Future Meetings
Please note: this page contains future meeting topic information only. If you are looking for meeting directions, reservations, times, etc., please go to our main meetings page.
- September 25 – Rachelle Chase: Making the Mundane Sexy…and Giving Your Readers Good Sex
- October 23 – Barbara Plum: Primal Pitching
- November 20 – Susan Litman, editor, Harlequin
- December 11 – Holiday party
- January 22 – Sarah Neeri and Amytha Willard, romance friendly librarians from the Santa Clara Library
- February 27 – Margie Lawson: Topic TBA, all-day workshop
- March 26 – Sue Grimshaw – The inside scoop: Sue Grimshaw tells all about bookselling & the crazy Romance Industry
- April 23 – TBA
- May 21 – Monica McCarty and Tracy Grant – topic TBA
2010
September 25 – Rachelle Chase: Making the Mundane Sexy…and Giving Your Readers Good Sex
From sweet to erotic, most romance readers – and publishers – today want a sexy read. But a sexy read does not necessarily mean lots of sex. A book can be overflowing with sex and be disappointingly un-sexy. Or it can have little or no sex and be overwhelmingly sexy. So, what makes a scene or a book sexy? How can a writer make an every-day situation sexy? And, when it’s time for that sex scene, how does a writer make it satisfying for the reader?
In Making the Mundane Sexy… and Giving Your Readers Good Sex, romance author Rachelle Chase will help you pump up the sexy factor by revealing:
· The #1 misconception about what makes something sexy
· The four key ingredients that make the mundane sexy
· Sensual Layering – or how to add layers of sensuality into your mundane scenes to make them sexy
· The ten ingredients necessary for a sexy and satisfying sex scene
So come with scenes from your own work in mind – and be prepared to make them sizzle!
Bio: Rachelle Chase is an award-winning romance author, business consultant, speaker, and model. She’s appeared on national television – The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet – as well as national radio shows, including Playboy Radio, the Hip-Hop Connection, and the Jordan Rich Show. Her published works include MEN ON FIRE, SIN CLUB, and SEX LOUNGE by Kensington Aphrodisia and “Out of Control,” a novella in SECRETS VOLUME 13, by Red Sage Publishing.
Early in her writing career, when Dr. Michael Bader, author of AROUSAL: THE SECRET LOGIC OF SEXUAL FANTASIES, read some of her work and said, in a tone full of wonder, “I find it interesting that it’s very erotic… and yet … nothing happened,” something clicked. And when an excerpt from “Out of Control” was used in ON WRITING ROMANCE, published by Writer’s Digest Books, to illustrate how to effectively heighten sexual tension in a romance book, something clicked again. She’d inadvertently stumbled upon the secret to making the mundane erotic.
October 23 – Barbara Plum: Primal Pitching
Too often “pitching” novels is like falling face-forward because we’re so terrorized by the strange agent or editor beastie in front of us that we can’t breathe or speak in full sentences or recite our names.
Or . . . spit out that polished, rehearsed, sophisticated summary of the novel we know inside out, upside down, sideways, backwards and in our sleep.
Primal Pitching is different.
Primal—as in all important, fundamental, emotional, of the essence.
Pitching—as in mining the essence of your novel, highlighting its fundamental strengths, and zeroing in on the all-important emotional impact of the book no one knows better than you.
Come and pick up some tips and techniques that will give you the skills to get ready for Susan Litman, Harlequin Editor, here in November.
Bio:
Barbara Plum is a past president of SVRWA, author of two romantic comedies, and writer of several yet-to-be-pubbed novels in various genres. She teaches on-line workshops, coaches new writers, judges local and national contests and loves to pitch.
2011
March 26 – Sue Grimshaw: The inside scoop – Sue Grimshaw tells all about bookselling & the crazy Romance Industry
Join us for this wonderful workshop with Borders and Waldenbooks’ romance buyer, Sue Grimshaw!
Bio:
Sue Grimshaw has been the romance book buyer for Borders and Waldenbooks stores for the past eight years. A highly sought after expert in her field, Grimshaw is frequently consulted by publishers, and over the years has been honored to speak to thousands of romance writers and readers at conferences and workshops. She is the host of the “Borders True Romance” program on Borders Media, where she interviews the world’s most accomplished Romance writers. 
She also keeps Romance book lovers engaged and entertained with her Borders blog – the “TrueRomance” blog. Recently Sue won the 2010, Melinda Helfer industry Award at RT in Ohio. In 2008 Grimshaw received the prestigious Vivian Stephens Industry Award from the Romance Writers of America. Other honors include the Inaugural Orange County Chapter of RWA, 2008 Helping Hand Industry Award , 2007 & 2005 Colorado Romance Writers of America bookseller of the year award, and the 2005 Romance Times Book Club appreciation award. A voracious reader of romance, devouring three to five books every week, Sue is one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry and truly enjoys sharing her knowledge of the romance genre.
