Be sure to check back here—I'll add my appearances as soon as I book them!

WRITING COURSE

Mediabistro Course, "Novel Writing: Chick Lit"
8 weeks, November 10-January 5
Chats Mondays, 9-10 pm ET

Chick Lit is one of the hottest genres in modern fiction, and it's gaining even more momentum with the films In Her Shoes, The Devil Wears Prada and The Nanny Diaries (all from chick lit books) hitting the big screen. Trade paperbacks with candy-colored covers and catchy titles line the front-of-store tables at bookstores everywhere. Maybe you've read books in this genre and thought, "I can write this!"

Well, guess what? You can. And in this class, you'll learn how. You'll learn what chick lit is and why it's different from romance and other genres. You'll learn where the genre's going, how it's expanding, and how the field is a lot broader than you think. And best of all, you'll learn how to actually be a chick lit author AND how to get your book published.

More info

DISCUSSION

Los Angeles Romance Authors
(LARA) RWA Chapter Meeting
January 18, 2009
Barnes and Noble, 16461 Ventura Blvd.
Encino, CA 91436

Panel discussion with Liza Palmer:

JANE AUSTEN LOVES CHICK LIT: A Guide to Writing Chick Lit Heroes/Heroines Like Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice? Emma Woodhouse of Emma? Or The Dashwood Sisters of Sense and Sensibility? How do we create characters as rich and complex as the oh-so talented Ms. Austen? By heading to your local bookstore and cracking open modern day chick-lit, that’s how! Books filled with women of wit and wisdom, sacrifice and strength, patience and determination. Join Liza Palmer, internationally bestselling author of CONVERSATIONS WITH THE FAT GIRL and SEEING ME NAKED and Megan Crane, critically acclaimed author of ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, EVERYONE ELSE'S GIRL, FRENEMIES, and NAMES MY SISTERS CALL ME, and learn how to harness the characteristics of each of Austen’s six heroines, take an interactive quiz to figure out which Austen heroine you are most like and then try to employ these characteristics to your very own heroines. For Jane Austen said it best herself, “Good-humoured, unaffected girls, will not do for a man who has been used to sensible women. They are two distinct orders of being.” And speaking of men – who wouldn’t want to create heroes like Mr. Darcy, Henry Tilney and Captain Wentworth? Let’s face it – who wouldn’t want to live vicariously through these Austen heroines and spend some time with these complex, proud and unendingly sexy men.