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.

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.

Save the Date for the 2017 Steel Pen Creative Writers' Conference

Mark your calendar for October 28, 2017 to attend the next Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference. 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.

Why the new venue? The Radisson Star Plaza in Merrillville, Indiana was perfect for the last two years, but it is being torn down. Unfortunately, by the time we found out that we needed a new venue and had a chance to look for a replacement, all the suitable venues in Lake and Porter Counties were already booked. While that is a disappointment, it is also an opportunity to attract participants from the Lafayette and Indianapolis areas.

The conference facilities at Fair Oaks Farms provide a comfortable setting for this year’s conference. They are in the same building as the public restaurant, which means that Steel Pen participants and IWC members who consign their books to the bookstore will have the benefit of a larger purchasing audience.

We are pleased to announce that Catherine Lanigan will present the keynote speech during lunch. She is the bestselling author of nearly forty published fiction and non-fiction titles, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. She will also present a workshop and sign copies of her books.

The conference schedule will be similar to last year, with educational opportunities for creative writers at all stages in their careers. The Committee is also working on attracting editors and agents to participate in a panel and meet with participants one-on-one. The day will end with a cocktail hour for networking, after which participants can make their own dinner arrangements with friends and colleagues.

Potential presenters should be on the lookout for the request for proposals. If you don’t receive anything by the middle of February, you can contact us at steelpenconference@gmail.com. Use the same e-mail address for any other questions about the conference.

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

So don’t forget to mark your calendars for Saturday, October 28, 2017.

We hope to see you there.