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Goal, Motivation, Conflict: creating stories that keep the pages turningSun, April 3, 2022; 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT
Goal, Motivation, Conflict: creating stories that keep the pages turningSun, April 3, 2022; 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT Maureen Fisher shares the secrets of creating a compelling story through each character’s goals, motivation, and conflict. About this event The key to an engaging story has always been the characters and how they interact. A writer…
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Jaded Hearts by Renée Gendron Cover 03 25 2022
Jaded Hearts by Renée Gendron Cover 03 25 2022
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Meant to Be by Alexandra Isobel cover 17-March-2022
Meant to Be by Alexandra Isobel cover 17-March-2022
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Lifeline by Alexa Gregory a Contemporary Romance, feb 16th 2022
Lifeline by Alexa Gregory a Contemporary Romance, feb 16th 2022
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Honeyed Nut by Jodi Kendrick; 2/15/2022
Honeyed Nut by Jodi Kendrick; 2/15/2022
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Love Languages with Jennifer Carole Lewis Feb 6th 2022:
Love Languages with Jennifer Carole Lewis Feb 6th 2022: 70 to 93 percent of all communication is non-verbal, which means that body language is the ultimate love language! Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Jennifer Carole Lewis will go in-depth about how body language can show how a character is feeling. Join ORW to learn…
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Seven Points of Contact By Renée Gendron 1/25/2022
Seven Points of Contact By Renée Gendron 1/25/2022
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Grip Me Tight by Darby Fox, 01/25/2022
Grip Me Tight by Darby Fox cover a Steamy Contemporary, 01/25/2022
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Schooled in Murder (A Charley Hall Mystery, book 6) by Brenda Gayle, 01/25/2022
Schooled in Murder (A Charley Hall Mystery, book 6) by Brenda Gayle, 01/25/2022
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Steadfast Pursuit by Alexandra Isobel 1/10/2022
Steadfast Pursuit by Alexandra Isobel 1/10/2022
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Luring the Lykán with Almond Macarons, Leslie Ann Brown, Nov, 2021
Luring the Lykán with Almond Macarons, Leslie Ann Brown, Nov, 2021 When a reclusive dryad meets a grumpy shifter, crumbs will fly. Part of The Wild Rose Press Christmas Cookie Series.
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Saturday, Oct 2 – Mini Fall Virtual Retreat
Registration is limited to 100 participants (30 for RWAC, 30 for ORWA, 30 for everyone else, 10 for presenters and wiggle room) Saturday, Oct 2 – Mini Fall Virtual Retreat 1030 AM -12:00 PM – Using Character Emotion to Wow Readers: Becca Pugilsi, co-author, The Emotion Thesaurus 12:00-1:00 Lunch break (we’ll leave the meeting live…
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Sept 12, 2021 Workshop: Kobo’s Latest Innovations with Tara Cremin
Learn how Kobo is making it easy for authors to reach readers. This year Kobo has been busy reaching new readers through innovative new eInk devices and the expansion of Kobo’s subscription service Kobo Plus, into strategic new markets. Learn how Kobo is making it easy for authors to reach these readers by offering non-exclusive…
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The Russian Swirl by Alexandra Isobel 30-July-2021
The Russian Swirl by Alexandra Isobel 30-July-2021 The hunt is intense when a gangster is frantic to find his queen and bring her home. Yuri is an ex-Russian gangster. Savannah is African American his queen. Entwined in a passionate and volatile marriage, their world explodes when she opens an unknown sender email.
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May 2, 2021 Workshop – Book Brush with Kathleen Sweeney
A look at some tools to help writers market their work. There’s lots of advice out there on how to be a successful author: write a great book, know your audience, appeal to your audience with compelling ads, spend lots of money on ads, don’t spend lots of money on ads, market on social media,…
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Areana and the Mountain of Blood by Helga R Paxton, 29-April-2021
Areana and the Mountain of Blood Daughter of Deceit Adventures 3 by Helga R Paxton, 29-April-2021 Areana, having recovered from a disastrous cavan trip, tries to spend a relaxing winter deep in the Dwarven mountain. Interrupted by a murder, with her as a chief suspect.
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March 7, 2021 Workshop – Writing a Strong Second Draft of Your Novel
Learn practical tips and techniques for evaluating the first draft of your fiction manuscript Writing a Strong Second Draft of Your Novel In this seminar, Maggie Morris, The Indie Editor, who will share practical tips and techniques for evaluating the first draft of your fiction manuscript from both a stylistic and substantive perspective so you…
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February 2021 Workshop – Giving a Good Critique
Learn how to provide useful critiques without tipping into either bland applause or painful discouragement Everyone wants a good critique for their manuscripts, but it can be overwhelming to try and provide useful information without tipping into either bland applause or painful discouragement. This workshop will include suggestions on: developing an initial framework for what…
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Areana and the Forest of Swords, by Helga R Paxton, 21-September-2020
Areana and the Forest of Swords, by Helga R Paxton, 21-September-2020 A quick job guarding a caravan out of the city into the northern hills should have been a safe bet, but the wolf’s wood was full of swords.
