We are pleased that David Douglas will speak (via Zoom) at our July meeting on the 27th.

BLURB:

Enter Stage Right: Playwriting Basics

Are you more interested in writing dialogue and action than descriptions of settings? Do your favorite stories feature minimal characters and locations? Would you like to write something other than a novel, short story, or screenplay? Then join playwright and Stage Writers founder, David Douglas, for this presentation on the basics of playwriting, which will explore: the differences between stage plays and other forms of writing, the proper formatting of scripts, the role of the playwright in theatre-making, and a variety of other helpful resources that will cue your entrance into writing for the stage.

BIO:

David Douglas is a playwright, award-winning short story author, and the founder & director of Stage Writers — a Dallas-based playwright organization. He is also a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and a past board member of several writers organizations, including the Writers Guild of Texas and WORD (Writers Organizations ‘Round Dallas). His full-length play, Railbird, has received readings in the Original Works Series (Fort Worth Community Arts Center), First Impressions Festival (Imprint Theatreworks), and Play Readers Club (Our Productions Theatre Co.). His short plays have been produced by Rover Dramawerks, Sundown Collaborative Theatre, and the Dallas One-Minute Play Festival. When not writing twisting tales of romance and suspense, David loves watching classic and independent films, as well as attending and directing plays. Find him online at OddOccurrences.com.

GWB is honored to have Jaye Wells speak at our Summer Workshop.

USA Today Bestseller Jaye Wells is a former magazine editor whose award-winning speculative fiction novels have hit several bestseller lists. She holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, and is a sought-after speaker on the craft of writing. When she’s not writing or teaching, she loves to travel to exotic locales, experiment in her kitchen like a mad scientist, and try things that scare her so she can write about them in her books. She lives in Texas.

Our summer workshop is June 13. William Ledbetter will speak at the morning session.

William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award winning author with more than seventy speculative fiction stories and non-fiction articles published in four languages, in markets such as Asimov’s, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Escape Pod, Baen.com, the SFWA blog, and Ad Astra.

He’s been a space and technology geek since childhood and spent most of his non-writing career in the aerospace and defense industry. He administers the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award contest for Baen Books and the National Space Society, is a member of SFWA, the National Space Society of North Texas, and a Launch Pad Astronomy workshop graduate. He lives near Dallas with his wife, a needy dog and four spoiled cats.

His novel “Level Five” is now available from Audible Originals.

http://williamledbetter.com/

Texas Authors–How to get Noticed
Monday, February 24th, 7 to 9 PM

Granbury Writers’ Bloc presents Kristine Hall, owner and publisher of Lone Star Literary Life, and coordinator of Lone Star Book Blog Tours. Join us as we learn the tips and tools to get our work noticed in Texas and beyond.

Bio:

Becka Oliver joined the Writers’ League in September 2013 as Executive Director after more than sixteen years of experience working in book publishing. She spent much of her publishing career inside two of the “big six” publishing leaders – Macmillan and Hachette Book Group — licensing domestic and foreign rights on behalf of countless notable authors, including Sandra Brown, Brad Meltzer, Nicholas Sparks, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show, and more. In 2007, she made the leap from Associate Director of Subsidiary Rights at Grand Central Publishing to Literary Agent, first at Endeavor and then at William Morris Endeavor (WME) after the two powerhouse talent agencies merged in 2009.

As a literary agent, Becka represented clients working in both fiction and non-fiction, including Brunonia Barry, Sheryl Crow, Kamran Pasha, Joanna Philbin, Susan Rebecca White, and the popular blog Awkward Family Photos.

Cathy Rueter, a former reporter and newsletter editor, has returned to her passion of freelance writing while pursuing a career as a Christian murder mystery author, speaker and grant writer. She is the founder of Fledgling Writers Community, geared toward new writers while welcoming ALL to the nest.

Originally from the Greater Grand Rapids, MI area, she now lives within the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with her family.  If she’s not at her desk, you can probably find her with her nose in a book and hanging out in her hammock on the back porch, or in the car traveling to various writer’s groups and conferences.

With a revamped website coming later this spring, connect with Cathy at: www.cathyrueter.com,  www.facebook.com/cathyrueterwriter or the nest at https://www.facebook.com/FledglingCommunity/.

Writing with Rubber Bands: Creating Tension in Story

Tension in fiction draws a reader in and makes them feel various emotions for our characters. It puts them on the proverbial edge of their seats and creates a need to turn the page.

Working tension into our stories isn’t just for thrillers. Writers of romance, science fiction, historical, in fact, all genres—and even some non-fiction writing—need and are improved by this vital story element. Tension isn’t just stringing a bunch of words together and hope they stretch like a rubber band. We need to pull those bands taut and know when to release.

In Writing with Rubber Bands: Creating Tension in Story, we’ll explore what tension is, why it’s crucial, as well as the tips, techniques, and literary devices used to create it—without breaking a single rubber band. (*Full disclosure: only two rubber bands were harmed in the making of this presentation.)