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Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts


Meadville Market House, Second Floor

A Workshop Presented by the Meadville Council on the Arts

No matter what genre you write in, good fiction comes from the basics. Multi-published and award-winning authors Babs Mountjoy and Kathy Otten, will lead this workshop, full of discussion, models, exercises and fun, too!

Sessions will include—

INTRO TO CREATIVE FICTION-WRITING - Bring a short piece to share, and we'll learn each other's writing inspirations.

DIALOGUE- We'll look not only at how to write
believable conversations, but how they enhance your story.

INCREASING CONFLICT AND TENSION IN YOUR STORY- Do you want to write a story your reader can't put down? We'll examine what conflict is and how it drives the story.

DIVERSITY IN YOUR FICTION – We’ll use exercises like those in Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward's, Writing the Other, and other sources to expand your thinking about using characters of other race/class/ethnicity in your stories.

PACKING AN EMOTIONAL PUNCH - We'll talk about ways to show how a character feels through visceral reaction and fresh description that will ramp up your reader's investment in the story.

WEAVING AN ALTERNATIVE SETTING INTO YOUR STORY- Learn how transport your readers to another era or alternate world without sounding like a text book.

Classes will be held on Tuesdays,
At the Meadville Market House
March 26th through April 30th 2013
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Members-$60.00
Non-members $65.00
For more information contact

Meadville Council on the Arts
Phone & Fax (814)336-5051

Or to reserve and mail in your payment before the limited seats are gone, send to:

Meadville Council on the Arts
P.O.Box 337
Meadville PA 16335

Questions? artscouncil@zoominternet.net

It's almost time for Context 25! This is a wonderful science fiction and fantasy con in Columbus, Ohio where in additional to panels on a variety of subjects, gaming sessions and filk concerts, attendees can (for a minimal fee) take writing workshops provided by a number of multi-published writers and professors from great writing schools like Seton Hill.

This year. I'll be teaching a workshop on Saturday morning about writing diverse characters:

(Saturday, September 29th, 10am-noon)
The world is full of different ethnicities and cultural groups; unfortunately, most writers tend to only write about people like themselves. Others who want to include
This workshop will use exercises like those in Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward's Writing the Other and other sources to expand your thinking about using characters of other race/class/ethnicity in your stories. We’ll look at the power of first impression—what you glean from your first sight of someone—which may or may not truly give you their essence. Participants should bring pen and paper to work through some simple but eye-opening "What If?" questions that will show you how to expand your story's diversity. Finally, we’ll conduct an exercise designed to teach you how to convey the diverse uniqueness of your characters in subtle ways—i.e., without having Fred say, “Hi, John, this is my black friend Mike.”
The two-hour workshop costs only $20 and leaves you plenty of time the rest of the day for classes with Maria Snyder, Tim Esaias and Linnea Sinclair, as well as a multitude of panels.
The workshops are filling up, so get on over to the site and sign up!
You'll also be able to be one of the first to get a print edition hot off the press of my new book LOVE ME, KISS ME, KILL ME from Hydra Publications, which will be released at the con!
For those who are reluctant to attend conferences because you feel overwhelmed, I thoroughly recommend this one. The people are nice, the workshops intimate, and there's a very welcoming vibe. Definitely something for everyone here--you could attend the con to get your fill of gaming play and talk, or just take writing workshops the whole time, at an extremely reasonable cost. Tim Esaias of Seton Hill recently pointed out that his workshops are essential the same module he teaches at the University--but much less expensive. Don't miss it!
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Although my books with Zumaya Publications aren't yet available, I'm excited to report that Zumaya has scheduled a Kindle Sale on titles with Thriller elements.
 
The sale starts this SUNDAY 2/5/12 and runs through March 3. The first week they're featuring the science fiction thrillers, second week general thrillers, third week fantasy thrillers, and the last week a mixed batch! So many books, so little time! Catch all the details at Zumaya Tales - http://zumayatales.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/february-thriller-special/ 
 
 
Come see which book will suit your last-six-weeks-of-winter reading list!

I'm sharing the new cover of my first science fiction book, TRIAD, coming out this spring from Dragonfly Publishing:


What do you think???  For an excerpt, check out the DFP page--


I'm hoping to help out at Coyote Con, the First Annual 31 Day Digital Author Conference May 1-31, 2010.
This is how the creators of this unique Con describe themselves:
Those of us who read and write speculative fiction have a passion for seeing beyond the every day or around the corner. We dream of alien worlds, peoples, sciences, magic, and miracles. We imagine ghosts, monsters, and consummate lovers. We’re geeks, outsiders—strangers in a strange land. We have fun playing with possibilities. We are the home of mythic fiction in all its forms.

Our guests are authors, editors, publishers and other industry professionals who love to talk about, and be involved in, the making of books: cross-genre, historical, romance, horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and all the related media they generate.
If there is a place where discussions of humanity, inclusion, exclusion, diversity, ability, disability, othering, religion, irreligion, feminism, patriarchy, sexuality, colonialism and post-colonial ideas also belong, it is with us. We should always be able to see what’s possible.

The conference is free for writers and readers both (but registration is required!!) and provides workshops and other great content! Here are a few of the session titles:
Artificial Intelligence and Sexuality
The Book Deal and Publishing Process
Comics and Graphic Novels for Readers and Writers
Digital Lit
Fairy Tales in Fiction
Getting Your Book Reviewed
The Passive Verb Workshop
and much more! Both panel discussions on topics near and dear to spec fiction writers' hearts as well as practical down to earth how-to chats for writers of all genres. Come meet and greet your fellow writers of wonder!