presentation

ORACON 2013 - Save The Date

Save The Date

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Ozarks Romance Authors Annual Conference

Springfield, MO

Workshops - Pitch Sessions - Speakers - Headshots - Networking - Fun

We're putting together a fantastic lineup of speakers. Stay tuned for more details!

Barnes & Noble, Brangelina, Game Stop, and Ozarks Romance Authors -- Oh, my!

Hi, future attendees of Ozarks Romance Authors' annual conference, which will be held in Springfield, Missouri, on July 23, 2011. (Sorry! I got the year wrong in the video.)

I wanted to show you something interesting. We're going to have a little quiz later.

Click to watch the short video at the top of this page and you will drive around with me (Jill, 2010-2011 president of Ozarks Romance Authors) in a parking lot on the southwest corner of East Battlefield and South Glenstone in Springfield, Missouri.

You'll see several buildings in the same, large parking lot.

There is a small building with a Game Stop store in the north end and an AT&T Wireless store in the south side. Behind this Game Stop building is the only Barnes & Noble store in Springfield.

Here is the quiz: What could the Game Stop building possibly have in common with this Barnes & Noble, which is where we're going to have the booksigning for our speakers the evening before our annual fiction writers' conference?

The booksigning will be here at Barnes & Noble, within walking distance of The Clarion Hotel, which is where our conference is taking place. The booksigning will be Friday, July 22, which is the night before our conference, from 4:00 - 6:00, here in this large, lovely Barnes & Noble store.

Are you curious about what this Barnes & Noble might have in common with the little Game Stop building?

I'll give you two hints. The clues about what they have in common are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Yes, Brangelina.

Does that make you even more curious?

By the way, be sure to plan on attending our:

* Booksigning Friday, July 22, here at Barnes & Noble, 3055 S. Glenstone

* Annual Writers' Conference just down the road at The Clarion Hotel, 3333 S. Glenstone

in Springfield, Missouri.

Now, if you are curious about what this Barnes & Noble store (where our booksigning will take place) has in common with the Game Stop building, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie, here are the details!

Ready?

1. GAME STOP BUILDING -- BRAD

Colonel Day's Levi's Emporium, which is where Brad Pitt worked as a sales clerk between the time that he graduated from Springfield's Kickapoo High School and went to seek his fame and fortune in Hollywood, used to be the only tenant in the Game Stop/AT&T building.

At that time, Brad looked like this: Brad Pitt, Kickapoo High School, Springfield, Missouri

I couldn't find any photos of the old Colonel Day's store, but the building has not changed much. Currently, the building looks like this:

Former site of Colonel Day's Levi's Emporium, where Brad Pitt worked as a teenager in Springfield, Missouri.

Back then, it had an odd stucco finish with deep grooves to match the exterior of the Venture store on the west side of the parking lot. These were the only two buildings on the parking lot at that time, but the lot now also has Barnes & Noble, Office Depot, and Olive Garden.

Springfield's Venture store in the 1970s. Currently K-Mart.

The Venture store has been gone for many years and is now a K-Mart store.

This is the K-Mart Brad and some of the kids reportedly shopped at during their December 2010 trip to Springfield.

2. GAME STOP BUILDING -- ANGELINA

Take a closer look at the windows in the Game Stop building. Who do you see there, along with Super Mario? Posters in Game Stop window, the former site of Colonel Day's.

Yup, that's an image of Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, long before she and Brad became Brangelina. The Game Stop building has several large images of Angelina hanging in its windows.

Gee, I wonder if that was the topic of conversation on the Jolie-Pitt private jet. "Darling, did you see the large posters of me in the windows where you used to work? Shall I have the longitude and latitude added to the tattoo on my bicep?"

3. BARNES & NOBLE / STARBUCKS

This is the Barnes & Noble store that became famous in December 2010 when, while in town to visit Brad's family, Angelina stopped at the Starbucks inside of the bookstore and bought coffee. News of the sighting of Angelina, Zahara, and Shiloh made its way onto the Internet, including:

People magazine

Perez Hilton

Our local NBC affiliate, KY3

JustJared.com Angelina Jolie, Zahara, Shiloh at Starbucks inside Springfield, Missouri Barnes & Noble in December 2010

PopSugar.com

RadarOnline.com

It was also during this visit that Brad and Angelina posed for photos at St. John's Hospital (where I was born) to dedicate the new Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Center, named in honor of Brad's mom, Jane Pitt. To see the story in People magazine, click HERE.

Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie dedicate Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Center at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, December 2010

PinkIsTheNewBlog.com

There you have it! Thanks for playing, and we'll see you at our fiction writers' conference in Springfield, Missouri, on July 23! Click HERE for more details about the great speakers and topics we have scheduled for the day.

