Western Reserve Writers' Conference
Conference Coordinator: Deanna R.
Adams
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Overview of Conference – Deanna R. Adams
Writing
For Children:
Good Elements of
Writing for the Comic Industry
Writing Through
Words
and Illustrations
Great Writing
& Other Trade Publications
Personal Pain
Annette Sheldon
Deanna R.
Adams
Chris Lambert
Nora White
Self-Publishing:
Do's & Don’ts of Sending
Confessions of a Series
Creating Credible
The Good
& the Bad
Out Your Manuscript
Killer: A Romance
Characters
Peter Grondin Deanna R. Adams Holly Jacobs Debbie Alferio
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Power Point
The Narrative Arc
The Scoop
Seeking the Truth
For Writers!
of Storytelling
on Agents
in Nonfiction
Alynn
Mahle
Carole
Calladine
Holly
Jacobs
John
Gorman
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$65 – Conference course #10SPER901.01
$10 – Prearranged Editing Consult
(See Below)
Sessions with Editor Nancy Piazza
10SPER633.01
(
10SPER633.02
(
10SPER633.03
(
10SPER633.04
(
Editing session details will be
e-mailed from Deanna Adams upon registration.
Conference Presenters
Deanna R. Adams
is a freelance writer and award-winning essayist whose work has been published
in a variety of newspapers and magazines. Her
books include
Rock ‘n’ Roll and the
Debbie Alferio is
an award-winning author and speaker whose
Forever Love series was inspired by an actual dream. Debbie is the Ohio
Representative for Authors Across America and a member of the
International Writer’s Association and Sauna Friends Writer’s Group.
She donates a portion of her profits to the American Cancer Society. Her
web site is:
www.freewebs.com/debsbooks Course
Description—CREATING CREDIBLE CHARACTERS:
Debbie believes a story is less about the plot and more about the
characters involved. In this session, she’ll discuss how to develop
well-rounded, believable characters through the use of physical attributes,
personality traits, flaws, and even catch phrases. Learn to create characters
that will drive your stories and keep the readers coming back for more.
Carole Calladine
is a freelance writer with numerous articles and three books to her credit. For
seven years, she wrote the “You and Your Teenagers” column for the
Plain Dealer and her latest book,
Second Story Woman (Bird Dog
Publishing, 2007), has been so well received that she was the 2009 Type 2
Diabetic weekly blogger for Diabetes Sisters. She writes out of an innate
fascination of relationships, life stages and choices.
Course Description – THE NARRATIVE ARC OF STORYTELLING:
In this workshop,
Carole will discuss how to build tension and plot whether you are
writing a play, novel, or memoir. This presentation will
focus on Carole’s experience in changing a first draft into a saleable
manuscript by using the narrative arc of basic storytelling.
John Gorman
is a media consultant, talent coach, and author. His first book,
The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS
& Cleveland Rock Radio - A Memoir (Gray & Co., 2007), covered his years as
the station’s program director and operations manager and was a regional best
seller. Gorman has won numerous broadcasting and charitable awards and was
inducted into the Ohio Radio-Television Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2000, and
the Cleveland Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in 2008.
Course Description – SEEKING THE TRUTH IN NONFICTION: Listen and
learn as this media veteran discusses how to make sure your research is accurate
and how to find credible sources when working on your nonfiction book. How do
you know if someone is telling you the truth about his or her career or personal
history? Where to find information to back up
your information? John Gorman will
answer these important questions, as well as yours.
Murder Mystery/Suspense writer
Peter PJ Grondin
is working on his fourth McKinney Brothers novel,
A Lifetime of Terror. The series
features two ordinary characters drawn into extraordinary situations requiring
courage, quick thinking and plenty of action. Grondin attributes his desire to
write novels to living in a household with eleven brothers and sisters, moving
around the country from
Holly Jacobs has
sold more than a million and a half books worldwide, writing for multiple series
lines for Harlequin. But it hasn’t
always been a smooth road for this award-winng author. Currently writing for
Harlequin American Romance (Once
Upon a Valentine, 2008) and Harlequin
SuperRomance (A One-of-a-Kind Family,
2010), Holly will inform you on what’s she’s learned through hard work and
experience. Her web site is:
www.HollyJacobs.com. Course
Descriptions - CONFESSIONS OF SERIES KILLERS: A ROMANCE: How to survive
writing bumps in the road. The romance genre isn’t all flowers and candy hearts!
Holly Jacobs will discuss writing pitfalls and career detours, but all with a
happy ending! THE SCOOP ON AGENTS: Holly has sold
most of her books without an agent, but also a few with one, and has tapped her
friends for input as well. Join her discussion on the ins and outs of finding
and working with an agent. Bring your questions!
Author/columnist Chris Lambert
has spent over three decades as a professional writer, much of that time in and
around the comic book industry. Mr. Lambert contributed to the best seller,
Superman at 50 before writing for radio, TV, and a twelve-year stint
at the News-Herald. Chris was commended by the White House in the 1990’s
for his work with Project Literacy and is co-author of the recent novel,
The 13th Echo.
Course Description – WRITING FOR THE COMIC INDUSTRY AND OTHER TRADE
PUBLICATIONS: This session will give tips to what the comic companies are
looking for in terms of future publication and some peripheral markets
available. Plus ideas for trade magazines that may be perceptive to your life
experiences.
Former Assistant Editor of
Ohio Writer,
Alynn Mahle has been a freelance
writer and editor for nearly 20 years. Her poems and articles have appeared in
Heartlands Today and
Tributaries, and two articles are
forthcoming in
Award-winning editor
Nancy E. Piazza is a published writer
with 21 years of editing experience. Through her business, Writeperson
Ltd.—Western Reserve Editing, she edits novels, short stories, nonfiction books,
articles, essays, memoirs, blogs, and letters for aspiring as well as published
writers. Among many books,
One-on-one consultations will
consist of Nancy discussing edits with you from your two-page sample, covering
all aspects: content, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. Nancy’s editing is
always well received, as she assists writers in a friendly, helpful manner
toward achieving their goals of publication.
Annette Sheldon
has been published twice by the APA, under their Magination Press imprint for
children. She is currently working on several other projects, including books,
school visits, and teaching. Her children’s books are
Big Sister Now (Magination Press,
2006) and Big Brother Now (Magination
Press, 2008). Course description -
WRITING FOR CHILDREN: WORDS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: Annette will tell you what
you need to know right from the beginning. What makes a children’s book “good?
How to start. How to submit. And how to wait. This session will cover the
mechanics of putting your book together, getting it published, and a discussion
on whether you need an agent or an illustrator.
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