Monthly Meeting – Saturday, August 1, 2015 - Sharon Kizziah-Holmes will present "Telling communicates facts; Showing invites understanding"

You’ve heard it over and over again…show, don’t tell. In Sharon’s program, Telling communicates facts; Showing invites understanding, she will give us insight on how to engage readers by putting them in the character’s world. Showing helps the reader experience the story through actions, words, thoughts, senses, expressions, feelings and conveys your story in more of a visual presentation.

Sharon is a retired road musician and has written songs since the age of fourteen. She became interested in writing novels and short stories in the early 1990’s and joined ORA in 1992. Sharon has served as the ORA President, Vice President, and Secretary, and for four years she was the Conference Coordinator. Ozarks Romance Authors is like home to her. She is also a member of Springfield Writers’ Guild, Ozarks Writers’ League and Sleuths’ Ink Mystery Writers.

Her latest novel, The Will and the Wisp, is historical fiction based on a true story. Though she writes mostly romance, Sharon says, “Venturing out into the mainstream world with my co-author James Armstrong has been a great experience.” She and James are shooting for spring 2016 for release of the sequel The Voice in the Wind.

For three years, in the mid 1990’s, Sharon published an e-zine, Short Stories Magazine, which featured local authors. She gave it up because grandkids started to come along and she felt family time was more important.

However, Sharon has helped writers self-publish since 2002, and in 2012 decided to start her own indie assist publishing company. She now has four imprints - Paperback-Press, Kids Book Press Publishing, e-Book Press Publishing and (with her husband’s recording studio to accommodate) Audio Book press. Being an indie assist publisher has been a learning experience to say the least. Nonetheless, with over sixty books, of all genres, published over the last three years she is proud of her accomplishments and the growth of the company.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paperbackpresspub

Twitter: @paperbackpress

Please note that for the August meeting, ORA will be meeting at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library, 397 E. Central St., Springfield, MO. The speaker begins at 1:00.

Join our critique group from 10 a.m. to Noon. Want your work reviewed by talented writers and published authors? Bring twenty copies of up to five pages of your work to share for critique or just listen and offer advice.