Welcome to Music City Romance Writers, the Middle Tennessee chapter of RWA. We have members all over Tennessee and the surrounding states, and we meet once a month at various locations in Middle Tennessee. We have an annual member retreat and an active membership. Prospective members can attend up to two meetings before the National organization requires that they join. Please feel free to browse the website and find out more about us!
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News and Updates:
Our Melody of Love Contest JUST FILLED UP days before the February 28 deadline! BEST OF LUCK to all the entrants. And judges, we're about to get this party started.
February is our annual member retreat, but regular meetings resume in March with a fascinating talk by a mortician!
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More information about the meetings here.
2019 Member Retreat
Workshops: Stepping
into your Character’s Shoes, Balancing Emotion and Pacing or Unforgettable
Fiction, Tackling the On-Going Search for Discoverability
Presenter: Priscilla
Oliveras
Cost to attend:
$25, registration open November 19th
Friday night: Annual chapter dinner details to be announced, but there is an Inn Restaurant that serves three meals a day. The villas have stoves/fridges for cooking and snacks if desired.
Saturday: workshops galore!
Friday night: Annual chapter dinner details to be announced, but there is an Inn Restaurant that serves three meals a day. The villas have stoves/fridges for cooking and snacks if desired.
Saturday: workshops galore!
Stepping into your Character’s Shoes: At the heart of every romance novel, no matter the
subgenre, lie the characters. They’re the ones we befriend, fall in love with,
and, for many readers, the reason why we place a book on our “keeper shelf” to
revisit again and again. Actors and writers are cousins in the art of bringing
characters to life. This presentation discusses and demonstrates several techniques
and exercises found in Brandilyn Collins’ how-to text Getting into
Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors to help writers
succeed in their quest to create believable, unforgettable characters.
Balancing Emotion and Pacing or Unforgettable Fiction: As authors we know that emotion is the key to engaging
readers in the story, but we’re often urged to trim backstory and inner
dialogue and focus on driving the story forward. This presentation shares
practical tips and tools to help us get that critical emotion on the page while
maintaining the right speed of pacing. When it comes down to it, properly
balancing emotion and pacing can help you deliver the emotional impact your
story needs to keep readers turning pages and push a scene or novel beyond
competent to unforgettable.
Tackling the On-Going Search for Discoverability: Discoverability, visibility, cross-promotion,
marketing…these are all buzz words we often discuss, maybe even stress about,
with fellow authors and industry professionals. And while writing can be a
solitary endeavor, promotion doesn’t always have to be. In fact,
cross-promotion with the right individuals can be beneficial and fun! From
author self-evaluation intended to help you discover your own strengths and
brand, to identifying comp titles and authors, to ways you might be able to
pinpoint authors with whom you share commonalities that might lead to
cross-promo opportunities… this presentation shares tips, tools, and lessons
learned in the bid to crack the age-old discoverability code.
Bio: PRISCILLA
OLIVERAS is a 2018 RWA® RITA® double finalist who writes contemporary
romance with a Latinx flavor. Proud of her Puerto Rican-Mexican heritage, she
strives to bring authenticity to her novels by sharing her Latinx culture with readers. All three books in Priscilla’s
debut (Matched to Perfection) series, His Perfect Partner, Her
Perfect Affair, and Their Perfect Melody, earned Starred Reviews
from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Since earning an MFA in
Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, she serves as English
adjunct faculty at her local college and teaches an on-line course titled
“Romance Writing” for ed2go. Priscilla is a sports fan, beach lover, and Zumba
aficionado who often practices the art of napping in her backyard hammock.
Follow along on her fun-filled and hectic
life at www.prisoliveras.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prisoliveras or on Twitter & Instagram via @prisoliveras.
Sign up for the retreat by paying $25 via PayPal here:
Please contact the board if you have questions or concerns. To account for the fact that some members' names are not exactly like their PayPal emails, please please put your name in the notes section above or by emailing our treasurer, Susan Bickford, to give her a head's up!
For lodging, you will independently make and control your reservations with Montgomery Bell. There are various types of rooms, cabins and suites. The hotel does require a one night deposit, which is refunded when you check out so that appropriate charges can be made if you shared your accommodations. For the discounted rate the code is 9280. The phone number to call for reservations from their website is 1-800-250-8613. And the website is https://tnstateparks.com/parks/montgomery-bell
Direct other questions to Charissa Weaks at charissaweaksauthor at gmail.com
September 2018 Event: A Day with Damon Suede
A Day with Damon Suede
Registration now open for our MCRW September Event featuring Damon Suede!
