Author Archive: NECRWA

May 19 – When and How to Break the Rules of Point of View

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Everyone’s heard the so-called rules of point of view (POV): stick to one POV per scene; don’t switch POV mid-scene; always use the POV of your main characters; never start your story in the POV of a character the reader will never see again. Katy Cooper believes there’s only one rule when it comes to writing fiction: Everything you do has to serve your story. As for for POV, she thinks the so-called rules are good guidelines to follow…but not every time. Join her as she talks about instances where writers didn’t follow the guidelines, why those instances worked and how you can use POV to strengthen your story.

Although she has been a writer her entire life, Katy Cooper did not begin seriously pursuing fiction writing until the winter of 1995. Her first novel, Prince of Hearts, was a Golden Heart finalist and subsequently sold to Harlequin Historicals. Her second short historical romance, Lord Sebastian’s Wife, was also published by Harlequin Historicals. Both novels were re-released as ebooks in 2012.  Katy has spoken on numerous occasions, offering workshops at chapter meetings for the New England Chapter, Connecticut Chapter and the New Hampshire Chapter, at the New England Chapter’s Let Your Imagination Take Flight and the New Jersey Chapter’s Put Your Heart In a Book conferences, and at Romance Writers of America’s National Conferences.

Congratulations to Our Contest Winners

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Winners for the Readers’ Choice Beanpot award and the First Kiss award were announced Saturday at the Conference Awards Breakfast.  Here they are:

First Kiss

First Place – Katy Regnery for “It’s You”
Second Place – Crystal Eliot for “Lessons in Scandal”
Third Place – Virginia Frost for “Prop Girl”
Honorable Mention – Tina Evans for “One More Night”, Susan Chambers for “Dragonfly” and Anna Richland for “The Soldier”

Bean Pot

Contemporary
First Place – Radclyffe for Crossroads
Second Place – Elise K Ackers for The Man Plan
Third Place – Laura Kaye for One Night with a Hero

Romantic Suspense
First Place – Marie Force for Fatal Deception
Second Place – Casey Clifford for An Island No More
Third Place – Radclyffe for Oath of Honor

Historical
First Place – Michelle Marcos for Lessons in Loving a Laird
Second Place – Heather Snow for Sweet Deception
Third Place – Margaret Mallory for The Warrior

Erotic Romance
First Place – Karen Stivali for Marry Me
Second Place – Elle Saint James for Unbridled and Unsaddled
Third Place – Lauren Gallagher for Who’s Your Daddy?

Futuristic; Fantasy; Paranormal or Time Travel
First Place – Cristy Gibson for Tangled Web
Second Place – Kaylea Cross for Darkest Caress
Third Place – Sara Humphreys for Untamed

Mainstream with Romantic Elements
First Place – Anna Lee Huber for The Anatomist’s Wife
Second Place – Mary Ellis for Living in Harmony
Third Place – Barbara Claypole White for The Unfinished Garden

Young Adult
First Place – Katie McGarry for Pushing the Limits
Second Place – Marissa Doyle for Courtship and Curses
Third Place – Chloe Jacobs for Greta and the Goblin King

April 21 – Conference Primer

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The NECRWA Let Your Imagination Take Flight conference is right around the corner. Whether you’re a veteran or a newbie, we all know conference can be a bit overwhelming. We’ll discuss the ABCs of making sure you get the most out of it.  Topics will include (and are not limited to):

Choosing Workshops
Meeting New People
Self-Promotion
Agent/Editor Appointments
Book Fair
Proper Attire

This is an open forum style meeting, so be sure to come prepared with your questions (and answers)! 

March 17 – Know Your Man-Beast with Cara McKenna

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We’re all familiar with the basic hero taxonomy—alpha or beta, right? But do you know what really makes an alpha-wolf hero? How about a coyote hero? An owl? A cat? A crow? A yellow lab disguised as a pit-bull?
This workshop will use animal archetypes to reveal the subtler nuances of characterization, applicable to heroes, heroines, villains, and supporting players of all kinds. Think your hero’s an alpha wolf? Maybe not, if the man’s a loner—after all, every wolf needs a pack, and every alpha lives in fear of the day he’ll be bested by a stronger, younger, hungrier rival. Maybe your hero’s a jaguar, instead. If so, he better not be stomping around the scene, barking orders! Instead he’ll prowl or stalk in fluid silence, biding his time. Sound too cool and calculating? Then perhaps you’ve created a mustang hero—a bit wild, hesitant to trust but loyal once broken.
This will be a fun, interactive, multimedia workshop! Cara will outline a variety of animal archetypes and their traits, and members will be encouraged to apply them to their own characters—and to identify new species—as we embark on this fiction writers’ safari.
Cara McKenna writes smart erotic romance for Ellora’s Cave and Penguin / Intermix, and her evil conjoined twin Meg Maguire writes contemporary romance for Harlequin Blaze and Samhain. This workshop was inspired by her post for the Wonkomance blog, titled “McKenna’s Field Guide to Heroes of North America.”

