Save the Date – Writers Project Runway II

Writers Project Runway – Taking Your Writing to New Heights is scheduled for Saturday, April 2, 2016, at Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, VA.  Registration will open at 8:00 AM and the conference will run from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM with an author signing from 4:00-5:00 PM. A catered lunch is included in the conference fee.

Fees: $75.00 for Pennwriter members. $80.00 for college students. $100.00 for nonmembers.

Registration online and via mail will open in February 2016.

Stop by this blog and look in your upcoming PennWriter newsletter for details and bios on the wonderful speakers who will be presenting this year.

Fiction, Nonfiction, Mystery, Children’s Book, Newspaper Writing, YA,  all will be addressed in the available workshops. Two publishers will be there to take pitches. 

Save the Date and Register Early.

Interested in Writing a Children’s Book?

PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED

Writing a Children’s Book

This interactive workshop will cover:
* 6 Common myths about writing children’s books.
* Does my book include all the elements of good story telling?
* Who is my customer?
* Writing for children while appealing to parents.
Upon completion of the workshop participants will receive a copy of Bobbi’s PowerPoint presentation on writing for children and a signed copy of her multi-award winning book, Storee Wryter Gets a Dog.
Course Schedule: Feb 3, 2014 –Mar. 7, 2014

AUTHOR BIO
Bobbi Carducci’s book for young readers, Storee Wryter Gets a Dog, received a Gold Mom’s Choice Award, a Bronze Living Now Award, and was named A Best Dog Book for Young Readers by Cesar Milan, TV’s The Dog Whisperer. http://www.storeewryter.com
She is a multi-award winning short story writer and a former senior staff writer for a small Washington, D.C. area newspaper.
Bobbi was honored to be the luncheon keynote speaker at the 26th annual Pennwriters Conference in May 2013. She serves on the Pennwriters board of directors as the Area 7 Representative.
Bobbi is also known as The Imperfect Caregiver on her blog of the same name, written to support women and men caring for loves ones at home. http://www.pennwriters.org/prod/

Contact info:
bcarducci@comcast.net

Register at http://www.pennwriters.org, Courses \ Online Courses, http://www.pennwriters.org/prod/

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Don’t be left out!

Register for Pennwriters Silver Anniversary Celebration, May 17-20 at the Eden Resort and Suites, Lancaster, PA

From the Conference Coordinator, Danielle Ray
Did you ever wonder about who is in your Pennwriter Area? Now is the chance to meet people from your Area at the Area Meetings at the Conference this year!
We are also having some surprises and giveaways for all the attendees!
Time is running out, register now!
Don’t be left out of the silver anniversary celebration.
Check out all of the information on the website:
www.pennwriters.org

Thursday Pre-Conference Seminars

Madhu B. Wangu’s Mindful Writing Meditation
Sue Kreke Rumbaugh’s I Want to Be a Writer
Deborah Riley-Magus’ Creating an Effective Business Plan
Annette Dashofy’s Crime Fiction Story Structure and Finding Your Characters Voice
Maria Snyder’s Do Not Enter!

Friday Keynote Speaker
Hank Phillippi Ryan
New York Times #1 Best Selling Author and Agatha Award Winner

Saturday Lunch Keynote Speaker
Maria V. Snyder

Agents and Editors
Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency
Miriam Kriss of Irene Goodman Literary Agency
Katharine Sands of Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
Brooks Sherman of FinePrint Literary Management
L. Sue Durkin-Eggerton of Weaving Dreams Publishing
Tim O’Connell, associate editor with Vintage and Anchor Books
Kristin Sevick, associate editor with Tor/Forge Books.

Want to Sell Your Books at the Conference?
If you have a traditionally published book and would like the conference bookseller, Aaron’s
Books, to see if they can get it for the conference, please forward
your information to Conference Coordinator Danielle at
DRAY@BOOKREMARKS.NET.
If you have a book that is not traditionally published, you may
bring copies of your book to place on the Pennwriters’ merchandise table for sale.

Interested in Book Signing on Saturday?
Please advise Danielle Ray if you are interested in participating in the
book signing on Saturday. Anyone who has books for sale through
Aaron’s Books or on the Pennwriters’ merchandise table may sign
books during the author’s signing.

Area 7 Celebrate Independent Book Stores
Please don’t forget to bring to the conference the items that you would like to donate to the Area 7 “Celebrating Independent Book Stores Basket.” Thanks!

Call for Volunteers!
The 26th annual Pennwriters conference is on its way and planning has already started! With YOUR help we can make this conference great. Interested in volunteering? Contact Jessica Williams, 2013 Conference Coordinator at JessWilliams06@Verizon.net.

