Still Excited about Steel Pen

by

Emily Baginski

On October 28, I attended the Steel Pen Conference. I was able to learn more than I expected!

The keynote speaker, Catherine Lanigan, was so amazing to listen to. Her story was motivational and inspiring to continue going down the path of becoming a published author. I even was able to have her sign my copy of one of her books!

The first breakout session I attended was about the do’s and don’ts when it comes to designing a cover for your book. Not only did I learn how to create a successful cover, I was given sites to visit that would be helpful and make the process a bit easier. In another workshop, I learned that poems and even songs have a deeper meaning. We evaluated a song and learned a deeper meaning with it. Now here I am, listening to songs, looking up representations and definitions to learn the “hidden” message/meaning.

With all of the learning side, I also was able to connect with many talented people! Familiar faces appeared at tables and being able to catch up with them was great, especially at a place where we share a common interest. Since the majority of people were older than me, I was able to ask, learn, and gain guidance on what I should and shouldn’t do in college. Next year’s conference was announced and knowing how much I learned this year, I am excited to see what next year brings.

We Nailed It!

 

We aren’t supposed to brag about our own conference, so we will let the numbers do it for us. Of the 70 people who attended the Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference on Saturday, 24 filled out the general evaluation. Of those 24, all said their likelihood of attending again was either good or excellent, with the excellents leading 17 to 7. Here are some of the written comments:

·       Great price, great presentations. Loved it!

·       It was great! Lots of work and truly appreciated.

·       Thank you for the high level of organization.

As with anything, there are opportunities for improvement, and we appreciate those comments, as well. The biggest problem was that one of the rooms was too small, and we already have some ideas on how to resolve that issue next year.

The facility at Fair Oaks Farms also received rave reviews. That’s good, since the Fifth Annual Steel Pen Creative Writer’s Conference will be held on October 27, 2018 at the same place. We will provide more information about next year’s conference in the November 15 blog post.

But back to this year. The highlight was the keynote speech by Catherine Lanigan, who provided inspiration to keep writing even when we’ve been told we aren’t good enough. She also presented a session on writing romance and gave tips for navigating the business side of the writing profession no matter what your genre.

As already mentioned, one of the three rooms was too small. It was supposed to hold up to 24 people, which might have worked if the Committee members had been good judges of which topics would capture the smallest audiences. For those sessions that met in the Boardroom, the classes were cramped but also intimate, as you can see from this picture of the novel-in-stories workshop presented by Melissa Fraterrigo.

Finally, the networking was wonderful, as was the food. The last photo shows the appetizers available during the cocktail hour.

Tune in next week for a personal testimony about the conference.

Excited about Steel Pen

by

Emily Baginski

With the Steel Pen Conference coming up, I’m eager to see what it will be like. Since this is my first conference in general, I have to admit I’m a bit nervous as well. I’m 20, unpublished, but intrigued. Being around a variety of people will be exciting. Also, I looked at the panel of guest speakers and can’t wait to learn and hear what they have to say. Having the privilege and advantage to attend a conference like this will give me experience and guidance for when I take the next big step to getting published.

As the day gets closer and closer, I’m starting to gather my thoughts and questions I want to possibly ask. Along with this, I have checked out the Facebook page and looked up the workshops that are being offered. The one I am most interested in is the Cover Design 101 workshop. I’m a creative person, and learning how to make a successful cover that is appropriate for my work will help make sure I don’t go overboard with design.

Meeting people is also something I’m excited for. Networking is a big thing I’ve learned in college, and the conference will offer me this opportunity as well. Overall, I’m excited to see what the conference will teach me. College can only teach you so much. This will be an experience that can’t be taught in a classroom. 
__________

If you haven't signed up for the conference yet, beat the October 15 deadline by registering at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference.

Do Your Christmas Shopping at Steel Pen

Did you know that a witers' conference is a great place to do your Christmas shopping?

The Bloomsbury Bookbag pictured here is one of the many items that will be up for bids in our silent auction. Stop by the tables at the back of the room to bid on a wine tasting for four, writing tools, and various themed baskets.

