publishing

2018 Authors Conference: Chip MacGregor

Chip MacGregor - Literary Agent Chip MacGregor, founder of MacGregor Literary, an author agency, will be speaking at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

MacGregor’s work as an author agent and representative helps authors in the memoir, spirituality, self-help, Christian, true crime, romance, and literary fiction genres publish their books and negotiate movie and television projects. His company represents a wide range of authors including an astronaut.

Chip MacGregor will be presenting workshops throughout the day on Querying and Finding an Agent, Writing a Proposal, and Creating a Pitch, and participating in the afternoon panel session where you can ask questions of our speakers.

He joins a group of extraordinary professional editors, writers, and poets in our first writer’s conference. Other speakers include Paulann Petersen, Deborah Reed, MaryJane Nordgren, Holly Lorincz, Kristin Thiel, and Jessica Morrell.

Register today to learn from Chip MacGregor on professional editing and writing at the 2018 Authors Conference in January as space is limited.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

This is a fundraiser for the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, a non-profit community center and the host of Writers in the Grove weekly meetings. The Center provides free and low cost meals through their dining services and Meals On Wheels outreach program, as well as a wide range of educational, recreational, wellness, and community events and educational opportunities.

Writers in the Grove is a free weekly workshop for those wishing to develop their creative writing skills. The group meets Mondays at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center on Mondays from 9-11am, and on the second Saturday of the month at the Forest Grove Public Library from 10:30-noon. Writers in the Grove supports the freedom of expression and creative writing spirit in Forest Grove, Oregon, and around the world.

2018 Authors Conference: MaryJane Nordgren

Author and writing coach, MaryJane Nordgren, will be speaking at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Mary Jane Nordgren Author MaryJane Nordgren is a published author of novels, plays, and memoirs, and publisher of the Seeds of… anthologies. Her books, Early: Logging Tales Too Human to be Fiction, Quiet Courage, and Frail the Bridge.

She is also the leader of Writers in the Grove, a free and open-to-the-public creative writing workshop held Monday mornings from 9-11am at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center and the second Saturday of the month at the Forest Grove Public Library.

MaryJane will be presenting a practice session on writing open paragraphs and hooks.

She joins a group of extraordinary professional editors, writers, and poets in our first writer’s conference. Other speakers include Paulann Petersen, Deborah Reed, Chip MacGregor, Holly Lorincz, Kristin Thiel, and Jessica Morrell.

Register today to learn from MaryJane Nordgren on professional editing and writing at the 2018 Authors Conference in January as space is limited.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

2018 Authors Conference: Jessica Morrell

Author and writing instructor, Jessica Morrell, will be speaking at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Jessica Morrell Author Photo Jessica Morrell will be speaking on developing a character arc for your story and novel.

Jessica is a long-time favorite speaker and teacher on writing fiction, and an accomplished author. Her books, Thanks, But This Isn’t for Us, A (sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected, Between the Lines, Bullies, Bastards, and Bitches: How to Write the Bad Guys of Fiction, and Writing Out the Storm continue to be textbooks for writers determined to improve their writing and get published.

Register today to learn from Jessica Morrell on professional editing and writing at the 2018 Authors Conference in January as space is limited.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

2018 Authors Conference: Editor Holly Lorincz

Editor Holly Lorincz will be speaking at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Holly Lorincz editor Holly’s specialty is in developmental editing, fiction and non-fiction, as well as collaborative writing. She will be speaking about the publishing industry and preparing a manuscript for submission.

Holly Lorincz is an author of fiction and non-fiction and owner of Lorincz Literary Services, a literary editing agency. She worked for many years as a collaborative literary agent for MacGregor Literary. She is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and on the faculty for the Profitable Authors Institute and The Blackbird Studio for writers in Portland, Oregon.

Register today to learn from Holly Lorincz on professional writing at the 2018 Authors Conference in January as space is limited.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

2018 Authors Conference: Publisher Chip MacGregor

Chip MacGregor will be presenting on publishing and editing, how to find, query, and pitch your story to agents and publishers at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Chip MacGregor - Literary Agent Chip MacGregor is the founder of MacGregor Literary, an author agency, helping authors in the memoir, spirituality, self-help, Christian, true crime, romance, and literary fiction publish their books and negotiate movie and television projects.

He joins a group of extraordinary professional editors, writers, and poets in our first writer’s conference. Other speakers include Paulann Petersen, Deborah Reed, Holly Lorincz, Jessica Morrell, MaryJane Nordgren, and Kristin Thiel.

Register today to learn from Chip MacGregor on professional writing and publishing at the 2018 Authors Conference in January as space is limited.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

2018 Author Conference: Poet Paulann Petersen

A special afternoon session at the 2018 Authors Conference on January 27, 2018, in Forest Grove, Oregon, will be presented by Paulann Petersen.

Paulann Peterson Author Photo Paulann Petersen is an award-winning poet and former Oregon State Poet Laureate. She is a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and author of several books of poetry including The Wild Awake, Blood-Silk, A Bride of Narrow Escape, Kindle, The Voluptuary, and Understory. She has also published five chapbooks and her work has been published in many anthologies, magazines, and websites.

