New Themes: November

In the interest of keeping things fresh here on the blog, I've decided to start having different themes each month. Because of my research and writing interests, I've decided to devote the month of November to profiling different websites focused on the Regency era. When I first began writing Regency romances, I had a difficult time narrowing my search results when I used Google. Now, every time I find a good website, whether from a friend's tip or Yahoo group suggestion, I bookmark it. In November, I'll be celebrating the best of these websites and providing links and profiles.

Moonlight & Magnolias Conference: Leanne Shawler

One of the most interesting sessions I attended was held by Leanne Shawler and entitled "Let's Get Physical." In this particular workshop, Shawler emphasized the importance of incorporating body language into our writing. Like other instructors, Shawler noted the importance of showing and not telling, and her best tip was to "replace adverbs with descriptive action tags."

Toward the end of the session, Shawler discussed and listed some helpful websites for writers who are interested in learning more about body language and how it can add emotional intensity to you writing. I've included two of the best websites below. If you're interested in finding out more about Shawler's work, please visit her website at http://www.leanneshawler.com.

Highlighted Websites:
Police Body Language: http://www.hodrw.com/cop2.htm
Sexual Tension & Intimacy: http://groups.msn.com/RomanceWritingTips/sexualtension1.msnw

Moonlight & Magnolias Conference: Teresa Medeiros

At the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference, I was excited to hear Teresa Medeiros speak at the luncheon on Saturday. She reminded all the writers in attendance that we participate in a business and should remember that when we approach our careers. For the unpublished writers, she urged them to take pleasure in creating and to remember that without a contract and its attendant responsibility, you can be fearless in what you write. For the published folks, she gave upbeat advice on dealing with critics; I especially liked her quotation from one of VH-1's One Hit wonders: "That's one more hit than you had." Most importantly, Medeiros emphasized to write for yourself, and not for your audience. I had never heard Medeiros speak before, and since she's one of my favorite authors, I'm happy I finally had the chance.

For more photos of Teresa Medeiros and her fellow authors at the conference, please visit her blog here.

Moonlight & Magnolias Conference

Recently, I attended the Moonlight & Magnolias Conference and was impressed by the lineup of authors and workshops. This is the second time I've attended the conference, and I highly recommend it to my fellow writers. Also, readers have an opportunity to meet their favorite authors in person, and I enjoyed hearing the speeches of authors such as Theresa Medeiros and Stephanie Bond. In fact, for writers who are looking for inspiration and/or motivation, I highly recommend visiting Bond's Writers' Pages, which feature articles available at Amazon Shorts (I especially like "Mind Your Own Writing Business, article series 2," which covers how to create a business plan for your writing career). Over the next few weeks, I'll post highlights from the conference.