The list is long, but here are 13 highlights of why you–aspiring author that you are–should come to the Emerald City Writers Conference this year:

EMERALD CITY WRITERS CONFERENCE

20th Anniversary
Sponsored by the Greater Seattle Romance Writers’ of America
October 9-11, 2009
Bellevue Hilton
Bellevue, Washington

1. Speeches by Lisa Jackson, Christine Warren and Claire Delacroix (aka Deborah Cooke)
2. KATIE MACALISTER: From Slush Pile to NYT List
   New York Times Bestselling Author
   A no-holds-barred discussion for authors with strategies on how to build a career rather than just sell books, deal with adversity, identify your brand, create a support team, and deal with publisher and reader expectations
3. BOB MAYER: The Military for Writers
   NY Times Bestselling Author
   An introduction to the military from conventional warfare, through Special Operations, the War on Terror, weapons of mass destruction and insight into the men and women who make up our armed forces-all tailored for the writer who might need research in this area.
4. ELIZABETH BOYLE: The Nuts and Bolts -Let’s Tear Apart Your Manuscript
   New York Times Bestselling Author & RITA Winner
   Everyone always says to never bring a manuscript to conference, well they were right until now. Please bring your completed draft or finished masterpiece and Elizabeth will walk you through how she tears apart her work and puts it back together again, ensuring that all the chapters, scenes and parts are working and polished and ready for publication. Be ready to cut, revise and evaluate your work like never before. This workshop is not for the squeamish or those who don’t like to get their hands dirty. You absolutely need your manuscript to get the most out of this workshop, so please bring to conference a printed copy of your pages and be ready to work.
5. MARY BUCKHAM: Pacing
   What keeps a book intriguing enough to have fans turn the pages and not set it down? How can one author’s books have you riveted and another’s leave you feeling ho-hum? Ever wondered if there are key craft tips and techniques to balance fast-paced conflict, tension, suspense or mystery, action and emotion? In PACING: HOW TO CREATE A PAGE-TURNING MANUSCRIPT you’ll learn: the ingredients of a page-turner, what hooks are and how to maximize them, the power of effective scenes and the most common pacing pitfalls to avoid! Participants will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of BREAK INTO FICTION® and a one of Mary’s chock- full-of-info Lecture Packets.
6. YASMINE GALENORN: Urban Fantasy- A Walk on the Witchy Side
   USA Today Bestselling Author & 2009 RITA Finalist
   Where can kick-butt heroines take on the bad guys while making love to vampires, demons, and dragons? Urban fantasy, of course. The paranormal genre is hot, and the books even hotter. Eager fans line up in droves for their favorite Beyond-Buffy characters. But what’s the separation between urban fantasy and paranormal romance? A thin line. Join USA Today bestselling urban fantasy author Yasmine Galenorn for a look at the worlds where the men are hot and not always human, the women are dangerous, and your best friend may be a baby calico gargoyle. Learn techniques to make your magic make sense, your characters balanced, and how to leave your readers wanting to save the world with you again and again and again!
7. CHERRY ADAIR: Subtext
   NY Times Bestselling Author
   One of the hallmarks of a good writer is dialog rich in subtext. Subtext is the underlying drive and meaning behind your character’s words. Not what your character says, but what they mean. Meaning that might not be apparent to the character, but that should be evident to the reader. Cherry Adair shows you how to create subtext to add zing, depth, and texture to your story to make your characters three dimensional.
8. PAT WHITE & ALEXIS MORGAN: Writing the Series and Making It Sizzle
   Across the many sub-genres in romances, one of the hot trends in romance today is the series. Multi-published authors Alexis Morgan and Pat White will discuss the reasons series are so popular with both readers and writers, how to structure a series, and the various elements that make readers come back for more. Alexis and Pat will cover the different types of series, world building, keeping track of story elements, and how to make each story stand alone while continuing the story arc that drives the entire series.
9. ROBERT DUGONI: Power Editing
   New York Times Bestselling Author
   Now that you’ve typed, “The End” – you’re finished. Or are you? Review the common mistakes novelists make and how to fix them before submitting to an agent or editor. Learn five steps to editing your manuscript including: making judgments about your protagonist and antagonist, evaluating secondary characters, tightening the manuscript, reviewing word and sentence choice and polishing your work to eliminate typos and misspellings.
10. PETER SENFTLEBEN, GINA ROBINSON & SHELLI STEVENS: The Editor/Author Relationship: How to work with your editor from the call to published book and beyond
    Assistant Editor Peter Senftleben of Kensington Publishing and two of his authors, Shelli Stevens and Gina Robinson, discuss how the relationship between an editor and an author works and the process for taking a manuscript from the call to a book on the shelf.
11. Pitch sessions with editors Wanda Ottewell (Harlequin), Peter Senftleben (Kensington) and Megan McKeever (Pocket Books)
12. Pitch sessions with agents Steven Axelrod (The Axelrod Agency), Alexandra Machinist (Linda Chester Literary Agency) and Vivian Chum (Prospect Agency)
13. Make fabulous writing friends (like me!)

