We usually meet the first Saturday of
each
month.
10 AM – Noon
(Some meetings are Zoom only. Please
check
below.)
In
Person meeting place:
Living Hope Church
640 Manitou Boulevard
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
Online via Zoom
Link is posted Saturday morning on our Facebook members
group.
If you are a member, be sure to join
our Facebook
Group.
If you would more information about membership, please see
our Membership page.
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January
8, 2022
Susan G Mathis, ACFW president:
Goal Setting for Writers Roundtable
Susan will guide a discussion about steps to setting
realistic writing goals. Come ready to share your goals,
plans, and dreams for 2022 and, if you want, offer a tip
for making your (or someone else's) writing dreams come
true.
Bio
Susan
G Mathis is
an international award-winning, multi-published
author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand
Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate
NY. She
has been published more than twenty times in
full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. Susan
has seven in her fiction line including, The
Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy,
Christmas Charity, Katelyn’s Choice, Devyn’s
Dilemma, Sara’s Surprise, Reagan’s Reward, and
her newest,Colleen’s Confession. Peyton’s
Promise and Rachel’s
Reunion releases
in 2022 and she’s working on book ten. Her
book awards include two Illumination Book Awards,
three American Fiction Awards, two Indie Excellence
Book Awards, and two Literary Titan Book Awards. Reagan’s
Reward is
a Selah Awards finalist.
Susan
is also a published author of two premarital books,
two children’s picture books, stories in a dozen
compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan
makes her home in Colorado Springs and enjoys
traveling around the world but returns each summer
to the islands she loves. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com/fiction for
more.
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Feb 5: Gordon Saunders on Self-Publishing on
IngramSpark…and so much more
Do you want to self-publish? This workshop will provide
all you need to self-publish on IngramSpark (a must) and
lots more. A Q/A time will follow. Don’t miss it.
About Gordon: Gordon Saunders is a Christ-follower,
husband, father, grandfather, teacher, writer and book
coach. Living in four European countries, traveling in
every continent (except Antarctica), and experiencing
history in more than fifty countries, has given him a
unique perspective on life and culture and a desire to
promote knowledge and interaction about crucial
life-issues. gordon-saunders-writer.com
and mediaropa.org.
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March
5: Jen Turano on You’ve Finished Your Manuscript – Now
What?
You’ve written The End, polished up your story, so
what’s next? Join Jen Turano as she delves into the
publishing world, discussing different publishing
options to get your book into print – from indie, small
press, and then traditional publishing. She’ll then
delve into the advantages of signing with a literary
agency, how to go about finding an agent, then what to
expect a literary agent to do for your writing career.
After that, she’ll move into what happens when you sell
your book to a publishing house, speaking on how you get
paid, how advances and royalties work, and then explore
what you can expect from an editing team – such as –
what exactly will they do to your manuscript. Time
permitting, she’ll take any questions you have about the
publishing industry at the end of her talk.
About Jen: Named One of the Funniest Voices in
Inspirational Romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA
Today Best-Selling Author, known for penning quirky
historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books
have earned Publisher Weekly and Booklist starred
reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from
Library Journal. She’s been a finalist twice for the RT
Reviewers’ Choice Awards and had two of her books listed
in the top 100 romances of the past decade from
Booklist. To date, she has nineteen books published
through Bethany House Publisher. When she’s not
writing, she spends her time outside of Denver, CO.
Readers may find her at www.jenturano.com |
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April
8-9: WRITE IN THE SPRINGS CONFERENCE
At Glen Eyrie Conference Center. Don’t miss it!
The Story Equation Saturday 8:00
am - 6:00 pm
USA-Today’s best-selling author of 80 novels, Susan May
Warren, will detail the easy, organic, can’t-fail way to
create compelling characters and plot a best-selling
novel. Are you struggling to build a riveting
plot? Layered characters? How about wrestling to fortify
that saggy middle? Or create a powerful ending? Using
the powerful technique that has created over sixty-five
best-selling novels, Susan May Warren will show you how
to utilize “The Story Equation” to create the best story
you’ve ever written!
You will learn:
* The amazing trick to creating unforgettable,
compelling characters that epic movies use!
* How to create riveting tension to keep the story
driving from chapter to chapter.
* The easy solution to plotting the middle of your
novel.
* The one element every story needs to keep a reader up
all night.
* How to craft an ending that makes your reader say to
their friends, “Oh, you have to read this book!”
(Optional) How to write the Super Novel!
Friday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Thorne Birds. The Pillars of the Earth. Roots. The
Princess Bride. ShoGun. Carrie. The Kite Runner. The
Time Travelers Wife. The DaVinci Code. Gone Girl. The
Hunger Games. All blockbuster books. All different
genres. These books are called Super Novels. They
transcend genre, demographics and time. Why?
In this coaching class we’ll break down the super novel.
We’ll discover the elements common to all these stories
–and more, isolate them and dissect why they work. Then
we’ll learn how to add these elements into our novels to
create our own Super Novel. Applicable to all
genres. An interactive class-- bring a rough plot
or story idea to work on.
About Susan May Warren: She’s is a USA-Today’s
best-selling author of 80 novels and founder of My Book
Therapy and Novel Academy. Saturday is our main event.
