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
- February 16, 2025
- March 16, 2025
- April 20, 2025
- May 18, 2025
- June 8, 2025
- July 20, 2025
- August 17, 2025
- September 15, 2025
- October 19, 2025
- November 16, 2025
- December 15, 2024
- January 19, 2025
Fee (Members): $40 In Person and $20 Virtual
Fee (Non-Members): $60 In Person and $30 Virtual
BOTH options include our "famous" Virtual Goody Bag valued at over $300! "In Person" fee includes parking, hospitality throughout the day, access to high-speed WiFi, and access to ALL virtual presentations.
CLICK to sign-up for our 2024 September Mini-Con!
CURRENT Schedule* (all times are Pacific Daylight Time)
Time | On Site (Santa Clarita) | Virtual (Zoom) |
8:30 | Morning Hospitality Continental Breakfast |
:45 Zoom Opens |
9:00 | Welcome & Opening Remarks | Welcome & Opening Remarks |
9:15 - Session 1 |
Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
10:45 | MORNING BREAK |
MORNING BREAK |
11:00 - Session 2 | Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
12:30 | LUNCH BREAK |
LUNCH BREAK |
1:30 - Session 3 | Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
2:45 | AFTERNOON BREAK | AFTERNOON BREAK |
3:15 - Session 4 | Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
Speaker: TBD Topic: TBD |
4:45 | End of On-Site Track | END OF VIRTUAL TRACK |
Clean-Up & Close Up |
*Subject to change.
Registration for our 2025 September Mini-Con opens March 1, 2025!
Previous Meetings 2023
Previous Meetings 2022
- December 18 2022
- November 20, 2022
- October 16. 2022
- September 18, 2022
- August 21, 2022
- July 17, 2022
- June 26, 2022
- May 15, 2022
- April 24, 2022
- March 20, 2022
- February 20, 2022
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
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
Pre-Meeting:
Speaker: Stephanie Burdett – Author Services (AT NOON because she’s in Australia)
Previous Meetings 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!
Pre-Meeting: NaNoWriMo Write-In
Speaker: Brandon Leibowitz
Topic: How To Get Free Traffic To Your Website From Google
Click for more information about Brandon.
October 17, 2021
Pre-Meeting: BEN-P Q&A
Speaker: Stacy Gold, Award-Winning Author
Topic: Finding Your Author Voice (And How It’s Different from All the Other Voices in Your Books)
Click for more information about Stacy.
September 19, 2021
Pre-Meeting: Mini-Con Welcome
Speaker: Zoe York, Author
Topic: Romance Your Goals and Romance Your Plan
Click for more information about Zoe.
August 15, 2021
Pre-Meeting: Fun with Blurbs!
Speaker: Becca Syme, Author
Topic: Write Better-Faster with Becca Syme
Click for more information about Becca.
June 13, 2021
Pre-Meeting: Content Planning Challenge
Speaker: Ally Robertson, Author
Topic: Filter Words and Showing vs Telling – How to make your writing more active and engaging
Click for more information about Ally.
Published Author Chat: TBD
February 21, 2021
Published Author Chat: TBD
Speaker: Talia Hibbert, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Topic: The Intimacy of Third Person Click for more information!
January 17, 2021
Published Author Chat: Planning Your Writing Year
Speaker: Georgette T. , Owner, 3B Design Co
Topic: Why Do You Need A Content Creator?
*The Zoom meeting link will be sent via the LARA Confidential. Guests should reach out to the Chapter Secretary for the information.