Prepping for NaNoWritMo

PREPPING FOR NaNoWriMo with SUSAN MEIER: Online Course INSTRUCTOR: Susan Meier DATE: October 1 – October 31, 2011 REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse201110 (LIMITED CLASS SIZE. Enroll now.) COURSE DESCRIPTION: Everybody believes NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which runs every November at http://www.nanowrimo.org) is a race against the clock, a fight with procrastination and inertia. In some ways it is. But once you’re in the thick of things, you’ll discover NaNo is really all about ideas. Writers don’t stall because they’re lazy. Writers stall because they don’t know what to write next. The month BEFORE NaNo, get proven tips from Susan Meier—the author of almost 50 books for Harlequin and Silhouette—and let her take you through several different ways to examine the story you want to write, to capture the natural scene possibilities within your idea, to generate new ideas, and to push yourself through the most grueling, but fun, month you will spend this year! Lessons include: * The List of 20 (How to generate ideas quickly so you have little downtime when your natural ideas run out) * Turning a “Want” into “Need” (How does knowing why you’re writing this book provide you with both energy to write and ideas for your story?) * The One-Paragraph Story Summary (Say it succinctly…3 kinds of one-paragraph story summaries: back cover blurb, core story question, and growth paragraph) * Could, Might, Must and Should List (How to capture ideas that spring up naturally) * Storyboard Versus Synopsis (Breaking your idea down into manageable bites) * The Psychology of Pushing through the Hard Times (What to do when you get stuck) * The Psychology of a Draft (Push, push, push!) * What Are You Doing in December? (Editing tips) Discover how to get the most out of NaNo and write a publishable novel. LIMITED CLASS SIZE. Enroll now. REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse201110 ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Susan Meier is the author of over 45 books for Harlequin and Silhouette and one of Guideposts‘ Grace Chapel Inn series books, THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS. Her books have been finalists for Reviewers Choice Awards, National Reader’s Choice Awards and Cataromance.com Reviewer’s Choice Awards and nominated for Romantic Times awards. Her book, HER BABY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS won the traditional category in the 2009 More Than Magic contest. HER PREGNANCY SURPRISE, her first release for the Harlequin Romance line, made both Walden’s Bestseller List for Series Romance and Bookscan. MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE, MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD, and COUNTRY TWIN CHRISTMAS are her 2010 releases. Susan loves to teach as much as she loves to write and is a popular speaker at RWA chapter conferences. Can This Manuscript Be Saved? and Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere! are her most requested workshops. Her article “How to Write a Category Romance” appeared in 2003 Writer’s Digest Novel and Short Story Markets. Susan also gives online workshops for various groups and her articles regularly appear in RWA chapter newsletters. For more information about Susan Meier, visit http://www.susanmeier.com. * Subscribe to our announcement list for email on our latest online courses! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PennwritersOnlineCourses ***** * For more information on this course, contact Laura M. Campbell, Online Courses Coordinator. To mail in your registration and payment, send payment at least one week before the course starts using the mail form at this link.

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Pennwriters Presents – Monday May 9th.

Pennwriters Presents –

Our Guest Star will be Bobbi Carducci, short story, memoir and creative nonfiction writer, and author of STOREE WRYTER GETS A DOG, her first venture into writing for kids. She describes herself as a schizophrenic writer because of the variety of writing she does and in recognition of the voices in her head (her muse) that demand to be heard.
She also writes a monthly book review column for About Families Publications available in print and on line.

In addition to writing, Bobbi is the President of Community Voice Media, a small print publisher specializing in books by and for young people. She is the Executive Director of the Young Voices Foundation a 501 (c) (3) educational nonprofit established to mentor young writers http://www.youngvoicesfoundation.org and the creator or the Young Voices Awards honoring books that Inspire, Mentor, and/or Educate readers of all ages. http://www.youngvoicesawards.com.

She is a long time member of Pennwriters and, as a resident of Virginia, is the Area 7 Representative to the Board of Directors. She is a writing coach and frequent presenter at writer’s conferences, including the upcoming Pennwriters Conference where she will present a workshop titled “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – How To Evoke Real Emotion In Your Memoir.”

Bobbi Carducci’s month-long online course, CREATIVE NONFICTION & MEMOIR WRITING, starts June 1, 2011. You’ll discover proven methods to convey real-life facts and events through story structure and character development with a focus on storytelling, personal essays, and feature writing. To learn how to write that great real-life story of yours and get it published, enroll now at http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse201106 .

