Spring projects, book cons & teaching gigs. What are you up to this spring?

Spring is almost here! Are you excited? I know I am. And with it, come new activities, projects and books. I'm happy to say that Inkspell has put out a box set of my Art of Romance series: Model Position (novella) and Private Internship (full novel). So, now you can follow Sienna on her artistic journey.

It's now available in both paperback and ebook.
Amazon ebook & paperback, B&N paperback, Amazon UK ebook
Peeps are saying:
"Crazy fun, couldn't put it down!" -Netgalley reader
"I didn't know art could be that hot"-Ashelyn Drake

“Killer analysis of the NYC art scene plus sexual spice” -reader review

Teaching gig:

JUNE: I will be teaching Writing YA (& crossover/NA) fiction at the Philadelphia Writers' Conference June 12, 13 & 14, so if anyone is in the Philly, NJ, NY area and is up for a fun conference with some other great presenters sign up! The list of workshop leaders. PWC on Facebook. FAQs.

Conference Appearances:

I also have a full schedule of conference appearances & book signings this spring and summer. I love to meet my readers, fans & anyone curious about my books, so come see me!

MARCH: Create Something Magical Conference, March 21 and 22 at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, Iselin, NJ

MAY: RT Booklovers Convention May 12-16, Hyatt Regency, Dallas. ***Meet me at my special Club RT appearances: Thursday, May 14 from 11:30 to noon, and Friday, May 15 from 3:30 to 4 pm!!!

JUNE: UtopYA a reader and author extravaganza! June 18-21, Nashville, TN. at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel *** Come visit my book table, PLUS, I'll be at the ALL DAY book event on Saturday!

What fun stuff do you have germinating this spring? Are you attending any of these conferences? Other ones?

Summer Writing Retreats, the Pause that Inspires

My writing station

I just got back from a writing retreat on Cape Cod. I go to a retreat every July and January. It's an amazing, inspiring, informative, fun experience and it builds community. I often start the draft of a novel in July, and this summer was no exception. Finally, I had the time and peace of mind to plunge into an NA historical fantasy, set in the 1930s. I also had time to open a Pinterest account and create a board for my new novel. Why did I wait so long to visually organize my novel elements?! Wanna follow me there? I'll follow you back!

At the retreat we do readings in the evenings,

Our gang

and they're always helpful. There's nothing like running your newest work by fellow writers who you trust implicitly, to make sure you're on the right track with a fledgling project. Each night someone makes a dinner. Good way to sample interesting food.

Emily's veggie fest dinner

Other retreats and conferences that I recommend are Squaw Valley, the SCBWI Summer Conference out in LA (& winter one in NYC), the Mendocino Writers' Conference, the Chautauqua conference & Southampton workshop. If you have the time, you could do a residency. I have a friend who liked Ragdale.

Emily and her coconut yogurt
with lemon zest!

Stairs to beach

Helen ordering pizza

Maggie being writerly

Have you attended a retreat or conference you'd recommend?

In June, I also taught at a writers' retreat in Rosemont College for MFA students, which rocked the house. I got to try out some crazy-fun new writing prompts on them *insert evil cackle here*

My smart & uber-creative MFA students

Rosemont gargoyles

Some of the Rosemont teachers & faculty

So, do you do retreats, conferences or workshops? Have you ever organized your own? If not, how do you refresh and relight your creative spark?

Don a Superhero Cape and Drink Magic Blue while you Ponder the Booker Awards and Gut-busting review of 50 Shades of You-Know-What

A few of my students during downtime,
donning superhero capes
and drinking magic blue flying potion
Photo by C. Mittelhauser

I'm back from teaching overseas. What a great experience! My students were smart and curious and hard workers. They excelled at the writing prompts I gave them. I missed being able to post as much as I normally do, as the Internet on the Greek Cycladic islands was spotty at best. But I'm back in the swing, and happy to see that I've been granted a Booker Award "For those who refuse to live in the real world" (but prefer to live in books) from the fabulous Kelly Hashway. I am also delighted that the equally-fabulous Candilynn Fite is offering my Fireseed One novel as the prize for her flash fiction contest, which you can enter here, through July 20th. What a great community we have!

The Booker Award states that I list my five favorite books. ***I'm tweaking it to add the option of listing five books you read this summer. Here are five books I read:
The Soulkeepers by GP Ching (inventive world, interesting mesh of Christian myth)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (sensual, clever concept)
Point Omega by Don DeLillo (love, love, love DeLillo! He's the writers' writer)
The Backworlds by M. Pax (funny space opera with a lovable, bumbling antihero, stay tuned for Idea City's hoopla for the launch of her book #2, on July 23rd)
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson (Had to reread this master of raw, heartbreaking prose)

To receive this award, your blog must focus at least 50% on books and aspects of writing. I awarded it to:
Mina Lobo's Some Dark Romantic (new adult fiction)
Susan Gourely/Kelley's Susan Says
Sarah Negovetich's at Sarah Nego Writes
Michael Offutt

Before you jump off, please leave a comment, but first read Katrina Lumsden's funniest ever review of Fifty Shades of Grey (with equally funny animations to illustrate points). No, I haven't read it, nor would I, but you've all heard about it, and I'm sure you're curious! She starts her review with "What the h*ll just happened? Did I really read that? Oh, my g*d, I did! I did read that! click here to read review.

Summer Writing Retreats!

It’s that time again for the writing retreat I attend. I look forward to it for months. And I’m willing to endure crawling highway traffic and power outages for it. We have coffee on the porch in the morning while we talk shop. Then we go to our “writing stations”, at various spots on the wraparound porch. We work pretty much through the afternoon, with a quick lunch break. And then, when we're hot, tired and our brains are on overload, we trek through the woods to the beach. We take turns cooking dinner, and play writing games at night. Not a bad life for a week.

I’ve attended an assortment of writing workshops, conferences and retreats over the years. There are ones where you mostly workshop, and spend lots of time reading other authors’ work and critiquing. This is great when you're jumping in for the first time, and really want feedback on your work. There are conferences, where you listen to seasoned writers talk about their novels and how to best negotiate the writing life. This type of event is perfect when what you want is a shot of inspiration and information. And there are many permutations of the above. Summer retreats are also a chance to spend time in a deluxe location—Lake Tahoe, Southampton, Big Sur, Mendocino—you get the drift.

There are so, so many to choose from! You’ll discover this when you Google retreats. And they occur throughout the year. If you’re considering one, find out who the presenting writers are, and whether they’re a good fit for what you’re working on. You may prefer a smallish one, or perhaps a huge one, like the LA SCBWI summer conference, where you can blend in and pick and choose which breakout groups to attend. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a spa and two swimming pools out there.

So, Happy, Happy July Fourth! Have you ever attended a writing retreat? How was it? If not, what kind of retreat or conference would you look for? How are you celebrating the holiday? Getting any writing done?