It will feature an intensive full day of five sessions
with Susie May detailing her easy, organic, can’t-fail
way to create compelling characters and plot a
best-selling novel. |
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May
7: Sally Jo Pitts on True Confessions of a Private
Investigator: Crafting Stories from your Personal
Experiences
A story’s takeaway message, reflection, or truism is the
author’s gift to the reader. As an investigator, Sally
Jo Pitts has written reports detailing case objectives,
observations and conclusions for clients and discovered
fiction writing involves investigation as well. This
workshop will focus on ways to detect these gems of
illumination from life’s personal experiences and give
participants ideas on how to weave the tidbits into
their stories. |
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June
4: Donna Schlachter on Building Believable Characters
Think of the main plot of your book being like a spine,
and subplots like appendages, then Characters are the
ligaments and tendons that hold everything together. In
this workshop, we’ll explore who and what characters
are; understand our need for and uses of backstory;
discuss differences between female and male dialogue;
and look at ways that men and women see, hear, and
interpret situations differently. By the end of the
class, you should have a better understanding of why
it’s important to create characters that are believable
and unique, and how to do that.
About Donna: Donna is a Canadian by birth, an American
by choice. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her
husband Patrick. She pens historical suspense, while her
alter-ego, Leeann Betts, writes contemporary suspense.
Donna and Leeann have authored more than 40 published
novels and novellas, devotionals, and books on writing. |
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July
9: Tiffani Jo Baker on Podcasting for Writers:
Starting Your Own and Being a Guest
ZOOM ONLY!
With almost 2 million podcasts published and 60% of
podcast listeners making purchases from ads and
information heard about on episodes, podcasting is a
great way for writers to help get their message and
mission out. In this workshop you will learn what
podcasting can do for you, the 5 W's for simply starting
your own, and how to use other people's podcasts to help
build your business.
About Tiffani: Tiffany Jo Baker is a caffeinated mom of
two teen girls, surrogate mom who has carried five
babies for three families dealing with infertility and
wife of 20+ years to an extreme outdoorsman. She is a
speaker, strategist, podcast host and right-hand woman
for leaders, Christian communicator, and multifaceted
mama at heart. |
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August 6: Terrie Wolfe on The Business of Books
IN PERSON AND ON ZOOM!
In preparation for the national ACFW Conference
September 9-11—and all writers conferences, Terrie will
address things like— Pitching your book. Finding an
agent. Working with a publisher. Contracts and more.
About Terrie: Publishing Agent Terrie Wolf is an agent
at AKA Literary Management. Terrie Wolf studied English
Literature at Cambridge University, Creative Writing at
NYU and Journalism at University of Colorado at Denver
(UCD). Terrie Wolf’s experiences has garnered strong
contracts in print, television, film, and new
technologies and AKALM focuses on the entire package
when it comes to multi-platform opportunities and career
building for their clients and endeavors. She believes
in the validity of a well-honed framework built from
relatable, real-time solutions coupled with a sense of
excitement for the ever-changing world of publishing.
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September
10: Denise Weimer: An Introduction to Writing in Deep
Point of View
ZOOM ONLY!
Up until the last ten years or so, most novels were
written in some type of narrative point of view—a style
where the author or narrator served as a kind of middle
man, telling the reader what the main characters thought
and felt. So it’s not surprising that many of us start
out writing in that style as well. But for mass market
fiction, most publishers now prefer deep point of view—a
style where the author writes as though they are the
main character. Learn how to flip your switch to deep
POV—change passive voice to active, favor action beats
over speaker tags and showing over telling, avoid
head-hopping, and generate rich internal dialogue—to
create vibrant and immersive writing.
About Denise: Denise Weimer writes historical and
contemporary romance and romantic suspense, mostly set
in her home state of Georgia. She’s authored a dozen
traditionally published novels and a number of novellas.
As a managing editor for the historical imprints of
Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, she also helps
others reach their publishing dreams. A wife and mother
of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee,
chocolate, and old houses. |
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Oct
1: Jodi Artzberger: Books with Bookfunnel
IN PERSON AND ON ZOOM!
Bookfunnel is a great way to grow your newsletter list
by joining group promotions, running a promotion,
newsletter swaps and more! But did you know you can also
run sales through Bookfunnel? Deliver books to your beta
readers and ARC team? Bookfunnel was designed with you
in mind - authors. It's an inexpensive tool anyone can
use to succeed and grow their fan base.
About Jodi: Jodi is a Christ follower who lives in
beautiful Colorado with her wonderful husband, two
awesome boys, and rescue pups. She writes inspirational
Christian romantic suspense stories that are Gospel
centered and intertwined with God's love and plan of
redemption. |
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November
5: Jayme H. Mansfield on The Power of Words: Imagery,
Symbolism, and Language in Fiction
IN PERSON AND ON ZOOM!
Choose your words carefully. We’ve heard it and
try our best to follow the adage. For fiction writers,
it’s the golden nugget of advice that propels our
manuscripts to exhilarating heights, making our stories
more memorable and meaningful. Learn and practice how to
integrate powerful imagery, symbolism, and language into
your writing as we compare and contrast excerpts,
examine our own work, and turn bland into beautiful.
About Jayme: Jayme H. Mansfield is an author, artist,
speaker, and educator. Jayme's award-winning books,
Chasing the Butterfly, RUSH, and Seasoned, are book club
favorites. Her writing is filled with vivid imagery that
stirs the human heart and gifts the reader an abundance
of hope and joy. She owns, teaches, and paints at Piggy
Toes Art Studio. Her favorite journey is pursuing her
dreams, finding adventure, and passionately writing with
an ever-present artistic flair. She and her husband live
at the base of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with two
overly needy Golden Retrievers. Visit her at
www.jaymehmansfield.com
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December
3: Christmas Party
IN PERSON ONLY!
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