New Summer Classes at BOOTCAMP FOR NOVELISTS

Don't miss out on these exciting summer clinics at Bootcamp for Novelists!

July 22 to September 2
C1 Applying the Hero's Journey
Mythology was made famous by Joseph Campbell and later applied to screenwriting andstorytelling by Hollywood, yet the principles of this powerful tool to readers'subconscious common links are still only vaguely understood. Learn how the archetypes areactually placeholders and that the journey itself takes many forms. This course is sixweeks long and features considerable discussion as well as exercises for employing the"Journey" method.
Fee: $48


August 5 to September 16
LS1 Secrets To Writing a Killer Synopsis
Plus: Query Letter and First Three Chapters
The best story in the world won't sell if the editor can't get past the query letter and the synopsis. Most publishers give very specific guidelines on what they want in a submission, but they don't tell you how to make your submission stand out among the hundreds they receive daily. In this class, you'll learn the secret to do just that. This is a 6-week class in which you'll get direct feedback on your work. It is recommended that you have completed at least half of your manuscript in order to get the most from the class.

In this class we'll cover:
The Rules
Basic Presentation
Query Letter format --how to show individuality, style and a compelling story in one page.
The cover letter
The Synopsis - what's the secret?
Showing individuality, voice, style and a compelling story in a short synopsis.
Overview on the first three chapters of your novel

Register now! Get the tools that will help bring your proposal to the editor's attention...and make her want to read more!
Fee: $48

Enroll Now! http://bootcampfornovelists.com/ls-courses/l-course-ls-clinic-1-perfect-prop.html


AND THERE'S MORE. THE BOOTCAMP PACKAGES ARE BACK!
Each of these packages include the four fundamental courses of each Bootcamp track (basicand polish) and cover the same material as the individual Bootcamps. There will be a one-week break between each course, and you still have the option of registering for each Bootcamp individually, just without the package discount

PILLARS OF STRUCTURE PACKAGE
Begins September 30
1B - Creating Characters
2B - Dynamic Plotting
3B - Sculpting Scenes
4B - Conflict That Sizzles
These four courses develop your basic writing skills and give you the foundation for writing your book. You'll go through step-by-step exercises that can sometimes befrustrating but are designed to help you identify how to create the memorable characters,can't-put-it-down plotting, and tense, crackling scenes that are found in all the bestbooks. Plus, knowledge at a bargain.

Individual courses are $28 each. You'll save $20 by enrolling in the combined package. PACKAGE FEE: $92

TECHNIQUES OF THE PROS PACKAGE
Begins November 11
1P - The First Three Chapters
2P - Deepening Character
3P - Escalating Consequences
4P - Creating Strong Subplots
The advanced techniques in these four classes are designed to expand and build on your basic foundation skills to take your writing to another level. The lessons and exercises,using your own work, will give you hands on experience as you learn the concepts and practice the techniques that make a bestseller...complex stories with memorable characters that readers will remember long after they've turned the last page.

Individual courses are $28. You'll save $20 by enrolling in the four-class package.
PACKAGE FEE: $92
For more information or to enroll, go to http://bootcampfornovelists.com/

Get Out of My Way: Guest Blogger Tara Taylor Quinn

I’m delighted and honored to welcome my friend and fellow Harlequin author Tara Taylor Quinn to my blog today. Direct on the heels of her new series from MIRA Books, The Chapman Files, Tara is the author of her own story, the first reality-based romance from HCI Books. Rather than say any more, I'll let her tell you all about it...and how to get out of the way and let your characters tell their story.

Get Out of My Way

I’m not sure when in my writing career I learned the lesson that too much of me was not a good thing – but it’s a lesson I’ve had to learn and re-learn through out the writing of my fifty-five books to date. So many times in life we learn lessons that will serve us later, and I think that was supposed to the be the case here.

