Event Details

Register NOW for MWA University – New England

Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012

Location: Sheraton Boston

Commonwealth Ballroom

39 Dalton St

Boston, MA 02199

What:  An entire day of top-notch classes. Novice or pro, you will benefit from hearing the experts discuss their strategies for all facets of writing and publishing.

Below is a schedule preview (subject to change).

Schedule

8:15 - 8:50:                    Registration

8:55 – 9:00:                   Welcome – MWA's Executive Vice President – LARRY LIGHT

9:00-10:00: After the Idea

Teacher:                       Jess Lourey (Jess Lourey is the author of the Murder-by-Month mysteries and a tenured professor of English and sociology at a two-year Minnesota college.

"If you wish to be a writer, write." But how? You've got the great idea, the one that won't let you go, that embellishes itself as you walk around your day. But how do you grow that kernel into a compelling story, and where do you find the time? This class gives you the tools to turn a good idea into a great novel. Bring a notebook and writing utensil.

10:15 -11:15:                 Dramatic Structure & Plot

Teacher:                       Laura DiSilverio (Laura DiSilverio writes the Mall Cop mystery series (Berkley) and the Swift Investigations PI series (Minotaur).  She has a BA in English from Trinity University, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and taught writing at the United States Air Force Academy.)

Since Aristotle, the three-act structure for storytelling has reigned supreme, but does it still hold true for modern crime writers? Is it the best way, or the only way, to tell your tale? Is plotting simply sequencing your scenes or is there more to it? This class will teach you the art of storytelling and plotting so your manuscript will attract the attention it deserves.

11:30 – 12:30:               Setting & Description

Teacher:                       Daniel Stashower (Daniel Stashower is a two-time Edgar award winner, and a recipient of the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing.

"I guess God made Boston on a wet Sunday," Raymond Chandler once said, and this seemingly tossed-off remark has much to teach us about the gentle arts of setting and description.  This class will guide you through the process and potential pitfalls of choosing a setting, and explore the ways in which descriptive passages can be honed to illuminate characters and themes.

12:30 – 1:30:                 Lunch Break

1:30 – 2:30:                   Character & Dialogue

Teacher:                       Reed Farrel Coleman (Twice nominated for the Edgar® and a three-time winner of the Shamus Award, Reed Farrel Coleman is an adjunct professor of English at Hofstra University.)

From Agatha Christie's Miss Marple to Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlings, character is arguably the most memorable element of a mystery novel and a series.  How do you create a full-realized unique protagonist that leaps from the page?  How should you develop secondary characters as well as the protagonist's nemesis?  This class will challenge you to eliminate cardboard characterizations and create something new and fresh.

2:45 – 3:45:                   Writing as Re-Writing

Teacher:                       Hallie Ephron (Hallie Ephron is the author of psychological suspense Never Tell a Lie, crime fiction book reviewer for the Boston Globe, and author of the Edgar-nominated Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel.)

If editing was good enough for William Shakespeare, it's good enough for you.  More often than not, it's the things you remove, the tweaks you make, and the tinkering you do, that are the difference between another slush pile manuscript and a new book contract.  There are some easy methods to learn and follow to help you develop an editorial ear.  Give us fifty minutes and we'll give you a better chance with agents and editors.

4:00 – 5:00:                   The Writing Life

Teacher:                       Hank Phillippi Ryan (Winner of two Agatha Awards and nominated for the Anthony, Agatha and Macavity, Boston TV reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan has won 26 Emmys for her investigative journalism.)

"I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning." That's how Peter DeVries balanced art and craft. What's the reality of the writing life? The journey from your great idea to 90,000 words will mean hours of solitude. Days of self-doubt. Revision. Rejection. And then--rejoicing. You'll often say: "I wish someone had explained this to me!" In this class, they will.

Cost: $50 for both members and non-members of Mystery Writers of America.  Must register by Monday, February 7, 2012.  Registration is limited to 100 people.

Registration Form

Need a hotel room for the conference?  We have arranged for a rate of $159/per night.  Visit this link to make your hotel reservation.