You can also shop in our bookstore, which has IWC mugs and books for all ages and interests, including:

·       Romance,

·       Mystery,

·       Literary fiction,

·       Historical fiction,

·       Fantasy,

·       Young adult,

·       Children’s fiction,

·       Memoir,

·       Poetry and short story collections, and

·       The craft and business of writing.

There are other, more important, reasons for attending a writers’ conference than using it as a shopping venue. But if you are going to be there anyway, it’s a great opportunity. So bring cash or plastic and do your Christmas shopping at Steel Pen.

Registration for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference ends October 15. You can find more information and register at this link: www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference/.

How to Get the Most Out of a Writers' Conference

The 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference is just over a month away, and registration closes on October 15. So whether you are signed up or still considering it, what can you get from a writers’ conference, and how do you make the best use of your time?

Here are some tips from the Conference Committee’s members own experience.

1.     Prepare before you go.

a.      Research the presenters as well as reading the breakout session descriptions, then rank your choices. Unfortunately, you may arrive at the conference to discover that your top choices conflict. But if you have ranked them in advance, your decision will be easy even if it isn’t happy. 

b.     As a relatively young regional conference, Steel Pen doesn’t offer pitch sessions with editors and agents yet. If you go to a conference that does, however, you should look at their websites and review the types of books they accept before deciding to pitch them. (The same goes for critiques.) If an editor or agent specializes in adult science fiction and you write children’s picture books, you will be wasting your time and theirs. That said, there are a few conferences where editors and agents are there primarily to mentor rather than to acquire. In those cases, you may gain some benefit even when you talk to someone outside your genre. 

c.      Make sure you have plenty of business cards. If you are worried about giving out personal information, leave off your address. But make sure you include an email address and preferably a telephone number. If you have a published book, you should also take promotional bookmarks or postcards.

2.     Know what you want to accomplish at the conference, but keep your expectations realistic and your goals flexible. You may go to learn about writing memoirs and come away with a great idea for a murder mystery. Or you may hope to sell a book but meet the perfect critique partner instead. Few writers sell their first book at a conference, but many develop relationships that eventually lead there.

3.     Take notes at the sessions you attend. The notes probably won’t be as extensive as the ones you took in your high school or college classes, but if somebody says something that gives you an “ah-hah” moment, write it down. Steel Pen will give you a notepad and a pen, but that may not be true at other conferences. If you don’t know, take your own. And even if note-taking materials are provided, you may prefer your favorite portfolio and lucky pen.

4.     While the rules about session attendance vary from conference to conference, if the conference allows (and Steel Pen does), don’t feel bound to spend the entire breakout session in the same room. If your top choices conflict, maybe you’ll want to spend some time in each. Or if that session on flash fiction reiterates information you already know, it is not disrespectful to leave (quietly) and head down the hall to the session on poetry where you may learn something new.

5.     Whether or not the conference offers pitching sessions, it helps if you can describe what you are working on or trying to sell in one to three sentences. If someone asks you—and they will—about your current project, they are looking for a thumbnail sketch, not a dissertation. They can always ask for more details if they want them.

6.     Part of the value of conferences comes from what the business world calls “networking” but is more accurately described as developing relationships. Writers tend to be introverts, but conferences are a good time to meet new people, so make the effort. Even if you don’t sell your book, you may find a new critique partner or meet somebody who has experienced the good and bad of hiring book cover designers and is willing to pass on that knowledge. But don’t lead off an informal conversation by talking about yourself. Ask about their current project or expertise or what they expect to get from the conference. At some point they will ask you the same question, and then it’s your turn.

7.     If the conference offers pitching sessions with editors and agents, however, you will begin those sessions by talking about your book.  The special rules for pitching sessions deserve their own blog post. Since Steel Pen doesn’t offer them yet, this tip is limited to the highlights.

a.      Don’t pitch a book that you haven’t written (and rewritten and polished). There are some exceptions for nonfiction and experienced writers but none for beginning novelists.

b.     As noted above, research the editors and agents in advance and don’t waste their time, and yours, by pitching somebody who doesn’t handle your genre.

c.      Unless otherwise invited, limit your pitching to the pitching sessions. At other times, wait until an editor or agent asks what you are working on or selling. And give editors and agents some room. Don’t corner them or follow them into the bathroom. They may remember you, all right, but only as someone to avoid.

