November Meeting - Lynne Gentry

Ever shower your characters, dress them in clothes, and then send them forth in your story with no further consideration? Or perhaps your characters merely toss glances back and forth?
He smiled.
She looked at him.
His deep blue eyes cause her heart to pitter-patter. . . .

DFW Ready Writers has a solution to your problem for the same old, worn-out drivel and flat, lifeless characters that so often appear in many manuscripts.

Saturday, November 14th, Lynne Gentry, an instructor of stage presence and body language, will be presenting: Paper Dolls - Utilizing the costuming and body language techniques of the stage to help flat characters leap from the page.

Come learn the character development tricks of the stage and costuming techniques that create and flesh out interesting and unforgettable characters. Lynne, with many years of teaching stage presence, will help you gain insider tips on how to dress your character to create interest and literary symbolism for your reader. She will also help you learn body language observation techniques that will hone your ability to decode the signs of both controlled and involuntary body movements. Lynne will also show you how to create word usage that communicates the corresponding emotions.

So, if you don't want to have flat, lifeless characters that continue to say meaningless and over used phrases, you won't want to miss this opportunity to hear Lynne Gentry on November 14th.

Date: Saturday - November 14, 2009
Time: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Meeting Place: La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant
5250 Hwy 121, Colleyville, Texas
(Restaurant sits alongside the southbound access road between Hall-Johnson and Glade).

October Meeting - Elizabeth Ludwig

What better timing!

You’ve been to conference and now you’re ready to send out those proposals the editors or agents have requested. Or maybe you couldn’t attend conference but you have your manuscript and five page proposal done and your finger is itching to click Send.

Wait! Don’t touch that button.

Is that manuscript or proposal the best you can do? Are you sure? Well, let me tell you, nothing kills a proposal faster than a poorly prepared submission. And I have a solution for you.
This Saturday October 10th DFW Ready Writers is offering a two-hour workshop with published author and speaker Elizabeth Ludwig. The first hour Elizabeth will speak on “Self-Editing for the Fiction Writer.” She will demonstrate the most common mistakes authors make when submitting their manuscripts and proposals, and she will give tips for improving the quality of the overall submission. Attendees will learn how to locate problem areas such as: repetitive words and phrases, show vs. tell, and much more!

And Elizabeth will talk about “The Ins and Outs of a Writing Partner.” She has partnered together with Janelle Mowery to write three mystery novels and knows the joys and woes of a long distance writing partner. She’ll explain what works and what doesn’t, how to avoid the pitfalls while partnering with another author, and how to end up with a saleable finished product—a novel.

So please join us for some fresh ideas on how to make your manuscript and proposal stand out in the crowd of hundreds.

There will be a charge of $15.00 at the door for the two-hour workshop.
Date: Saturday – October 10, 2009
Time: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Meeting Place:
La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant
5250 Hwy 121,
Colleyville, Texas
(Restaurant sits alongside the southbound access road between Hall-Johnson
and Glade).

Lunch is Dutch treat.

September Meeting - Speaker Harry Olson

Nothing Like Old Mother Nature

Would you like to add some tension and realism to your story? Weather related events can up the stakes of peril, relationships, loss, and even death to your work in progress (WIP).
Ahh. . . . You have never experienced a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or even a flood that can wipe houses off their foundation? Allow me to tell you how you can obtain the knowledge of how people are affected and learn to survive these catastrophes.

On Saturday, September 12th, 2009, at 11:00 am—1:00 pm, DFW Ready Writers will be hosting speaker Harry Olson, a catastrophe insurance adjuster since 1994. He has experienced most storm related happenings as a first responder at national disasters and has seen firsthand how lives can be devastated and changed forever.

Dealing with individuals who have lost everything within a matter of hours, even minutes is heart-wrenching and life changing. Harry will be sharing first hand knowledge of weather related happenings that have taken place throughout the United States and will give you ideas how these actual events can come to play with weather related realism in your WIPs.
So don’t miss out on this month’s meeting. Making your novel the most that it can be by having weather as an antagonist in your WIP can bring relationships, death, and realism to the forefront, causing your book to come alive to your readers. Plan now to attend.

Date: Saturday – September 12, 2009
Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Meeting Place:
La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant
5250 Hwy 121,
Colleyville, Texas
(Restaurant sits alongside the southbound access road between Hall-Johnson
and Glade).

Hope to see you there.