P.S. Stop by Barnes & Noble in Springfield to have coffee, just like Angelina! Enjoy it, along with some conversation, during our booksigning on July 22. We can't promise you'll see Brangelina but, based on last year's event, we think you'll have a lot of fun.

The speakers for our annual conference July 23, 2011, are getting excited!

Eliza Lloyd is one of the authors coming to speak at our annual writers' conference, and she just gave a little sneak peek on her blog HERE. In fact, this is the second time she has mentioned our writers' conference, which is scheduled for Saturday, July 23, 2011, in Springfield, Missouri. We mentioned the other occurrence HERE, along with links to Eliza's books.

If you like a sexy, steamy read, click on her titles below.

“Wicked Desires”

“Wicked Temptation”

“Another Lover”

Follow Eliza Lloyd on Twitter! Her Twitter name is @elloydwriting .

Writers' conferences and conventions of this quality in the midwest are not easy to find. This year's conference is full of presentations and workshops by award-winning authors, plus our attendees can schedule pitch sessions with a literary agent and publishing house editor from New York City. Opportunities like this do not happen often in the Ozarks! If you would like more details about who will be speaking (and who will be taking pitch sessions) at our conference, click HERE.

Ozarks Romance Authors, a non-profit group for Missouri writers of all genres, was founded in 1987. The regional writers’ group holds its meetings the first Saturday of each month at The Library Station, 2535 N. Kansas Expressway, in Springfield, Missouri.

Visitors are welcome. Your first three visits are free. For details about upcoming meetings, please click HERE.

Our annual conference will be held July 23, 2011, at The Clarion Hotel and Conference Center. To learn more about the amazing lineup of speakers and workshops, click HERE to visit our conference page.

If you have questions about the group, please email us at OzarksRomanceAuthors@gmail.com or call (417) 597-4716.

http://elizalloyd.blogspot.com/2011/06/ozark-writers-conferencejust-around.html

2011 Annual Conference

Make plans to attend the Ozarks Romance Authors Annual Conference Saturday, July 23, 2011 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The Clarion Hotel Conference Center, 3333 S. Glenstone Ave., Springfield, Missouri

*** Conference site is just a few minutes' drive from the original Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store and Grizzly Tools, so make it a family weekend trip. Your hubby and kids will have plenty to do while you are at the conference. ***

TICKET INFORMATION:

Pre-registration through July 1, 2011 = $60.00 Pre-registration after July 1, 2011 (or at the door) = $65.00

Members of Ozarks Romance Authors (ORA) receive discounted tickets: ORA member pre-registration through July 1, 2011 = $50.00 ORA member registration after July 1, 2011 (or at the door) = $55.00

Once again, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Ozarks Literacy Council to help their mission of promoting literacy in our region.

PITCH SESSIONS WITH EDITOR / AGENT

Attendees who would like to schedule a 10-minute pitch session with either Literary Agent Louise Fury or Avalon Editor Lia Brown must register for the conference (below) and then contact the conference chairwoman, Cecily Cornelius-White, in advance via email to schedule your pitch session. professorcecily@yahoo.com

AGENDA:

-- Registration and Breakfast

-- Opening remarks and intros

-- Shannon Vannatter - Cut the Fluff: The Art of Revision and Self-editing

-- Shannon Butcher and Eliza Lloyd - Suspense Plotting and Making it Hot

-- Leigh Michaels - Things that Stump the Best of Us (Pacing, Backstory, and Transitions)

-– Lunch (catered lunch provided on-site)

-- Discussion with Publishing Panel - Making a Good First Impression.

-- Break for small group discussions

– Break-out Session #1

- Shannon Vannatter - Crafting Effective (and Gender Appropriate) Dialogue - Publishing Panel - Future Directions in Publishing - Small Group Discussion with Agent and Editor Panel

– Break-out Session #2

- Shannon Butcher & Eliza Lloyd - Crafting Heroes to Die For - Leigh Michaels - Playing Fair: When Characters Keep Secrets

– Break

-- Full Panel Q &A

Awards -- Presented for Weta Nichols Writing Contest

Closing remarks and Adjourn

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Shannon Vannatter Central Arkansas author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife/writer. She recently signed a three-book contract for her contemporary inspirational romance series set in Romance and Rose Bud, Arkansas.

Heartsong titles ship to a 10,000 member book club before releasing in stores. Vannatter*s titles: White Roses, White Doves, and White Pearls will be available through the book club and preorder in May 2010, October 2010, and January 2011 respectively and in stores six months later for each title.

