This free four-session workshop on creating the short story will be given in the Maywood NJ library on Monday evenings in June starting June 4 and continuing on June 11, 18, 25.  Sessions will run from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

Author Hank Quense (http://strangeworldsonline.com) will conduct the workshop.  During it he will take the participants through the design process elements.  This includes story setting, character building, plotting, scene design and other design elements.  At the end of the workshops, participants will be ready to write the first draft on their own.

The workshop is open to anyone who wants to attend, from middle school students to senior citizens.
If anyone has a question, they can call the library at (201) 845-2915.  They can also contact Hank Quense athanque99@verizon.net or call 201 414 3434.

For writers who want to work on specific areas of creative nonfiction skills, don’t have the time to commit to a long class but still want plenty of private feedback, MEWsie Lisa Romeo is offering One-Week Workshops in May, June, and July.

You select a topic from the list of 17 different craft topics, which are usually only available in 4- or 8-week classes. Simply choose the individual subject(s) that will most help you enhance your writing craft, and then select the week(s). Each week includes a full lesson, reading materials, examples, (optional) assignments, in-depth private feedback on your work, unlimited email exchanges, and (optional) phone call.

You can see a list of all 17 craft-centric choices at Lisa’s blog (www.LisaRomeo.blogspot.com) or here: http://bit.ly/Hdb4TA. Multi-week discounts are available. Please reserve your spot one week in advance by contacting Lisa: LisaRomeoWrites@gmail.com or calling 973-857-4383.

Lisa teaches creative nonfiction in the Rutgers University Writing Program Extension, and works as a freelance writer, editor, ghostwriter, and writing coach. She holds an MFA from Stonecoast and a B.S. in journalism from Syracuse. Her work has appeared across print and online media, including the New York Times, O The Oprah Magazine, and many essay collections, literary journals, and anthologies, including the recent Women Writing on Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching, and Publishing.

May 14, 7pm – Watchung Booksellers, Montclair NJ

They’ve done Pitchapaloozas from Miami to Hollywood, Cape Cod to Santa Cruz. They’ve done workshops from Stanford University to the Texas Book Festival. And now they’re doing them together in a 2.5 hour, information-packed session. The workshop gives you the nuts & bolts to launch your book successfully, from platform, to pitch, to publication. Pitchapalooza is American Idol for books. Writers get one minute—and only one minute, to pitch their books! In the last month, three writers have gotten publishing deals as a result of participating in Pitchapalooza. The workshop lasts an hour. Pitchapalooza ninety minutes. Sign up soon, these fill up fast!

Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry are co-founders of The Book Doctors, a company dedicated to helping authors get their books published. They are also co-authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How To Write It, Sell It, and Market It… Successfully (Workman, 2010). Arielle Eckstut has been a literary agent for 20 years at The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. She is also the author of seven books and the co-founder of the iconic brand, LittleMissMatched. David Henry Sterry is the best-selling author of 12 books, on a wide variety of subject including memoir, sports, YA fiction and reference.They have taught their workshop on how to get published everywhere from Stanford University to Smith College. They have appeared everywhere from The New York Times to NPR’s Morning Edition to USA Today.

PRICE OF ADMISSION: $75, plus the purchase of The Essential Guide To Getting Your Book Published.

New York Times article: http://tinyurl.com/3tkp4gl.

Pitchapalooza mini movie:http://tinyurl.com/3jr8zte.

Pitchapalooza on NBC: http://www.thebookdoctors.com/the-book-doctors-pitchapalooza-on-nbc-television

Self-publishing has never been easier (or more respectable), small presses abound, yet the gold standard for many writers is still the Big 6 publishing deal. What does publishing with a Big 6 house get you that no other platform can?

On Thursday, May 10, 2012, at 7:00 pm a very special Writing Matters panel will take place at Watchung booksellers, seeking answers to this question. Our panelists include:

• Greer Hendricks, Vice President and Senior Editor at Simon & Schuster
• Sarah Pekkanen, bestselling author of These Girls, The Opposite of Me, & Skipping a Beat
• Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of The Murderer’s Daughters
• Peter Golden, debut author of Comeback Love
• Julie Schoerke, president and founder of JKS Communications, an independent publicity firm

The panelists will explore such topics as:

• What editors at the major houses are looking for today
• What it’s like to publish with a major versus a smaller press or on your own
• What to do after the offer so that your book stands its best chance of success

Whether you’re an

• emerging writer
• published author who would like to reach a wider audience
• student of these tremendous publishing times
• fan of great fiction

This night will hold something for you. Join us for some time spent with almost all that is good in life: books, food, wine, and rousing conversation!

For further information please call Watchung booksellers (973) 744 7177

http://www.watchungbooksellers.com/writing-matters

The International Women’s Writing Guild is thrilled to present the 63rd Annual Spring Big Apple Conference, “ReNEW the Magic,” a two-day event featuring writing workshops and the opportunity to pitch one-on-one to NYC agents.

