Merrillee Whren to Speak November 10, 2011

Merrillee Whren is an award-winning author who writes for Harlequin Love Inspired.  She is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award for best inspirational romance manuscript presented by Romance Writers of America.  She has also been the recipient of the RT Reviewers' Choice Award and the Maggie Award.  She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of thirty plus years, and has two grown daughters.  She has lived in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas and Chicago but now makes her home on one of God's most beautiful creations, an island off the east coast of Florida.  When she's not writing or working for her husband's recruiting firm, she spends her free time playing tennis or walking the beach, where she does the plotting of her novels. 

Her most recent books include: Hometown Proposal, August 2010; Hometown Dad, February 2011 and coming soon Montana Match, January 2012.

Please visit her Web site at http://www.merrilleewhren.com/contest.html or connect with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/merrillee.whren


Remember our temporary location through the end of the year:
West Regional Library
1425 South Chaffee Road
Jacksonville, Florida  32221

Location Change

Due to a scheduling snafu, we have a temporary location through the end of the year. 

West Regional Library
1425 Chaffee Road South
Jacksonville, FL 32221

The library is located on Chaffee Road between Normandy Boulevard and I-10.  There is a traffic light at the entrance. 

We will be meeting here from 9/29/11 through 12/15/11 with one exception.  We will meet at our regular location (Wesconnett library) on 10/6/11. 

Due to the holidays we will not meet on Thanksgiving (11/24) or the two weeks of Christmas (12/22 and 12/29).

Critiques and Books

Our group loves critique! So we've decided that, for the time being, we're going to concentrate on that aspect with the occasional speaker.  But since education is an important part of our craft, I'd like to share some of my favorite writing books with you.

The first book I read when I started my writing journey was Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to edit yourself into print by Renni Browne and Dave King.

Both authors are professional editors; Renni Browne began The Editorial Department, a national book-editing company, in 1980 after working for various mainstream publishers including William Morrow.  Dave King works as an independent editor at www.davekingedits.com and also serves as a contributing editor for Writer's Digest.

This book is a good overall guide to fiction writing with chapters on: Show and Tell, Characterization and Exposition, Point of View, Proportion (bogged down in details), Dialogue Mechanics, See How It Sounds, Interior Monologue (voices in one's head), Easy Beats, Breaking Up is Easy to Do, Once is Usually Enough, Sophistication (polished and professional), and Voice.

Each chapter has examples of typical mistakes, followed by the same passage written a better way - I could clearly see my writing in many of the first examples and easily mimic the second.  A checklist at the end of the chapters serves as a summary of important points and exercises provide an opportunity to apply the lessons.

There are books on these specific topics that will go into further depth, but this is a good introduction to all the elements of fiction writing. 

Gary S. Roen to Speak Thursday, June 16

Gary S. Roen, syndicated book reviewer/writer, publishing consultant, author and agent, has been writing his appraisals of books for 30 years. His reviews have appeared in over hundreds of daily, weekly newspapers, and other periodicals that currently include http://www.westorlandonews.com/, Midwest Book Review, St. Cloud In The News, five editions of magazines from Gage Publishing and Arrhythmic Souls. He is the resident book critic for the internet radio show The Andromeda Library and a guest on the Ed Tyll Show 810 AM WEUS Orlando.


His articles have appeared in publications such as Strange New Worlds, City Limits, Florida Card and Comic Trader, Alley Cat Magazine, Crime Book Digest, and Eleven Magazine Backstage Pass Extreme, Xcitement, Nightmoves and V2.

Over the many years of his career Roen has been the Promotion/Sales Representative for several publishing houses. He was a talk show host on the Rollins College radio station incorporating interviews, reviews and news on current book releases. He was co-host on a weekly radio talk show on "Desperate and Dateless" WGT 540 AM, and he was also the roving reporter for "The Tourist Breakfast Travel Show" on station WOKB 1600 AM. He frequently appeared on The Michelle Valentine show on cable. He also works for numerous companies in the field of market research in the Central Florida area as an independent contractor.

Roen is the author of two books of poety, "Look at Me World", Chataeu Publishing, "Made By Man", Nest Egg Publications; his poems have also been published in other small magazines. He is now writing short fiction and publishing in numerous publications. Computer Legends Lies and Lores Ageless Press, Anotherealm SF magazine, and Mercury Sky online. He has also published short fiction for Nest Egg Publications. He is also the author of a satirical play entitled "Vamp". He is a member of Science Fiction Poets of America (SFPA). His short fiction fantasy/sf has been published in numerous publications. He is in the process of putting together a collection of his short fiction for publication. He is the co-author of "Cats, Cats and More Cats", Royal Fireworks Press.

He is a book agent with clients who write in the following genres: true crime, horror, fantasy, sf, and non fiction. He is consultant to authors and publishers to avoid costly mistakes.

On Thursday, June 16, Roen will talk to First Coast Christian Writers about hiring an agent and dealing with reviewers.