Jumpstart Master Class 2009

Jumpstart Master Class: October 30 - November 5, 2009

We are thrilled to bring you the third annual, highly successful JUMPSTART MASTER CLASS, directly preceding the retreat weekend. In this exciting week, four best-selling, award-winning authors will lead beginner and intermediate workshops in all the important craft aspects of writing, which will allow you to give that first, second or third novel a real kickstart. Three workshops per day plus group manuscript critiquing in the evenings are included in this super intensive week.

2009 Jumpstart Masterclass Teachers

For bios, click here

Tentative Schedule

NOTE: This is still LAST YEAR’s schedule. Will be updated after the new year when all the teachers have been selected.

Fri Oct 30:

5:00pm Arrival and Check-in
6:30pm Welcome and Dinner

Sat Oct 31:

8:00 - 9:00am Breakfast
9:30 - 11:30am Introduction – Chasing the Muse: 4 secrets to writing success - CJ Lyons
12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch
2:00 - 3:00pm A No-Nonsense Guide to Point-of-View - Nina Bruhns
3:30 - 4:30pm Using Theme and Motif for Story Design - Alicia Rasley
7:30pm Critiquing with Rita, CJ and Alicia
-or- 7:30pm Extra help with the basics (structure, plot, POV, pacing, etc) - Nina Bruhns

Sun Nov 1:

8:00 - 9:00am Breakfast
10:00 - 11:00am Intro to Contracts and the Business of Writing - Nina Bruhns
12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch
2:00 - 3:00pm Break free from the Slushpile - CJ Lyons
3:30 - 4:30pm An Editor’s POV on Opening Chapters and Synopsis– Alicia Rasley
7:30pm Critiquing with Rita, CJ, Alicia and guest author
-or- 7:30pm Extra help with the basics (structure, plot, POV, pacing, etc) - Nina Bruhns

Mon Nov 2:

8:00 - 9:00am Breakfast
10:00 - 11:00am Character Goals as a Clue to the Inner Life- Alicia Rasley
12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch
2:00 - 3:00pm Creating 3-D Characters - CJ Lyons
3:30 - 4:30pm Spilling the Beans: Secrets, Lies, and Backstory – Rita Herron
7:30pm Critiquing with Rita, CJ and Alicia

Tues Nov 3:

8:00 - 9:00am Breakfast
10:00 - 11:00am Show Don’t Tell– Rita Herron
12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch
2:00 - 3:00pm Inside Scenes: Aiming towards the Surprise — Alicia Rasley
3:30 - 4:30pm Building your Brand - CJ Lyons
7:30pm Critiquing with Rita, CJ, and Alicia

Wed Nov 4:

8:00 - 9:00am Breakfast
10:00 - 11:00am Emotion without Sentimentality– Alicia Rasley
12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch
2:00 - 3:00pm World Building, CJ Lyons and special guest Robin Owens
3:30 - 4:30pm Top Ten Ways to Polish Your Manuscript – Rita Herron
7:30pm Critiquing with Rita, CJ, Alicia, and guest author Robin Owens

Thu Nov 5:

8:00 - 9:00am Breakfast
10 am - Check-out for everyone not staying for the weekend Retreat

ALEXANDRA SOKOLOFF

After attending college at UC Berkley, Alex moved to Los Angeles, where she has made an interesting living writing novel adaptations and original suspense and horror scripts for numerous Hollywood studios (Sony, Fox, Disney, Miramax), for producers such as Michael Bay, David Heyman, Laura Ziskin and Neal Moritz. Her adaptation of Sabine Deitmer’s psychological thriller Cold Kisses, co-written with Kimball Greenough and Thomas Reuter, was filmed in Germany by director Carl Schenkel. The Harrowing, her debut ghost story, was nominated for both a Bram Stoker award (horror) and an Anthony award (mystery), for Best First Novel. The book is based on real experiences from her high school and college years. The psychological undercurrents of the story are drawn from her experience teaching emotionally disturbed and incarcerated teenagers in the Los Angeles County prison system.

Her second novel of dark suspense, The Price, explores troubling questions of what people will do for love, or personal survival, in the eerie setting of a labyrinthine Boston hospital. She has also contracted with St. Martin’s Press for her next two supernatural thrillers, both slated for release in 2009.

