Susy Flory

New York Times bestselling author and co-author

Beginnings and endings are crucial for any book, and especially for newer writers, as most of us don’t have an established audience with a first book. Learn 7 ways to write an unforgettable beginning or a satisfying ending for your fiction or nonfiction book.

• Understand the vital importance of beginnings and endings
• Discover the secret to crafting an engaging vs a ho-hum beginning
• Learn 7 creative ways to write an unforgettable beginning
• Learn 7 creative ways to write a satisfying ending
• Dozens of examples for both beginnings and endings in the handout

Susy Flory is the New York Times bestselling author or co-author of sixteen books. She directs West Coast Christian Writers, is founder of Everything Memoir, and is graduating with an MA in New Testament from Northern Seminary this June. Her book, The Unbreakable Boy, has been adapted for the screen and will release in 2022, starring Patricia Heaton and Zachary Levi. Her most recent book. Sanctuary (Tyndale), co-authored with Patrick Barrett, is the true story of an Irish village, a man who lost his way, and the rescue donkeys that led him home, and launched March 15, 2022. More info here (plus a free excerpt of both the book and the audiobook): https://www.tyndale.com/p/sanctuary/9781496445018

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Amy Rogers

 Author, Scientist

Genre fiction readers have certain expectations about the books they invest in. Well-written thriller novels share craft features that allow the author to deliver what the reader wants. Learn some of the craft to make your thriller or other novel succeed.

• Learn the rules before you break the rules
• Consider the absolute importance of point of view
• Learn the 3-point formula for what makes a story
• Discover the three bad openings that pop up again and again
• Kayak or inner tube: what kind of characters do you write?

Amy Rogers, MD, PhD, is a Harvard-educated scientist, novelist, journalist and educator. She has published three science-themed thrillers novels in the style of Michael Crichton, and a nnonfiction compilation of local science journalism she wrote for INSIDE Magazine. Formerly a microbiology professor, she blogged extensively about coronavirus before and during the pandemic.  She is a long-time member of CWC and NCPA. Learn more at AmyRogers.com.

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Linda Townsdin

Spirit Lake Mystery Series Author

Learn how techniques mystery writers use can benefit non-murder mysteries—novels, short stories, poetry, memoir and other genres.

You will learn about:

• How to keep your reader guessing
• How to be unpredictable
• How to invite your reader to participate
• How to use misdirection, surprises, and twists
• How to use suspense and conflict

Linda Townsdin writes the Spirit Lake Mystery series, called “complex murder mysteries with bone-chilling thrills and a bit of romance.” Her short fiction has been published in the 2020 Bouchercon Anthology, received honorable mention in the 2021 Best American Mystery and Suspense Anthology, and others. She lives in Sacramento.

http://lindatownsdin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LindaTownsdinAuthor

http://twitter.com/ltownsdin

 

Michael John Sullivan

Author, Novelist, CEO, Podcaster

How You Sound in a Podcast 
Connects You to Your Audience

You will learn about:

• The value of doing a podcast
• How To prepare for a podcast
• Reading your book, using different voices to draw in your audience
• How to excite your audience
• Creating a personal connection with the audience

Michael John Sullivan is the CEO of Magic Everywhere, Inc, a publishing company where its charismatic characters take unforgettable journeys in far away worlds. He is also a best-selling novelist. His first book, Necessary Heartbreak, was published by Simon and Schuster and was named one of the best books in 2010 by Library Journal.

 

John Hart

Award-winning journalist specializing in environmental issues

Can’t Quit Now:
Writing for the Environment
and
The Environment for Writing

Since John wrote his first stories for a weekly newspaper in 1970, the writing world has both shrunk and expanded, while the physical world he covers has drifted into ever deeper peril. John will muse about both and about his own somewhat unusual route into the field.

John Hart of San Rafael has been covering the environmental scene in books and articles since the first Earth Day, 1970. Two of his titles won the Award in Californiana in the Commonwealth Club Book Awards; other honors include a James D. Phelan Award from the San Francisco Foundation (for a poetry manuscript) and the David R. Brower Award for Outstanding Service in the Field of Conservation from the American Alpine Club.