Science Fiction Writing Workshop August 2013 in Baltimore Area

One of the Writers of the Desert Rose Cafe brought a Maryland-based writing workshop to my attention. It is an annual event called Shore Leave, a fan run Science Fiction convention. Scenes from my favorite comedy The Big Bang Theory with the male cast dressed as favorite Star Trek characters filled my head. But the writer was quick to tell me she attends the convention for its writing workshops.

The convention runs over a long weekend in August in the Baltimore area. It is readily accessible by car to those living anywhere from Richmond, VA to New York City to Pittsburgh, PA.

I will provide a link at the bottom of this post to the Shore Leave web site. I don’t find the site very helpful in providing information for writers about the writing workshop schedule. I have pasted what information is there below:

Shore Leave 35 will include:

Writing Workshops: Learn how to improve your writing from some of your favorite writers.   Past panels have included writing about the non-fictional part of Trek; How to express point  of view in your story; The trials and tribulations of being a writer and more.

Joining us this summer for Shore Leave 35 will be Media Guests William Shatner, Amanda Tapping and Julie Caitlin Brown.  Note: William Shatner will be appearing on Saturday, August 3, only. More Information is available.

Also joining us are Author Guests:Rigel Ailur, Russ Colchamiro, Greg Cox, Ann C. Crispin, Mary Louise Davie, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Michael Jan Friedman, Dave Galanter, Allyn Gibson, Phil Giunta, Robert Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Jim Johnson, William Leisner, David Mack, James Mascia, Kelly Meding, Susan Olesen, Scott Pearson, Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Judith Reeves-Stevens, Aaron Rosenberg, Lawrence M. Schoen, Peter Wacks, David Mark Weber, Howard Weinstein, andSteven H. Wilson.

Science Guests:Paul Abell, Lucy Albert, David Batchelor, Wayne Bird, Kirk Borne, Caroline Cox, Jerry Feldman, Larry Hubble, Yoji Kondo, Eric Schulman, Stephanie J. Slater, Timothy F. Slater, andRay Villard.

And Special GuestsTye Bourdony andT.A. Chafin.

Shore Leave web site: http://www.shore-leave.com/

Registration form: http://www.shore-leave.com/registration/

Hotel info for the convention: http://www.shore-leave.com/hotel/

Let’s Party at a Writers Conference!

The Creatures, Crimes and Creativity Conference is coming to Maryland in the fall of 2013. Why don’t we all go and have a party while we learn to write better? Sounds like fun to me.

Several links below will tell you more about it.

Registration form: http://creaturescrimesandcreativity.com/?page_id=2

FAQ: http://creaturescrimesandcreativity.com/?page_id=319

Schedule

3 Day Conference

Friday, September 13, 2013 Registration begins at 8:00 am Early registration ends November 30, 2012

FRIDAY

8:00 am to 5:00 pm – Registration 11:00 am to 11:30 am – Welcome presentation 11:30am to 4:30pm – Writers Roundtable 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm panels 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Agent Meetings 2:00 pm – Panels 3:00 pm – Panels 4:00 pm – Panels 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm – Book signing by all Friday authors 6:00 pm – Buffet dinner – opening ceremonies & keynote talk

SATURDAY

7:00 am to 9:00 am – continental breakfast 9:00 am – Panels 10:00 am – Panels 10:30 am to 12:00 pm – Writers Roundtable 11:00 am – Panels Noon – lunch / special guest interview 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm panels 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Writers Roundtable [1:00 pm – 5:00 pm Agent Meetings] 2:00 pm – Panels 3:00 pm – Panels 4:00 pm – Panels 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm – Book signing by all Saturday authors 6:00 pm – Banquet dinner – Keynote talk

SUNDAY

9:00 am to 10:30am – Buffet Breakfast (w/omelet chef) – special guest interview 11:00 am – Panels Noon – Panels

Attending Authors

Ann Arbaugh Bob Bailey Austin S. Camacho Lauren Carr DB Corey Jeffrey Deaver Christina Freeburn John Gilstrap Tracee L. Garner Christopher Golden Cherley Grogg Trice Hickman Norwood Holland Deliah Lawrence Larry Mathews Amy McCorkle Cynthia McDonald Larry Mild Rosemary Mild Juli Monroe Robin Murphy Penny Clover Peterson Ramona Rene B. Swangin Webster

Attending Agents

We have already confirmed the following agents will be attending the 2013 conference. Check them out and don’t forget to sign up to pitch your work to one of them!

Emily Gref – Lowenstein Associates

Emily Gref is an associate agent and subsidiary rights manager at Lowenstein Associates. Prior to Lowenstein Associates, she worked at the Strand Bookstore (and later at Shakespeare & Co.), and interned at Serendipity Literary Agency, Donald Maass Literary Agency, Penguin Young Readers’ Online Marketing, Tor Books, and Arthur A. Levine Books.

In fiction Emily is particularly looking for speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy for middle grade, young adult, and adult. She has a special weakness for historical fantasy, steampunk, and unique fairy tale retellings. In any novel she is hoping to find a strong voice, stellar world-building, surprising twists, and main characters that represent diverse experiences.

Berta Treitl – Grosevenor Agency

Berta Treitl is an attorney and literary agent. Berta is selectively building her nonfiction list in three areas: science and technology; current events, law and politics, biography, business and marketing; and art, design, cooking, health, and lifestyle.

In fiction, she’s interested in historical and high-quality mysteries. Berta focuses on projects that present a counterintuitive or fresh viewpoint and that feature unusual communities, travel and foreign locales, and female main characters.

Before joining the Grosvenor Literary Agency, Berta worked at a respected New York agency and in private legal practice. She is a member of the New York Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, and Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts.

C3 Anthology

Acorn Book Services has graciously offered to publish an anthology for the C3 Conference in 2013.

Please pay close attention to their submission guidelines below:

Word Count: Maximum 7,500 words.

Genre: Any of those genre accepted at C3

Limit: One short story per author, who must be registered and attending the C3 conference.

Limited to twenty-five stories accepted for publication so be sure and get registered today so your story can be part of the anthology!

Please include author photo, bio, website, and other information to accompany short story in the anthology.

Short stories accepted for the anthology must be edited, and will be edited and proofed by Acorn Book Services. By submitting a short story, the author agrees to giving Acorn Book Services rights of usage of the short story in the Anthology to be published in print and e-book form (at the cost of Acorn Book Services). The printed format will be given to attendees of the C3 conference. This anthology will serve as a promotional tool for the authors, who will retain all ownership rights to their story.

After the conference, Acorn Book Services will then release the anthology in e-book form on Amazon. In this e-book format, in exchange for use of their short story, the author will receive further promotion as the e-book will also include the author’s bio and links to their website and places where their books can be purchased.

All of this is at no cost to the author, other than the cost of attending the C3 conference. All proceeds from the sale of the e-book version will be retained by Acorn Book Services to help offset production cost of the anthology.

Deadline to submit: March 1, 2013.

For more information or to submit your story contact Acorn Book Services at writerlaurencarr@gmail.com