41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Have You Met the Faculty of the 41st Southeastern Writers Workshop?
We have hired a diverse group of successful writers to teach our classes this year! In addition to their classes, faculty members will be available to meet one-on-one with our attendees and share mealtimes and social hours so students can really get to know them. So let me introduce you...
Agent-in-Residence: Jeanie Loiacono, CEO and President of the Loiacono Literary Agency
Jeanie is the agent for SWA Board of Directors members John House and Buzz Bernard. While Jeanie's favorites are mystery/thrillers, romance, historical, and southern fiction, she and her agents seek most fiction genres, plus memoirs, general nonfiction, YA and children's books. The agency’s motto is “Where ‘can’t’ is not in our vocabulary!”
Publisher: Bob Babcock, Founder and CEO of Deeds Publishing
Based in Athens, Georgia, Deeds Publishing is a family-owned publishing company, offering both traditional and custom publishing as well as consulting, editing, ghost writing, layout, and design services. “We can help new authors navigate the intimidating path from manuscript to published book, and we can also help seasoned writers publish their next masterpiece.” Deeds has published 150 books – fiction and nonfiction – since opening in 2005.
Novel: David Fulmer
A former journalist, David is an award-winning author of mystery/thrillers, such as Chasing the Devil's Tale (a Shamus Award winner for Best First Novel), The Blue Door and Rampart Street. David was chosen as the Georgia Author of the Year for Fiction in 2006 for Jass, and on multiple “Best Book” lists since 2001, including in the Los Angeles Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, BookList, Library Journal, among others.
Nonfiction: Jedwin Smith
A 2-time Pulitzer nominee, Jedwin was the recipient of 57 major writing awards during his 36 years as a print journalist, traveling wherever the story led: Lebanon, Ethiopia, to the ocean's depths and to the clouds in the sky when he co-piloted WWII fighter aircraft. He has written three books, including Fatal Treasure about treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his search for the Atocha, the richest of all Spanish treasure galleons, and the memoir Our Brother's Keeper.
Young Adult Fiction: Michele Roper a.k.a Gillian Summers
Michele partners with Berta Platas (a former SWA instructor) to write fantasy novels as Gillian Summers, including The Scions of Shadow Trilogy series and Faire Folk Trilogy. Under her name, Michele recently released the first title in a fantasy series on Kindle: Yuletide at the Country Dragon Veterinary Hospital: The Dragon Healer Chronicles.
Screenwriting: Michael Lucker
Michael is a returning instructor for us from many years ago. As a screenwriter, he has created more then twenty feature screenplays for studios such as Paramount, Disney, DreamWorks, Fox and Universal, including "Vampire in Brooklyn," "Home On the Range" and "Spirit," a nominee for Academy Award in 2002. In television, Michael has worked with Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, History Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, Weather Chanel, OWN, TLC, A&E, HGTV, DIY, MSNBC, NBC and TBS. His company, Lucky Dog Filmworks, now serves as his home for writing, directing, producing and consulting. He lectures at Screenwriter School and Emory University.
Commercial Writing: Peter Bowerman
Veteran commercial freelancer Peter Bowerman will lead attendees into the lucrative field of freelancing-writing for businesses. He will discuss the skills you need, why companies outsource, where the work is, how to get it, what to charge, networking strategies, and more. Peter is the author of the award-winning The Well-Fed Writer, The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds and The Well-Fed Self-Publisher, and his client list has included The Coca-Cola Company, BellSouth, IBM and many others.
Marketing: My Write Platform
My Write Platform is the brainchild of mother-daughter team Debra and Meredith Brown. They taught marketing and social media for us a few years ago to great reviews so we are glad to have them back. Both are published and award-winning writers. Debra has vast experience marketing in the business world and Meredith has worked in the magazine industry and as a literary agent. Many SWA authors are included among My Write Platform’s clients.
Keynote Speaker: Janet Sheppard Kelleher
Janet is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, columnist, and speaker, living in South Carolina. Her memoir Big C, little ta-ta, was the Hal Bernard Memorial Award for Nonfiction winner at the 2011 Southeastern Writers Workshop. Published in October 2015, it is now an Amazon Best-Seller. Her work has appeared in various editions of Not Your Mother’s Book, Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Petigru Review and others. In 2015, she became an internet sensation for her pink “Chemo-Hawk”, garnering national attention, like an interviewed by the “Today Show” and being chosen as the keynote speaker at the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Register today!