 

Goldrick Award: Celebrating Chapter Volunteers

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Each year at the Let Your Imagination Take Flight Conference, the Goldrick Service Award is given to a deserving New England Chapter member.

The award, first awarded in 1996, is given in honor of the late Bob Goldrick who, along with his wife Emma, wrote as Emma Goldrick for Harlequin. They were longtime chapter members who generously volunteered their time, knowledge, and help to the chapter and their fellow members.  Upon his death, it was decided to create a service award that would annually celebrate a member whose contribution to the chapter exemplified the service and cooperation among fellow writers that so characterized Bob’s legacy.

The Board encourages the membership to nominate any member they feel promotes the best of what the chapter is about, in particular those who have given their time, energy and emotional/mental stamina to the chapter, especially those unsung members who so quietly give of themselves. Current Board members are not eligible.

The Board will review all the nominations and choose a recipient. The award will be presented to the winner in a special presentation during the conference luncheon. There is no formal nomination submission process for the award. You can simply email or mail your nominations to any member of the board. However, please include a detailed statement as to why you have nominated a particular member since this will help the Board during the selection process.

If you have any questions, contact Myretta Robens, Chapter President, at [email protected].

Past award recipients are:

1996: Neringa Bryant and Jo Ann Ferguson (joint recipients)
1997: Terri Pino
1998: Blanche Marriott
1999: Betsy Eliot
2000: Michelle Drosos
2001: Lori Lotti
2002: Katy Cooper and Cindy Jachrimo (joint recipients)
2003: Barbara Wallace
2004: Lesley Mathews
2005: Jessica Andersen
2006: Liana Dalton
2007: Cathryn Parry
2008: Barbara Keiler
2009: Jessica Smith
2010: Tara Holt
2011: Hannah Howell
2012: Myretta Robens

February 24 – When and How to Break the Rules of Point of View

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Everyone’s heard the so-called rules of point of view (POV): stick to one POV per scene; don’t switch POV mid-scene; always use the POV of your main characters; never start your story in the POV of a character the reader will never see again. Katy Cooper believes there’s only one rule when it comes to writing fiction: Everything you do has to serve your story. As for for POV, she thinks the so-called rules are good guidelines to follow…but not every time. Join her as she talks about instances where writers didn’t follow the guidelines, why those instances worked and how you can use POV to strengthen your story.
Although she has been a writer her entire life, Katy Cooper did not begin seriously pursuing fiction writing until the winter of 1995. Her first novel, Prince of Hearts, was a Golden Heart finalist and subsequently sold to Harlequin Historicals. Her second short historical romance, Lord Sebastian’s Wife, was also published by Harlequin Historicals. Both novels were re-released as ebooks in 2012.  Katy has spoken on numerous occasions, offering workshops at chapter meetings for the New England Chapter, Connecticut Chapter and the New Hampshire Chapter, at the New England Chapter’s Let Your Imagination Take Flight and the New Jersey Chapter’s Put Your Heart In a Book conferences, and at Romance Writers of America’s National Conferences.

Congratulations to our First Kiss Contest finalists

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Congratulations to the six finalists in NEC-RWA’s First Kiss Contest.

Katy Regnery: “It’s You”
Susan Chambers: Dragonfly **
Crystal Eliot: Lessons in Scandal
Tina Evans: One More Night
Virginia Frost: Prop Girl
Anna Richland: The Soldier

These entries will now move on to the final round and be judged by Patience Bloom, Editor at Harlequin.

We would also like to thank all of the judges and our contest coordinator, Janet Louise Campbell, who did a fabulous job on this contest.

**NEC member

January 20 – Using Writing Prompts to Get Yourself Unstuck

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Deborah Bluestein, a local author and trained facilitator of the Amherst Writers and Artists Method (AWA), will show us how prompted writing can keep the lengthy, and often times arduous, process of novel writing fresh and surprising. Bring a pen and paper for this enlightening hands-on workshop, Using Writing Prompts to Get Yourself Unstuck

Deborah holds a Master’s Degree in Fiction Writing from Emerson College. Her fiction has appeared in several literary journals including River Oaks Review and Happy Magazine whose editor nominated one of her short stories for a Pushcart Prize. She has published numerous personal essays in national and local magazines and newspapers. She founded Juiceboxartists in 2003 as a home for teaching writing according to the AWA (Amherst Artists and Writers) method and has offered workshops in greater Boston and as far away as Tuscany. She recently completed an historical novel set in Renaissance Tuscany and is now at work on a book about a Civil War heroine who served as a double agent for the Union Army.