Writing Tip by Barbara Harris

The best writing tip I can give you is to write. You have a sit down and type the book into your computer. Conferences are fine. Regular writing meetings are great support, but when push comes to shove, you have to have a book to show the editor, so write.

DFW Ready Writers in the News-What's Happening August 2009

Hello, Ready Writers!

This month...

Deborah Rather, who writes as Arlene James, will have a new book out in a couple weeks. Anna Meets Her Match is the first book in the new Chatam House series from Love Inspired. The book has already received 4-1/2 stars and Top Pick from Romantic Times magazine.

For more info, visit the series' Web site at www.chatamhouseseries.com. Deborah will also be speaking on scene construction at the ACFW chapter in Round Rock, Texas, on August 15.

Jane "Grammar Mama" Thornton has had numerous articles published on The Christian Pulse. Her latest article appeared on July 20th. And, be watching for her next article that will post on August 17th.

Lena "Red" Nelson Dooley will speak at the North Texas Christian Writers Conference September 11 and 12. Her book, The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner, released this month in Thorndike large print edition. Wild West Christmas and Christmas Love at Lake Tahoe release in September. A combined volume of Can You Help Me? and Caught Red-Handed will release in September in Thorndike large print edition.

Congratulations, Ready Writers!!!!!!!!

Dawn "Your Writer in the Know" Michelle Michals :o)

August Meeing: Richard L. Mabry, MD

MEDICAL DETAILS IN YOUR FICTION: GET THEM IN, BUT GET THEM RIGHT

Want to draw your reader into your fiction? Throw in a medical detail—injury, surgery, heart attack or stroke. But how do you make your account accurate without being so graphic or technically complex that it turns your reader away? In this presentation, Dr. Richard Mabry, a retired physician and published author of medical suspense fiction, will discuss a number of common medical scenarios and give advice on how to find the information needed to make your story believable.
Dr. Richard Mabry, physician and medical suspense author, will discuss incorporating medical scenarios into your fiction, suggesting ways to get the information needed to add authenticity to your writing.

RICHARD L. MABRY, MD Bio
Dr. Richard Mabry retired from medicine in 2002 after more than 35 years in practice as an ear, nose & throat specialist, the last ten of them spent as a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. During his medical career, Dr. Mabry lectured all over the world and held the office of president or vice-president of every major organization in his specialty. He has written or edited eight best-selling medical textbooks, and well over 100 of his papers were published in medical journals.
Dr. Mabry entered the field of non-medical writing after the death of his first wife, writing The Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse, which was published by Kregel in 2006. The Tender Scar is now in its third printing and is in use by numerous pastors, counselors and seminary professors, as well as providing a tool for healing for thousands of people who have lost a loved one.
His first novel of medical suspense, Run Away Home, will be published by Abingdon Press in early 2010. He has completed the second novel in the Prescription For Trouble series and is now at work on the third.
Dr. Mabry’s work has also appeared in Christian Communicator, In Touch Magazine, Upper Room Devotional Guide, and Grief Digest, as well as a number of online ezines.
In September 2009, Dr. Mabry will be speaking at the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference in Denver, Colorado, and in 2010 he will speak at the Mount Hermon Conference in Santa Cruz, California.

July Meeting- Barbara Harrison

Barbara Harrison aka Leann Harris, is a multi-published author who will be speaking at DFW Ready Writers’ meeting on July 11th. Barbara will give tips on writing for Love Inspired Suspense, word length, topics, and the in-and-outs of writing for the line. She will also cover the difference between suspense and mystery. Come and learn how to write for Steeple Hill.

Barbara Harrison, writing under the pen name of Leann Harris, has always had stories running around inside her head. When her youngest child started elementary school, she finally gathered her nerve and began writing. She joined RWA in 1987 and is a charter member of Dallas Area Romance Authors and former president. Her first published novel was a finalist in Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest and was nominated by Romantic Times as one of the best first novels.

The author of 12 novels, Barbara’s latest book Guarded Secrets is scheduled for an Oct. 2009 release from Steeple Hill Books.

Barbara has a BS in speech from the University of Texas at Austin and is a certified teacher of the deaf. She has taught math and science to high school deaf students. She is also an avid gardener.

Visit Barbara’s author Web site http://www.blogger.com/www.leannharris.com

The meeting is:
Date: Saturday – July 11, 2009
Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Meeting Place:
La Hacienda Ranch Restaurant
5250 Hwy 121,
Colleyville, Texas
(Restaurant sits alongside the southbound access road between Hall-Johnson
and Glade).

Hope to see you there.