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
WIN SOME CASH! FINAL DAYS!
The Countdown Is On!
The deadline for submitting to SWA's 9 Workshop Contests is May 15 (@11:59pm)!
The 2016 Contests
- The Hal Bernard Memorial Award for Novel
- The G.T. Youngblood Award for Short Fiction
- The Vega Award for Speculative Short Fiction
- The Julie L. Cannon Award
- The Bill Westhead Memorial Award
- The Angel Award for Holiday Seasonal Writing
- The Thomas Max "You Are Published" Contest
- The Award for Excellence in Inspirational Writing
- The Humor Award
★ NO Entry Fees* ★ Cash Prizes ★
See the complete guidelines here. Look at some of our happy 2015 winners! That could be you!
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Meet Our Scholarship Winners!
Congratulations to Charles Harned and Teresa Durham!
We look forward to seeing you in June!
Many thanks to all our fine applicants!
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
WIN SOME CASH!!!
Join us for the 41st Southeastern Writers Workshop, June 17-21, and you can submit any or all of our contests ~ for FREE!
Register for one day or all four ~ there's no minimum requirement! And there a so many contests to choose from! Do you have a novel, a short story? Maybe humor, inspirational or personal narratives? No matter! There's a contest for you! And best of all...
Every contests awards CASH PRIZES!!
2016 CONTESTS:
- The Hal Bernard Memorial Award for Novel
- The G.T. Youngblood Award for Short Fiction
- The Vega Award for Speculative Short Fiction
- The Julie L. Cannon Award
- The Bill Westhead Memorial Award
- The Angel Award for Holiday Seasonal Writing
- The Thomas Max "You Are Published" Contest
- The Award for Excellence in Inspirational Writing
- The Humor Award
The submission DEADLINE IS May 15, 2016.
Read the full guidelines on our website.
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Get Up To 3 FREE!
What would you give to have an award-winning author give you pointers on your manuscript?
Join us for the 41st Southeastern Writers Workshop, June 17-21, and you can submit up to 3 manuscripts for evaluation by our faculty ~ for FREE!*
For 2016, we have 4 categories for MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUES:
- Novel (Evaluator: David Fulmer)
- The first chapter and a five-page synopsis
- Nonfiction (Evaluator: Jedwin Smith)
- The first chapter and a five-page synopsis –OR– Complete manuscript not over 1500 words
- YA Fiction (Evaluator: Michele Roper)
- The first chapter and a five-page synopsis
- Screenplay (Evaluator: Michael Lucker)
- The first 10 pages and a 3-page synopsis
The submission DEADLINE IS May 28, 2016.
* 2-day minimum registration required.
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016
Epworth by the Sea
St. Simons Island, Georgia
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
A Lesson Learned From Another Writer’s Works
I learn
something from every book I read. Today I re-learned the danger lurking in
character names. In one paragraph, the author had Jamie, Jennifer and Jimmy.
One danger is using a name that is acceptable for either sex. I had to think
back to remember Jamie was not a guy. A couple of paragraphs later, a last name
was mentioned. Oops. Whose last name?
Yes, the
full name was given earlier, on a page I read yesterday, and I couldn’t
remember the connection. I’ve read books by that author before—a national
award-winning writer who is VERY successful—and I’ve had the same problem.
First names give way to last names over and over—takes awhile for me to get
them all straight, and I “ain’t no dummy.” Makes me wonder how easy it is for
other readers to keep ‘em straight.
I have
always tried to make it easy for my reader to recognize my characters’ names by
the same rule a speaker is supposed to follow. The KISS rule, “Keep it simple,
Stupid.” (The Stupid refers to the speaker and the author.)
I give ‘em
a name, continue to use it, and keep in unlike any other character’s name.
In my
upcoming memoir, I had to change names of real people because there three men
with the same name: Bob the hunter, Bob
the game warden, and Bob the judge. I changed the hunter’s name, but each time
I mention the warden or the judge, I made it clear who was who. By the same
token, I try to keep the story/writing above the “simple” because if I don’t, I’ll lose the
reader in the first couple of pages.
I think the
most important aspect of writing is to avoid confusing the reader—and thereby
losing the reader, who won’t come back for another book.
