Join your fellow romance writers on GSRW’s Discord Channel for our online holiday party!

We’ll meet on Friday, December 13th from 6:30-8:00PM. Drop in anytime!

Here are some tips for setting up your Discord account:

Click here for information on how to get started on Discord

Click here for information on how to join a Discord server.

Have questions? Contact our President at president.gsrw@gmail.com or our Programs VP at programs.gsrw@gmail.com

Join us for a Holiday lunch on Saturday, December 7.

Celebrate the close of the year and the coming new one with your fellow romance writers (And if you’re not feeling celebratory, that’s ok. The bah-humbug spirit is welcome too.)

We’ll meet at Urban Plates in Sunnyvale at 12:30.

If you’d like to have a writing session after lunch, bring your laptops and headphones and we’ll get down to work one last time in 2024.

This lunch will be in place of our regular monthly meeting.

DETAILS:

Urban Plates

300 W McKinley Ave

Sunnyvale, CA 94086

There’s a parking garage attached at the back of the building.

This month, GSRW is hosting our first Writers Book Club! We’ll be discussing our thoughts and insights gleaned from Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story. This is one of the most-recommended craft books for writers, on how the human brain is hardwired for story — and how we, as authors, can tap into these “cognitive secrets” to write unputdownable stories! Written in an authoritative but conversational tone, Wired for Story is both well-researched and easy to read. Truly one of the best craft books for writers!

No worries if you can’t read the whole book beforehand, you’ll still have plenty to contribute to the conversation. And if you can’t manage to read it at all (November is rather busy), then come anyway so you can ask us questions. Remember you can check your local library, and if they don’t have the book you want, you can request it.

Being a writer can be scary, but sharing our fears, talking about them, helps make them less daunting. This month, a panel of GSRW members will talk about what parts of writing and being a writer scares them, and how they deal with those fears.

Here’s something no one tells you: survival (and also success) as a writer has little to do with talent or technique, it’s all about mindset and attitude. The most effective way to up your game is to understand yourself more fully, both in relation to your work and within the context of your real life. Whether you want to pursue a career in writing or you just want to strengthen your creative muscles, the key is honoring both your creative heart and your creative mind.

In this talk, Gabriela debunks some major myths about creativity, shares key mindset shifts that will help you get past blocks and get back to writing, and walks you through an essential technique that will change your creative process forever. You’ll leave this session energized and inspired, but also with the tools and techniques you can apply to your creative work right away.

Stepping into the realm of professional speaking can significantly enhance an author's career. It opens up new avenues for direct and indirect income and allows you to forge deeper connections with your audience. It's also a chance to network with peers and contribute to the collective growth of the author community. To excel as an author speaker, it's crucial to have a clear understanding of your own objectives and the expectations of event organizers. Whether you're delivering presentations, participating in panels, leading workshops, or doing readings, each format requires a specific approach and an understanding of best practices. By the end of the session with Matty, you'll have a solid foundation and a practical action plan to confidently embark on your journey as an author speaker, equipped to inspire, engage, and connect with your audience in meaningful ways.

Step into the spotlight with confidence and finesse! Introducing “Media Maven: Book TV, Podcast, and Media Interviews to Expand Your Author Brand” – the workshop designed for authors ready to expand beyond social media to explore TV, podcasts and more.

Are you an author interested in sharing your story, insights, and expertise with a wider audience? Consider the power of TV, radio, magazines and podcasts to reach your audience. Led by a marketing professional, this workshop provides you with the practical knowledge and tools to build your media presence.

In this immersive workshop, you’ll learn how to craft compelling pitches that captivate producers and hosts, and prepare for your on-camera presence. You’ll be empowered to shine brightly in any media spotlight!

But the Media Maven workshop goes beyond just landing interviews – it’s about building a lasting brand. Dive into strategies for leveraging media appearances to grow your audience and awareness, and live your brand.

Our very own Golden State Romance Writers President will share the ins and outs of self-publishing your romance novel.

Starting your querying journey can feel daunting, but I will share tips and tricks to create a strong, concise query that will engage an agent's attention over others in their inbox. This presentation will cover content including what to know before you query, how to write an effective query, and what mistakes to avoid when querying.