On Saturday local romance readers and authors gathered at the King County Library in the middle of nowhere Covington for a Romance Extravaganza!!

Jacquie Rodgers and Ann Charles: Pre-Published Promotion

Sadly, getting lost, roadwork on the freeway, and Seattle’s gnarly traffic conspired against my attendance at the morning meeting. I caught the last half hour or so… These are my notes, not theirs.

Jacquie and Ann spoke about developing a platform to expand your readership. These tools must include a website (buy your domain name now!), and can include workshops and speeches, mailing lists, and social networking sites like facebook, twitter, goodreads or group blogs.

Three questions to identify when creating your platform:

1. Who are you known as NOW?
2. How do others see you?
3. Where do you want to be a Year from now?

Agents and Editors want to see authors have current websites with interactive elements (such as blogs or newsletters). It needs to be updated frequently so that readers return to the site. A newslist is only meaningful if it has more than 2000 names. They want to see that you’re putting yourself out there. Headshots, which you will put on your website and in the back of your books, should be indicative of your subgenre and writing. Write paranormal? Your picture should be dark and mysterious. Write contemporary romantic comedy? Your picture should be bright, sunny and colorful.

Jacquie encouraged us to find author mentors who is a success in some aspect of promotion that you want to include in your business model. Hers are Stella Cameron for having some of the first book trailers (which are now common), Gerri Russell for networking and establishing a broad reader base, and Rowena Cherry for podcasting greatness. She recommended copromoting on your website by giving away friends’ books. Ann looks up to Jane Porter for always being gracious and kind, Yasmine Galenorn for her disciplen, JA Conrad who has a great publishing for newbies resource on his website, and Jacquie Rodgers for being a social networking whore. She stressed the importance of ALWAYS being gracious, courteous and kind.

The two writers have launched a new website for author and aspiring author promotion: www.1stturningpoint.com

Jayne Ann Krentz defends Pop Fiction

Author Jayne Ann Krentz, who writes Regency romance as Amanda Quick and futuristic romance as Jayne Castle, made an eloquent and uplifting defense of popular fiction. I wanted to stand up and shout “Yes! YES! THAT is why I love the romance genre!” If only I could bottle her speech to replay when needed. A former librarian herself, Jayne applauded librarians for getting romance into the libraries. Culturally, Americans think “if a book is in the library it is somehow a ‘real’ book.” She said that romance authors are not alone – no popular fiction authors feel they get respect.

The prejudice against romance is just a sharp part of the bias against pop fiction in general. The convention and standards held up in literary fiction is a masculine style of writing that abhors sentiment and strong emotion, but his is NOT the style of our historic heroic tradition. It is a relatively recent convention based on psychoanalysis and modern angst. Anything with wide appeal is highly suspect in our culture; it is taken for granted and treated with little respect. But popular fiction has it’s own place in our culture and society. It is NOT watered-down literary fiction. It stands on it’s own and draws its power from the historic heroic tradition – not modern angst. It is wrong to use the standards of literary fiction to judge popular fiction.