In her free time (!) Alex enjoys adventure travel and all kinds of dance, which she has also taught, and performs in the all-author Killer Thriller Band, and with Heather Graham’s Slush Pile Players. She recently completed a term on the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, west, and is the founder of WriterAction.com, a large and unruly online community of over 2000 professional screenwriters.

She can be found blogging at Murderati.com and with MUSE, a new collective of female dark suspense authors. www.alexandrasokoloff.com

DIANE PERSHING

For years, Diane made her living as an actress and singer. She was extremely contented in these professions, except for one problem—there was way too much “own time,” and she worried that her brain was atrophying. She’d been a voracious reader since childhood, so she took up pen and paper and began writing, first for television (staff writer on “The Love Boat,”) then as a movie critic, then as a Romance novelist. She began chapter one of that first novel in the spirit of “What do I have to lose?” As an actress, she was already used to appearing foolish—what was one more time?

She was lucky enough to sell that first effort in 1991, and has published nineteen more since—straight romance, romantic comedy, and in the past few years, romantic suspense. Along the way, her books have won some awards (The Golden Quill, the Aspen Gold, The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Orange Rose); her books have been finalists in several other contests, including the Romance Writers of America RITA Awards, in 2004.

Diane is happy to report that there is no more “down time” in her life; indeed, with writing and acting—and teaching classes in both—as well as being a well-regarded speaker at writers’ conferences, she now faces the dilemma of not having enough time, which she says is a “quality” problem, indeed. Diane will be concluding her year as President of Romance Writers of America on October 31, 2009, and can’t wait to join everyone on the beach in South Carolina.

TRACY MONTOYA
Tracy Montoya writes “chilling romantic suspense with the occasional inappropriate outburst of dark humor” for Harlequin Intrigue. Her books have won the Daphne du Maurier award, the Beacon Award, and the Golden Quill award for romantic suspense. By day, she also telecommutes from Florida as Editor for an environmental and social justice nonprofit in Washington, DC. A member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists, Tracy has written about everything from Booker Prize-winning poet Martín Espada to socially responsible mutual funds to soap opera summits. Her articles have appeared in a variety of publications, including Hope, Martha Stewart’s Body + Soul, Utne Reader, Satya, YES!, Audubon, and the National Green Pages. Prior to launching her journalism career, she taught in an underresourced school in Louisiana through the AmeriCorps Teach for America program.

Tracy holds a Master’s degree with distinction in English literature from Boston College and a B.A. in the same from St. Mary’s University. Married to a recently retired Naval officer and Iraq war veteran, she’s lived in just about every region of the US, as well as Honduras and South Korea. When she’s not writing or chasing around her two gorgeous prechool-aged daughters, she likes to scuba dive, forget to go to Pilates class, wallow in bed with a good book, or get out her guitar with a group of friends and pretend she’s Suzanne Vega.

NINA BRUHNS

Bestselling author and RITA nominee Nina Bruhns’ novels contain a unique blend of interesting characters and settings, twisty suspense and sizzling romance. Considered by many as one of the signature Silhouette Romantic Suspense authors, Nina has just begun writing single titles for Berkley Publishing. The first, SHOOT TO THRILL, will be released in the fall of 2009. Nina also writes very edgy erotic women’s fiction under the pen name Nikita Black. Her SLAVE TO LOVE came out in 2007.

Nina was a 2007 and 2008 Rita nominee and winner of three Daphne du Maurier Best Overall Romantic Suspense Novel awards over the past decade, as well as a National Readers Choice and Romantic Times award winner, among many other awards and honors. She has taught numerous courses and workshops from university fiction writing to RWA National conference workshops.

Jumpstart Master Class Fee*:

Full Board:      
$500,   LRWA: $50 discount
Includes workshops, shared room with own bed, sofa-bed or fouton (two shared king beds), breakfasts and lunches

Daytrippers:
$250,   LRWA: $50 discount
Includes workshops and lunches
email for nearby hotel recommendations

* The fine print: Deposit required. After Aug 1 full payment required. Refunds will be given for written cancellations (minus a $50 handling fee) received on or before June 30, 2009. After July 1, 2009, refunds will be given (minus the deposit) only if we are able to fill your reserved spot.

The beachfront mansion is within a few blocks of a grocery store, several great restaurants, and a quaint island shopping area. Historic downtown Charleston is a short 15 minute drive. Charleston International Airport is just 25 minutes away.

ALL reservations will be taken on a first-come-first-served basis.

Please click here for lots of pictures of this incredible beach-front mansion, including the individual bedrooms.

Questions?