The Coastal Connection
______________________________________________________________________________
Volume 11
Issue 10 RWA® Chapter 108 November/December, 2003
FCRW’s 2003 Board of Directors
President: Kat McMahon (407) 857-8644
Vice-President: Pamela Cross (904) 824-4333
Secretary: Shannon Juliao (904) 321-0419
Treasurer: Donna Owens (904) 215-6036
PAL: Vickie King (904) 260-6401
Membership: Cheri Anne Brodeur (352) 384-0790
Newsletter: Cheri Clark (386) 758-7935
Historian: Tara Greenbaum (904) 220-7664
From The
Editor
By Cheri Clark
Thanks to all of you for your
support with the newsletter. I couldn’t do it without you. Last year I received
the Membership Service Award for my newsletter work. I was honored, and now
embarrassed that I haven’t lived up to the recognition. It’s been a rough year,
yet you’ve been patient and understanding.
Heather Waters also deserves
credit for the creative presentation of the newsletter on the website. Thanks,
Heather, for making me look good. J
I promise next year will be
better.
I wish you and yours a safe and
joyful holiday season.
Cheri
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM FCRW!
November birthday:
29th
Rebecca Andrews
December
4 Marge Smith
6 Laura Barone
8 Julie Smith
10 JoAnn Faust
13 Barbara Whitaker
15 Janene Eberle
HUGS AND KISSES
KISSES to Alesia Holliday for the sale of her first romance novel to Dorchester. AMERICAN IDLE, will be a September 2004 release. Congratulations!
KISSES to Judy Peters, whose debut novel, A Father’s Hope, was the top selling book for Wings for the month of October!
KISSES to Elizabeth Sinclair on the recent interest by Writer’s Digest in The Dreaded Synopsis. Our fingers are crossed for you! Also, she’s been invited to submit a single-title mystery to Zebra. Good luck!
KISSES to Sue Sweet. Her feature at the Romance Studio won Feature of
the Month for October, making her eligible for Feature of the Year!
HUGS and condolences to: Cheri Clark on the death of her mother; to Donna Owens on the death of her close friend.
HUGS to Sue Sweet, who’s recovering from illness.
Please send your HUGS &
KISSES and other member news to Cheri Clark by, December 21,2003 for the January
issue of the newsletter.
MESSAGES
FROM THE PRESIDENT(S):
Dear FCRW,
This is your last Presidential message from me. ( Please sit down and stop
cheering!!!!! )
I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome our incoming board, I know FCRW is in for a great year with Marge
at the helm and Heather as her co-pilot.
I would also like to thank E.J. Miller for stepping in a secretary as I
know she will do a terrific job. To
round out the executive board we have Pam sliding into the treasurer's position
and Dolores as Membership Chair. FCRW is
lucky to have these dedicated and hard working individuals in what are often
challenging endeavors.
I know everyone joins me in thanking Shannon for all her hard work as
secretary this year, and we appreciate her stepping into the position of hospitality
chair.
We all wish Donna the best in what has been an emotionally trying year for our beloved "Scrooge." Her four long years (or did it just feel like 4 years of trying to pry each nickel.......) will not be forgotten, we certainly owe her a debt for keeping us in line.
Cheri Ann alias the "other Cheri," is taking a break as well from the duties of
membership chair and I'd like to thank her for helping out with the workshop
speakers in addition to her other duties.
Our President elect Marge has informed me that as past President my new role
with FCRW is "Board Advisor," but she just keeps smiling when I ask
her why she gave me this duct tape???????
Just kidding.
Best Wishes for a Happy Turkey Day and Holidays to everyone,
Signing off,
Kat
Dear Members,
It won't be long before the
Holidays are upon us and then, soon after, a new year will begin for
FCRW. With the advent of the new year, the incoming 2004 Board is looking
forward to some exciting events for the chapter. Here's just a few:
*More guest speakers
*Monthly, informative workshops that, over the year, will take writers from
basics to submission
*A membership drive to increase our numbers and in doing so, increase dues
revenue and make it possible to do even more for the
members.
*Promote The Beacon with booksellers to encourage published authors to enter
*Begin a PRO program to benefit all our unpublished authors
*Create a yearly Member Appreciation Day that will consist of bringing in a
guest speaker and making the day free for any member of FCRW.
That's just the tip of the
iceberg, ladies. The incoming Board is very excited about the year ahead, and
we hope that you will be, too. Make sure you come to the January meeting
and bring a writing friend.
Good writing!
Marge
Marge Smith
2004 President-Elect
The following article first appeared in the October
2003 MRW Connections, the newsletter of the Midwest Romance Writers.
Top Ten Ways to Ensure a Rejection
Letter
By Nancy Parra
10. Begin
without a hook.
Example: "It was a dark and stormy night."
Just try beginning your story with a description of the weather. The editor is
sure to say, "So?" It is
better to start with dialogue or action. For instance: "Gees it's a dark
and stormy night," Ashleigh Farone muttered as she got out of her car and
raced through the rain toward the saloon.
9. Start
with action that goes no where.
Ex. Ashleigh discovered the door was closed and she
would have to go home. She didn't know
why she ran to the saloon. She meant to
go to the Simpson's down the street. (The saloon is never mentioned again.)
