Lowcountry RWA Programs
In general, the LRWA programs are presented on the fourth Saturday of each month following a chapter meeting (members only) held 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m and a Lunch/Networking session from 12:00 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. All programs, unless otherwise posted, start at 1:00 p.m. The lunch session and speaker program are open to the public. All interested and aspiring writers are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Directions to Logans Roadhouse Restaurant:
From I-26, take exit 199 (Rt 17A) toward Summerville. At the second light, turn right into Azalea Square shopping center. Logans is on the left, just before the movie theater.
For additional information, please check the monthly schedule below or contact our Programs Director.
2009 Program Schedule:
Click for month: JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
MARCH 28, 2009 — Annual LRWA Luncheon with Karen White — “Writing with Duct Tape–Using Emotion to Create Characters That Stick With Your Reader”***
Location: Oscar’s, 207 West 5th North Street (hwy 78), Summerville, SC 29483
Time: Workshop 10:45 am; lunch 12:00 noon **please note new time**
Directions: Take Exit 199-A off I-26. Continue straight on 17-A to intersection of 17-A and Hwy 78 (there will be a Checker’s on your left). Take a right at this light onto Hwy 78 (W 5th N St). Go through the next light. Oscar’s is on your right. Oscar’s website
Speaker Bio: After playing hooky one day in the seventh grade to read GONE WITH THE WIND, Karen White knew she wanted to be a writer—or become Scarlett O’Hara. In spite of these aspirations, Karen pursued a degree in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. Ten years later, after leaving the business world, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer and wrote her first book. IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON was published in August, 2000. This book was nominated for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award in 2001 in two separate categories. Her books have since been nominated for or won numerous national contests including another RITA, the Georgia Author of the Year Award and in 2008 won the National Readers’ Choice Award for LEARNING TO BREATHE.
Ms. White currently writes what she refers to as ‘grit lit’ and has recently expanded her horizons into writing a mystery series set in Charleston. Her tenth novel, THE LOST HOURS, will be released in trade paperback by New American Library, a division of Penguin Publishing Group, in April 2009.
Workshop Blurb: Award-winning women’s fiction author Karen White demonstrates how to grab a reader by the heart strings and pull her into your story. Using examples and hands-on exercises, Karen will help you go deeper to create memorable characters and books that will captivate an editor and will make readers want for their keeper shelf.
***Ms. White will also speak at the luncheon. Her topic will be ” Writing the Book of Your Heart and Getting Away With It” — how she wrote twelve books in five genres and managed to succeed anyway.
APRIL 25, 2009 — All-Day Workshop with Renee Halverson w/a Renee Ryan — “The Art of Layering: From First Draft to Final Manuscript”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions see above)
Time: 11:00 am to 3:00 Pm
Speaker Bio: Renee Ryan sold her first book, Extreme Measures, to Dorchester Publishing by winning the inaugural New Historical Voice Contest in 2002. In 2006 she sold her first Inspirational Romance to Steeple Hill’s new Love Inspired Historical line (LIH). The Marshall Takes a Bride, Book One in the Charity House series, became a February 2009 release for LIH. Hannah’s Beau, Book Two in the Charity House series, will be a July 2009 release. She has more books coming out in 2010 and early 2011. Learn more at www.ReneeRyan.com.
Workshop Blurb: “The Art of Layering: From First Draft to Final Manuscript” will give writers eight concrete steps to take them from first draft to final, polished manuscript. The first draft is always the first component of writing any novel. Consequently, getting that first draft onto a blank page is all about getting words on paper. The second, third and subsequent drafts are where layering comes. Workshop attendees should bring the opening chapters of their work-in-progress. Throughout the day, Renee will not only introduce layering techniques but then help authors layer in the necessary components of movement, emotion, the five senses, setting, dialogue, back story, and sexual tension to their stories.
MAY 30, 2009 — Suzanne Adair — “Plotting with the Hero’s Journey: 12 Essential Steps to the Elixir”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Speaker Bio: : Suzanne Adair is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Historical Novel Society. Paper Woman (2006), the first book of her historical mystery/suspense series, received the Patrick D. Smith Literature Award from the Florida Historical Society. The Blacksmith’s Daughter (2007) and Camp Follower (2008) continue her fictional ventures into the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. Adair is a graduate of RWA author Mary Buckham’s online course on the Hero’s Journey and has presented “Plotting with the Hero’s Journey” for the High Country Writers and at the Moonlight and Magnolias and Carolinas Writers conferences. Visit her web site ( www.suzanneadair.com) and author blog ( www.suzanneadair.typepad.com) for more information and an event calendar.
Workshop Blurb: Bland beginning, saggy middle, or fizzled ending? If your plot lacks momentum, join award-winning historical mystery/suspense novelist Suzanne Adair for a workshop identifying the twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey. This venerable storytelling framework has integrated themes, characters, conflicts, and values for thousands of years. To illuminate where your plot might be slumping, she’ll discuss crucial challenges each stage brings to a protagonist and why omitting even one stage can cripple a manuscript.
JUNE 27, 2009 — Dr. Christina Sinisi — “Psychological Aspects of Attraction”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Speaker Bio: In her writing life, Lexie O’Neill has been a member of LRWA since 2002. She waited to submit her writing until she thought it was “good enough” which would have been never if fellow LRWA members hadn’t given her a push. In the last year and few months, she’s been a finalist in the Linda Howard Award of Excellence Contest, the American Title IV, and the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. She is a professor of psychology at a small southeastern college with over 60 conference presentations and 15 professional publications on her resume. Her research has focused on volunteerism and parenting—and other social issues such as date rape and popularity. The psychology of attraction shouldn’t be a far step…
Workshop Blurb: Psychological research studies will be used to stimulate discussion as to what makes someone attractive–what has been found to be important and what has not. Studies have even gotten to the point of describing chin shape–important–and similar backgrounds–not important, or at least so people say in polls. Participants will complete a survey and a hands-on activity.
JULY 25, 2009 — Re-cap of and Q & A session about 2009 RWA National
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Workshop Blurb: Re-cap of and Q & A session about 2009 National RWA conference highlights presented by LRWA members. Submit your ideas for presentation and/or questions regarding the conference by July 23rd to Kieran Kramer so she can work up a quick overview handout before the meeting.
AUGUST 22, 2009 — Al Chaput — “The First Five Hundred Words”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions, see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Speaker bio: Al has finaled in the Single Title Contemporary, Women’s Fiction and Mainstream categories of numerous RWA contests and placed first in a half dozen. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America. He and his wife live in coastal South Carolina
Workshop blurb: The opening scene in your current novel is nothing less than the most important writing you have ever done. It can make or break a sale. This workshop offers concrete tips on how to focus and improve your FIRST FIVE HUNDRED WORDS
SEPTEMBER 26, 2009 — CJ Lyons — “Break Free From the Slush Pile”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions, see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Speaker bio: Award winning medical suspense author CJ Lyons is a physician trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine. She has assisted police and prosecutors with cases involving child abuse, rape, homicide and Munchausen by Proxy and has worked in several trauma centers, on the Navajo reservation, as a crisis counselor, victim’s advocate, as well as a flight physician for Life Flight. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. Her writing has appeared in Romantic Times BookReviews, CrimeSpree and Spinetingler. Her debut novel, LIFELINES, came out from Berkley in March, 2008. Her next novel in the series, WARNING SIGNS, came out in January 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net.
Workshop blurb: This workshop focuses on queries, hooks and pitches. By the end, you will have a polished query letter, blurb and feedback on your opening page.
OCTOBER 24, 2009 — Kieran Kramer — “Top Ten Ways to Write the Book Faster”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Speaker Bio: Maggie finalist and LRWA member Kieran Kramer is a former editor, English teacher, and freelance writer who now writes humorous Regency-set historical romances. She recently wrote a 100,000-word romance in 3o days.
Workshop Blurb: That book you’ve been working on for a year or more really can be written faster! Once you realize that you’re in charge–and not the manuscript–you’ll whip it out faster than you ever believed possible. Come prepared for a little Zen mixed with a hard dose of plain speaking, and walk away inspired to get to THE END sooner rather than later!
NOVEMBER 21, 2009 — Gwen Hunter — “Character and Conflict, a Marriage Made in Heaven”
Location: Logans Roadhouse Restaurant, Azalea Square, Summerville (for directions see above)
Time: general meeting, lunch, and networking 11:30 a.m; workshop 1:00 p.m.
Speaker Bio: Under her pan name Gwen Hunter, she writes action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers, and is still tweaking a screenplay with a co-writer. As Faith Hunter, she writes dark urban fantasy. As both parts of her schizoid self, she has 18 books in print in 24 countries. For more, including a list of her books, see www.faithhunter.net and www.gwenhunter.com.
Workshop Blurb: To Be Announced
DECEMBER 19, 2009 — Annual LRWA Holiday party
Location: Kieran Kramer’s house in Summerville
Time: Noon to 3:00pm
Details: Bring a $5 gift if you want to participate in the gift exchange (this is not manadatory!). Call Kieran and let her know if you can bring a sweet or savory dish to share. Friends and family are welcome. New Years’ Writing Resolutions jar will be left by the front door–get those writing goals for 2010 on paper. Prizes will be awarded to those who met at least one of their writing resolutions for 2009.
Click to email the Programs Director