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.

Our October meeting will be an extended business meeting to discuss the issue of Serious Pursuit with a Common Business Interest as described by Cindy Kirk in the October RWR. This is an issue that will affect our chapter in a number of ways. You are encouraged to read the article and the FAQ that was distributed to the NEC Loop and come prepared to talk about these proposed changes to membership classification.

New York Times bestselling author and twenty-year romance veteran Suzanne Brockmann and her husband, Edgar Award finalist and award-winning screenwriter Ed Gaffney discuss the art of control-freak-friendly collaboration as they share the lessons they learned about writing genre fiction from co-writing and co-producing a romantic comedy movie.

After childhood plans to become the captain of a starship didn’t pan out, Suzanne Brockmann took her fascination with military history, her respect for the men and women who serve, her reverence for diversity, and her love of storytelling, and explored brave new worlds as a New York Times bestselling romance author. Over the past twenty years, she has written more than fifty novels, including her award-winning Troubleshooters series about Navy SEAL heroes and the women—and sometimes men—who win their hearts. Her latest romantic suspense, DO OR DIE, is available on February 4, 2014, in hardcover and ebook from Ballantine Books, and in audio from Blackstone Audio.  In addition to writing books, Suz Brockmann has co-produced a feature-length movie, the award-winning romantic comedy The Perfect Wedding, which she co-wrote with her husband, Ed Gaffney, and their son, Jason. She has also co-written a YA novel, NIGHT SKY, set in the world of her paranormal Fighting Destiny series, with her daughter Melanie, due out in October 2014 from Sourcebooks Fire.  Find Suz on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SuzanneBrockmannBooks, follow her on Twitter @SuzBrockmann, and visit her website at www.SuzanneBrockmann.com to find out more about upcoming releases and appearances.

Ed Gaffney is the critically-acclaimed author of four legal thrillers published by Bantam/Dell, the latest of which, Enemy Combatant, was a finalist for the EDGAR Award. He also co-wrote and produced a full-length play named Looking for Billy Haines, which ran off-Broadway for approximately 10 weeks during the spring of 2010.  And most recently, Ed became an award-winning filmmaker, when The Perfect Wedding, a feature film he co-wrote and co-produced won the Bud Abbott Award for Best Feature Length Comedy at the Garden State Film Festival.  He lives in Florida and Massachusetts with his wife, New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann.

Find out more about The Perfect Wedding at www.ThePerfectWeddingMovie.com

Has your word count wilted in the summer heat? If so, come get Prompted to Write at our August meeting! Based on a chosen prompt by the Amherst Writing Method, we will have a 30-minute writing session followed by a discussion of our creations. Join us and get back in the groove after those lazy days of summer.

Here’s what you need to produce a successful television story: Develop memorable characters. Build suspense. Show conflict. Tell a compelling story. Find justice. Here’s what you need to become a successful television journalist: Never miss your deadlines. Create a brilliant and flawless product every time. Be completely devoted to your job. Here’s the scoop: What you need to write a successful novel–in any genre!– are exactly the same things!  Hank Phillippi Ryan’s won 30 Emmy awards for her investigative reporting…and the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark, Agatha and Anthony awards for her crime fiction. How? She’ll will divulge the tricks of the TV news trade—and give you a top ten list to help you make your book the best it can be.

Want to learn a new method for crafting well-rounded romance protagonists? And for using the differences between your protagonists’ personalities to drive your story’s conflict, and avoid having contrived plots push around your characters? This workshop will give you an overview of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a psychometric tool designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions, and will explore how to use MBTI to craft romance characters with individual personalities. We’ll also practice using MBTI insights about our protagonists to develop character-driven conflict.

In preparation for this workshop, you might want to check out one of the online MBTI-like questionnaires—complete one to find out your own personality type, or take it on behalf of a character you have in mind, to find out hers/his.

You can find sample questionnaires online at:

• http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

• http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

• http://personality-testing.info/tests/JUNG.php

Jackie C. Horne (INTJ) has held a myriad of book-related jobs, including typesetter, children’s book editor, English professor, book reviewer, blogger, and independent scholar. She is the author of several books and many scholarly articles about children’s literature, and blogs online at Romance Novels for Feminists (www.romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com).  She is currently in the midst of writing her second historical romance.

Whether you’re just getting started or a seasoned pro, writing a query letter is enough to strike fear in the most resilient writer. During this workshop, we’ll talk about the basics of the query letter, what to include and what to leave out, what to do when you’re not getting requests, how to query again AFTER you’ve had an agent, how to do agent research, and when to shelve it and move on to your next work.

Kristine Carlson Asselin started querying in 2010. After more than 150 query letters and three agents, she’s now happily signed with Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Agency. She has recently signed with Bloomsbury Spark for her debut young adult novel, ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT. Let her experience with querying help you get off on the right foot.

Due to February weather, we will not hold our meeting today.  See you all in March.