8.     The last and most important tip is to relax and enjoy the conference. Writers’ conferences seldom make or break careers, but they can open doors.

Registration for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference ends October 15. You can find more information and register at this link: www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference/.

A Conference Panel for Everyone

In past years, attendees at the Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference listened to a brief welcome and then headed for the first breakout session. The 2017 conference will change that pattern and begin (after a brief welcome) with a general session panel titled “That’s Not What My Grandma Said: Preserving Regional Stories.”

People die, memories fade, and cultural history is lost. With them go the color and flavor that make any region unique and the seasonings that add authenticity to our written stories. So how do we keep cultural history alive? Join Jane Ammeson, Heather Augustyn, and Roland Cohen for a panel discussion on preserving regional stories. Kathryn Page Camp will moderate the panel.

The bios of the three distinguished panelists follow.

Jane Simon Ammeson is a freelance writer who specializes in travel, food and personalities. She writes frequently for Northwest Indiana Times, Edible Michiana, AAA Home & Away, Heartland Boating, Lakeland Boating, Cleveland Magazine, Long Weekends Magazine, Travel Indiana and the Herald Palladium. Her Bindu travel apps include Michigan Road Trips and Indiana Journeys. She’s authored ten books including Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest, Murders That Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana, A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana and East Chicago. She is a James Beard Foundation nominating judge for the Great Lakes Region.

Forever a Harbor girl, Jane attended E.C. Washington and worked after school and during the summers at the E.C. Public Library, a job she got through nepotism as her mother was employed there for a half century.

Follow Jane at https://www.facebook.com/janesimonammeson; https://twitter.com/hpammeson; https://twitter.com/travelfoodin and on her blog http://www.nwitimes.com/niche/shore/blogs/will-travel-for-food/

Heather Augustyn is author of Ska: An Oral History, McFarland, 2010; Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World’s Greatest Trombonist, McFarland, 2013; Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2013; Songbirds: Pioneering Women in Jamaican Music, Half Pint Press, 2014; Alpha Boys School: Cradle of Jamaican Music, Half Pint Press, 2017; Dragon: The Story of Byron Lee, Ambassador of Jamaican Music, Half Pint Press, 2017; and Bob Marley: The Music of Pain and Promise, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. She has been a correspondent for the Times of Northwest Indiana for 12 years and she teaches composition at Purdue University Northwest.

Ronald D. Cohen is an emeritus professor of history, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Indiana, where he taught for 34 years. He is the author (or co-author) of numerous books, including Children of the Mill: Schooling and Society in Gary, Indiana, 1906-1960; Gary: A Pictorial History; Moonlight in Duneland; Rainbow Quest: Folk Music and American Society, 1940-1970; The Pete Seeger Reader, and numerous others. He lives in Gary, Indiana, and is a member of the Gary Historic Preservation Commission.
_____

This year's conference will be held on October 28 at the conference center at Fair Oaks Farms, just off I-65 near Renssselaer, Indiana. To learn more about the keynote speaker and the breakout sessions, go to http://www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference/. You can find the registration link on the same page. Or, if you have additional questions, contact us at steelpenconference@gmail.com.

We're excited about this year's conference, and we hope to see you there.

My Expertise

by

Judith Lachance-Whitcomb

Every time I get the email reminding me that I signed up to do this week’s blog, I ask the same question, “Why did I sign up for this?”  Contributors to the Indiana Writers’ Consortium blog always have such excellent writing expertise and they are willing to share it with us.  I often think that someone wanting to get into writing would just have to go through our blogs and they will find a great writing course.  A person can find everything from legal advice to ideas for writing to words from experts, great resources, and even what to do with writing blocks.  Hmmm, wait, I do have an expertise – writing blocks!  Surely, I have had more than anyone else around.

Does that make me an expert?  I don’t know.  Some may believe I live in a writer’s block. Some may even wonder how I can consider myself a writer when I spend more time blocking than writing. However, I am a writer with expertise in blocking. So, let me share some things I’ve tried to overcome this writer’s malady.

