Writer Workshops
These free writing workshops will take place in the Nick Rahall Room of the Greenbrier Valley Visitors Center.
WRITING CRAFT WORKSHOP
Timothy G. Huguenin
Aug 4
6:00 pm
Visitor's Center
Okay, I Wrote It... Now What? -- You’ve been to countless critiques and craft workshops. You’ve carved and you’ve whittled and you’ve polished the manuscript until you’re sick of looking at it. It’s finally ready for publication! How exactly does that happen, again? If you’re bewildered by conflicting advice about cover letters, manuscript formatting, and submission etiquette, then don’t miss this. Timothy will share his strategies and tips on maximizing your chances with editors, finding magazines and anthologies to submit to, and keeping track of all your submissions. This presentation will focus primarily on short fiction submissions, though some content may be relevant for poetry, nonfiction essays, and longer manuscripts.
Timothy G. Huguenin is a hillbilly writer of the strange and spooky, living in the dark Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. His books include When the Watcher Shakes, Little One, and Unknowing, I Sink. His short stories have appeared in various publications, including Vastarien: A Literary Journal, Anthology of Appalachian Writers Volume XI, and The Saturday Evening Post. He is the current editor of Mountain Whispers, the member newsletter of West Virginia Writers, Inc.
POETRY WORKSHOP
Cheryl Denise
Aug 5
9:30 am
Visitor's Center
Wandering Outside of Your Fences-- Sometimes we walk the same paths, write the same poems over and over again. This workshop will explore fences, borders, and boundaries that we put up around ourselves and our relationships. How do we write about our fences? How do we break through the barbed wire? How do we create something new? We will discuss a few poems as examples and then do a couple of writing exercises. We should have time to share our work.
Cheryl Denise grew up in Elmira, Ontario. She went to the red brick Mennonite church beside the white clapboard Old Order Meetinghouse. After nursing school, she worked three years as a volunteer public health nurse in La Jara, Colorado. She fell for her future husband while helping to make suppers at the Homeless Shelter where he was volunteering. Now they live in Philippi, WV, in the intentional community of Shepherds Field in a timber framed home they built when they were young and brimming with energy. Cheryl is the author of the poetry books, Fences, (2022), What’s in the Blood (2012) and I Saw God Dancing (2005), all published by Cascadia Publishing House, DreamSeeker Books, Telford, PA. She has a spoken word poetry CD, Leaving Eden (2012) with music from Ben Regier, available on Amazon. Visit her on Facebook at Cheryl Denise, poet.
UNDERSTANDING STORY: WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT’S NOT, AND WHAT YOURS NEEDS
Sheila Redling & Tobi Doyle
Aug 5
11:00 am
Visitor's Center
Understanding Story - We will discuss the most important elements of compelling stories- character, genre expectations, and tension. Plus how to avoid the cliches and sentimentality that drain the energy from your story.
Sheila Redling, writing as SG Redling, is the author of nine novels of mind-bending mayhem, including the bestselling thrillers FLOWERTOWN and the Dani Britton series. She is the co-founder of Intensive Genre Writers, as well as leading her own series of writing workshops, Back to Basics. She has been a panelist and presenter at The WV Writers Summer Conference, Bouchercon, Left Coast Crime, and more. A graduate of Georgetown University, a former morning radio host, and a language geek, Sheila currently lives in Huntington WV with a wide array of wildlife.
Tobi Doyle was born in Massachusetts, grew up in California, lived in Texas, Indiana and settled in West Virginia a decade ago. She is a happily married empty-nester with three amazing adult children. After spending years teaching middle school science her husband encouraged her to retire her red pens and follow her passion of writing and she’s never regretted a minute of it. Tobi is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America, the online education coordinator for Central Ohio Fiction Writers, and a member of Kiss of Death and a Daphne duMaurier contest coordinator. Her books have finaled in several RWA chapter contests including the Passionate Plume, the Stiletto Contest, the Fire and Ice Contest, and Great Beginnings.Tobi is usually found with her friend and writing partner, Rebecca Barray, writing hot and humorous contemporary romance and romantic suspense