right here, write now

2013 Write On The River SOLD OUT!

Registration is now CLOSED for our 2013 Write On The River Writing Conference this weekend.  We are thrilled and overwhelmed with the enthusiasm over this year’s Conference – but we have just hit the maximum capacity for our facility.  Thanks so much to all of you who are as excited as we are about a truly stellar Writing Conference.  We look forward to seeing you this weekend!

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J.A. Jance Headlines Conference as Keynote

Write On The River is North Central Washington’s only writing conference.  Two days of content-packed workshops with professional editors, successful agents, bestselling authors and nationally-acclaimed speakers, Write On The River is the best way to hone your craft, build your dream and move your writing forward.  Whether your goal is to be a published author, write articles for a local magazine, develop your poetry, or simply write for your own enjoyment, Write On The River has something for you.  Held every May on the beautiful Wenatchee Valley College in Wenatchee, Washington, Write On The River is a writing conference not to be missed! OUR 2013 CONFERENCE IS NOW SOLD OUT! Our 2013 Conference featuring Keynote Speaker J.A. Jance will be May 17, 18 & 19.  With a world-class faculty including three N.Y. Times Bestselling authors, writers featured on Oprah and NPR, and renowned writing instructors from all over the world,

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Howell: ‘Barf it Out’

There’s nothing more inspiring than coming out of your writing hole and attending a good conference – meeting other people just as crazy and misguided as you are and, even better, people’s whose misguided craziness has actually been met with some measure of success.

At Write On The River in Wenatchee last weekend I learned that mystery writer J.A. Jance has a traveling weiner dog, and she’s not afraid to include updates about its bowel movements in her keynote addresses. I learned that YA and M iddle Grade fiction is not hot, while Erotica is (but then, I think we already knew that about erotica). I learned that $2 per word is a great rate for a freelancer, while 15 cents a word is content mill slavery. But the single most inspirational thing I heard all weekend: “Barf it out.” Keep Reading »

No. 5: Don’t Answer That!

This week, I want to talk about procrastination. Actually … naw, let’s get back to that one later.

So, here it is: I’m at a party, I’m having dinner with friends, I’m walking down the sidewalk. It comes up. I’m writing a book. What’s the first question out of every mouth?  Invariably, it’s, “Oh, what’s it about?”

I sigh. I get up. I fish out the non-disclosure agreements and a pen. I run them quickly through the fine print, make sure they get the date right … It’s kind of a hassle, breaks up the conversational mood …  No, I don’t actually do that. Most typically what I do is obfuscate, prevaricate, equivocate, and – Dictionary.com’s 2011 Word of the Year, I tergiversate (pronounced “ter-JIV-er-sate”). All of which mean the same thing – I say something that doesn’t really tell them anything. Keep Reading »

No. 4: Serious Moolah

There is real money in writing. Like, crazy money. I know, I know – it’s only for the select few. The majority of writers slave away, underpaid and underappreciated, finding sustenance anywhere but in their writing. I get it. Believing you’re going to be the next James Patterson or J.K. Rowling, or that you’re going to emerge as the next mommy-porn phenom with 50 Shades of Some Other Color, is like believing your garage band is going to be the next Rolling Stones. But here’s the thing – somebody is going to be the next Rolling Stones. And I guarantee you that, whoever that turns out to be, they will have believed along the way that they could be the next Rolling Stones.

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