Research – All writers know the importance of research so I began to research whatever I could about writer’s blocks.  First, I found out that many well-known authors went/go through writers’ blocks, so there’s good company for those of us who block.  Then I found numerous suggestions for overcoming the blocks.  In a previous IWC blog, I reported some of the techniques and their impact on my blocks.  (December 18, 2013, "All I want for Christmas").

Therapy – One time, when the Evil Block arose again, I resorted to my knitting hobby and created two polyfill pencils. The larger one was used to hit my head while blocking, the smaller functioned as a worry stone.  Did that help?  Not much, but I do have to say there is something therapeutic about hitting my head without danger of major harm.  Also, knitting was a good excuse to avoid the writing block – I just didn’t write.

The Real Deal – If I am a writing block expert, I should be able to suggest something really beneficial in the Block Battle.  Here it is:  NETWORK.  That’s it.  I’ve found that the best way for me to work through a block is to immerse myself into the writing community.  The support, advice, and encouragement from fellow writers ignite the writer-me.  Where do you find that?

There are excellent writing critique/support groups in Northwest Indiana. A number of them are listed on the Indiana Writers’ Consortium webpage (http://www.inwriters.org/resources-and-blog/).  Often when I was in a block, I would miss my groups’ meetings.  When I returned, my block dissipated.  If you don’t have a critique group, find one. 

Other opportunities for networking are writers’ conferences.  For me, the conference that is in my own backyard, so to speak, is the annual IWC Steel Pen Creative Writers Conference.  I’ll share an experience that I had at last year’s conference.

I hadn’t been writing.  The block was winning.  I went to the conference hoping for a push to work through my block.  The first session was good, explaining how this author developed her characters by giving them depth through detailed character sketches/files.  Mulling over the next set of sessions, I couldn’t make up my mind.  I just wandered into the nearest room.  Realizing it was a session on writing memoirs, my heart sank.  Memoirs are not a genre that I read and definitely not one that I am interested in developing.  As I turned to leave, the presenter smiled and invited me to join the group already in a circle.  Not wanting to insult him, I sat.

The presenter, Marc Nieson, began by having us visualize. His calm, inviting voice allowed each of us to go into ourselves.  The session progressed and I was totally engaged.  After the session, I headed directly for the IWC bookstore tables and purchased Marc’s book, School House, lessons on love and landscape. Can you believe it?  I actually bought a memoir. 

As the conference was winding down with hors d'oeuvres and mingling, I spotted Marc.  I had already taken my books to the car.  I said, “Marc, I wanted you to sign my book but I don’t have it with me now.”  He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote the following:

To Judy,

With great thanks and affection, looking forward to your words in whatever bloody “form” they take.

In ink and arms,

Marc

Memoirs are still not my favorite reading feast but Marc’s book is.  Like his session it bore a huge hole through my block. Sharing his journey with me via his book, he created a collage of memories, people, nature, and writing that made me eager to pick up my pen (I should say mouse) again.  During the next session of one of my writing groups, Magic Hour Writers, I was extolling Marc, his book, and the effect it had on my writing energy.  They suggested that I put Marc’s note up near my computer.  I have done that, and Marc’s words help me fight my blocks. I have written more this past year than I had in the previous two.

My best advice for conquering blocks is to network.  Actually, my advice for writing is networking.  The support of people who understand the unique writer persons we are is crucial not only for helping us to work through blocks but aiding us in developing our craft.

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to take advantage of a prime network connection by signing up for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers Conference.   Go to the IWC webpage for details. 

Until then, wishing you block free days and happy writing, I’ll see you at the Conference.

Too Many Choices, Part III

The last two posts described six of the nine breakout sessions at the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference, and this post will cover the remaining three. Each of the workshops listed below is designed to help writers sell their books. Read on for more information.

They DO Judge a Book by Its Cover: Cover Design 101 for Authors

When readers aren’t familiar with your work, what draws them to your books? The beginning paragraphs are important, but potential buyers must open the book to read them. The cover is usually the first thing that catches readers’ eyes and makes them look inside. Self-published authors are responsible for designing or selecting their own covers, so how can you make your cover stand out in a good way? This workshop uses discussion, exercises and examples to share sure-fire methods for creating great book covers.

