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.

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.