Missouri Romance Writers of America 2009 Events

Thanks to Donna Volkennant and Judy for forwarding this message from Barbara Scott:

Here's MORWA's program lineup for 2009. Our meetings are at Barnes & Noble, Crestwood in the meeting room. Programs are usually from 11 am to 12:30, with booksignings and lunch at a nearby restaurant to follow. There is a $5 fee for visitors. Some programs may be longer than others and may involve higher non-member fees. Please check the morwa.org calendar or email me for specific information.

Jan 17: Laura Bradford, Local mystery writer (Worldwide Mysteries) and debut Harlequin
American author tells her publishing story

Feb 21: Michele Dunaway, "Channeling Your Inner Superwoman"

Mar 21: Colleen Gleason, author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles,
"Marketing and Promotion"

April 18: Rebecca Giallongo, wa Rebecca Savage "The E-Publishing
Road to Print: Are We There Yet?"

May 16: Angie Fox: "Lining Up The Bones, Crafting your Paranormal
from Beginning to End"

June 20: Kimberly Killion and Megan Kelly. "How to Survive and
Thrive Your First Year as a Published Writer"

Aug 15: Program still under construction: Camp Write-a-Lot

Sept 19: Karyn Witmer Gow: Voice

Oct 17: Jenna Peterson, Avon bestselling author, "Write Like You
Mean It"

Nov 20: Charlotte Hubbard, "Writing and Selling a Series"


Barbara Scott
Books from the heart, from my heart to yours

Coming soon:
HAUNTS OF THE HEART
CAST A PALE SHADOW, April '09

Harlequin Starts Imprint for Young Adult Fiction

Tez Miller's blog reports Harlequin is starting a new imprint for teens and looking for manuscripts. They accept unagented submissions, so looks like a wide open new market.

Romance category sales are up 83%, and fantasy books are doing well, so they're a frigging publishing spotlight in an otherwise inky economic cave.

Romance Author Patricia Rice to Speak at Saturday Writers

From the Saturday Writers website:

On July 26 PATRICIA RICE will host the workshop, "Writing Realistic Fiction." Be sure to bring a pen and paper for this hands-on workshop.

With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today's bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA PATRICIA RICE is one of romance's hottest authors.

MYSTIC RIDER, her forty-fifth book and the second in her Mystic Isle trilogy is a July 2008 release about an ancient island invisible to anyone except the mysteriously gifted people who live there.

Patricia Rice's emotionally-charged contemporary and historical romances have won numerous awards, including the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards and the Bookrak Bestselling Paperback award. Her books have also been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories.

A firm believer in happily-ever-after, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky, a past resident of North Carolina, she currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and now does accounting only for herself. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild, and Novelists, Inc., as well as numerous professional accounting organizations and local charities. Here’s her website http://www.patriciarice.com/

Writer's Digest Genre Definitions

The newest issue of Writer's Digest has a fabulous genre tree that shows all the subgenre branches of mystery, romance, horror, and science fiction/fantasy.

So if you want to know what is an urban fantasy, sweet romance, or splatter, you can check out Writer's Digest's genre definitions.

Silhoutte Seeks Dark Paranormal Stories for Nocturne Line

Silhoutte is seeking dark paranormal stories for their novel line, Nocturne. They want both full length books and ebook novellas called Nocturne "bites," of 10,000 - 15,000 words. The latter is a new call for submissions and a great opportunity to get your cinderella slipper in the door.

Query on.

Harlequin and Audible.com Team Up To Offer Romance Novels

Harlequin is really getting out front in the new technologies. In addition to getting on board with ebooks by launching eHarlequin, they've now joined Audible.com in offering a subscription for two Harlequin audio books per month for $9.95.

You can download these to an MP3 player and listen to books wherever, whenever. Audible.com is even offer a nice quality MP3 player for just $29.99 for those who sign up for Harlequin's subscription. If you already have one, you're golden.

My hubby had a subscription to Audible when he was logging a lot of hours in the car for work, and he loved it. It's great for long commutes, too. I do still prefer to read actual pages in a book, but this isn't a bad alternative. Though I'm still lusting after the Sony ebook reader.

Technology marches on.

Chase the Dream Contest

Authors Leigh Michaels and Rachelle Chase are sponsoring the "Chase the Dream Contest" for writers. The rules say submit the first 1,000 words of your romance, chick lit, or mainstream novel/novella with romantic elements.

Submit your entries between September 1 and November 20, 2007. Staring on September 18, 2007, each Tuesday a finalist will be selected from that week's entries and posted on the finalist page. She will also select a non-winning entry each week for a mini-critique and post it on their mini-critique page.

Between November 21 and November 30, visitors will vote for their top three finalists. In addition to winning prizes, the top three authors will have their 1,000 words reviewed by panel experts - agents and editors. Several books from last year's contest have since been published.

I made a humble 1,000 word submission of my paranormal book with romantic elements, Zombies Are Forever. Manolo was very helful and supportive during its creation. Good luck to all who enter. If you get posted, leave a comment so we can check out your entry.

Free Writers' Workshop on Poisons and Audio Interview

Choose your poison.

The Missouri Romance Writers of America and the Greater St. Louis Chapter of Sisters in Crime are sponsoring an evening with "The Poison Lady" Lucy H. Zahray. Ms. Zahray is a registered pharmacist with a master's in toxicology from Texas A&M University.

Her class, Behold, Here Poison, talks about poisons and poison detection from a writer's perspective. The session discusses types of poison, doses, methods of exposing victims, and the physical symptoms.

Date: Tuesday, October 23
Time: 6:30 - 9:30
Location: Barnes and Noble at 9618 Watson Rd, Sappington, MO. 314-843-9480
Cost: Free

Audio Interview On Poisons:
The pamphlet on the workshop also recommend you check out NPR's interview with John Emsley, author of The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison. So if you can't make the conference, listen to the interview.