Monthly Chapter Meetings

Our Chapter Meetings are a time of connection and growth. Each month, we host speakers who educate, enlighten, and challenge us to grow through their training and experiences. Past speakers include librarians, historians, medical professionals, actors, audiobook narrators, law enforcement personnel, Facebook Group Coordinators, BDSM Masters, advertising and marketing professionals, Yoga Instructors, and – of course – authors!

We are a friendly group of authors – a mix of introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts – who are passionate about writing romance ! We do hope you will join us. Our Hospitality Committee is available to answer your questions and help you get to know more about us.

Meeting Fees

The Meeting Fee is $10.00 for members and $15.00 for visitors. Members can pre-pay their meeting fee here! Alternatively, you can pay for the entire year here.

Not a member but want to join us? Did you know your first meeting is FREE? Complete this form, and our Treasurer will forward access information: https://forms.gle/LBWJrhYTXuirWmGB8.

Virtual Meeting Information

In 2020, the LARA Board chose to act with an “abundance of caution,” and moved to virtual Chapter Meetings. To save money and continue providing quality speakers, we have remained virtual with a minimum of two in-person meetings: our hybrid September Mini-Con and the End of Year Party.

Access instructions for virtual meetings are sent via email immediately after PayPal processes your meeting payment.

We look forward to meeting you.

Click here (or the Zoom logo) to install the app on your device.

Standard Meeting Agenda

9:00 am Pre-Meeting: Board Meeting or Published Author Chat

9:45 am Virtual Hospitality (Bring Your Own Coffee!)

10:00 am Chapter Meeting

11:00 am Craft or business presentation (see presenters below)

12:00 pm Closing Remarks & Preview of Next Month

Upcoming Meetings

April 14, 2024

Pre-Meeting: Quick Win Workshop: Planning a year of newsletter content (with template)

Speaker: Aime Austin

Topic: Spice Up Your Romance: Adding a Touch of Thriller to Keep Readers Turning the Pages

Thriller author Aime Austin will provide some tips and tricks to adding thriller elements to romance that will keep readers turning the pages.

Website: https://aimeaustin.com/

May 19, 2024

Pre-Meeting: LARA Challenge: Write a Novel in 30 Days in June!

Speaker: Ara Grigorian

Topic: Developing the Story Concept Your Reader’s Want

Tens of thousands of new books are released every week. How will your shiny new book stand out? Will your story concept catch the attention of the right readers? With these odds, it has never been more important to understand genre conventions and audience expectations. Armed with the right information, you can develop a concept that both you and your readers will love.

Knowing what is expected by your audience will simplify and accelerate the story/series development process, the writing process, and the publication process. The end result is a book written specifically for your audience. In this session, you will learn practical ways to develop a concept that’s true to you and true to your audience.

Find out more about Ara on his website: https://t.co/OAXeMt8p3G

June 23, 2024

Pre-Meeting: LARA 30-Day Novel Check-In

Speaker: Jackie Cangro, MFA

Topic: Writing an Immersive Setting

Setting and place are a collection of details describing your character’s surroundings—the right details in the right amount—that will captivate readers. Setting and place touch every aspect of your story from characters to plot. This session will show you how to immerse the reader in the world of your story through sensory images, emotional connection, and word choices.

Website: https://jacquelincangro.com/

July 21, 2024

Pre-Meeting: Quick Win Workshop: Creating a Book Media Kit

Speaker: Eden Bradley, New York Times & USA Today Best Selling Author

Topic: Let It Go: A Discussion About Imposter Syndrome

In this one hour workshop Eden will be discussing Imposter Syndrome,
something nearly all of us will experience at some point in our careers, and
many of us every day. Learn how various aspects of our lives can trigger
this all-too common sense of inadequacy, why community is so important
in helping us to survive being a writer, and how to cope with the inevitable
bouts of Imposter Syndrome, aside from consuming copious amounts of
wine and chocolate.