Popular Fiction “teaches us we need not be victims, but with courage and honor we can vanquish our fears and triumph over adversary.” – Jayne Ann Krentz

In literary fiction, the protagonists are victims. The genre focuses on their alienation and disfunction: the destructive aspects of the human condition. Popular fiction, on the other hand, pits good against evil on a broad scale. Its protagonists may be victims, but honor, courage, determination and love they triumph despite the hurdles in their path. Pop fiction holds up optimism over despair. It has an enormous survival value. Lit fiction does not hold these values important. It illuminates and examines human neuroses, but does not solve them.

Jayne’s Arcane Society is an effort to tie together her many personas and encourage readers of one subgenre to try the others.

Historical and Paranormal Romance Panels

You can tell we were having a great time!

Amanda Quick, Gerri Russell, and Library Goddess Deborah Schneider (RWA bookseller of year 09)

Stella Cameron, Alexis Morgan and Cherry Adair, (Yasmine Galenorn not pictured)

After the Romance Extravaganza, Cherry Adair invited everyone to a very delicious High Tea, while she regaled us with sage advice on writing, plotting and publishing. While some authors urge us to write the “book of our heart,” Cherry Adair urged us to write in a subgenre that we will want to stick with and continue writing in for many books to come. The food was amazing, the company divine. Looking forward to next year!

It’s that time again: send in your entries to the Emerald City Open (ECO) and sign up for the Emerald City Writer’s Conference for fabulous workshops, the chance to dazzle agents and editors, and a rollicking good time with fellow writers. I had a lovely time last year and intend to be there this year too.

Conference registration begins May 16th.

ECO contest deadline June 1st.

Christine Warren at ECWC 2008

20th Anniversary
Emerald City Writer’s Conference
Sponsored by the Greater Seattle Romance Writer’s of America
October 9-11, 2009
Bellevue Hilton
Bellevue, Washington

• Editor & Agent Appointments
• Educational & Inspirational Sessions
• Bookfair
• Chat Sessions with Your Favorite Authors
• Social Events for Networking

Join us as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the first Emerald City Writers Conference. In addition to group editor and agent appointments, the conference features educational sessions taught by published authors and experts in their field. Classes cover everything from the writing craft to online marketing. Chat sessions with best selling authors are also featured.

The annual bookfair offers opportunities to mingle with your favorite authors. Several social events provide opportunities for networking with other writers, published authors, editors and agents making this annual conference a not-to-miss event.

Our Speakers
Keynote Speaker: Claire Delacroix
Featured Speakers: Lisa Jackson & Christine Warren

Special Guests
Cherry Adair, Elizabeth Boyle, Stella Cameron, Megan Chance, Bob Dugoni, Yasmine Galenorn, Susan Mallery, Bob Mayer, Jane Porter and more!

Editor & Agent Appointments
Registrants are offered the opportunity to pitch in group appointments to editors and agents of their choice; appointments are scheduled on a first come, first served basis, so register today! Emerald City Opener finalists will receive private appointments.

Editors
• Wanda Ottewell, Editor: Harlequin
• Peter Senftleben, Editor: Kensington
NOTE: Peter will also be speaking at a session entitled “The Editor/Author Relationship: How to work with your editor from the call to published book and beyond”
• Megan McKeever, Editor: Pocket Books

Agents
• Steven Axelrod, Agent: The Axelrod Agency
• Alexandra Machinist, Agent: Linda Chester Literary Agency
NOTE: Alexandra is also speaking at a session entitled “What Every Agent Wishes Every Author Knew.”
• Vivian Chum, Agent: Prospect Agency

Registration is limited. To register, visit www.gsrwa.org.

Emerald City Opener
Deadline June 1

Does your first scene compel editors to ask for more?
Your opener is the hook that attracts an editor or makes a potential reader decide to purchase your book.

