We don’t have a lot of author/illustrator events for readers this month, but for writers, it’s a windfall! In case you haven’t heard, we have a new writers’ workshop venue in town Write Space, and they are launching their events this summer with a lineup of workshops for writers of children’s and young adult books.
Also, I want to pass on the news that the Houston Writers Guild Fall Contest is open for submissions July 1 – September 1, 2014. The contest is open to all writers (regardless of publishing status) with original, unpublished work. First place in each category wins $75. Winners will be announced at the 2014 Houston Writers Guild Winter Conference (November 8; details TBA). Everyone will receive score sheets with feedback via email after the winners are announced.
Please note that the first workshop listed is for children; all others are for adults writing for children.
July 12, Saturday, 10:00–3:00 p.m. 
Houston Children’s Museum
Melissa Williams, PB Author
Workshop For Kids Ages 8-14
Cost: $135.00
Exercise Your Imagination at the Houston Children’s Museum with Melissa Williams, author of the picture book series, IGGY THE IGUANA, TURTLE TOWN and LITTLE MISS MOLLY! Workshop Includes: Take Home Brainstorming Notebook; 16×20 Painted Canvas; Lunch; Goodie Bag. Register online here.
July 12, 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. 
Write Space
Jen Mathieu, YA Author
Workshop: How to Find Your Character’s Voice
Cost: $45.00
Jen Mathieu, author of the runaway hit, THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE, will lead this writers’ workshop. Heart-stopping plots and detailed settings are important to any memorable story, but a character who becomes real in the heart and mind of the reader leaves a permanent mark. In this three-hour workshop, we’ll spend some time reading and dissecting examples of terrific character voice and complete several writing exercises intended to help develop a character whose story demands to be told. All levels of experience are welcome. Students will leave with a handout of exercises for uncovering a character’s personality, motivations, fears, and dreams as well as a list of suggested readings. Please bring a laptop or notepad and pen/pencil, depending on which instrument you feel most comfortable using for quick writing exercises.
July 19, 10:00-4:30 p.m. 
Write Space
Kathy Duval, PB Author
Workshop: Make It Shine! Polish Your Picture Book
Cost: $85.00
Five hundred words— no problem, right? Wrong!
A successful picture book is an art form combining lyrical language and dynamic images, each dependent on the other. To compete, your work must shine, as well as follow the conventions of today’s crowded market.
This hands-on revision workshop led by Kathy Duval, author of TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ (Hyperion/Disney) and THE THREE BEARS’ CHRISTMAS and THE THREE BEARS’ HALLOWEEN (Holiday House), will take a fresh look at your characters, setting, plot, and picture book language. Participants will complete exercises to polish their prose, as well as create a dummy to see how your text fits into a picture book format. Feedback in small groups will help you take your picture book to the next level. Participants will be asked to bring three copies of the same completed picture book manuscript. You will be notified closer to the workshop date about the other supplies you will need for making a dummy.
July 19, Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 
Houston YA/MG Regular Meeting
Community Room at the H.E.B. at 9710 Katy Freeway
Emily Evans, YA Author
Workshop: Tips, Tricks, & Secrets of the Millionaire Author
Free!
Pre-published? Traditionally published? Indie Published?
Employ millionaire-author strategies now so your future is more “party at the Capital” and less “welcome to the Hunger Games.” Houston YA/MG’s own Emily Evans will lead the discussion. Emily has made $150 K indie-publishing her YA novels. Where’d she go wrong? What’s she doing right? Emily will brush off her psych degree and analyze marketing trends, best-seller habits, and pretty much anything else you want to throw out there. So change out of those writing pajamas and join us…
Saturday, July 26, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Write Space
Workshop: The Power of Point of View
Joy Preble, YA Author
Cost: $45.00
Joy Preble, author of the Dreaming Anastasia series (Sourcebooks) and the Sweet Dead Life series (Soho Press), will lead this workshop. Point of view is one of the most important choices an author can make because it impacts how readers see and respond to the story. Through whose eyes is the story being told? Through the eyes of a character as he experiences the story’s events (1st person present), through an unnamed narrator (3rd person omniscient), or through a narrator who shares the thoughts of just one character (3rd person limited)?
If a story doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, often the problem lies in point of view. For instance, perhaps we aren’t telling the right character’s story. Or, we are telling the right character’s story, but we aren’t telling her story in the right point of view. When the story is told (before or after events), why it is told, and who does the telling are all powerful decisions each writer must make. It’s easy to give attention to the more glamorous aspects of craft such as character arcs, plot, and tension, but profound discoveries await those willing to explore point of view.
All levels of experience are welcome in this hands-on workshop. To help free up our stories, we will read and analyze examples of point of view in successful novels, and then apply our newfound knowledge to our own writing.
Come prepared to write, revise, and experiment. Please bring the first three to five pages of a novel or short story you’re working on, as well as a laptop or a notepad and pen or pencil.
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