Find out more about Eden: https://edenbradley.com/

August 18, 2024

Pre-Meeting: Quick Win Workshop: Author Signing Checklist

Speaker: Holly Darling

Topic: TBD but something related to newsletters! 😉

Website: https://hollydarlinghq.com/

Fee: $50 In Person and $20 Virtual

BOTH options include our "famous" Virtual Goody Bag valued at over $300! On-Site fee includes parking, hospitality throughout the day, access to high-speed WiFi, and a special goody bag of donated stationery and writing supplies.

CURRENT Schedule (all times are Pacific Daylight Time)

Time	On Site (Santa Clarita)	Virtual (Zoom)
8:00	Morning Hospitality	:45 Zoom Opens
9:00	Welcome & Opening Remarks	Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:15	Session 1: Rebecca Forster	Session 1: TBD
10:45	MORNING BREAK	MORNING BREAK
11:00	Session 2: TBD	Session 2: TBD
12:30	LUNCH BREAK	LUNCH BREAK
2:00	Session 3: TBD	Session 3: TBD
3:15	AFTERNOON BREAK	AFTERNOON BREAK
3:30	Session 4: TBD	Session 4: Jessie Cunniffe, Blurbs
5:00	DINNER BREAK, CLEAN UP	END OF VIRTUAL TRACK
6:00 - 8:00	Free Time
8:00	FINAL CLEAN UP
8:30	END OF ON-SITE TRACK

October 20, 2024

Pre-Meeting: TBD

Speaker: Kim Hudson

Topic: Power and the Feminine Perspective

Description coming soon! For now: Workshop will draw on The Virgin’s Promise structure and my new book, The Bridge, that provides a framework for crossing the distance between masculine and feminine ways of seeing the world.

Learn more about Kim here: https://www.storyarchetypes.com/

November 17, 2024

Pre-Meeting: TBD

Topic: Partnering with a Local Booksore

More information (including the location) coming soon!

December 15, 2024

Debut Author Panel & End of Year Party

More information (including the location) coming soon!

January 21, 2024

Pre-Meeting: Meet & Greet, Board Meeting

Speaker: Sheila Redling and Tobi Doyle

Topic: Character-Driven Revisions

Join Sheila Redling and Tobi Doyle as we discuss how your characters’ emotional wounds drive your plot, hook your readers, and make your book a page-turner. Fix that saggy middle! They’ll help you create characters that stick with your reader! An overview of the whole story is addressed as well as scene-by-scene revisions.

What Attendees Will Learn: Using the character’s emotional wounds to revise your manuscript and focus on how the very real emotional connection between reader and character is created.

February 18, 2024

Pre-Meeting: LARA Board Meeting

Speaker: Jessica Lepe, Meet Cute Creative

Topic: Mastering Your Author Website: the 10 Essentials Every Author Website Needs

Your author website is your #1 marketing tool. If social media were to disappear overnight, would you still be able to reach your readers-and more importantly, future readers? If you don’t have a well-designed and effective author website, you are neglecting one of the easiest and most impactful selling tools.

In this workshop, we will explore the best options for hosting and designing your website before shifting into the critical things every author website needs. We will then look at some authors who are doing it right with their websites, exploring how their website reflects their brand and helps sell their books for them.

This is the perfect session for new authors looking to set up their brand online and more seasoned authors needing a refresher on all the tools and resources out there. All participants will leave with a handout summarizing the session, along with a list of free resources to explore.

Website: https://meetcutecreative.com/

March 17, 2024

Pre-Meeting: LARA Board Meeting
Speaker: Laurie Schnebly
Topic: From Revision Hell To Editing Heaven

Every writer knows about Revision Hell. But the chance to re(en)vision any concept that's attracted attention can be a wonderful opportunity. This class covers the psychological and practical aspects of revision: when to do it, why (and why not) to do it, how to make the process easier, and -- most important of all -- how to know when you're finished.

Learn more about Laurie here: https://booklaurie.com/

Previous Meetings 2023

June 25, 2023

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Milly Gray

Topic: Astrology for Writers

How to use the core principles of astrology beyond the sun signs to craft consistent and believable characters.