Polish the first seven pages of your manuscript and send them to the Emerald City Opener Contest. You will receive feedback in the form of detailed score sheets. Your judges (published writers or Golden Heart finalists and winners) are encouraged to include comments on your entry. First, second, and third place winners in each category will receive an award certificate and an individual editor or agent appointment at the Emerald City Writers’ Conference (Oct. 9-11, 2009). In addition, the first place winner in each category will receive a $25 gift card.

The winner of the American Title V contest was announced last night at the RT Booklovers Convention in Orlando. For those of you who’ve been following the blog, you know I’ve been pulling for my writing friend, Seattle RWA member Marie-Claude Bourque. The competition was fierce, but she’d survived round after round until only two contestants were left. She did it! She wins a coveted publishing contract with Dorchester Publishing for her book ANCIENT WHISPERS. Inspired by the poem Evangeline (Longfellow, 1855), ANCIENT WHISPERS is the tale of a immortal bold sorcerer and his quest to be reunited with the fiancée he lost tragically centuries ago.

Go Seattle! Go Seattle! GO!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

News from the Library Goddess, sponsored in part by the Greater Seattle RWA. Don’t you wish you lived here?

Romance Extravaganza

Meet some of your favorite best-selling romance authors on a day dedicated to romance readers and book lovers.

Saturday, May 2, 11:30am–2:30pm

Covington Library

Meet the Authors

11:30am – Keynote Address by Amanda Quick

Noon – Book Signing Party with all participating authors

12:30pm – Historical Romance Panel with Amanda Quick, Elizabeth Boyle and Gerri Russell

1:30pm – Paranormal Romance Panel with Cherry Adair, Stella Cameron, Yasmine Galenorn, Alexis Morgan

Sponsored by the Covington Friends of the Library and the Greater Seattle Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

Books will be for sale at this event.

Today was the first day of the 2008 Emerald City Writers Conference. I met writing friends for breakfast, picked up an editor from the airport, volunteered at registration for five hours, met Cherry Adair, was motivated by Susan Mallery‘s welcome speech and ate too much cake. Tomorrow: Julia Quinn and the Book Fair. I’m verra verra sleepy and still have to blog over at the Desert Island Keepers Blog (come visit me!).

To tide you over, here are some pictures from Cherry Adair’s welcome tea. This year I’m planning to sign up for her “Write the Damn Book” Challenge.

The finalists for the Emerald City Opener writing contest, which judges the first seven pages of a manuscript by non-published authors, were announced this week. Congrats all!:

Single Title
Whatever It Takes, Louise Ahern
Passages, Marion Spicher
A Son By Any Name, Shirley Ann Wilder

Series Romance
Redeeming Claire, Merilee Larson
The Mechanic’s Dream, Catherine McClain
The Bet, Darlene Panzera

Romantic Suspense
Presumed Guilty, Meta Carroll
Catch Me if You Can, Kathy Coatney
A Touch of TNT, Petrina Green

Paranormal
Three Days to Love, Celeste Deveney
When the Earth Moves, SG Shellabarger
A Sweet But Deadly Desire, Laurie Thompson

Historical
From the Ashes, Lecia Cotton Cornwall
A Very Patient Man, SG Shellabarger
The Reluctant Widow, Judy Wiebe

YA
Starstruck, Ruth Kaufman
Asking for It, Shannon Kennedy
Hanging by a Thread, Christine Lashinski

October 10-12, 2008: Emerald City Writers’ Conference, Bellevue Hilton

Registration for the largest annual romance writers’ conference on the west coast is now open!

