Upcoming Events
Chicago-North Romance Writers offers a full slate of professional programming for members.
Non-members can request one complimentary guest pass to a monthly professional development program (not a critique session or special event) or they can purchase an individual ticket to a monthly professional development program for $10.
Interested in becoming a guest speaker for one of our writing programs? Please contact us to receive a link to submit your programming idea.
Yorktown Write-In
Join us for a write-in at the Yorktown Mall every first Saturday morning of the month in the second floor business lounge.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Bad Coffee, 1801 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner. There’s a nice big table we can grab if we’re early enough : )
Yorktown Write-In
Join us for a write-in at the Yorktown Mall every first Saturday morning of the month in the second floor business lounge.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Bad Coffee, 1801 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner. There’s a nice big table we can grab if we’re early enough : )
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Bad Coffee, 1801 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner. There’s a nice big table we can grab if we’re early enough : )
Yorktown Write-In
Join us for a write-in at the Yorktown Mall every first Saturday morning of the month in the second floor business lounge.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Bad Coffee, 1801 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner. There’s a nice big table we can grab if we’re early enough : )
Yorktown Write-In
Join us for a write-in at the Yorktown Mall every first Saturday morning of the month in the second floor business lounge.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Bad Coffee, 1801 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner. There’s a nice big table we can grab if we’re early enough : )
Yorktown Write-In
Join us for a write-in at the Yorktown Mall every first Saturday morning of the month in the second floor business lounge.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Bad Coffee, 1801 W Berteau Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner. There’s a nice big table we can grab if we’re early enough : )
Spring Fling Writers Conference
Spring Fling 2026, sponsored by Chicago-North Romance Writers, is scheduled for April 16-18. A hybrid event, it will take place at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in downtown Chicago—and online. This year’s keynote authors: USA Today bestselling author Adriana Herrera and NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Brenda Jackson!
As always, Spring Fling will feature plenty of workshops (webinars) for published and unpublished writers, keynote speeches by headliners
Yorktown Write-In
Join us for a write-in at the Yorktown Mall every first Saturday morning of the month in the second floor business lounge.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner.
December Member Brainstorm Critique Night
Our monthly brainstorm and critique night for members, held via Zoom
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner.
HOT NIGHT
It’s everyone’s favorite meeting — HOT NIGHT! Does the chemistry between your characters sizzle? Let's find out! Members can sign up to read a short, intimate scene for critique. The heat level can be anything from a kiss to the sky's the limit! Be ready to offer critique on somehot scenes on a cold winter's night. This is an excellent chance to get feedback on a pivotal scene in your manuscript.
Critiques will consist of up to 5 double-spaced manuscript pages. Details for submission will come via groups.io.
November Member Brainstorm Critique Night
Our monthly member critique night, held online via zoom.
Chicago In-Person Writing Sprints
Join fellow CNRW members at Bad Coffee for a few in-person sprints! Bad Coffee is located on the west side of Ravenswood - entrance is in the alley between Berteau and Warner.
Introduction to Pink Couch Books with Lora Amigo
Updated DATE! Q&A with Lora Amigo, proprietor of Pink Couch Books.
November Writing Meetup - Chicago Suburbs
Casual writing meetup at Yorktown Center’s business lounge — 2nd floor around corner from Gloria Jean’s coffee. All are welcome for connection, camaraderie and sprinting. Can’t make it? Join us in our Discord chat to sprint with us virtually.
October Member Brainstorm Critique Night
Our monthly member critique night, held online via zoom.
How to Write a Satisfying Small-Town Romance with Anna Grace and Elle Douglas
Love, laughter, and a whole lot of hometown heart—How to Write a Satisfying Small-Town Romance is an interactive, craft-focused session for writers who want to make their fictional communities feel as real and irresistible as the love stories unfolding within them. Led by Harlequin and Tule authors Anna Grace and Elle Douglas, this workshop explores why small-town romances captivate readers—the nostalgia, belonging, and emotional warmth—and how to capture that magic without falling into cliché. Through insider tips, lively discussion, and a hands-on “Build Your Town in 10 Minutes” activity, participants will learn to make setting a living, breathing character that deepens conflict, heightens emotion, and delivers that heart-tugging sense of home.
October Writing Meetup - Chicago Suburbs
Casual writing meetup at Yorktown Center’s business lounge — 2nd floor around corner from Gloria Jean’s coffee. All are welcome for connection, camaraderie and sprinting. Can’t make it? Join us in our Discord chat to sprint with us virtually.
Size Does Matter: Writing Fiction Across the Lengths with Terri Brisbin
Presentation followed by September Chapter Meeting
September Writing Meetup - Chicago Suburbs
Casual writing meetup at Yorktown Center’s business lounge — 2nd floor around corner from Gloria Jean’s coffee. All are welcome for connection, camaraderie and sprinting. Can’t make it? Join us in our Discord chat to sprint with us virtually.
August Member Critique Night
Monthly Brainstorm/Critique Night for Aug 2025. Note: this is NOT the last Sunday of August because of Labor Day holiday weekend.
August Writing Meetup - Chicago Suburbs
Casual writing meetup at Yorktown Center’s business lounge — 2nd floor around corner from Gloria Jean’s coffee. All are welcome for connection, camaraderie and sprinting. Can’t make it? Join us in our Discord chat to sprint with us virtually.
What is an Author-Based Publishing Collective? with Jennifer Stevenson
I am co-president of Book View Café, the oldest, largest, best-known author-owned publishing collective. We founded in 2008. Currently we have 30 members. We have an online bookstore and blog https://bookviewcafe.com , a newsletter https://app.mlsend.com/x4f0d5v3h9/ , multiple library distribution channels, and a publicist with relationship with book review organs like Booklist. We buy ISBNs in bulk and sell them to our members for $4 each. We are developing new marketing tools all the time - the latest is a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@bookviewcafe . The collective "owns" almost nothing, however, except for these electronic "assets," and we run on sweat equity: we do developmental edits for each other, proofread, copyedit, design book covers, format ebooks and print books, brainstorm titles and back cover copy, help each other set up our own newsletters and drip campaigns … many, many things that indie authors try to do all by themselves and mostly go crazy or give up on, because there's just. so. much.
I'd like to talk to CN members about how we started, what we do for each other, what we can and can't do, and (most importantly) how much easier it would be for someone to start their own collective nowadays. To start a collective today, all you would need is a common bookstore theme, WordPress, and a plugin for selling (like Woocommerce) … and a lot of hard-working volunteers.
Jennifer Stevenson lives in Chicago with her stagehand husband and two bossy cats. She writes comedy in many forms - five series so far; Hinky Chicago, Slacker Demons, Coed Demon Sluts, Liars in Love, and Backstage Boys. She is co-president of Book View Café, a member of Chicago North since 1998, and a Nebula and Locus Award nominee for her first novel, Trash Sex Magic. She is currently at work on a series of industrial espionage thrillers with absolutely no sex in them.