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WIP into Shape – 2020 Edition
New year, new WIP? Join us for tips and tricks to get your WIP into shape! ORW authors will be on-hand to help you out with the following topics: Brainstorming (Christine Gallimore and Lucy Farago) Stuck on your WIP? Unsure of where to take the plot? Have your characters worked themselves into a corner and…
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Ottawa Romance Writers Association’s letter to the Romance Writers of America Executive Board of Directors
January 8, 2020 To the Romance Writers of America Executive Board of Directors: On January 5, 2020, the Ottawa Romance Writers Association held an extended membership meeting to discuss the recent events that have rocked the RWA and its membership. Both the ORWA board and the membership voted unanimously to give this statement. We are…
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“Let’s Talk Publishing” with Carina Press.
Event description Whether you’re a new author or a seasoned author, looking to join a publisher or publish independently, the ins and outs of the publishing industry can seem mysterious and convoluted. In this candid Q&A and casual discussion session, editor Kerri Buckley, of Carina Press, will answer your questions in a WebEx presentation on…
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WIP into Shape – 2020 Edition
EVENT CANCELLATION: GIVEN THE ISSUES THAT HAVE ARISEN CONCERNING RWA, WE ARE CANCELLING OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED JANUARY WORKSHOP AND HOSTING A TOWN HALL FOR MEMBERS ONLY.PLEASE ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES.
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Transactional Magic by Helga R Paxton 9-December-2019
Transactional Magic by Helga R Paxton 9-December-2019 Allzea recounts her time as a magic student, when she accepts a proposition from her Spell Master to trade sexual favours for magic. She seeks advice from her guardian who gives her the training she needs to take control of these sexual transactions and enjoy herself in the…
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December 2019: Writing with others: Co-writing and collaboration
Want to know how to work with other authors to create new and exciting stories? There are many exciting opportunities out there, whether you want to co-write a book, write in a shared world or shared branding, or participate in an anthology or multi-author box set. In this panel workshop our authors will share their…
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2019 December Social and Elections
FOR ORWA MEMBERS ONLY. Join us for our Holiday Gathering and then be a part of the ORWA elections, December 1 2019. Reservations have been made for 11am to 1pm at the Royal Oak, right next to the Ben Franklin place. Take this opportunity to eat, relax and socialize with your peers, before heading over…
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November 2019: Writing the Happy into your Happily Ever After
One of the most common challenges of writing romance novels is ensuring the relationship feels authentic while mixing in enough drama to keep the reader intrigued. But how can an author ensure the relationship doesn’t cross any lines, and that conflict is resolved satisfactorily? Dr. Brenda Saxe will share her experience as a couple’s counsellor…
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October 2019:
Candid Cold Reads and Q&A – CANCELED Due to unforeseen circumstances, Carina Press with Angela James will not be presenting. All tickets have been refunded. Please keep reading for more about the replacement workshop. Making It Real (October 6) Creating a fictional world can be a challenge, whether you’re choosing to place your story in…
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September 2019: Selling more books with ads on Facebook and Amazon
Do you know how to use Facebook and Amazon ads to sell more books? Have you tried using them but not seen any sales? The most successful indie authors are using these ads to sell new and backlist books. In this panel workshop you’ll learn about keywords for your genre, creating ad content, audience targeting,…
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Alex and the Maze of Stone, by Helga R Paxton, 9-Jul-2019
Alex and the Maze of Stone, by Helga R Paxton, 9-Jul-2019 A group of bounty hunters on a mission to pursue raiders to their home base through a dimensional gate, contracts Alex to get them through the gate. To find a Maze of stone; they must navigate to deal with the raiders and their Leader.