Unfortunately I’m not that great of a student and the lesson didn’t stick well enough. So, here I am, just coming off from finishing a book (mailed it to my editor at 7:00pm Friday, December 10, 2010.) And on Friday, December 17, 2010 I have revisions due to another editor, another publisher, on another book. An April release that is due to production. Revisions in and of themselves are not a problem for me. I’m pretty good at them. I actually like them because the pressure is off in terms of making a book happen and I get to just take what I’ve done and make it better. A seven day turn around for me with revisions is comfortable enough.

Not this time. I know, technically, what I need to do to make this book better. To clean it and make it pop in every place not just some places. What I can’t seem to do is find the wheres and hows. I’m in the way. I’m not letting the story flow from that deep place inside me to the page. I’m not even getting to the deep place. Half way down, there I am, all over the place, blocking the path.

This is the one time I really needed to be good at getting out of the way. Because this time, I’m not just the writer who has to put my butt in the chair and type until the words start to flow. This time I am also the heroine, who has to tell me her story.

A few months ago I was asked by HCI books (the original publisher of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books among hundreds of other non-fiction bestsellers) to write my own true life love story. Like all of my books, this story has deep life issues, the healing power of true love, and real happiness. The book, It Happened on Maple Street, is out in April, 2011. And while that sounds to me like a long time away, it’s only three and a half months from now!

So here I am, heroine and writer all in one. We have four and a half days to do revisions on an entire manuscript. One of us is in the way. And this time, instead of it being the writer, I think it’s the heroine.

I’m not panicked, though. I’m a seasoned writer. I’ve been at this long enough to know that panic is not going help. I also know there’s no reason to panic. Writing is an art, it’s a spiritual experience. It involves the deepest connection, the deepest communication, and the deepest trust. As a writer, I have to find out what is preventing the deep communication and tend to the problem. In this case, I already know the problem. The heroine isn’t communicating because she doesn’t trust the writer to tell her story.

Parts of this book are hard. Painful. Not the kind of stuff the flows easily. Not the kind of story you trust anyone to tell.

But I have to trust me to tell it. So I have to find a way to tend to my own mistrust. I’m finding it, oddly enough, in the revision letter that started the current stand off.

This is from the beginning of the revision letter: “This is truly a groundbreaking piece of literary work that is shocking in its raw honesty and starkly poignant in its message. What you have created out of the fabric of your life is sexy and sad, unsettling and moving, inspiring and infinitely compelling.”

So, to my heroine self, I say, I’ve only got four days to make this better. Get Out of My Way!

To pre-order a copy of It Happened On Maple Street and receive 20% off the cover price, one of the first editions off the press, a collector, autographed glossy It Happened On Maple Street poster in time for Christmas, click here: http://vows.hcibooks.com/2010/11/21/romance-author-tara-taylor-quinn-true-story-domestic-abuse-write-true-vows-reality-based-romance/.

Or enter to win a Kindle: http://vows.hcibooks.com/vows-giveways/win-a-kindle-reality-romance-giveaway/.

And to have a chance to win an e-copy of The First Wife, Book One in The Chapman File series that is out now, please leave a comment!

BOOT UP YOUR WRITING CAREER ESSAY CONTEST!

In conjunction with the Scottsdale Fall Library Conference, New York Times bestselling author Christina Skye is sponsoring a contest where the lucky winner will win a 4-course writing package of choice at Bootcamp for Novelists. (see http://bootcampfornovelists.com for details)

To enter, participants must submit a 100 word essay on the question: What will it take to Boot my writing career to the next level? Send entries to ckflynn@cox.net by November 17th. The winner will be announced during Christina Skye's keynote address at the conference and you must be present to win.


THE DESERT ROSE FIFTH ANNUAL FREE FALL WORKSHOP SCOTTSDALE CIVIC CENTER LIBRARY
NOVEMBER 20, 2010 FROM 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

Come see what the buzz is all about and learn from industry professionals.

The stellar line-up includes:
Keynote by New York Times bestselling author Christina Skye
Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Denise Domning
Donna Hatch
Gini Koch
Annette Mahon
Cathy McDavid
Erin Quinn
Vijaya Schartz
Amber Scott
Pamela Tracy
Kris Tualla
Carrie Weaver

Hope to see you there!
* Don't forget to enter the essay contest by November 17th!