the peace that comes when one person, his daughter, takes the time to finally listen. Breaking the Code is available at most bookstores. The author and her father were recently interviewed on NPR's Sunday Edition. For more information, visit the author's website at http://www.storymatters2.com.

CLASSES/WORKSHOPS:

"Using Poetic Elements in Fiction" Writing Workshop with Terry Persun
 

Saturday, December 17th from 1:00-2:30pm

San Juan Library, 1010 Guard Street, Friday Harbor, WA

(in the Meeting Room)

This workshop with Washington author Terry Persun will cover some key poetic devices like repetition, alliteration, imagery, meter, rhyme, personification, metaphor and simile, and how they relate to fiction. Participants in this workshop will also learn how to make sure that what you're doing works for the betterment of your novel or short story. For more information on Terry visit www.terrypersun.com

Registration is required for this FREE WORKSHOP, please call the Library at (360) 378-2798 toregister.

Novel Re-Vision: Editing Your Manuscript for Story  

Saturdays, January 7 - March 3

10:00 a.m. - 12 noon

(No class 2/25)

Do you have a completed draft of a novel? Wondering what to do next? This class walks writers through the novel revision process. In-class exercises and critiques help students recognize the sections of their manuscripts that convey story and those that don't. During the course, students will compile a list of edits necessary to revise their novel. Prerequisite: a completed draft novel. Fee: $195.00

For more information please follow this link to the Bellevue College website:

If you have any questions about whether this is the right class for you, please feel free to email Lois (Lois@LoisBrandt.com).

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing to be Awarded in 2012