When: Saturday, September 15, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. with optional evening session and Sunday morning breakfast (additional fees required).
Schedule:
Click here to reserve your room or call 615-964-5500 and ask for the Music City Romance Writers group rate. Our discounted rate is only available until August 20, 2018.
For more information about becoming a MCRW member, click here. Please note that this event is limited to attendees over the age of 18 only.
Registration now open for our MCRW September Event featuring Damon Suede!
When: Saturday, September 15, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. with optional evening session and Sunday morning breakfast (additional fees required).
Registration link: https://www.rwa.org/e/in/eid=831
Who: Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud in
right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. He has earned his
crust as a model, a messenger, a promoter, a programmer, a sculptor, a singer,
a stripper, a bookkeeper, a bartender, a techie, a teacher, a director… but
writing has ever been his bread and butter. Though new to romance fiction,
Damon has been a full-time writer for print, stage, and screen for almost three
decades. He has won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his
amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans,
and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year
after year.
Saturday, September 15
|
|
9:00
a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
|
CHARACTER
BUILDING: Action Figures
Bestsellers
start with fascinating people. Boost your writing process and anchor your
career at any stage with a new characterization method that jumpstarts
drafting, crafting, revision, and pitching. Go beyond looks, persona, and
boilerplate traits so you can bust your ruts and build the perfect cast to
dazzle your readers. This session includes:
·
skill-builders to intensify language, stakes, and emotion for
your readers.
·
battle-tested solutions for common traps, crutches, and
habits.
·
a dynamic story-planning strategy effective for plotters and
pantsers.
·
exercises to help you upgrade stories in any genre.
In
this deep-dive morning session, we’ll take your fictional folks to the next
level with a simple, powerful technique that will strengthen your people,
your plots, your hooks, and your voice. Whether you like to wing it or bring
it, you’ll leave this workshop with a new set of practical, language-based
tools to populate your pages and lay the foundations of unforgettable genre
fiction.
|
12:00
p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
|
Lunch (included with registration fee)
|
1:00
p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
|
FIND
YOUR GAME FACE
This
hands-on workshop on presence and platform will teach you how to identify a
personal archetype to embody your brand and launch your projects in the genre
marketplace. In this session you’ll learn to:
·
evoke story patterns that protect and project your
professionalism.
·
harness the power of personal goals and a public platform, on-
and offline.
·
tailor your message to open doors and attract the right
kind of attention.
·
cultivate a healthy A-gang to minimize headaches and boost
promo.
A
strategic authorial presence can be a game changer for your career. This
class will show you how to groom and broadcast your unique appeal, so you
become your own best advertisement
|
7:00
p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
|
SELLING
STORIES (Optional
Evening Session – additional fee required)
Does your marketing copy earn its keep? This
session tackles the wild, woolly world of blurbs and explore the way a high
concept premise can anchor a project before and during the writing process.
We’ll drill down into the challenges of summarizing your story’s strongest
selling point. We'll unpack the knack of crafting a clear hook, a free prize,
and boiling a project into a logline that closes the sale, before and after
publication.
|
Sunday, September 16
|
|
Time
TBD
|
SMALL
GROUP BREAKFAST (Optional
Morning Session – additional fee required)
Get all of your marketing questions answered in this
small group breakfast discussion with Damon. Space is very limited for this option,
and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. The cost of breakfast
at the Four Points by Sheraton on-site restaurant is not included with the
registration fee.
|
Cost:
Register between
July 1 – July 31
|
Register between
August 1- September
7
|
||
MCRW Members:
|
$65.00
|
MCRW Members:
|
$75.00
|
Non-Members:
|
$75.00
|
Non-Members:
|
$85.00
|
Optional
Evening Session: Selling Stories
|
$20.00
|
Optional
Evening Session: Selling Stories
|
$20.00
|
Optional
Sunday Breakfast (cost of food not included):
|
$20.00
|
Optional
Sunday Breakfast (cost of food not included):
|
$20.00
|
Registration
closes for members and non-members on September 8, 2018
|
Guest rooms are $129.00 plus applicable state and local taxes.
For more information about becoming a MCRW member, click here. Please note that this event is limited to attendees over the age of 18 only.
Refund Policy: Due to
our timeline for securing meals and materials, we are not able to offer refunds
after August 15.
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