Rod Martinez is the recipient of the 2017 Jerry Spinelli Scholarship from the Highlights Foundation. He writes middle grade fiction and has published a half dozen books. To view his book covers and find other information about Rod, go to http://rodmartinez.us. 

Online Marketing: Using Your Website to Maximize Sales

It’s common knowledge that every author needs a website, but what do you do with it when you have it? J. Steven Young’s session answers that question and provides advice on simple and economical ways to enhance your website and build your marketing platform.

As a writer, Steven has authored over a dozen books ranging from early childhood activity books to YA fantasy. As a marketer, he utilizes cost-effective and free tools to boost exposure and sales and to streamline the self-marketing process. Steven combines his technology training with his love of writing by holding webinars, providing individual training, and engaging in consulting work to show authors how to brand themselves and sell their books in a digital world. You can learn more about him at www.jstevenyoung.com.  

Picking Up the Mic: Using Performance Storytelling to Enhance Promotional Opportunities

Do you give library presentations or school talks, or are you looking for a way to increase attendance at book signings? Performance storytelling can generate interest and add value to those promotional opportunities. In this workshop, Mary Dean Cason and Gregg Fraley will help writers find their spoken voice and will provide essential tools and techniques to be better story performers.

Mary Dean Cason teaches the art and craft of live storytelling and has performed at venues throughout Chicago, Northwest Indiana, and Mexico. She is the founder of Wine, Women & Stories, co-founder of Indigan Storyteller, and co-creator of Michiana Stories. Mary Dean is the author of What Solomon Saw and Other Stories, the recipient of the Pinch Literary Award, and the winner of the University of Chicago’s 2008 Writer’s Prize for Fiction. For more information, check out her website at www.marydeancason.com.

Gregg Fraley is an author, speaker, creativity consultant, and radio host. His program, “Michiana Story Hour,” airs on WRHC in Three Oaks, Michigan. You can find out more about him at http://greggfraley.com.

As noted in the first post in this series, the Conference Committee hasn’t set the actual schedule yet, so it is too early to know which of the nine breakout sessions will conflict. But with this lineup, you can’t lose.

Registration for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference is now open. Sign up at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference and join us at Fair Oaks Farms on October 28.

Too Many Choices, Part II

Located just off I-65 north of Rensselaer, Indiana, Fair Oaks Farms provides a tranquil setting for a writers’ conference. Its comfortable conference rooms allow attendees to relax, while the spellbinding presentations will keep them wake. But what are those presentations? Last week’s post discussed three of the breakout sessions, and this post covers three more.

Metaphors and Metaphoric Language

A good book is a dog that keeps you company at night. Feel free to groan at the terrible metaphor, then come to Vickie Weaver’s workshop and learn to write better ones. Using examples and exercises, she will show you how the words you choose can add texture and flavor to fiction and nonfiction alike.

Vickie’s first book, Billie Girl, won the 2009 Leapfrog Literary Contest. Her short stories have also received several awards, which include a Pushcart nomination. Learn more about her at www.vickieweaver.com.

Words Fly Off the Page: Practical Pointers for Public Poetry Readings

Do you perform at poetry slams, read for family and friends, or present selections from your own works to promote your books? Would you like to? Patsy Asunction’s workshop will use guided discussion, hands-on practice sessions, and demonstrations to develop key skills for effective public reading. Although focused on poetry, this session will provide practical pointers for all genres.

To use her own words, Patsy’s poetry collection, Cut on the Bias, depicts her world slant as a biracial child raised by an immigrant father and WWII vet. Her works have also appeared in numerous online and print publications. An expert public reader, she is a female emcee and has thousands of YouTube views. To learn more, check out her website at www.patasuncion.wix.com/patsy-asuncion.

Weaving Words: A Braided Essay Workshop

Braided essays take several threads and weave them into a cohesive whole. It can be created by a single writer or done through collaboration, where each theme is composed by a different individual. In this workshop, Janine Harrison, Laura Madeline Wiseman, and Colleen Wells will discuss their experience collaborating on a braided essay and lead participants in writing exercises on braiding, followed by workshop discussion.

