Beach Writers' Conference
June 4 & 5, 2013
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Merry Jones is the author of the new suspense novel THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE, the Harper Jennings thrillers (SUMMER SESSION, BEHIND THE WALLS, WINTER BREAK), the Zoe Hayes mysteries (THE NANNY MURDERS, THE RIVER KILLINGS, DEADLY NEIGHBORS and THE BORROWED AND BLUE MURDERS). She has also written humor (including I LOVE HIM, BUT...) and non-fiction (including BIRTHMOTHERS: Women who relinquished babies for adoption tell their stories.) Jones' work has been translated into seven languages. She has taught writing at universities, appeared on national and local radio and television. Contact her at MerryJones.com |
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Daniel D'Auria is a practicing physician in southern New Jersey, a passionate wildlife photographer, and a relative newcomer to the children's book marketplace. What sets him apart is that he has done it all, and with no formal training. He did it and so can you! It starts with finding your passion! Dr. D'Auria has successfully written five children's books by incorporating his love for the out of doors and wildlife into the creation of nonfictional tales. Each are written in rhyme and illustrated with his own beautiful wildlife photographs. He is currently working on several new books and is planning excursions to photograph future subjects for his publications.
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Tom Monteleone is a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award and has published more than 100 short stories in numerous magazines and anthologies. His notorious column of opinion and entertainment, The Mothers And Fathers Italian Association, currently appears in Cemetery Dance magazine. The Blood of the Lamb received the 1993 Bram Stoker Award, and The New York Times Notable Book of the Year Award. His omnibus volume of essays about the book and film industries entitled The Mothers And Fathers Italian Association was published by Borderlands Press and won the 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Non-Fiction. He is author of the bestseller, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing a Novel (2004), and is currently at work on his latest novel, Submarine. He’s a writer, please don’t call him an “author.” |
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Bryan Cohen is an author, creativity coach and actor who lives in Chicago, Ill. Cohen is the author of creativity tools (1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More), self-help (The Post-College Guide to Happiness), fiction (Ted Saves the World) and thousands of blog posts around the web. His website, BuildCreativeWritingIdeas.com, helps over 25,000 people a month to defeat writers block. In September, Cohen taped an episode for the nationally televised show, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire." Creativity seems pesky, but if you tell it when to show up, it will usually listen. In this workshop, Cohen will help attendees fight through common scheduling and internal issues to come up with a to-do list for their next book. Cohen will share some of the tactics that helped him to finish his 30th book by the age of 30. All attendees will leave the workshop with a written schedule for the completion of their next book. |
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Melanie Rigney is the owner of Editor for You (www.editorforyou.com), a publishing consultancy that has helped hundreds of authors, agents, and publishers in the past ten years. Her book on female saints and blesseds (Sisterhood of Saints: Divine Inspiration and Guidance) will be available Sept. 1 from Franciscan Media. Melanie spent nearly five years as the editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, and worked at Advertising Age, United Press International, Macmillan Computer Publishing, and Thomas Financial Publishing. Workshop: Publishing 101: If you love to write but aren’t sure how to go about sharing your words with the world, this session is for you! Learn the ABCs of literary agents, query letters, synopses, book proposals, self-publishing, and more. You’ll come away with a high-level understanding of how it all works, and where you might fit in. |
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Thinking of different times, locations, music, and events can unleash all sorts of writing possibilities. Although the focus is on writing a play, the same exercises can be applied to unleashing all sorts of creativity! Gayle Stahlhuth is the artistic director of the Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May, and for over 40 years has earned a living in the entertainment industry as a performer, director, and producer. As a playwright, she has received commissions from The Smithsonian Institution, Theatreworks/USA and The Illinois and Missouri Humanities Councils, and grants from The New Jersey Humanities Council. For over 20 years she has conducted playwriting and acting workshops throughout the country. |
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Every writer wants to get their material out to the masses. Designed for the social media novice, Ken Lang will share fundamental truths about promoting your craft. Ken’s workshop will teach you the importance of branding yourself, developing lists, and stepping out into cyber world. He will also cover the fundamentals for developing your online presence through your website, blog, and social media outlets (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), and show you how these outlets should be working cohesively. Ken’s been quite successful at building his online presence; you don’t want to miss all his tips and tricks.