Photo of presenter is by Justine Cooper

Join indie author turned website designer Pauline Wiles for this discussion of how your author website can earn its keep as the cornerstone of your online marketing, including working hard for you while you’re busy writing, resting, or simply living your life. In this technology-independent session, you will learn practical tips for: ~ Why the best author websites start with clarity on your goals ~ The most important things to place on your author website, and where ~ Avoiding pitfalls: common website mistakes that authors make ~ Whether or not blogging is dead! ~ Easy design hacks to make your website - and books - look amazing

Is there anything more thrilling for the creative soul than starting a shiny new story? That sexy little minx seduces you effortlessly, promising you a dazzling future, and in the heady flush of new love it feels as if this perfect communion between you will never end. And then comes the middle of the book. But when things get tough, that doesn’t mean the story isn’t worth fighting for. Figuring out the problem and propping up the sag can often add even more depth and dimension. When a manuscript loses its momentum, generally the issue is one of several culprits: · The plot has lost its cohesion · The characters aren’t progressing on their arcs · The story stakes have deflated · Tension and suspense have lagged This presentation and workshop will show authors how to spot what may be derailing their story, and specific, actionable ways to get things back on track.

The people who populate your stories have a past, and that past dictates, or at the very least informs, their actions. Sharing backstory is tricky, though. Share too much information, or share it before readers care about your characters, and your readers will likely lose interest. To write a page-turner, every sentence must propel the story forward via incident or character interactions, and backstory takes us out of the action, slowing the pace. To reveal backstory effectively, you need to first assess which aspects should be revealed. Then you need to determine how best to share that information.You’ll hear plenty of examples so that you will leave the webinar with actionable ideas your can put to work immediately in your own writing.

The people who populate your stories have a past, and that past dictates, or at the very least informs, their actions. Sharing backstory is tricky, though. Share too much information, or share it before readers care about your characters, and your readers will likely lose interest. To write a page-turner, every sentence must propel the story forward via incident or character interactions, and backstory takes us out of the action, slowing the pace. To reveal backstory effectively, you need to first assess which aspects should be revealed. Then you need to determine how best to share that information.You’ll hear plenty of examples so that you will leave the webinar with actionable ideas your can put to work immediately in your own writing.

Fiction writers of all genres need to create immersive and captivating environments to transport their readers to new worlds. Whether you're writing a historical romance or a science fiction epic, the ability to craft rich and believable settings is crucial to engaging an audience. In this workshop with award-winning fantasy and romance author Leslye Penelope, you'll learn techniques and strategies to help bring your fictional world to life. From geography and climate to culture and history, you'll explore the various elements that make up a fully realized environment.

The Pandemonium of a Panster is a workshop designed to help pantsers, people who write by the seat of their pants, to organize and develop clarity in their manuscripts. Everyone has different writing styles, and pantsing can be overwhelming and chaotic to write and edit, but it doesn’t have to be. In this workshop, I will take you through several steps to create order and direction with your manuscript. Pantsing doesn’t always follow a linear direction of writing like a well-defined outline a plotter might utilize. Still, there are several strategies a panster can use to craft their best possible manuscript.

A workshop for any writer who has felt the pull of a story struggling to emerge from an ocean of words. It’s about that novel you’ve never finished, those short stories that seem to go nowhere, or any piece of writing that falls short of your expectations. Believe it or not, the answers are already in your work. Even in the earliest of drafts – perhaps especially in the earliest of drafts – the seeds of the story are there, placed by your subconscious. Using practical techniques to partner with your subconscious, you’ll learn to decipher your own text, and begin to uncover the stories buried within – stories that only you can tell.

Join us for a joint presentation with the NorCal Mystery Writers of America on How to Write A Sex Scene!

Great sex! How to make sure your characters get good lovin’. Two authors who have written steamy encounters in multiple genres share what you have to know to write a great sex scene. SPOILER ALERT: You don’t need a copy of the Kamasutra.  Learn how to: • Build sexual tension  • Establish intimacy that reflects who your characters are and what they need inside and outside of the bedroom • Create sensual atmospheres and settings • Go beyond the mechanics • Avoid common pitfalls Have your pen and paper or tablet ready as we’ll be putting these ideas into practice. 