Paulann teaches poetry workshops for colleges, libraries, and writer’s conferences, and serves on the National Advisory Board for Friends of William Stafford. She will be presenting an afternoon poetry workshop to help you not only improve your poetry but also move toward publishing your work.

She joins a group of extraordinary professional editors, writers, and poets in our first writer’s conference. Other speakers include Deborah Reed, Chip MacGregor, Holly Lorincz, Jessica Morrell, MaryJane Nordgren, and Kristin Thiel.

Register today to learn from Paulann Petersen on professional poetry writing at the 2018 Authors Conference in January as space is limited.

About Writers in the Grove 2018 Authors Conference

November 6: Speaker Tim Applegate

Monday, November 6, 2018, author Tim Applegate will be speak at our Monday morning workshop from 9AM-11AM at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center in Forest Grove, Oregon. This is a free, regular workshop event and all are welcome to join us. Bring pen and paper and an open mind as usual.

Tim Applegate will be speaking about publishing submission acceptance and rejections. He is the author of the novel Fever Tree and three books of poetry. A commercial contractor specializing in furniture and wood restoration for the hotel and cruise ship industry, he retired in 2015 to dedicate the next part of his life to writing full-time. He is the co-winner of the Tillie Olsen award for Creative Writing, and his work has been published in the Florida Review, The South Dakota Review, Lake Effect, The Briar Cliff Review, and others. He currently lives in the foothills of the Coast Range in Oregon.

Prompt: From Within Their Skin

The discussion and prompt today was on diversity in writing. The discussion was inspired by the New York Times article, “I’m Indian. Can I Write Black Characters?” by Thrity Umrigar:

I’ve always thought about it this way: If men can write about women and science fiction writers can write about space aliens, surely I can write about someone from a different race. And I have spent my entire adult life in the United States. Why shouldn’t I write about that most American of topics — race and race relations?

The debate about whether writers should create worlds and characters based in cultures other than their own is an important one. At its core, pushback in this area serves as a corrective to centuries of colonialism, stereotypical portrayals and racist caricatures. But I worry about how we balance pertinent questions about appropriation with the creative freedom to push boundaries and take risks that are essential to good writing.

To add another wrinkle to this debate, I have never been asked about the appropriateness of creating white American characters, as I did in an earlier novel, “The Weight of Heaven.” Of course, this probably has to do with our country’s ignoble history of racism and racist stereotypes, especially about African-Americans. There’s justifiably less concern about misrepresentation of white Americans.

We talked about how the industry whitewashes the characters we write about, and the confusion from the writers and publishers about the growing demand today for diverse characters. We discussed the struggles and challenges associated with writing a character unlike the author, and techniques to see the world through different eyes.

The prompt is to get inside the skin of someone not like you and write from that perspective.

As Umrigar wrote in the article:

I have made my peace with the fact that I have to defer to the publisher’s expertise about the realities of the marketplace. But to limit myself to write books only about India is to condemn me to tell the same stories. And that kind of pigeonholing is a creative death.

So, I will continue to tell the stories that I am called upon to tell. I know I’ll spend many more interviews explaining the characters I create, and that this tension contains its own revealing, dramatic and painful story about our culture and history.

Using Scrivener for Poetry

The Scrivener Basics Workshop by Writers in the Grove begins September 21, 2017, Thursday at 6:30Pm at the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center in Forest Grove, Oregon. There is still space available.

Scrivener isn’t just for writing and publishing fiction or non-fiction. Many successful poets use the power of Scrivener to not just create their poetry books, but also to track poetry submissions to contests, magazines, and other publishing media.

Here are some resources to learn more about how poets are using Scrivener for their own poetry books and for anthologies.

Kendra Elliot to Speak to Writers in the Grove February 13, 2017

Kendra Elliot, author.

On February 13, 2017, author Kendra Elliot will speak at our Monday Writers in the Grove meeting at 9AM at the Forest Grove Community and Senior Center in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Elliot is a prolific author of suspense, thriller, and murder mysteries. After reading a newspaper article about NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, she decided she could sit down and write 50,000 words in 30 days, and did. She says on her website:

I sat down and wrote a contemporary romance but kept tripping over dead bodies in each chapter. I got the hint and my stories evolved into romantic suspense.

This Pacific Northwest native continues to live in the area and says she is obsessed with forensics, even studying with the FBI, and is involved in many writers associations and groups dedicated to her genre, weaving everything she learns into her fascinating stories.

Elliot has published numerous books including the popular series The Bone Secrets, Callahan and McLane, The Mercy Kilpatrick, and The Rogue River Novella series.

She will be talking about how she writes her books so fast and furious, publishing several a year, and about the publishing industry, dealing with agents and publishers.

Please join us for this fascinating presentation. There is no charge. We thank Kendra Elliot for her generosity in sharing her experiences with us.