Emerald City Writers’ Conference

DETAILS

When: October 10-12, 2008 at
Where: The Bellevue Hilton in Bellevue, WA
Reserve Hotel block held through September 17

SCHEDULED SPEAKERS

• Welcome: Susan Mallery
• Key Note: Julia Quinn
• Closing: Allison Brennan
• *Write the DAMN Book!* Challenge: Cherry Adair

AGENTS

• Kim Whalen – Trident Media Group, LLC
• Barbara Poelle – Irene Goodman Literary Agency
• Carolyn Grayson – Ashley Grayson Literary Agency
• Kevan Lyon – Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency

EDITORS

• Leis Pederson – Berkley Books, Penguin Group (USA)
• Angela James – Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
• Deb Werksman – Sourcebooks, Inc.

COST

• GSRWA member – $209 (After August 16 – $239)
• Non-GSRWA member – $229 (After August 16 – $259) (but you should join and be one of the cool kids)
• Regular Registration Closes September 30, 2008

For more info visit: http://www.gsrwa.org/conference.php

Contact Conference Chair conference_chair@gsrwa.com with any questions.

I’ll be there!

Presentation: Writing Forsoothly: Diction in Historical Fiction
Presenter: Cait Donnelly
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2008, 10 am -12 noon
Organization: Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America

Author Cait Donnelly spoke to us Saturday morning on language in historical fiction. She has advanced degrees in linguistics, speaks many languages, and is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. She started off sharing a passage from Marion Zimmer Bradley:

A recent radio advertisement concluded, ‘We giveth, thou takesth away.’ Unfortunately, all too many attempts to ‘write forsoothly’ are on that level. Many people seem to be under the impression that all they have to do to make their writing sound Medieval or Renaissance in style is to misspell as many words as possible, tackon a few es which don’t belong at the ends of the words, and sprinkle in a liberal allowance of thees and thous-interchangeably-and add a few archaic endings, dripping them in anywhere.

Ms. Donnelly’s advice on writing forsoothly: Don’t do it.

It’s easy to screw up. A historical setting does not mean that all characters must speak old English. Vikings, for instance, spoke old Norse – they did not speak with thou/thoughtst/thy/needst or other silliness. These anachronisms bump the reader out of the story. They do not help advance the setting or plot. Even if you do enough research to understand the language/accent of your character – don’t write it out phonetically. The purpose of fiction is not to show off your language skills; it’s to tell a story. The purpose of dialog is communication. If you want to show off your amazing linguistic scholarship – write a thesis. Accents should only be hinted at, and even then they should taper off through the novel. The reader doesn’t need to be reminded every time your character opens his mouth. Ms. Donnelly reminds us that there has never been a language that is simple to the people who spoke it; every language is sufficient unto its culture.

So how does a good author communicate the setting and time period in historical fiction? From the phrases, costumes and thoughts. Historical characters should have assumptions that are true to the period. Social stratification, scientific knowledge, fate, predestination, magical thinking – these can all be used to give a sense of time and place without resorting to old English.

Research your metaphors. What does the original wording refer to? Many phrases we use, such as “Going off half cocked,” refer to early guns, which didn’t exist in the middle ages. Clocks weren’t around until the 1600s, so time was more fluid. People measured time by the church bells, which rang every three hours starting around 6 am every day. Indoors people had marked candles to measure time – each hour the candle would burn down another mark. No one cared about precise time – there were no minutes or seconds.

“Just a pulsebeat, darling!”

Many words have changed meaning over the centuries, and here author notes are your best friend. Use these notes to show off your research and explain the choices you made in your story to head off criticism.

Ms. Donnelly recommends:

Authors who do it really well

• Anya Seton, Katherine
• Roberta Gellis, The Roselynde Chronicals (reigns of Richard I, John and Henry III)
• Mary Renault’s Greek novels (The King Must Die through Funeral Games)
• Anything by Dorothy Dunnett

Presentation: Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need
Presenter: Blake Snyder
Date: January 18, 2008, 7 pm
Organization: Greater Seattle Romance Writers of America

I didn’t know what to expect when I showed up to the crowded classroom at the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center Friday night. I wasn’t writing a screenplay. What could a screen writer teach me about writing a romance novel? As it turns out – a LOT. Mr. Snyder was funny, inspiring, and informative. I recommend attending one of his talks no matter what medium or genre you write. Move over Joseph Campbell, Blake Snyder’s 15 beats are straightforward and essential to developing a successful story line! (Threshold Guardian? Meeting with the Goddess? Yeah, ’bout time someone simplified it!)