There will not be a monthly meeting in July. Please join us in August for a Special Event on 8/12/23 AND our regular monthly meeting on 8/26/23. In the meantime, happy summer! See you soon!

To “kill your darlings” is one of the most difficult tasks an author has to face. And facing revision after heartbreaking rejection is enough to turn even the staunchest writers away. What ends up happening in revision is often a buffing the outside rather than going deep back inside and re-envisioning it from the inside. This lecture is all about grit and resilience, about never, ever giving up on your stories or yourself. No matter how many rejections you’ve faced, there is still a viable path to publishing your work and sending it out into the world to find its readers. If the only kind of writing is rewriting, Givhan will show you the nuts and bolts of how to rewrite from the inside out, starting with the writer. Proust says, “The true voyage of discovery is not in seeking new places, but in having new eyes.” Join Givhan in discovering new ways of thinking about ourselves as writers and storytellers who share our hearts with the world.

Readers love series … but writing one means more than making up a small town and populating it. You’re building a story world your reader wants to come back to. In this workshop you’ll discover ways in which your people can create foils and contrasts for your main characters, push the plot’s emotional complexity, and then become the main characters for the next book. The author of an 18-book steampunk series, a 10-book Amish romance series, and a couple of shorter contemporary and historical romance series, Shelley will share her strategies and tips for over-arching plotlines, reappearing characters, and interlocking subplots. She’ll also touch on how to use collaborative creativity skills to work up a continuity series or in-world box set with other authors.

Lessons in Literary Law: Every author should know their rights in relation to their work. This presentation looks at five areas of law – copyright, trademark, right of privacy and publicity, defamation, and contracts – and talks about how to protect your rights in these areas while avoiding infringing on the rights of others.

Book cover design is a powerful tool to break through the clutter and communicate meaning. Learn about principles of design from a marketing professional. Find out which design elements are most important to keep consistent and why, how to start from your design objectives, and practice assessing design within the right context. Carol will teach five truths to “SPARC” great design, and share how to apply them to your books: Truth One: Simplicity breaks through, so don’t stuff everything onto the cover. Focus! Truth Two: Prioritize your communications hierarchy. Truth Three: Assess designs against the brief, not personal taste. Truth Four: Real-life…assess design in situ. Truth Five: Consistency, consistency, consistency.

Learn how to set up your email list and create and automate your onboarding sequence. Then you'll learn what sites to use to grow your email list, what you'll need in order to get people to sign up, and what to expect as you move forward. Finally, you'll learn how to write your emails: headlines, what to talk about, frequency, etc..

Known for being a tough editor with a soft touch, Sue Brown-Moore specializes in developmental editing for romantic fiction and champions progressive, inclusive literature. Sue helps writers rediscover their inner spark and push through vexing story problems using the character-first editing and storystorming techniques she teaches in her online university, Storysmith U. Sue has been featured in writing-focused events and publications, like Publisher’s Weekly and the Escape the Plot Forest Summit, and the stories she collaborates on as both a freelance and acquiring editor have been celebrated with nominations and wins for industry awards like the Vivian, the Golden Heart, and the Lambda. Learn more about working with Sue and choose the confidence-building Storysmith U workshop, playbook, or bite-sized training that’s right for you at suebrownmoore.com

CAROL VAN DEN HENDE is an award-winning author who pens stories of resilience and hope. Her novels Orchid Blooming and Goodbye, Orchid series are inspired by wounded veterans and have won 20+ literary awards, including the American Fiction Award, IAN Outstanding Fiction First Novel Award, and 2020 Royal Dragonfly for Disability Awareness.

USA Today bestselling author Melonie Johnson―aka #thewritinglush―enjoys sipping cocktails that start with the letter m. Declared a “writer to watch” by Kirkus and a “fizzy, engrossing new voice” by Entertainment Weekly, her smart funny contemporary romances include Too Good to Be Real and her award-winning Sometimes in Love debut series: Getting Hot with the Scot, Smitten by the Brit, and Once Upon a Bad Boy. A former high school English and Theatre teacher, she spends her days in her Star Wars office, dreaming up meet cutes. She lives in Chicagoland with her husband, their two redhead daughters, and one very large dog.

USA Today Bestselling romance author Renee Rose is passionate about helping other authors find and maintain an abundance mindset to hit their targets and create their future.