Susan’s novel When Darkness Fell won the Indie Award for best Regional Fiction. Her first novel The Bottom Rail placed as semifinalist in the Georgia Author of the Year Awards for first novel. Two short stories won first place in their genres from the Knoxville Writers Guild in 2015. She has won numerous awards for fiction, nonfiction and poetry at various SWA workshops. She has eight published books, two at the publishers.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Lessons Learned from a Private Investigator
from FundsforWriters, Volume 16, Issue 14
I write mystery, so that means I'm reading and researching sites, blogs, and books by cops, agents, and private investigators to make my work more authentic. However, in reading a PI site (Diligentia Group), I found the following post about lessons learned over the years as an investigator. I wasn't three items into it before I saw these lessons could be applicable to writers.
http://www.diligentiagroup.com/legal-investigation/17-lessons-i-learned-from-15-years-as-a-private-investigator/
- Always be learning. Learn by doing and observing others.
- Know thyself. Know your strengths and where you need help, and don't be shy about either.
- Differentiate yourself. Don't be ordinary. Create a brand.
- Authenticity. Being genuine and authentic is very attractive these days when the world is wrought with fake and "Buy my book."
- Stick to your principles. Be honest and straightforward. Protect your reputation.
- Be helpful. Good things happen when you lend a helping hand.
- Don't be everything to everyone. Pick your genre, find your readership base, and avoid trying to write for every reader out there.
- Do work you are proud of. If you write slow, so be it. If you write Christian, erotica, YA; whatever the style, voice and genre, own it.
- You are never the smartest or dumbest person in the room. Ask questions. Learn more. Help others do the same.
- Don't stop thinking of new ideas. You're in a creative environment, and change is happening all around you. Be constantly seeking ways to be unique.
- Adapt. This industry changes fast. Roll with that change.
- Embrace technology. Yes, that means learning ways to publish, brand, and network, whether you like it or not.
- Follow the facts. Make decisions or form opinions based upon fact, not rumors, gossip, innuendos, or half-truths.
- Be inspired. Be aware of the world around you.
- Do great work. Don't shortchange the quality of your writing.
- Be skeptical. Operate with a critical eye. Don't fall for the latest class, how-to, software, or book that claims to teach you the perfect way to [fill in the blank].
- Persistence. Probably the most important of the list, persistence carries you through those times when you think you should not be writing.
Amazing the similarity, huh?
Thanks ~ Hope
C. Hope Clark is a freelance writing expert, author of the award-winning Carolina Slade Mystery Series, and the Edisto Island Mystery Series, and editor of FundsforWriters.com, a weekly newsletter service that reaches 40,000+ writers. Learn more at her website chopeclark.com
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Make the Most of Pivot Points
from "I Need Coffee" on the Huffington Post
Attorney Katie Rose Guest Pryal writes the blog I Need Coffee, a blog covering all things writing with the aim toward how to make a living writing. Katie is also the author of Entanglement: A Novel and Love and Entropy: A Novella and a contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Toast, Dame Magazine, and other national venues. She recently discussed ways climb out of your "rut," banish your "funk" and knock through your "block." Below is a excerpt:
"...So I decided I needed a different metaphor for thinking about this kind of writing space, a metaphor that’s less negative than, say, “rut.” I settled on the phrase “pivot point.”
"A pivot point, at its most basic, is the center of any rotational system.
"In basketball, you plant your pivot foot so you can move while not getting called for a traveling violation. That’s a good thing.
"When you are drawing with an old-fashioned compass, you firmly plant the sharp tip as your pivot point, and then you rotate the clamped pencil around it to create a perfect circle. That’s a good thing, too, so long as you didn’t accidentally stab yourself with the compass point.
"A train engine on a turntable rotates on a central pivot point, allowing something immensely heavy to change direction and head off another way. That’s kind of amazing, actually.
"Examples of pivot points abound. The examples are important because I really want to stop thinking about funks, ruts, and plateaus. I want to embrace these moments as moments of possibility rather than impossibility. (I sound very new-agey and unlike my ordinary practical self, but what I’m suggesting is very practical. Please bear with me.)
"At a pivot point, you do, indeed, stop moving forward. But you also have a multitude of possibilities around you. You pause in your forward progress, and you look around, taking in the different paths, and then pick a new one..."