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May 2019: Selling Books with Kobo Writing Life: Global Distribution & Exclusive Promo
Want to distribute your books globally, from your local library to big box retailers like Walmart? With Kobo Writing Life, you can sell your book in over 190 countries, and access promotional opportunities puts them in front of millions of Kobo users. This free distribution tool lets you keep the rights to your books and…
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2019 June Social
Attend the ORWA social on June 9th, 2019. It will be our last official event until we reconvene in the Fall. The location will be sent out via the Yahoo Group and will be celebrated at our president’s lovely home in Manotick. At the social, we will have a professional photographer and a mobile hair…
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Recap April 2019: Develop Your Unique Author Voice with Stefanie London
Event recap By Jennifer Carole Lewis Standing out in today’s market is one of the more challenging things for authors today but one of the most important thing for creating dedicated readers is an author’s unique voice. Stefanie London presented an informative workshop on how to best present your unique voice, concept and execution to…
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Recap March 2019: Full day writing workshop: Show, don’t tell and scene/sequel
Recap of March 2019 by Jennifer Carole Lewis Shirley Jump’s full day workshop on Show Not Tell and Scene and Sequel got ORWA and our guests buzzing and our keyboards clacking. Both were full of great practical tips on how to deepen our descriptions and create faster-paced scenes to hold a reader’s attention. She shared…
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Recap Feb 2019: Successful Author Mindset with Heather Elliott
Event recap by Jennifer Carole Lewis Heather Elliott of Mindful Change began her workshop on overcoming impostor syndrome with a powerful anecdote. She’d signed up for a program she was very excited about and when the feedback on her first assignment arrived and indicated she hadn’t fully grasped the material as yet, she was overcome…
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Recap Jan 2019: WIP into Shape
Event recap by Jennifer Carole Lewis We started the year getting WIPped into shape. Eve Langlais explained the many different online services and programs available for independent publishing today, such as Vellum, Draft 2 Digital, Findaway and Ingram. We didn’t get many takers on the first page critique with Jenn Burke, but if you’re interested,…
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Lusty Cat-women of the Catnip Jungle by Helga R Paxton, 18-December-2018
Lusty Cat-women of the Catnip Jungle by Helga R Paxton, 18-December-2018 Brad, Tom, and Vic, three college football players on their summer work study in the Catnip Jungle, search for remnants of the lost Catnippean civilization. Their discovery of a lost and overgrown temple reveals the existence of Cat-Women, the survivors of the lost catnippean…
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Recap: Prolific Authors Share Their Secrets (Dec 2018)
Event Recap By Jennifer Carole Lewis Anyone who has ever sat in front of a keyboard to share the story in their head knows that writing is hard. But there are some amazing prolific authors who are able to write tremendous amounts and ORWA was lucky enough to have four of them share their secrets…
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Recap Nov 2018: Private Investigator and Security Guard
Before our workshop, we asked ORWA members who their favorite fictional detectives were, and if they write detectives in any of their stories! Workshop Recap Contributed by Jennifer Carole Lewis ORWA’s November workshop on the reality of private investigating and security was hugely informative. Our special guest, a private investigator with over 20 years of…
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Recap: Five Secrets to Painless Revisions (October 2018)
Recap by Callie Amo: On October 14, 2018, local Ottawa historical/erotica romance bestselling author Sharon Page came to our group to discuss her five secrets to revising a work-in-progress (WIP). She has given her workshop before to ORWA, but it has become so popular that we had her give it again! Her workshop was very…
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Recap: September 2018 Writing Workshop with Tanya Huff
We might have taken the summer off, but with the start of the fall, it’s time for ORWA to gather once again. We were delighted to break our long summer fast with Tanya Huff, a talented author who has written in multiple genres for the last thirty years. Tanya spoke to us about the challenges…
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Recap: RTC August 2018
The 4th annual Romancing the Capital (RTC) event, organized by ORWA’s own Eve Langlais, happened August 2 to 4, 2019! The event had over 40 authors and 250 readers, making it a unique and intimate event that allows new and meaningful connections. Several ORWA members were sponsoring authors of the event, including Lucy Farago,…
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2018 June Social
Attend the ORWA spring social on June 11, 2017. It will be our last official event until we reconvene in the Fall. Awards ceremony We will be awarding members with our annual awards, including: Audrey Jessup Award Jo Beverley First Book Award Indie First Book Award Phoenix Award First Impression Award Make sure to let us…
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May 2018 Workshop: Page-Turning Fiction with Kelley Armstrong
Genre fiction is all about entertaining and engaging the reader. This workshop will focus on ways to keep readers up into the night, turning the pages. #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Kelley Armstrong, will provide strategies for maximizing reader engagement starting with the planning stages and continuing through to tips and tricks for picking…
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April 2018 Workshop: Self-Publishing Tools Explained
Join Eve Langlais and discover what tools are out there to help you succeed in self-publishing! Event details Sunday April 15, 2018 (2:30-4:00 pm) Workshop presentation PDF. Recap coming soon!
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March 2018 Workshop: Writing Realistic Fight Scenes
Local blackbelt Rick Lutes gave a fantastic and comprehensive look at hand-to-hand combat, as well as practical demonstrations of the techniques with his student, Jim Johnston. Every culture has a system of unarmed combat. There are usually two forms: hard (eg. Karate or jiu-jitsu) where the martial artist attacks the target directly, and soft (eg.…
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January 2018: Back to the Plotting Board
After a well-enjoyed holiday break, ORWA hosted our January workshop, Back to the Plotting Board, as a way to encourage us all to get back to the keyboard. We broke into small groups and spent time helping one another with plot challenges, title ideas, and general inspiration. Some people will tell you that the value…