Sola's Guest Speaker ~ Agent, Laura Bradford

On March 19th SOLA-RWA'S (New Orleans Romance Writers Group) Guest Speaker is agent, Laura Bradford. Ms. Bradford will give the presentation, "How To Catch Flies: On Professionalism & Choosing Your Own Business Reputation." (See her bio below.)

Laura Bradford established the Bradford Literary Agency in 2001. She considers herself an editorial-focused agent and takes a hands-on approach to developing proposals and manuscripts with her authors for the most appropriate markets. The mission of Bradford Literary Agency is to form true partnerships with their clients and build long-term relationships that extend from writing the first draft through the length of the author’s career. Her recent sales include books placed with Berkley, Grand Central, Harlequin/Silhouette, Kensington, Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins, Sourcebooks, Hyperion, Flux, Macmillan, Adams Media and Mira Books.

She continues to actively build her client list and is currently seeking work in the following genres: Romance (historical, romantic suspense, paranormal, category, contemporary, erotic), urban fantasy, women’s fiction, mystery, thrillers and young adult as well as some select non-fiction.

She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) and Romance Writers of America and she is an RWA-recognized agent.

This is going to be a great presentation and I hope you can attend.

For more information on time and place, please visit www.solawriters.org

Dawn
www.dawnchartier.com

DFW Writers Conference - Learning and Pitching

Yep. I'm going to a writers conference in Dallas this weekend. Why? Well, because I've plenty to learn. (Always learn) You are already published - you say.
Sure. But I want to be published again and again.

This weekend I'm pitching my paranormal romance novel, BURIED MAGIC. I need to find an agent that will hear my voice in this story, and someone who will share the same dreams as I do. That dream is to have a long career with the same agent, and write plenty of books and make plenty of people happy...I want to give those readers a great escape.

So wish me luck. If anything, at least I'll come back with some new friends and more knowledge...I'll be back next week to give an update.

Hugs,
Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT NOW!
WWW.DAWNCHARTIER.COM

Sola's next guest is VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON

I'm pleased to announce that Sola's next speaker is the great, Vicki Lewis Thompson.

As always - the 3rd Saturday of each month @ the East Jefferson Parish Library. Board meeting starts @ 10am and speaker starts @ 11-12.

Just a note...Last month our speaker Shirley Jump filled the house! The library turned people away (so sorry if that was you), but they have State Fire Marshal rules and gave us a capacity limit after the fact. Our little secret of a great writing group leaked out in the Times Picayune and tons of writers came out of the woodwork. (We loved having everyone and hope they join us again!!!)

So if you want to see Vicki - don't be late.



Thanks,
Dawn

Free read by Suzanne Johnson --- Loved it!

I know most of my followers live in Louisiana, and for those who do you - must read this little short story from author Suzanne Johnson. The story took on a unique twist I hadn't seen coming...(loved it)...And if you are not from Louisiana you'll get a good glimpse of it through Suzanne's eyes...she couldn't have written it better.

Free read: "Chenoire," an urban fantasy/paranormal novelette by Suzanne Johnson set in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, in the world of Royal Street--a new series beginning April 2012 from Tor Books. http://suzanne- johnson.blogspot .com

(To find the rest of this short story you have to go to Suzanne's website, which I think it listed on her blog.)

Enjoy. I know I did.

Dawn

LEARNING THE CRAFT OF WRITING and my thoughts on Shadowfever...

Today I wanna talk about 1.) Shadowfever by Karen M Moning, and 2.) Writing.

First, if you haven't read Shadowfever, don't worry I won't give any spoilers here. I'd die if someone did that to me. I just want to prepare you that you won't get all the answers you are looking for when you read it. Second, I loved the book, I loved the series. My favorite to date. I wish I could write like her. But this last book left me feeling incomplete. Which was probably what the author intended to do so we will die waiting for her next series to come out - the series she hasn't written yet. Bites nails. Yes. I know she deserves a vacation. I know. I know.
But when you read it - comment here on what you think about it. No bashing her, because I love her books and she's a great lady. But what would you have done differently? Would you leave it as is? Maybe you figured out answers to things I'm confused about.