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
ReBlogs: How A Novel Is Conceived
I grew up in western Oregon. It seemed, at least in terms of natural threats, a bucolic place in which to spend my youth. For instance, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes there were about as common as the Northern Lights in Georgia. Hurricanes were nonexistent. Such storms are born over warm oceans. If you’ve ever dipped a toe into the Pacific along the Oregon coast, you know it’s water in which Polar Bear Plungers could train even in August.
There were the occasional big winter storms, of course. But they certainly didn’t bear the DNA common to the meteorological monsters that inhabit other parts of the nation. I did, incidentally, experience the Northwest’s “Big Blow” in 1962 that hurled winds over 100 mph into Portland. Scary, but hardly Cat-5 stuff.
We’d get decent snowstorms once in awhile, too. But true blizzard conditions were rare (see Northern Lights comment above.)
Earthquakes? I recall a decent little shake in the late ‘40s, but Northwesterners didn’t dwell on such things....
Read the remainder of Buzz's article.
H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is a best-selling, award-winning novelist. His novels include Blizzard (the most recent), Eyewall, Plague and Supercell. Buzz is a native Oregonian and attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he earned a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science; he also studied creative writing. He’s currently vice president of the Southeastern Writers Association. He and his wife Christina live in Roswell, Georgia.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop: Meet Our Faculty!
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop
June 17-21, 2016 ~ Epworth by the Sea, St. Simons Island, GA
Meet Our Faculty!
(click images to enlarge)
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
To Share with Your Readers: Tips for Writing Amazon Reviews
Penny C. Sansevieri, is the CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. and internationally recognized as a book social media marketing and book marketing, and a media relations expert. She frequently offers tips and advice on marketing books on Amazon.
As an author I always, always try to encourage my friends to post amazon reviews for books they’ve read. I remind them that reviews matter to authors. Most, however, aren’t familiar with writing amazon reviews or have never written one.
Another issue, I’ve heard from numerous authors who have friends who post amazon reviews, for which they are grateful, but wished they were more detailed. Many times the reviews consisted of not much more than “Loved this book!” And while it’s great to have fans, amazon reviews like that do little to help a book along. Also, shorter reviews are often frowned upon by Amazon and could get pulled if the review seems disingenuous. Read more about why Amazon reviews get pulled.
When a book has lots of great, detailed reviews, we tend to scan them for highlights on the things that matter to us. That’s how we often buy books. Both good and bad reviews can help us decide, and, frankly, I’ve often bought a book after I read a bad review because what the reviewer didn’t like was exactly what I was looking for. That’s why detailed reviews are not only helpful, they’re a must for your Amazon page.
It’s tempting to ask friends and family to write reviews. They often want to help but aren’t sure what to say. And you may have readers who love your work but aren’t savvy on posting reviews.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Where will you to be in 6 months?
Why not here?
41st Southeastern Writers Workshop!
June 17-21 - St. Simons Island, GA
Registration opens 1/31
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Is Your Book Lost at Sea?
(from The Book Designer)
Dr. Judith Briles is a writing coach, book coach, and publishing expert who recently offered detailed advice on evaluating a floundering book and tips on how to avoid getting lost in a literary sea.
Amazon changed the publishing field—a great thing for so many newbie authors who didn’t think New York or an agent would ever give them a moment’s notice … and it’s also a not so good thing. The level of book pollution has gone beyond the stratosphere.
Anyone and almost everyone can vomit out words and dump them into Amazon’s CreateSpace or get in bed with the growing number of vanity-type presses and in days, literally days, have a book in hand. Is it a quality book or a great looking book? Most likely, not. Too many launch with little to no editing. Ditto with interior and cover design.
Which means that finding buyers—the potential Super Fans—has become fierce. And for authors—all authors—getting found has become the eighth wonder of the world.
Has your book become a sardine in the sea of books available?
Is it lost? Can it be found? Can it become a whale so your buying public can’t miss it?
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
ReBlogs via Indies Unlimited: Almost Everything You Need to Know about ISBNs
Are you considering self-publishing your book?
One of the most frequent questions I’ve heard lately from self-publishing authors is about ISBNs. Do you really need them? Do you really need to buy them? What are the pros and cons of buying an ISBN versus using the free or inexpensive ones offered by CreateSpace, BookBaby, Smashwords, and other online partners? Let’s see if we can clear that up some.