Janine Harrison teaches creative writing at Purdue Northwest and is the 2017 Highland Poet Laureate. Her publications include the poetry chapbook, If We Were Birds, and short works appearing in anthologies and other publications. You can find more information at https://janineharrison.live.

Laura Madeline Wiseman has authored 25 books and chapbooks, including the Nebraska Book Award 2015 Honor Book Intimates and Fools. She is the editor of Bared and Women Write Resistance, selected for the Nebraska 150 Booklist. Laura teaches writing at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and her website is found at www.lauramadelinewiseman.com.

Colleen Wells’ work has appeared in various anthologies and journals, and she is a frequent contributor to The Ryder Magazine. In 2002, she earned an award from the Indiana Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and she is currently working toward her credentials as a Certified Journal Facilitator. Her memoir, Dinner With Doppelgangers—A True Story of Madness and Recovery, was published in 2015. Learn more about Colleen at  http://www.colleenwells.com.

These workshops give you three more reasons to attend the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference on October 28. Registration opens June 1. The registration link and other information on the conference will be posted at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference.

Next week we’ll cover the final three breakout sessions.

Too Many Choices, Part I

When planning a writers’ conference, selecting and scheduling sessions is always a dilemma. How many choices should the conference offer? Either there are too few and you sit in on sessions that have little to offer you, or there are too many and you miss out on one or more interesting sessions because they conflict.

One of last year’s participants missed out on several sessions she wanted to attend, and she suggested on her evaluation form that we offer workshops more than once. We took her comment very seriously. After all, there’s a reason it’s called the Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference with an apostrophe after the s. The conference belongs to the writers who attend, not to IWC or the Conference Committee. Unfortunately, repeating sessions limits the number we can offer overall, and the Committee believes that most participants would rather have too many choices. So after careful consideration, that’s what the Committee opted to provide.

The 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference will have three blocks of time with three choices each, so you may miss something you want to hear. The actual schedule hasn’t been set yet, so these blog posts won’t tell you which ones conflict. But the next three weeks will describe each of the nine choices and give you the opportunity to rank them in advance.

Writing a Great American Romance Novel

Keynote speaker Catherine Lanigan will present a workshop called “Writing a Great American Romance Novel.” The session will cover both craft and business issues, and the business issues in particular apply across genres.

Catherine is the author of over forty fiction and nonfiction titles, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. She is known primarily for her contemporary romance novels, such as the Shores of Indian Lake series for Harlequin Heartwarming. She has also written historical fiction, romantic suspense, true stories, books regarding angelic intervention in human life, a craft book, and a screenplay. You can learn more about her at www.catherinelanigan.com.

How to Build Suspense into Your Fiction

This session by mystery and suspense writer Libby Fischer Hellmann also transcends genre. Libby is a master at creating suspense in her award-winning books. In this interactive workshop, you will learn how to use tangible techniques to build suspense in your own work, regardless of what type of fiction you write or are considering.

After leaving the nation’s capital and a career in broadcast news 35 years ago, Libby moved to Chicago and has been writing gritty crime fiction ever since. Her nominations and awards are too numerous to mention here, but you can read about them and her many books on her website at www.libbyhellmann.com.  

Connecting to the Unconnected: Exploring the Novel-in-Stories

How can a writer combine stand-alone but related short stories into a novel? This workshop by Melissa Fraterrigo is for everyone who missed last year’s breakout session by Cathy Day or who attended that workshop but wants more.

Melissa Fraterrigo is the author of the forthcoming novel Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press) as well as the short story collection The Longest Pregnancy (Livingston Press). Her works, both fiction and nonfiction, have appeared in more than forty literary journals and anthologies and have been nominated for awards on multiple occasions, including winning the Sam Adams/Zoetrope: All Story Short Fiction Contest. She teaches classes on the art and craft of writing at the Lafayette Writers’ Studio in Lafayette, Indiana. You can learn more about Melissa and the Lafayette Writers’ Studio at www.lafayettewritersstudio.com.

