Barnes and Noble Westlake

A totally open critique. Anyone can bring five pages of their work-in-progress for the rest of the group to comment and make suggestions on. Please bring six copies. This critique group will meet at the Westlake Barnes & Noble in the event area before the regular chapter meeting begins.

Following the chapter meeting, artists can remain and reconvene in the children's area for a life drawing session.

Location: Barnes and Noble Westlake 10:30 - Noon

Speaker - Jo Whittemore

Your manuscript is polished and perfected. Your confidence is growing, and you're ready to share your work with the rest of the world. What's the next step? For many, it's finding an agent, a task that can be intimidating and overwhelming. Armed with the right knowledge, however, any writer can get agents requesting, reading and representing. Join YA author Jo Whittemore on The Great Agent Hunt, where she'll critique and discuss query letters, the submission process and what to do when you finally get that agent offer. She will also be a featured author in the Critique Clinique at the April 26th conference. Reserve your spot now for a Jo Whittemore critique.

Barnes and Noble Westlake 9:30 - 11:00

A totally open critique. Anyone can bring five pages of their work-in-progress for the rest of the group to comment and make suggestions on. Please bring six copies. This critique group will meet at the Westlake Barnes & Noble in the event area before the regular chapter meeting begins.

Following the chapter meeting, artists can remain and reconvene in the children's area for a life drawing session.

Location: Barnes and Noble Westlake 10:30 - Noon

Speaker - Betty Davis

Betty Davis took X for her middle name at age eleven since her parents were satisfied with just ‘Betty Test’ (Now Betty X. Davis). She also wished for three things in life: to marry a lawyer, have eight children, and become a movie star. Well, two out of three isn’t bad, and Betty says, “Don’t confuse names to guess which one I missed.” She has written YA novels (not published), contest entries (won a couple), plays (produced, not published), a curriculum book for speech therapists (published in 1987), and a magazine story for SPIDER. And she says, “Family, friends, tennis and writing are cherished constants in my life.”

On June 7th, Betty will talk about her writing life. Being published, she says, lures us like pilgrims to Mecca. Ah, we say, to have a live book in print! Yet, such magic seems out-of-reach to those of us who wallow in the muddy waters of plots and characters and settings that fall flat -- and get rejected.

But, life goes on, successfully, without “published author” in a bio. Just by writing, we earn the private joy of being a writer.

Barnes and Westlake 9:30 - 11:00

A totally open critique. Anyone can bring five pages of their work-in-progress for the rest of the group to comment and make suggestions on. Please bring six copies. This critique group will meet at the Westlake Barnes & Noble in the event area before the regular chapter meeting begins.

Following the chapter meeting, artists can remain and reconvene in the children's area for a life drawing session.

Location: Barnes and Noble Westlake 10:30 - Noon

Speaker - Tricia Hoover

Imagine you can achieve anything. Imagine there is no way you will fail. What goal would you pick above all others? Half the battle in achieving goals in life is knowing what they are. The other half is formulating a plan to achieve those goals. Firm goals and excellent time management skills will lead to success in every aspect of life. Financial success. Strong relationships. Excellent health. All things are possible, and, with a little inspiration, you’ll create a new future for yourself. Author, PJ (Tricia) Hoover will talk about some great ways set goals and to use time to achieve those goals. So come listen and learn how to make the most of life’s most valuable resource – Time.

PJ (Tricia) Hoover's first book, The Emerald Tablet, coming out in October 2008. The Emerald Tablet is the first book in her middle grade science-fiction trilogy, The Forgotten Worlds Books. To learn more about PJ Hoover, please visit www.pjhoover.com.

Barnes and Noble Westlake 9:30 - 11:00

A totally open critique. Anyone can bring five pages of their work-in-progress for the rest of the group to comment and make suggestions on. Please bring six copies. This critique group will meet at the Westlake Barnes & Noble in the event area before the regular chapter meeting begins.

Following the chapter meeting, artists can remain and reconvene in the children's area for a life drawing session.

Location: Barnes and Noble Westlake 10:30 - Noon

Speaker - Helen Hemphill, Winner of this year's Teddy Award

It’s thrilling to begin a new novel, but most writers know it’s the middle and the ending that can make or break a story. A great plot is both planned and discovered. This mini workshop will offer up practical strategies for plotting a middle grade or young adult novel and suggest five things you’ll want to consider as you plot your novel.

Helen Hemphill is the author of the middle grade novel Runaround and the young adult novel Long Gone Daddy, both published by Front Street. Runaround was named one of Booklist’s “Top Ten Youth Romances” and to Book Links “Best New Books for the Classroom.“ Long Gone Daddy won the 2007 Teddy Award from the Texas Writers League and was named to the NY Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age. Her new novel, The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones (Front Street), will be published this fall. Helen holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College.