Lang is a former homicide detective and an award-winning author of true crime books, including Walking Among the Dead, Standing In Death’s Shadow, and Death Comes Uninvited. In 2011, he was named one of 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading by the Author's Show. www.kenlangstudios.com. |
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A.M. Boyle gave up a 17 year career as a trial lawyer to pursue her love of writing. She has published numerous short stories and other material in her own name and as a ghostwriter.Her first novel was published in 2009, and re-released in early 2012 as the first in a trilogy (SENTRY’S PAST). The second book (SENTRY’S TIME) was released in October, 2012, and the third is slated for release in early 2014. Ann worked as a Literary Agent for several years and now works as a freelance writer and literary consultant for The Wolf Pirate Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping aspiring writers find their audience.You can learn more about her at www.amboyleauthor.com “Bases are Loaded, Here Comes the Pitch….”You have three minutes, face-to-face with an agent or
editor. She smiles and asks those dreaded words, “so what’s your book
about?” Whether delivered
face-to-face, or in the first paragraph of a query letter, the “elevator pitch”
is a crucial element when it comes to selling your novel. Through hands-on activities
attendees will have the chance to polish and practice their pitch until they’re
sure to deliver a game-winning curve!
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Eva Feeley believes that everyone should leave a record of their lives and has channeled that passion into dozens of memoir-writing workshops in the South Jersey area. Since she is currently writing her first novel based on many of her own experiences. In answer to a question she’s been asked countless times in class, Eva is presenting Should My Story Be a Memoir or a Novel? for the first time at the North Wildwood Beach Writers’ Conference. Eva is a member of the Jersey Cape Writers and the author of the non-fiction work “Listen to Me, Young Lady” and a poetry collection “Survivors of Snake Bites." She writes from Sea Isle City, NJ. Reach her at seaisleeva@hotmail.com. Like her Facebook page Eva Feeley, Creative Writing Services. |
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Renee Sherkness, former educator and certified children’s yoga instructor is now a published author of children’s books from her Nurturing Nature Collection: connecting “with care” to our world. Her books include:Stories That Come Alive Through Yoga, Winston The Whale And The Blanket Of Darkness and The Day Mother Nature Decided To Paint Her House. Renee has written articles on nature and on yoga for educational magazines including The Home Schoolers Educational Magazine (HEM). Many educators including the NAFCC have recommended Renee’s books as excellent and beneficial resource tools for educators for environmental lessons and lessons on yoga for children. Originally from Berks County, Pa where she lived on a horse farm, Renee now resides in Cape May County. In her “hands on” workshop entitled: Turning Inspiration into a Writing Piece! Renee will discuss what “sparks inspiration” as well as the “writing process” and the techniques she used to turn her inspiration into a finished work and prepare her writings for publication. In addition Renee will help us “de-stress” and “relax” with some of her Yoga relaxations. A lot of fun and no experience necessary! Website: http://reneesherkness.webs.com/ www.nurturingnaturecollection.com |
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Douglas Goetsch is the author of three full-length collections of poetry and four prizewinning chapbooks. His poems have appeared in Poetry, The New Yorker, The Gettysburg Review, The Southern Review, The American Scholar, Best American Poetry and The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and he’s won fellowships from the NEA and NY Foundation for the Arts. Goetsch, founding editor of Jane Street Press, has taught in MFA programs and writing conferences and runs poetry workshops out of his West Village apartment. www.douglasgoetsch.com.
POETRY: Opening Claims will focus on the importance (and seldom discussed) subject of a poem’s opening claim, the manifold aesthetic claims—in terms of style, attitude, tone, syntax, imagination, etc.—all poems make in their openings. A compelling opening claim sets the agenda, and the reader engages with how the poem will attend to that claim. Not-so-good poems are unmindful of their claims, or else incapable of living up to them. We’ll look at many examples, and maybe try some writing of our own.
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PAUL DINAS has been a senior acquisitions editor in New York Trade Publishing for over three decades. He held editorial positions at St. Martin’s Press, Avon Books, PenguinUSA, Kensington Publishing, The Readers Digest and Adams Media. Over his career, he has published numerous New York Times and national best-selling titles and authors in both fiction and nonfiction. Currently, he is an independent editor working with individual authors on their books to prepare them for commercial publication. "The best part of being an editor has always been building relationships with authors." www.pauldinasbookeditor.com |
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North Wildwood Beach Writers' Conference