It took Vannatter nine years to get published in the traditional market. Like Janette Oke, she views her work as a ministry and her books as paper missionaries. Vannatter hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as her characters struggle with real-life issues. Their journeys, from ordinary lives to extraordinary romance through Christ-centered relationships, demonstrate that love doesn’t conquer all, Jesus does.

Her short stories appeared in Mature Living and The Writers’ Journal, in 2009. Her first novel was Print On Demand published in 2001. She’s received several awards including 2nd place in RWA’s 2007 Touched By Love and 2008 Where the Magic Begins Contests, and a Honorable Mention in The 2007 Writer’s Journal Romance Contest. Her works have been displayed at Springfest’s Annual Artist & Author Exhibit.

Vannatter has taught fiction workshops for several writers’ groups including: Arkansas Inspirational Writers, Cleburne County Writers’ Guild, Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas, and White County Creative Writers. She’s contracted to teach workshops in 2010 at the Life Press Christian Writers’ Conference in Memphis, TN and the Ozark Creative Writers’ Conference in Eureka Springs, AR.

Vannatter is available for writers’ groups, workshops, conferences, schools, colleges, churches, book clubs, media appearances, print interviews, speaking engagements, and book signings.

Shannon Butcher

Since launching her career in 2007, award-winning author Shannon K. Butcher has penned more than eighteen titles, including the paranormal romance series, the Sentinel Wars; the action-romance series, the Edge; and a handful of romantic suspense novels and works of short fiction. Being a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design and to keep track of all those pesky characters and magical powers. An avid beader and glass artist, she spends her free time playing with colored glass and beads. You can find her online at http://shannonkbutcher.com/.

Leigh Michaels Leigh Michaels is the author of nearly 100 books, including 80 contemporary novels, three historical romance novels, and more than a dozen non-fiction books. More than 35 million copies of her romance novels have been published. Six of her books have been finalists for Best Traditional Romance novel in the RITA contest sponsored by Romance Writers of America. She has received two Reviewer's Choice awards from Romantic Times.

Her work has been translated and published in 120 countries in more than 25 languages, including Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, Bulgarian, Russian, Turkish, Hebrew, Greek, Swedish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Africaans, Arabic, Indonesian, and Chinese.

She is the 2003 recipient of the Johnson Brigham Award presented by the Iowa Library Association to an Iowa author for outstanding contributions to literature.

She is the author of On Writing Romance, published by Writers Digest Books.

She is the author of non-fiction books such as WRITING THE ROMANCE NOVEL, a step-by-step workbook, and CREATING ROMANTIC CHARACTERS. She is also the author of DEAR LEIGH MICHAELS: A Novelist Answers the Most-Asked Questions about Getting Published, and a cookbook, A TASTE OF LOVE. She has produced audio programs and written magazine articles on subjects of interest to writers in general.

She teaches romance writing on the Internet at Gotham Writers' Workshop. Men and women from around the world have participated in her workshops, and a number of them have gone on to publish their own romance novels with commercial publishers. She is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Communications at the University of Iowa.

She wrote her first romance novel when she was a teenager and burned it, then wrote and burned five more complete manuscripts before submitting to a publisher. Her first submission was accepted and published by Harlequin Books, the first publisher to look at it.

Eliza Lloyd Eliza Lloyd currently has three novels published with Ellora’s Cave in their 19th Century/Legend line of historicals. Eliza thinks romance writing is nearly as good as the real thing. Given her choice of professions, she would have preferred to be a 19th century archeologist, but she is perfectly happy living in the 21st century and comfortably writing about such romantic but inconceivably inconvenient times instead. She also writes contemporaries, romantic suspense and the occasional sci-fi when plotting and characterization don’t matter and invisibility does.

Eliza wrote her first romance novel after years of yearning. She finally woke up one day and asked, “Why the heck am I not writing?”

She enjoys traveling, movies, everyone else’s novels and a good meal out with friends on Saturday night. Her greatest flaw is that she believes there is such a thing as true love. Don’t tell her otherwise, please.

Louise Fury I am a Literary Agent, Marketing advocate and general lover of books. I work at the L. Perkins Agency and always on the lookout for fun pop culture books. I organize massive book groups for MG and YA Readers where kids can Meet, Greet and Eat with talented authors. I am also passionate about connecting with South African Authors. The rest of the time I network while navigating the slush pile.

 

 

Lia Brown

editor at Avalon Books, started her career in publishing at Starlog magazine as a high school intern, fell in love with editing and the creative process, and hasn’t wanted to do anything else since. During the last twenty years she has worked on a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction topics and genres at several publishing houses including, Marvel Comics, HarperCollins, St. Martin’s Press, Oxford University Press, and Random House Children’s Books.

At Avalon she acquires family-friendly contemporary and historical romances.


ORA Conference 2011

Pre Registration or Late Registration Member or Non-Member