May Meeting Roundup + Good News
Our May meeting was an extra-special all-day workshop presented by Carina Press Editorial Director, Angela James. Angela is the creator of the wildly successful online self-editing course, Before You Hit Send, and we were lucky enough to have her present us with a condensed version last Saturday.We covered a wide range of topics in just a few short hours, discussing everything from the parts of speech to the difference between clichés and tropes. Angela reviewed many of the basics – and not-so-basics – of grammar, point of view, and pacing to make sure your manuscript is totally polished before you send it off to a requesting agent or editor.And while she taught many best practices and common pitfalls of the writing process, she did emphasize that following writing rules too strictly can choke your writing voice. According to Angela, there are no writing rules. “There’s only the story you want to tell, and the words you want to use.”If you’re interested in learning all about Angela’s tips and tricks for self-editing, sign up for her next course beginning on June 5th. Registration is easy on her website.As usual, our group had a lot of Good News to share:
- Rick Ochocki received a perfect score from one judge for entry in the Wisconsin RWA Fab Five Contest.
- Cynthia Diamond released Alchemy’s Hunger, the fourth book in the Wyrd Love series, on April 4th.
- Shirley Wilder submitted her fourth book to Boroughs.
- Ann Siracusa will be releasing All for a Fistful of Ashes.
- Sherrie Miranda’s novel will be translated into Spanish.
- Susan Burns entered her first YA novel in On The Far Side.
- Jackie Leigh Allen will be releasing Behind the Red Door in June.
- Jeanne Dickson’s debut, Grounded Hearts, will be released on June 13th.
- Sarah Richmond sold her historical romance, A Secret Engagement.
- Kimberly Field is meeting with an agent at Lori Foster’s Reader/Author Get-Together in Ohio.
- Demi Hungerford self-published the fifth volume of the Bowman’s Inn anthology.
- Kristin Rockaway’s debut, The Wild Woman’s Guide to Traveling the World, will be released on June 6th.
Join us in June, when we’ll be meeting with New York Times bestselling author Susan Squires to talk all about creativity and the brain. See you then!
