February 13th – Emily Meeting with Sam Havens and Patricia Kay
The Emily Meeting features an all day meeting with University of St. Thomas professor (retired) Sam Havens in the morning and USA Today Best Seller Patricia Kay in the afternoon. Lunch is provided in registration fee and will feature the Emily Awards Presentation. The registration fees are as follow:
WHRWA Members: $20
RWA Members: $45
Non-RWA Members: $60
Registration is now closed.
Note: TIME CHANGE. Doors open at 8am, Business Meeting starts at 8:45am.
Morning Program
How Characters Happen Creating objective-driven characters. How to establish and payoff arcs, contrasts, flaws and back story. How to write dialogue in character.
Sam Havens is a retired professor from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. Havens founded the Drama Department at the University where he teaches playwriting and screenwriting. Havens has written over fifteen plays with productions in the USA, Canada and Australia. His plays have been selected for showcase productions in New York City, Westport, Connecticut; Amherst, Massachusetts; and East Hampton, New York. He has received playwriting grants from the Ford Foundation and from the Texas Commission on Arts and Humanities. Three of Havens’ plays are published. Havens taught playwriting and screenwriting for ten years for Rice University’s School of Continuing Studies. In addition to writing and teaching, Havens performs voice-over narration for radio and TV commercials and industrial films. He is also an abstract artist and a consultant in presentation skills. Sam Havens and wife Gretchen live in Houston.
Afternoon Program
The Emotional Connection. Great books are about more than good plotting, likable characters, lots of conflict, and skillful writing. For a book to really grab a reader, the author must make an emotional connection with that reader. Otherwise, even though the reader may enjoy the book, it won’t be one he’ll remember. It won’t be one he’ll talk about. And it won’t be one he’ll recommend to others. In this session, we’ll learn various techniques for stirring the reader’s feelings and engaging him emotionally.
Patricia Kay is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 49 novels of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She is also an acclaimed teacher who formerly taught fiction writing at The University of Houston and now teaches exclusively online. Pat has been a member of WHRWA since 1986.
Schedule for February 13th
8:00-8:45: Coffee/sign in
8:45-9:30: Business meeting
9:30-11:30: Speaker: Sam Havens "Characterization"
11:30-12:00: Emily Awards Presentation
12:00-1:30: Lunch and book signing
1:30-3:30: Speaker: Patricia Kay "Emotional Connection"