Bobbi Carducci, also writing as Barbara Simpson Carducci, can be reached by email at bcarducci@comcast.net or through Twitter @BobbiCarducci and Facebook. You can also visit her blog at http://schizophrenicwriter.wordpress.com or her website at http://www.communityvoicemedia.com/bobbicarducci.html.

Topics to discuss with Bobbi Carducci include:

* Short story writing
* Creative nonfiction
* Writing for young readers
* Writing in general
* How to be an overnight success in 60 years or less
* The correlation between a well made Cosmopolitan and a happy marriage

The opinions of Pennwriters Presents Guest Stars do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Pennwriters organization. INCLUDE THE GUEST STAR’S NAME IN THE SUBJECT HEADING OF YOUR QUESTIONS. To get the most out of the program, please set your Message Delivery to “Individual Email.” Here is how you do it:

1) Go to the Pennwriters online group setup page at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pennwriters/join

2) Under “Step 2. Message Delivery,” click the option “Individual Email.”

3) Click the “Save Changes” button.

That’s it! Have your questions lined up Monday. You can start posting questions early over the weekend. See you soon.

– Nate Hardy
Pennwriters Internet Activities Coordinator

CREATIVE NONFICTION & MEMOIR WRITING Online Course
http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse201106

Read and Critique – Round Robin

Pennwriters offers a Round Robin Critique Group program that is ideal for those who can’t get to area meetings as often as they would like, or who live too far away from their area meetings or other Pennwriters, or who write in a genre or form that isn’t as popular as others (and it’s difficult to find like-minded writers to network with).

A Pennwriters Round Robin Critique Group or partnership can be done either by e-mail or by US Mail. And do consider partnering to help those still looking for match-ups in: Short Story, Romance, Literary, Christian/inspirational, Mystery/suspense, Science Fiction-Alternate History, Middle Grade (ages 9-13) fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical nonfiction, and Eclectic (writing short in various forms/genres.)

All you have to do is contact Catherine McLean, mouserun@certainty.net and ask for a Round Robin Request form.

Catherine E. McLean is a Pennwriters Meritorious Service Award winner who has given more than 30 workshops and had two-dozen articles published on the devices and techniques of writing fiction. Her short stories have sold to magazines and anthologies. www.WritersCheatSheets.com

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Area 7 Basket at Pennwriters Conference

The theme for the Area 7 basket this year is “Encouraging Young Readers.” If you are attending the conference please bring a book to put in the basket. Anything from board books to YA is welcome.

I’m Registered for the Conference

I hope you are too. I’ll be looking to meet as many members of Area 7 as possible.  If you see me, please introduce yourself. I won’t be hard to miss.

On April 9th I will become a member of The Knights of the Bald Table, as a volunteer shavee at  the St. Baldrick’s fundraiser in Dulles, VA.

That’s right. I have agreed to have my head shaved to raise money to fund cancer research for diseases affecting children. To learn more about the event click here.

Not only am I able to honor my mother and help sick kids but I will have a great story to tell as well. 

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Member News – Bobbi Carducci Introduces Her Book for Young Readers

•  

Hi All,

I am very excited to announce the publication of my first book for young readers. The official launch date will be April 19, 2011 but it is available for preorder now. 

Click on this link to see more: Storee Wryter Gets a Dog “Storee’s ideas for her writing often come from her many adventures. And when her friend, Kyria, talks her into getting a new puppy, Storee gets some great ideas for her next book while she and her cat, Critique, have fun watching her puppy learn to become a trained therapy dog.

Join Storee as she learns to train her puppy to be helpful and soothing. Watch as Storee visits a classroom of special needs children, using her dog to reach out. And have fun with Storee as she gains new experiences certain to help her create her next bestseller! But most important of all, find inspiration for your next masterpiece as you read Storee Wryter Gets a Dog.”

60 pages – $7.99 (paperback)

The book is based on real people including Kyria Henry, winner of the Ikea Life Improvement Sabbitcal $100,000 prize for the paws4vets program. www.thelifeimprovementproject.com

The picture of Storee on the front of the book is based on two photos, of one of me and one of my daughter, each taken at the age of eight.  In addition to telling a great story,the book is desgined to inspire young writers and includes writing prompts at the back of the book. My niche audience for Storee Wryter Gets a Dog is elementary school teachers who will be able to download the book for use in the classroom. Please pass this on to any teachers you know.

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Don’t Miss Your Chance to Learn from Catherine McLean

Do yourself a favor and sign up now for Catherine McLean’s online course The Project Bibile: Thou Shalt Create a Great Story.

I’ve already reserved my place online and hope you will too.  The opportunity to learn from Catherine is one of the many great benefits of being a Pennwriter. www.pennwriters.org