These are just three of the many reasons to attend the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference on October 28. Join us at the conference center at Fair Oaks Farms just off I-65 near Rensselaer, Indiana.

Registration will open June 1, and the registration link will be posted at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference. You can find additional information about the conference there, too.

Next week we’ll cover three more choices.

2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers' Conference: Introducing Keynote Speaker Catherine Lanigan

www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference

As we previously announced, the Indiana Writers’ Consortium is please to have Catherine Lanigan as the keynote speaker for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference. She is the bestselling author of over forty published fiction and non-fiction titles, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile.

In addition to giving the keynote speech, Catherine will present a workshop based on her craft book, Writing the Great American Romance Novel. That book and several of her others will be on sale at the conference, and she will sign them during the cocktail hour.

The title says this is an introduction, and that’s all it is. Catherine’s accomplishments are too many and too varied to do justice to in a blog post. What follows is just a sample.

Catherine is the author of the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. But what is a “novelization?” It simply means that the movie came first. Although Catherine didn’t create the original story line, few writers get the chance to novelize an award-winning movie. Just being given the opportunity is a great honor.

Some sources list the author as “Joan Wilder.” For those of you not in the know, Joan Wilder is a fictional romance writer who has the lead female role in the movies and is, of course, the female protagonist in the books. In recent years, however, Joan has shared the credit with Catherine, as she should.

Catherine is known primarily for her contemporary romance novels, which include the Shores of Indian Lake series for Harlequin Heartwarming. She also writes historical fiction such as Web of Deceit and Wings of Destiny and romantic suspense such as Friday Papers.

                          

The Christmas Star, Catherine’s Vietnam war-based novel, won the Gold Medal Award Top Pick from Romantic Times Magazine, the Book of the Year Romance Gold Award from ForeWord Magazine, and the Book of the Year Romance from Reader’s Preference.

But Catherine doesn’t just write novels. Her non-fiction includes true stories in several of the Chicken Soup anthologies, a trilogy of books regarding angelic intervention in human life, and her craft book, Writing the Great American Romance Novel.

Nor is Catherine’s work limited to one medium. She recently completed a screenplay for the Oracle Film Group. Powder Pup Mountain Rescue will be aired on Netflix sometime this year, although the exact date is still to be announced.

There is plenty more, but it won’t fit here. For additional information on Catherine and her books, check out her website at www.catherinelanigan.com. You can also visit her on Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Pinterest, Google+, and Twitter@cathlanigan.

Better yet, come hear Catherine speak at the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference on October 28. It will be held at the conference center at Fair Oaks Farms just off I-65 near Rensselaer, Indiana. Registration will open in June.

Additional information on the conference will be posted at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference  as it becomes available.

We hope to see you there.

Steel Pen Wants You

Indiana Writers’ Consortium is looking for presenters for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference, which will be held on October 28. We have a new venue this year, so join us at the conference center at Fair Oaks Farms just off I-65 near Rensselaer, Indiana.

This full-day conference provides educational opportunities for creative writers at all stages in their careers. Attendees will choose from a variety of workshops, panels, and lectures covering fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and the business of writing. If you are interested in presenting, we would love to read your proposal.

When preparing a proposal, please keep the following in mind:

·       The actual schedule has not been set, but breakout sessions will be allotted somewhere between 50 minutes and 1 hr. 15 minutes.

·       This conference is aimed at creative writers, and all proposals should provide value for them. For example, a proposal by a visual artist could cover the relationship between author and illustrator, and a proposal by a storyteller could address ways to enhance the selling opportunities provided by school visits, library presentations, and book signings.

·       All presentations, including lectures, should provide opportunity for interaction.

Please note that presenters are responsible for arranging and paying for their own travel and accommodations and must pay a discounted registration fee of $35.

The proposal applications will be sent out by e-mail today and are due back by April 15. If you are not on the distribution list, you can e-mail steelpenconference@gmail.com and ask for the form.

Additional information about the conference will be posted at www.inwriters.org/steel-pen-conference as it becomes available.

Please share this post with anyone who might be interested in submitting a proposal.