Our conference takes place April 14-15 at the historic National Arts Club at 15 Gramercy Park South (East 20th Street, just east of Park Ave.), New York City.

Visit http://iwwg.org/63rd-big-apple-conference to register.

SACKETT STREET WRITERS’ WORKSHOP is offering a workshop for Fiction & Non-Fiction Writers in Montclair, beginning the week of April 14th. Classes are taught by Montclair writer and resident, Jill Rosenberg. (See her bio at http://www.sackettworkshop.com/faculty.html#rosenberg).

Workshops meet for two hours each week, usually on a weekday evening, and they run for eight weeks. Writers will learn how to recognize the successful techniques in their fiction – what engages the reader, and how that success is achieved. In-class discussions will focus on analyzing the many choices (point-of-view, tone, characterizing details, pacing, etc.) a writer must make concerning structure, character and language.

Writers will have their work critiqued in class two times during the 8-week session. After each workshop they will receive typed feedback from both the instructor and their classmates. Sessions are held at the instructor’s home on Walnut Street in Montclair.

If you are interested, please email Julia Fierro at julia@sackettworkshop.com.

The $475 fee includes a private conference with the instructor.

Visit www.sackettworkshop.com or email julia@sackettworkshop.com for more information.

Fiction and creative non-fiction class to run six weeks May-June

Writing Our Stories
Six Mondays, May 7-June 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

MEWsie Laura Zinn Fromm is offering a new class. Both fiction and creative nonfiction involve strong story lines, memorable characters, and lively dialogue. We will migrate between the two genres. Students can submit short stories, portions of novels, essays and/or sections of memoirs. Instructor’s approval required prior to registering. Please e-mail a 3–5 page writing sample to zinnfromm@gmail.com. This class meets in the instructor’s home in Millburn-Short Hills and is limited to eight people.

Laura Zinn Fromm is the author of the forthcoming My Inner Fruitcake: Tales of Cooking and Coping. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University and teaches fiction and creative non-fiction through the New York Writers Workshop at the JCC Manhattan. She has also taught at Columbia and Montclair State. A former editor at Business Week magazine, she is the winner of the Clarion Award and the Newspaper Guild’s Page One Award for Labor Reporting. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Ducts.org, Writing Raw, Patch, New Jersey Life & Leisure and Wellesley. For more of her work, please visit http://www.flawedmom.blogspot.com and http://www.myinnerfruitcake.com.

Ever wanted to learn to write a screenplay?

Whether you want to transform your novel into a screenplay or if you just want to learn how to write one, Introduction to Screenwriting is being offered on Tuesdays April 3rd to May 29th at the First and Trinity Church in South Orange.

In the class you will learn screenplay structure, how to develop the plot, and create compelling characters by studying films and screenplays of the masters. The class is taught by fellow mewsie Carol Forbes, an award-winning screenwriter and Columbia University, MFA in Screenwriting.

Cost: $120
Hours: 7:15PM to 9PM
Where: First and Trinity Presbyterian Church
111 Irvington Avenue, South Orange
Contact Carol at: carolftwin@gmail.com

The Bloomfield Public Library is pleased to announce the formation of a writing club, which will meet at the library on the first and third Monday of each month at 10am. All writers or aspiring writers are invited to attend these meetings and share their work, their knowledge of writing and the business of writing with their fellow authors.

The Bloomfield Public Library would like to thank a local volunteer, Quinita Good for generously donating her time to lead this club twice a month. Quinita is an award-winning journalist and business & creative writer living in New Jersey. The recipient of first- and second-place awards from the New Jersey Press Association in 2005, She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations and has studied at the Master’s level in Writing Studies. She also held positions as writer, editorial assistant, and editor. Her writing spans the spectrum–from business & technical to creative.

If you’d like to volunteer to lead a program or club at the Bloomfield Public Library, please contact Lisa Cohn at lcohn@bplnj.org.

The Bloomfield Public Library is located at 90 Broad Street in Bloomfield. For more information on this event or upcoming programs please call (973) 566-6200 x 502. To be notified of upcoming programs, visit our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter. Visit our website, www.bplnj.org, and join our google group to receive notices of upcoming events directly in your email inbox.

Are you dreading the process of guiding your high-schooler through her college application essays? Local YA author and This American Life contributor Hillary Frank is here to help. With 12 years experience writing for, educating, and producing teens for the radio, Hillary is launching Dog Star Tutoring—a consulting business that helps college applicants write essays that stand out in a crowd. Hillary’s process ensures that students generate their own ideas and write in their own voice. The skills that Hillary disseminates are useful not only for college applications but in writing papers, cover letters, and pieces for publication. More info at http://dogstartutoring.com.