West Regional Library, 1425 Chaffee Road, Jacksonville, Fl 32221
When: Sign in begins at 10:00 AM unless otherwise posted.
* OUR MEETINGS *
We LOVE visitors! Unless otherwise stated, our meetings are held on the second Saturday of every month at the West Regional Branch Library in Jacksonville, Florida. The address is 1425 Chaffee Rd S, Jacksonville, Fl 32221.
Our Membership Dues is only $50 annually which includes all the workshops or you can pay $10 for any individual workshops throughout the year on Zoom. The public is welcome to come to the in-person workshops for Free for 2 learning sessions after which we ask that you pay the annual fee to join. To Pay for a Zoom Session CLICK HERE. Once payment is received you will receive an email with the Zoom link to attend the meeting you have selected.
Typically, we have a business meeting where you’ll learn about what we’re doing, followed by two workshops. When in person, we usually have lunch together at a nearby restaurant afterward. Romance writers know how to combine business and fun!
9:45AM log in to socialize and catch up with your fellow writers
10:00AM meeting called to order
10:40AM Meeting ends if it hasn’t already adjourned
10:40 5-minute break
10:45 First workshop (approx. 50 min)
5-minute break in there somewhere
Second workshop (approx. 50 min)
MEMBERS: If you need the Zoom link to attend, email the chapter president: president@firstcoastromancewriters.com You will be provided with a link to log onto the meeting. You can log in virtually for social time at 10:00AM, and our business meeting will begin promptly at 10:15AM.
Next Meetings…
SEPTEMBER 2023 WORKSHOP IS ZOOM ONLY
Abigail Sharpe Karen Renee Melody Johnson and other FCRW members
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
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Jolene MacFadden
At on Zoom
Jolene MacFadden Author, Social Media Coordinator and Digital Marketer compares the top 5 video creation tools for authors and social media users
Brief Bio: My name is Jolene and I am a published author, website design, digital marketer and a handcrafted bead and wire jewelry maker. I enjoy reading, writing blog articles, traveling, helping other authors to self-publish, as well as getting lost in creating bead and wire jewelry and accessories. I now have my own online bookstore which I hope to expand to a real “Sticks N’ Bricks” place sometime in the future. I have recently completed the Google Certification for Digital Marketing and eCommerce. I freelance through my own business website for small businesses and other writers called Southern Dragon Publishing.
Connect with Jolene
https://jolenesbooksandmore.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolene-macfadden-kowalchuk/
https://www.tiktok.com/@jolenesbooksandmore
https://www.facebook.com/jolenesbooksandmore
https://twitter.com/JoleneMacFadden
https://www.instagram.com/jolenesbooksandmore/
https://www.threads.net/@jolenesbooksandmore
https://www.pinterest.com/jolenemacinjax/
https://jolenes-book-journey.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/Jolenesbooksandmore2669
Jolene's Book and Writers Talk Podcast on YouTube
Jolene's Book and Writers Talk on Spotify
Check out my online bookstore https://bookstore.jolenesbooksandmore.com
New presentations from Jolene MacFadden comparing the top video creation tools for authors and social media users. - ON ZOOM ONLY
The first presentation, “Canva vs. PowerPoint for Video Creation,” compares the two popular platforms for creating videos. Canva is an online graphic design platform that offers a variety of features for creating presentations, infographics, social media graphics, and more. PowerPoint is a Microsoft Office application that is primarily used for creating presentations.
The second presentation, “Top 5 Social Media Apps for Creating Videos on Mobile Devices,” compares the top 5 social media apps for creating videos on mobile devices. These apps all offer a variety of features for creating and editing videos, including video recording, editing tools, filters and effects, music and sound effects, text overlays, and sharing. Both presentations discuss the pros and cons of each platform and offer recommendations for authors and social media users. Depending on the time the participants are encouraged to bring their smartphones and/or iPads to practice creating and posting a video on the social media page of their choice.
“The goal of these presentations is to help authors and social media users choose the best video creation tool for their needs,” said Jolene MacFadden. “There are a lot of great options available, and it can be difficult to know where to start. These presentations provide an overview of the top tools to help users make an informed decision.” The presentations will be available for free download on https://SouthernDragonPublishing.com.
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Linnea Sinclair
From 10:45 until 12:45
At West Library Branch and on Zoom
LINNEA SINCLAIR BIO
Winner of the prestigious national book award, the RITA®, science fiction romance author Linnea Sinclair is a name synonymous with high-action, emotionally intense, character-driven novels. Her books have claimed spots in the Locus Top Ten and received starred reviews in Publisher’s Weekly. Romantic Times Book Review magazine consistently gives Sinclair’s books 4-1/2 stars (their highest rating). Starlog magazine calls Sinclair “one of the reigning queens of science fiction romance.” Her previous careers include news reporting and private investigation. Since 2000, she’s taught seminars in the craft of writing for all levels of writers via on-line writing sites and at writing conventions nationwide.
Sinclair resides in Pensacola, Florida with her husband, Robert Bernadino, and their thoroughly spoiled cats. Readers can find her perched on the third barstool from the left in her Intergalactic Bar and Grille at
https://www.linneasinclair.com
HEAD GAMES: WRITING DEEP THIRD POV FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT
Reading is a vicarious experience, right? That means as a writer you need to immerse the reader into the heart, mind and skin of the character, and there’s no better way to do that than Deep Third Point Of View. Deep Third is often likened to First Person POV for its emotional intensity and intimacy factor. But it’s also a sure way to keep readers (and agents and editors!) turning pages. Award-winning Bantam Dell author Linnea Sinclair will take you on a journey through the flavors of Third Person, explain why Deep Third works, show you how and when to use Deep Third, how to know when Deep is Too Deep, and share tips and tricks to keep readers sobbing, giggling, gasping and grabbing... for more of your stories!
DEAL A STORY: A WRITING CARD GAME
Linnea Sinclair will lead this popular writing card game, which spurs creativity, is a lot of fun, and incorporates Deep Third techniques learned in her Head Games workshop. Attendees will be divided into groups and dealt cards involving character, plot, flaw, villain, genre, etc. Each group will pick a “scribe" and then the group will cooperatively create "back cover copy" for their “book." When the allotted time is up, each group’s “scribe" will read the back cover copy and everyone will vote for the best.
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