Milly’s website: https://grayplumeediting.com/

May 21 2023

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Andie Wood

Topic: Organizing or Participating in an Anthology

April 16, 2023

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Ines Johnson

Topic: Beats of Storytelling

March 19, 2023

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Ann Rachelle

Topic: Working with bloggers and FB group admins

February 19, 2023

Pre-Meeting: Board Meeting

Speaker: Jessica Snyder

Topic: The Six Foundational Elements of Romance Fiction

January 15, 2023

9:00 am Board Meeting- everyone is invited

10:00 am General Meeting

11:00 am State of LARA for 2023- Deep dive into the upcoming year

July 16, 2023

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Book Brush

Topic: BookBrush: New Features

Previous Meetings 2022

December 18 2022

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: TBD (IN PERSON)

Topic:

November 20, 2022 (Virtual)

11am to Noon PT with a brief Q&A immediately thereafter.

Speaker:Tracee Garner

Topic: HEA for All e.g. Writing Outside of one’s Lived Experience

October 16, 2022 (Virtaul)

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Eve Vaughn

Topic: Dark Romance

September 18, 2022 (Virtual Mini-Con)

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Sacha Black 11am to Noon with a bit of time for Q&A

Topic: The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences

Sacha Black is a bestselling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, and professional speaker. She writes educational nonfiction books for writers and sapphic books for Young Adults. She lives in Cambridgeshire, England, with her wife and son.

Speaker: Brittany Holland 12:30pm to 2:00pm with a bit of time for Q&A

Topic: Blurbs

Brittany Holland, also known as The Blurb Whisperer, pens happily ever afters with a modern twist. When she’s not writing blurbs or plotting her next book you can find her drinking Starbucks, watching Netflix or taking pictures on her iPhone. She loves traveling with her family, but southern IL is where they call home.

August 21, 2022 (Virtual)

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Liz Pelletier

Topic: Tropes and Hooks

July 17, 2022 (Virtual)

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Laurie Schnebly

Topic: Choosing the Fatal Flaw

June 26, 2022

Pre-Meeting: Virtual Hospitality & Member Check-In

Speaker: Jennifer Graybeal

Topic: Goal Setting the Rest of the Year

Website: http://www.jengraybeal.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jentheeditor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.graybeal/

May 15, 2022

Pre-Meeting: Virtual Check-In

Speaker: Martha Alderson

Topic: Start Plotting Your Novel from the End

From my experience writing fiction and helping writers with plot, I’ve found that we often obsess over the beginning of our stories, developing detailed backstories and writing, revising and rewriting – and rightly so. Beginnings hook readers. At the same time, endings create fans, though often writers neglect to give their endings the same sort of time and attention either by stalling out before ever reaching the end or by slapping on an ending with the hope it works.

For now, forget the beginning of your story and turn your focus to the end. This approach of plotting from the end allows you to visualize the whole of your story rather than simply juggle a loose collection of its parts or scenes.

Whether you have a firm grasp of what happens at the end of your story to satisfy both the inner plot and the outer plot or simply a vague idea, come prepared to try out some new strategies.

You’ll be given time to experiment with some the foundational skills needed to:

• preform a task analysis of your outer plot
• deconstruct your main characters to satisfy the inner plot

Register for our May meeting.

Learn more about Martha Alderson.

April 24, 2022

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Jacki Renee

Topic: “Developing Your Author Business Plan”

March 20, 2022

Pre-Meeting:

Speaker: Stephanie Burdett – Author Services (AT NOON because she’s in Australia)

February 20, 2022

Pre-Meeting: Virtual Happy Hour

Speaker: Kilby Blades – “How to Uplevel Your Author Career”

Topic:

Previous Meetings 2021

December 10, 2021

Pre-Meeting: Virtual Happy Hour

Speaker: Debut Author Panel

Topic: Join us as we celebrate this year’s Debut Author’s: Alexa Santi and Leigh Adams! We will meet Alexa (Leigh is going to record her session later) and get to know more about her author journey, debut title, AND what’s next!

November 21, 2021