Now on to writing. After some really good feedback from agents I queried, I decided to revise my opening and tweek lots in the book. My characters will no longer be Psychics. They will be witches. I'm doing some research, but basically they are going to be unique to me and my world. I'm not writing non-fiction, so don't worry bout' it. lol

Now on to the craft of writing. As I write this I'll be perfectly honest. I'm a story teller at heart - not a true writer. I don't have great skills. My grammar lacks. But I am who I am. A story teller. So, now that the cats out of the bag I will tell you this - I've been taking several classes this year, and have a few more lined up. My head is going to explode with all this new knowledge. lol. But this is what I needed. I'm crossing my fingers all this educating myself pays off. (At least that's the plan) I can feel myself getting closer and closer to that contract. The contract that says "I want the entire series!" Oh-Yeah!

So, have you ever felt like you were almost there and did something that completely took your book from good to great? If so, what was that thing? I can say one thing I've done is take a class from Angela James and Shirley Jump. These class will help you polish up things that editors look for. Sure they look for a great story, but they look at the errors too. Errors that they may not have time to fix to get your great story out there. (Like mine.)

I hope everyone is having a great reading or writing day. Happy Friday, y'all...

Dawn
NOT AN ANGEL, OUT RIGHT NOW! LOL

P.S. SOLA'S FEBRUARY SPEAKER IS AUTHOR, VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON!

Spreading yourself too thin? Me. Me. Me.

After cooking dinner tonight I sat at the computer and headed straight to the Savvy Authors website where I'm taking two classes this month. It didn't surprise me that I have assignments to do in both of them tonight. While one assignment from Angela James is fairly simple (thank God!) because we are just beginning; the other editing class called "Editpalooza" is kicking my ass. Seriously. They want you to read your novel and go through everything. Plot, Theme, Character, Structure, and on and on...


I had no clue what I signed up for. I even asked Liz, the group owner if I should do both classes, and she said SURE. Laugh's on me, Liz...I know. I know. I'll be a better writer after it's over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. (grin)

I am learning a lot, so I'm sure it will be all worth it in the end, that is if I make it to the end. I have a huge assignment due in a few days and guess what? This weekend is our monthly local RWA chapter meeting, and I'm the Co-Program Director which means I'm responsible for the speakers. This month our speaker is coming from Ohio and her name is Shirley Jump. After I took a few on-line classes from her I knew I had to book her for our local Sola group. She's awesome and I love her books. So, on Friday she arrives at the airport, Saturday is our class and then she flies out on Sunday.

Mean while another fab. author comes to New Orleans this weekend as well. Karen M. Moning. She is launching her latest Shadowfever book on Monday or Tuesday and she'll be in New Orleans for her Fevercon event. Yep. I'm attending that as well. (Vampire and Ghost tours, along with breakfast at Brennan's Restaurant, book signings and a book chat with readers) Can't wait to get my hands on my reserved signed copy of the latest Fever book. Moning left us on a very nasty cliff hanger. Not nice!

And last but not least I signed up for a brand new Candace Havens class. With all these classes I should be selling books by the dozen. (grin) I also agreed to do a book review, judge the Golden Heart, do a few interviews and blogs for a few authors, etc.

Plus I have to find time to write, edit and make time for the hubby, kids and day job. So do you think I'm spreading myself too thin? Are you doing the same this year? How do you manage to stay sane?

Sola Writers January speaker is Shirley Jump.

Come and visit Sola's next author speaker on January 15th 2011 @ 10am:





New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing women’s fiction and romantic comedies (Vegas Pregnancy Surprise, July 2010) to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. As AJ Whitten (www.ajwhitten.com), she also writes horror young adult novels for Houghton Mifflin’s Graphia imprint with her daughter (The Well, September 2009). She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Visit her website at www.shirleyjump.com or read recipes and life adventures at www.shirleyjump.blogspot.com.

For info on location please visit: www.solawriters.org

Thanks and I hope to see you there.
Dawn Chartier
www.dawnchartier.com