First, a little background
ISBN stands for “International Standard Book Number.” Early iterations began in the 1960s as a system for booksellers to better organize and track their inventory. Books published before 2007 have ten digits in their ISBNs. Books published after January 1, 2007 have thirteen digits.
Read the remainder of Laurie's article.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
ReBlogs: The Author’s Abyss
It occurs every time I complete a manuscript and send it out for comment. I can’t explain it. It just happens. I tumble into something I call "The Author’s Abyss", a sinkhole of self-doubt. It’s recurring epiphany I have that, in plain language, reminds me I can’t write worth a shit.
I realize the beloved project–my novel–that I dove into with such enthusiasm and optimism has disintegrated into something worthy of only a paper shredder. In the beginning, full of passion and fervor, I commanded, at least to myself, “Let there be light,” and a fictional world full of interesting characters and compelling stories began to take shape out of a formless void. Pulitzer Prize-candidate stuff.
But by the time I’d spread my incompetent hand over the dark waters, and sent my baby out to “finishing school” for critique and comment, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt there was no Pulitzer in my future. Probably not even a cheap ribbon for participation.
H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is a best-selling, award-winning novelist. His novels include Blizzard (the most recent), Eyewall, Plague and Supercell. Buzz is a native Oregonian and attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he earned a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science; he also studied creative writing. He’s currently vice president of the Southeastern Writers Association. He and his wife Christina live in Roswell, Georgia.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Writing Fiction
Disclaimer: It is all Lee Clevenger’s fault.
For years I built my writing platform. I began with smaller items in women’s magazines, lessons for Christian weeklies, interviews for local newspapers, and feature writing for collections and anthologies. I took classes from wonderful professionals like Cec Murphey, Terry Kay, Bob Mayer, C. Hope Clark, and Deborah Blum.
After years of writing for media and because everyone in my writing circle had one, I too wrote a book. My first book contained information that I had garnered in writing short articles for other media. Plus, I added new research and my own experience in the world of ministry, parenting, grandparenting, leadership, and marriage. I included quotes from authorities plus questions and exercises. In short, I poured my heart into that first volume. With a modicum of success, I quickly followed it with another manuscript.
In between times I hired an agent. We parted friends. I hired another. Let’s just say, we parted. Finally, I met someone who believed in me and liked my books. Voila! A match made in heaven. Since that time, I have enjoyed working for that beloved editor. Don’t get me wrong. I loved this type of writing and I want to keep doing it for the rest of my life.
However, along came a contest. It was the You are Published contest offered by Thomas Maxx, Lee Clevenger’s publishing company. I had toyed with the idea of entering before, but that was all. I never got beyond thinking about it. This year in a moment of ‘dare I call it inspiration’ I resurrected some characters that I created years ago. Through the years when I had nothing better to do, I would place a character in a situation and see what happened. I liked my cast but wasn’t sure what to do with them.
In thinking about the contest, I decided to take a bizarre situation and insert my zany cast, stir the pot, and allow my pseudo-detectives to take over. I tricked it out with a pinch of intrigue, a slathering of humor, and a lot of southern charm. The end product was fun to do, but would others like it? I had a friend I was communicating with concerning SWA. Since she was an editor of cozy mysteries, I decided to run it by her. A few hours later, she wrote back that she loved my story and wanted three more – to publish!
Long story short. That’s how Murder at Golden Palms was born. Clara, Roxy, Amy, Suzy, and Hattie breathed life. They began walking around in my life, talking, plotting, and appearing in my dreams. My editor at Take Me Away books sent mock ups of covers for me to approve. I swooned. This was heady stuff.
Later (with the help of my marvelous writing buddy), I added Murder at Sea to the mix. By this time the first mystery had been included in a collection which gave me more exposure and added to my excitement.
Finally, I understood what my fiction novelist friends experienced. Fiction is great therapy. There’s hard work and research involved, but manipulating your characters by putting them in danger and in insane situations is fun.
So consider this is a warning! I’ve drunk the fiction writer’s Kool Aid and I want more.
Sheila Hudson's work has appeared in Chocolate for a Woman's Soul series, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Patchwork Path, From the Heart, Vols. 1 & 2, plus numerous periodicals including Costumer Magazine. She established Bright Ideas to bring hope and inspiration through the written word. Sheila has also served as president of Southeastern Writers Association. Read more about Sheila on her website.
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