What does “Save the Cat!” refer to? It is a ritualistic moment early on in the story where the hero does something noble, like saving a cat, making the audience like him and root for him for the rest of the story. It is a vital part of introducing the hero.

Mr. Snyder started off by listing similarities between screen writing and romance writing. Both are structured, targeted at specific markets, and criticized at being formulaic. Neither genre is formulaic: both use particular types of a wide variety of stories but follow the same structure. Structure does not equal formula.

“All stories are about transformation,” he argued. “In every story a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.”

Love stories are about transformation in which the hero and heroine’s lives change for having met the other. There are 5 types of love stories: Romantic-Comedy (romcom) Love, which features mistaken idenity, confusion or lies that keep the hero and heroine apart through the story despite their attraction; Epic Love, such as Lord of the Rings, Titanic, and Last of the Mohicans; Pet Love, such as Free Willy, Black Stallion, or ET; Forbidden Love, such as Romeo and Juliet and Brokeback Mountain; and Professional Love, such as Lethal Weapon.

The rules of love stories are that the hero and heroine must hate each other but also have to be together. These two warring desires create the tension and conflict that drive the story. If the hero is a fireman, the heroine should be a pyromaniac. There must be sufficient conflict so that both main characters must transform to achieve their Happily Ever After.

Mr. Snyder stressed the importance of starting off with a poster or hook before writing the story. If you can’t sum up your story in one or two sentences, or with a movie poster, then you don’t have a story. You should never have to explain scene by scene to tell what your story is about. He suggested hitting up the local Starbucks to test your hook on a random stranger in line. His example: “Would you see this movie: Granny – she’s off her rocker?” The poster/hook is usually taken from the Fun & Games section of the story.

Titles are also important. For instance, in Born in Fire by Nora Roberts, the title is referenced all the way through the book. It refers both to Maggie’s glass art, which is made in fire, and also to Maggie herself, who is conceived in passion but not a lasting love. She struggles with this herself – is her relationship with the hero also born in fire? Or is it really love? Does it burn so hot it cannot last? Or is it like the glass teardrops that are born in the fire but are so hard they can’t be broken on rock?

Mr. Snyder used Born in Fire to illustrate his 15 Beats of story structure:

The only person not transformed by the story is Maggie’s mother. Brianna eagerly awaits the sequel (as do I!).

NOTE: The Theme is stated on page 13 by Maggie’s father “A marriage is a delicate thing, Maggie, a balance of two hearts and two hopes. Sometimes the weight’s just too heavy on the one side, and the other can’t lift to it.”

Mr. Snyder also spoke briefly on the “Bad Dialogue Test“, in which you cover up the name of the characters and try to guess who is speaking just by the diction and lexicon. He also told of the “Pope in the Pool” method of burying exposition by drawing the audience’s eye to something startling (like a pope swimming in a pool) to distract them from the background information dump.

I realized during the talk that I have been naturally crafting my story along the lines of the 15 beats, but I didn’t have them cemented in my head. It is incredibly helpful to have them laid out so clearly for me. I was also inspired by the idea of a movie poster as the hook for a story. I definitely have a poster (aka book cover) in mind for my novel: a woman in a Regency ball gown waltzing with a man also in elegant Regency attire; Her back is to us, but she is looking back over her shoulder to give an audacious wink and mischievous smile. One hand is holding up her skirts and her heel is kicked back, displaying the modern running shoes under her ball gown. (It’s a time travel regency romance.) It is very clear in my head, and I’ll do my best to draw you a picture of it in the coming week.

I won a free autographed copy of his book. I can’t remember ever winning a drawing before. It was quite thrilling.

Thank you Blake Snyder for your wonderful talk and thanks to the Greater Seattle RWA chapter for asking him to speak!