At West Library Branch and on Zoom
1425 Chaffee Road S. Jacksonville, FL 32221
Presenters: Abigail Sharpe, Karen Renee, Melody Johnson and other FCRW members
Abigail Sharpe is a Boston-bred Yankee now eating grits and saying “y’all” in North Central Florida. She dreamed more of being a stage actress or joining the CIA than being an author. While she still enjoys participating in community theater productions and singing karaoke, the secret-agent career was replaced by hours at her computer, writing stories of love and laughter and happily ever after. Keep in touch with Abigail on her website: http://www.abigailsharpe.com/
Karen Renee is the award-winning author of the Riot MC series, the Beta series, and the O-Town series. She has been writing since she was a teen, but has only recently brought her dream to life. Karen spent years working in the wonderful world of advertising, banking, and local television media research. Visit Karen on her website: https://authorkarenrenee.com/
Melody Johnson is the award-winning author of the “out of this world” Love Beyond series and the gritty, paranormal romance Night Blood series published by Kensington Publishing/ Lyrical Press. She graduated magna cum laude from Lycoming College with her B.A. in creative writing and psychology.
Earning the 2021 Maggie Award of Excellence, Beyond the Next Star (Love Beyond, book 1) is an exciting branch from Melody's paranormal romance roots, keeping the dark grit from her Night Blood Series and taking it to new worlds. Sight Beyond the Sun (Love Beyond, book 2) is the newest installment, and Sherrilyn Kenyon, New York Times and international bestselling author of the Dark-Hunters® series, praised it as, “Unforgettable, this book stays with you long after you leave it.”
After moving from her northeast Pennsylvania hometown for some much needed Southern sunshine, Melody works as a digital media supervisor at Southeast Georgia Health System. When she isn’t working or writing, Melody can be found swimming at the beach, reading at the pool, and exploring her new home in southeast Georgia. Stay in touch with Melody on social media or visit authormelodyjohnson.com.
Vickey Wollan has written for business publications, but is excited to embark on her long-awaited romance writing journey. Having a good run in the corporate world prepared her to become an entrepreneur in creativity and relaxation. Her stories are designed to transport readers to a less stressful portion of their day and leave them with a feeling of awe. Her work is now published in six fiction books including a completed three-novel series. - Visit Vickey on her website https://vickeywollanauthor.com/
Workshop 1. Mini Writing Workshops
Karen Renee: "Atticus – an Alternative to Vellum" - Don’t have a Mac or Apple iPad, but want to format your books with pretty chapter headings, section breaks, and the like? This brief workshop will show you the various features of Atticus, a web-based book formatting program. Plus you'll learn how to upload your manuscript to Atticus and export an ePub for eBook or print-ready PDF for paperback/hardback.
Melody Johnson: : "I Sense You Are Using Filler Words": eliminating unwanted passivity from your writing. Is your writing “too wordy” or “falling flat” according to critiques, but you’re not sure exactly why or how to spice it up? Your concept, plot and characters might be delicious, but passive sentences and filler words could be sapping the flavor from your prose. Using real examples in romance, we’ll discuss passive versus active sentences, so you are empowered to identify unwanted passivity, enrich your writing with active sentences, and sprinkle passive sentences intentionally. Let’s whip up some juicy prose that everyone wants to taste!
Abigail Sharpe: “How to use tags,” she said while pouring a glass of milk: Learn about action and dialogue tags, how their proper use keeps the pace going, and how to properly punctuate them in this mini workshop.
Workshop 2. Ask Me Anything
Panel TBD, currently includes Vickey Wollan
