Sometimes it’s the little things that block progress and sometimes there’s a boulder on the path. Whether you are developing big story elements or identifying the small details that make the story special, there’s nothing quite like the frustration of knowing something is missing. Let’s dive into the science of frustration, how to triage a scene that isn’t working and the best way to brainstorm solutions. This session includes time to dissect real issues facing the participants. 

Jen Graybeal (she/her) is dedicated to empowering authors through encouraging feedback, collaborative problem solving and gently-applied tough love. In ten years of coaching, workshops, and editing projects, she has helped over a thousand authors create stories they are proud of and businesses that align with their individual vision of success. Jen is a Certified Creativity Coach with a degree in English, an ever-expanding TBR pile, and a furball assistant that is usually on her lap. Visit her website for client testimonials at  www.jengraybeal.com or follow her on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, and TikTok: @JenTheEditor.

NOTE: This event is on June 22nd, not June 29.

Got a writing cramp from the novelists' marathon? Try sprinting with romance-themed flash fiction! This program will provide a brief overview of freelance and publishing opportunities for micro fictions in the Romance genre.

Hone your craft skills, explore and subvert popular tropes, flex scene setting mojo, discover intimacy dexterity in miniature, and practice brevity on an idea for a teeny-tiny love story of 700-1200 words. An interactive discussion of the publishing market for flash fiction will be covered. Get inspired with this short-and-sweet take on Romance, and get ready to give readers everything from the blush of a warm glow to a sizzling hot flash.

Melanie Dusseau is an associate professor on English at The University of Findlay in Ohio. She has published several flash length "5-Minute Romances" in Woman's World magazine, as well as essays and a collection of poetry. When she's not writing, reading, fangirling romance authors, or grading papers, she is hard at work revising and querying her debut romantasy novel.

In this interactive workshop, we'll demystify all elements of the query letter - comps (with an emphasis on how to find the best for your work,) word counts, genres, log lines, hooks, pitches, bios, agent finding/personalizing - and the querying process itself. Participants are welcome to submit their query letters for review. An anonymous handful will be chosen as examples and live-critiqued. Any writers whose letters are chosen are welcome to follow up with the instructor with questions.

MM ("Peggy") Finck is a publishing consultant and niche editor specializing in queries, pitches, opening pages, & overall story analysis. She established her practice as the Query Quill in 2014. She oversees WomenWriters,Women[‘s]Books’s Agents’ Corner & Author Interviews segments. She was granted the first ever interview with the Editor-in-Chief of Amazon’s Lake Union Publishing. Among MM’s clients’ and interviewees’ successes are chart rankings, bestsellers, and two adaptations to television series - one Apple, one Prime. Two-time Vice-President of Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Past-Chair Advisor for Rising STAR Award for Unpublished Women’s Fiction. Founder of Penning Suspense, a group for suspenseful & thriller fiction writers, and togetHER, a Facebook group for women. Also active in James River Writers, Sister in Crime, & Writer Unboxed. Represented by Katie Shea Boutillier. On social media as @MMFinck.

May Brainstorm & Critique Night

Writing Category Romance: Author Panel

Hard Facts About Marketing as an Author/Entrepreneur with author Jeannie Lin - May 12 at 7pm CST