(But you said to start with action. isn't that action?) So, why did she go to the saloon? Wouldn't it be better if she were going into
the saloon for a purpose such as to confront the hero?
8. Forget to
tell your reader what motivates your characters.
Ex. Hero Jake
Brand opened the door, took one look at Ashleigh's rain soaked shirt, and
closed the door in her face. The reader thinks, what a jerk. Better:
Jake Brand watched Ashleigh run through the rain toward
his saloon. He
glanced at the clock. It was four
a.m. What the heck
did she want?
He had told her just that afternoon that he would not be seduced into
giving up the lawsuit. He opened the
door. She stopped, her wet tee shirt
clinging dramatically to her generous curves.
She wasn't wearing a bra. It was
more than he could take. He slammed the
door in her face. (A side note on
motivating your male characters. This is a quote from my fifteen-year-old son
who is a certified genius. "Mom, guys often see things that aren't there
and tend to overlook things that are there." - That little truth sets up
all kinds of miscommunication and conflicts, doesn't it?)
7. Ignore
grammar. After all you aced all your
English classes,
you know what you're doing.
Ex. You start
as many sentences as possible with the words And and But because these make
wonderful transitions. And --putting
lots of mini sentences in hyphens-shows you have voice not to mention that it
allows you to keep your thirty word sentences because they are all broken up -
right?.
6. Change
points of view often. Always put in the
cat's POV for
added interest.
Jake's cat licked its paw with pleasure and eyed Jake
as he banged his head against the door.
Humans were the most interesting of creatures.
5. Count on
spell check to be insure your spelling correctly.
(Ensure?
You're?)
Ex. Ashleigh got back into her car and slammed the
door. She wiped the rain off her face
and muttered to herself, "That Jake Brand is one mane, low glass sun of a
gun."
4. Underline
and italicize as much as possible for effect.
I should have sent my lawyer out here. Why if I weren't such a nice person, I
wouldn't be sitting in my car soaking wet.
See if I try to help Mr. High and Mighty ever again. Ashleigh's thoughts raced as she slammed her
car into gear. Stupid Jerk.
3. Have your
characters fight as often as possible to establish conflict.
Ex. "Your tie is blue." Ashleigh's tone
dripped disdain. "I hate blue
ties. The last jerk I dated owned a blue
tie and I swore I would never get close to a man in a blue tie again."
"Then I'll be sure and wear a blue tie
everyday." Jake countered. Blue
happened to be his favorite color. This
was never going to work out. "I suppose you hate peanut butter too."
"I do." "Figures. It's
all I'll eat."
2. Ensure
your characters make love by page 75, after all this is a
romance and sex is the most important thing to the
reader.
Ex. Ashleigh
got up and left the witness stand in the middle of her questioning. Jake was so hot; she simply couldn't take it
any more. They met in the middle of the courtroom. Jake put his brawny arms around her, drawing
her close. They locked lips in a heated
and sexually charged embrace. Ignoring
the judge's gavel bangs and the stunned looks from their lawyers the couple
left to find the closest closet where they could have a quickie. There would be time for regrets and the rest
of the trial later. Right now, they had
to scratch the itch that had been festering between them since the moment they
met.
And finally, the number one way to rake in a
rejection letter is.
1. Send out
your story.
Rejection letters may be awful, but they are a rite
of passage. They help you see your work
through another's eyes. They are proof
that you are actively writing and pursuing a career as an author. Yes, they hurt. But keep in mind, if you never got a
rejection it means you never let anyone, who could actually buy your book, read
it. Celebrate your rejections because
they are a badge of courage. By taking a chance that you might get rejected you
are one step closer to realizing your dream. One step closer to that
all-important call when the rejection turns into celebration and you become
published.
If you don't think any of these examples pertain to
you, look again. Examples of each of these Top Tens appeared in entries from
the last contest I judged. So, remember, polish, polish, polish.
After writing 22 manuscripts, Nancy J. Parra has
collected over 600 rejections letters.
One of which she got in the mail this week. A multi-published author, Nancy keeps
collecting rejections as proof that she is willing to take chances and reach
for that unreachable star. Watch for "Loving Lana," the third in the
Morgan Brother's series from Avalon Books, due out in Oct. 2.
Get your copy of FIRST CHAPTERS!
FIRST CHAPTERS, by Elizabeth
Sinclair, is a step-by-step instructional booklet on writing the first
chapter of your novel and including all the elements that an editor looks for
before she requests the full manuscript. It covers: hooks, inserting background
info judiciously, forming the reader-questions that keep them reading and much
more. A bonus section explains the difference between cover and query letters, when to use which,
and how to write them. $7.95 including postage
Order at www.elizabethsinclair.com
NEW
OFFICERS FOR 2004!
President -- Marge Smith
VP --
Heather Waters
Treasurer -- Pamela Cross
Secretary -- EJ Miller
Membership Chair -- Dolores Wilson
NEXT MEETING:
Saturday
November 8, 2003
11:00 - 3:00
meeting, lunch,
and workshop
Hops Restaurant
9826 San Jose
Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL