My Mini Penn Writers Conference Experience

Hi Friends!

Some of you may know that my writers group, Round Hill Writers Group, was instrumental in PennWriters mini conference “Project Runway.”   Since it was in my home town I was so excited about going and took full advantage of all it offered. The following are three of the workshops I took.

Pat DiCesare and Clara Bowman-Jahn

Pat Di Cesare –”Rocking the Runway- Promoting Your Book-

More and more writers are required to do their own marketing. Learn what to do and how to do it.”

“Don’t give up with the first obstacles.”

www.concertpat.com

book “Hard Days Hard Nights”

I am so glad I met Pat. He is a marvel.  When he came back from being drafted to Vietnam he bought the concert halls rock and roll stars were preforming in and wrote about the experience in “Hard Days Hard Nights.”

Hana Haatainen Caye and Clara Bowman-Jahn

Hana Haatainen Caye – “Fashioning Your Stories to fit the pattern for Chicken Soup For the Soul. Find out what the designers are looking for at CSS. Gather your supplies, and get ready to wow your audience.”

Her quote -“Read Chicken Soup for the Soul to figure out their formula. Don’t use controversial subjects like politics.”

www.chickensoup.com is the books web site, hers is www.wordsinyourmouth.com

Hana’s Story “The Infinite Worth of a Nickel” is in two editions of CSS and her other stories are in four or five CSS editions including 20^th Anniversary Readers Choice.

Her book “Vinegar Friday’s” is about green living and using vinegar for many ailments. She is also the author of over seventy children’s stories in istorybooks.

Her story “The Infinite Worth of a Nickel” is famous for bringing her adopted daughter back to her after she grew up. Without the reunion there would not be a story.  Caye, besides writing stories,  teaches the formula on how to get submitted into CSS and is also an editor.

Ramona De Felice Long – “Couture scenes.  Design your manuscript with High quality, custom-made scenes that will move your plot and dazzle your reader.”

She says “Make a list of all the places your characters can go. Get out of the kitchen.”

www.Ramonadef.wordpress.com

Her many short fiction and creative non fiction pieces have appeared in many journals and blogs including “What I Don’t Know About Nature”  in The Fox Chase Review which is a literary magazine published three times a year in Philadelphia. Please check out her web site for the many other stories. She’s also an editor and teaches about scene online and in person.

I got my photo taken with her but it didn’t show up in my camera. Boo hoo.

(Also other photos of authors in my Round Hill Writers Group –Linda Sittig author of “Women of Strong Cloth” and Dixianne Hallaj, author of numerous books like “Lola” and “Check Point Kalandia” turned Publisher of S and H publishing. )So many funny and fun photos that just didn’t turn out.

In addition to these three workshops I took workshops by Val Muller on editing, Don Helin on character developing and another by Hana Caye on writing short stories that matter.

However this whole conference wouldn’t be have happened if not for Bobbi Carducci who is the president of Area 7 in Penn Writers and my area. The area outside Pennsylvania. She was the organizer for this whole thing. Somehow in the midst of Marketing her book “Confessions of an Imperfect Caregiver” she found the time to put this together.

We even had a books seller table with Second Chapter Books handling the sales. I felt so proud with two of my books on the table, and even better as I was signing some at the end of the conference.

But all in all? When not taking photos? I was taking it all in. The information, the fun, the authors and books, the fun. All in all it was a terrific experience. I hope all of you get to go to a writer’s conference sometime.

And what do you know? You can! Registration is now going on at Pennwriters for this May 2015, conference in Pittsburgh. I think I’m going. With or without a ride.  Or I may just hitch hike. If you think you’re going? Get in touch with me. Let’s meet. Oh the fun of going to a conference. The possibilities!