April 4, 2010 – April 18, 2010
$15 for PI Members; $20 for Non-members

Writing action scenes requires being in real time and real people. This presentation will focus both on how to write action scenes effectively, but also understanding the subtext to the scene in terms of reality, personalities, and effect on plot and character. Tactics, weapons, hand-to-hand, etc. will be covered. The mindset of a warrior (and the coward) approaching and involved in action scenes will be discussed. Lessons will be presentations with questions to be asked afterward and answered in next lesson.

Six lessons:
1: Character: Who are these people and why are they fighting?
2: Plot, Setting and Point of View in Action scenes.
3: Writing Action
4: Weapons, tactics, martial arts, and how to kill with your pinkie.
5: The mind of the Warrior.
6: Wrap up and final questions answered.

NY Times bestselling author Bob Mayer has 40 books published. He has over three million books in print and is in demand as a team-building, life-change, and leadership speaker and consultant. Bob graduated from West Point and served in the military as a Special Forces A-Team leader and a teacher at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School. He earned a black belt in martial arts while living in the Orient. His latest book is Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear & Succeed. He teaches novel writing and improving the author via his Warrior-Writer program. For more information see his website.

Information on how to register is available at our workshops page.

Do you wish you had a better understanding of men? Now is your chance to improve your real-life relationships with men and enhance your male characters all through taking the same course.

In the five week online class, you will learn how the male brain and hormones makes a man think, feel, and behave, especially in relationships. We will also discuss how men are portrayed in romance novels versus how men are in real life.

For the first time, Dr. Holland will also add a segment covering the anatomy and physiology of male sexuality, as well as male sexual responses, attitudes, and behavior.

Dr. Debra Holland
Debra Holland, Ph.D is a popular psychotherapist, consultant, and speaker on the topics of communication skills, relationships, stress and trauma, and dealing with difficult people. In this class, Dr. Debra will considerably expand on the workshop she has given at the 2001 National RWA Conference and around the country to various RWA chapters and conferences. Although this class is geared to writers, non-writers will also find the class helpful in improving their relationships with men.

For more information about Dr. Holland, see her website http://www.drdebraholland.com/

Information on how to register is available at our Workshops page.

Good luck to all who entered!

When you know everything there is to know about your story, it’s hard to stay focused on the big picture.

This intense, hands-on 5 day workshop teaches you how to convert your creative concept into bite size promotional chunks that will allow you to effectively market your manuscript.

Learn: 4 pre-writing exercises to presenting character 3 pre-writing exercises to synthesizing your plot
and 2 key issues that help you identify the unique features of your story.

More information including how to register at our Workshops page.

Passionate Plume

Contemporary

1st -Mari Carr – Erotic Research
2nd – Eileen Ann Brennan** - Marnie’s Secret
3rd – Katie Reus – Running From The Past
HM Jenna Bayley-Burke** – Her Cinderella Complex
HM Saskia Walker** – Reckless

Futuristic / Fantasy / SciFi

1st – Denise Rossetti** – Strongman
2nd – Mari Freeman** – Birthright
3rd – Mechele Armstrong** – Settler’s Mine 3: The Woman
HM Dee Brice** – His Virtual Assassin
HM Mima – In Service

Historical

1st – Kate Pearce** – Simply Sinful
2nd – Alice Gaines** – Sans Regret
3rd – Emma Wildes – A Devil’s Bargain
HM Elizabeth Amber** – Lyon, The Lords of Satyr
HM Samantha Kane** – Retreat From Love (Brothers In Arms)

Novella

1st – Natasha Moore** – Sunrise in Jewel of the Nile II
2nd – Anna Leigh Keaton** – Sweetest Desires
3rd – Jade Buchanan** – Horsfall: Tail of Two Brothers
HM Samantha Kane** – A Lady In Waiting
HM Carolina Valdez** – Tie ‘Em Up, Hold ‘Em Down

Paranormal / Time Travel

1st – Crystal Jordan** – Treasured
2nd – Eden Rivers** – Broken Pentacle
3rd – Dana Marie Bell** – The Wallflower, Halle Pumas Book 1
HM Mackenzie McKade** – Black Widow
HM Jennifer North** – Party Vamps

Stroke of Midnight

Contemporary:

1st Place – Kate MacArthur – The Third Piece
2nd Place – Janet Mullany** – A Subtext of Sex
3rd Place – Grace Hood – Come On Baby, Light My Fire
HM – Nett Robbens** – Falling Again
HM – Alannah Lynne** – Last Call

Paranormal/Time Travel

1st Place – Erika Sands – D’Nar
2nd Place – Lyra Verna – Mastering Her Dark Soul
3rd Place – Paris Brandon** – Blood On The Moon
HM – Letitia Brave – Pandora’s Box
HM – Serena Shay** – The Challenge

Novella:

1st Place – Michal Scott** – Alone on Earth
2nd Place – Minx Malone** – Milo’s Revenge
3rd Place – Michal Scott** – Possessed by the Past
HM – Michal Scott** – Pandora’s Box
HM – Trinity Blake – Time Pirate

Futuristic/Fantasy/SciFi

1st Place – Sara Avellino – Renegade
2nd Place – Leigh Court** – The Edge of TIme
3rd Place – Ella Drake – Caught In Silver
HM – Jeffe Kennedy** – Obsidian
HM – Michelle Polaris – Bound Odyssey