Hannah Howell, New York Times and USA Today Bestseller, has been published for twenty-six years.  She now has two Historical Romance series published by Kensington books.  The 20th book in the Murray series set in medieval Scotland came out in December of last year.  The other series is the Wherlockes, set in eighteenth century England.  If He’s Noble, the sixth book in the Wherlocke series will be out in September

In this workshop, Hannah will speak on the importance of the words you use in your writing.  How the change of one simple verb can take your sentence from adequate to powerful.  Or how you can give the reader a good picture of a character with just a few well-chosen words instead of pages of description.  Even how the use of such things as simile and metaphor can add texture and depth.  A story has a plot and characters you hope will catch a reader’s attention but it is the words you use that will hold it fast.  There will be handouts and book recommendations.

Sunday’s meeting is cancelled due to probably snow. See you all on March 15.

Please bring five copies of the first five pages of your WIP or what the agent/ editor will be reading before the conference. We’ll break into groups, not necessarily the same groups as last month, and we’ll follow certain rules/ methods for critiquing.

THINK TANK
The Board is starting a THINK TANK, which should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes during each meeting. If any member wants advice on any aspect of writing, she (or he) can bring the question to the floor.

We will use January’s (and February’s) meetings to prepare our members for editor/agent conference appointments. In January, we will cover a specific format for query/ cover letters. This 4 paragraph format was provided by an agent. By far, the most difficult paragraph is pitching your novel in 5 sentences. Michael Hague has provided a format for that important paragraph. Step 1: Handouts provided and explained, Step 2: Members write their paragraphs, Step 3: Break into groups and critique those paragraphs.

Have you been hearing a lot about writing with Scrivener, but you’re overwhelmed by all its features? Are you a plotter and not sure where to put all your notes and set up your writing project? Are you a pantser and not sure if Scrivener fits into your writing process at all? Jennifer Kettell explains the basics of how to use Scrivener and adapt it to suit your personal approach to writing. Learn how to use the major features of this powerful application and how to create a template containing all of the tools you need to write novel after novel.

Jennifer Kettell has written and contributed to dozens of books about software applications, web design, and other technology. Her most recent titles are Scrivener Absolute Beginner’s Guide and My Kindle Fire HDX. She has worked at Microsoft and other top companies as well as doing freelance web design and online community management. Her first new adult romance novel, Relocated, will be released on January 13, 2015, if she doesn’t expire from stress first.