TWILIGHT. ELEANOR AND PARK. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Young adult romance has come a long way since SWEET VALLEY HIGH. Today’s teens crave swoony heroes, complicated heroines, strong plot lines, and a fresh story, along with their happily ever after. Come learn from local YA authors Ginger Scott (THE HARD COUNT), Abigail Johnson (IF I FIX YOU), and Sara Fujimura (TANABATA WISH) how to create stories for teens (and the young at heart) to give them “all the feels.”

ABIGAIL JOHNSON was born in Pennsylvania. When she was twelve, her family traded in snowstorms for year-round summer and moved to Arizona. Abigail chronicled the entire cross-country road trip in a purple spiral-bound notebook what she still has, and has been writing ever since. She became tetraplegic after breaking her neck in a car accident when she was seventeen, but hasn’t let that stop her from bodysurfing in Mexico, writing and directing a high-school production of CINDERELLA, and publishing her first novel, IF I FIX YOU. Visit Abigail online at: abigailjohnsonbooks.com.

GINGER SCOTT is an Amazon-bestselling and Goodreads Choice Award-nominated author of several young and new adult romances, including WAITING ON THE SIDELINES, GOING LONG, THIS IS FALLING, WILD RECKLESS and THE HARD COUNT. A sucker for a good romance, Ginger’s other passion is sports, and she often blends the two in her stories. Ginger has been writing and editing

for newspapers, magazines and blogs for pretty much ever. When she’s not writing, the odds are high that she’s somewhere near a

baseball diamond, either watching her son field pop flies like Bryce Harper or cheering on her favorite baseball team, the Arizona

Diamondbacks. Ginger lives in Arizona and is married to her college sweetheart whom she met at ASU (fork ’em, Devils). For more on Ginger and her work, visit her website at: http://www.littlemisswrite.com.

SARA FUJIMURA is the American half of her Japanese-American family and spends a month each summer at her in-laws’ house in rural Japan with her teen-aged children. So it will be no surprise that she’s written about Japanese culture and bicultural kids for such magazines as APPLESEEDS, LEARNING THROUGH HISTORY, RAISING ARIZONA KIDS, and MOTHERING, as well as, writing travel-related articles for the book TO JAPAN WITH LOVE. Sara has been a creative writing teacher for over a decade, doing presentations for SCBWI, Girl Scouts, Desert Rose Chapter RWA, ONEBOOKAZ, Phoenix Comicon, and at several anime/manga/Japanese culture conventions. She’s also the organizer of Rock the Drop-Phoenix, a guerrilla literacy event to support YALSA’s Teen Read Week.  www.sarafujimura.com

Every writer plots, even if they write by the seat of the pants. Whether in your mind or in a written outline, plotting is an integral part of fiction writing. The best stories are carefully designed for maximum impact, foreshadowed, with incredible twists that make you say, “of course… it makes perfect sense. Why didn’t I see it coming?” A well thought out novel will fascinate and delight the

reader, who will cherish it, re-read it, and crave for more of your stories. Come learn a few plotting techniques that will keep your stories fresh, original, and irresistibly compelling.

and could never refuse a challenge. She likes action and exotic settings, in life and on the page. She traveled the world and claims to also travel through time, as she writes without boundaries about the future and the far away past. Her love of cats transpires in many of her books… and she has over twenty-seven titles published. Her stories collected numerous five star reviews and a few literary awards. Find her and her books at

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

From research to putting the words on the page, this workshop will teach you some tricks of the trade.

Originally a Jersey girl, she lives with her real-life hero, Bob, in Arizona; they have four children. And as a former chef, on those rare occasions when she’s not writing, she loves to whip up some gastronomic treats for family and friends. For more information about K. T.’s books, visit her website at www.ktrobertsmysteries.com.

Join the Butterscotch Martini Girls for fun and hands-on world building as they share their quick and dirty (some dirtier than others) tips & tricks to plotting that will keep your readers riveted to their seats, as they order more butterscotch martinis and turn pages late into the night to find out what happens next.

Chocolate—check. Champagne—check. Now for a little romance! Join New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors as they discuss their inspiration for crafting romances that leave readers sighing—or reaching for a fan! The romance genre is as diverse as the characters that fill the pages. Hear from four authors who bend the genre in different ways and are experts in setting a romantic stage!

Cheyenne McCray is an award winning, New York Times and USA Today Best Selling author who enjoys creating stories of love, suspense, and redemption. She loves building worlds her readers can get lost in. If you would like to find out what Cheyenne is up to these days, cruise her website, follow her on Facebook and Twitter, and even drop her a line or two. CheyenneMcCray.com

“Combines pulse-pounding danger and passionate love…tantalizing.” – Publishers Weekly on the BURNED DEEP trilogy

Calista is a former PR professional, now writing fast-paced, steamy books to set your pulse racing! Her publishing houses include St. Martin’s Press, Grand Central Publishing and Harlequin. She is an Amazon bestseller and has won many Reviewer’s and Reader’s Choice Awards, as well as Best Book Awards. Calista is a college graduate and teaches online writing classes. She is also a Past President/Advisor of the Phoenix chapter of the Romance Writers of America national organization. www.calistafox.com , http://www.facebook.com/calistafox and www.twitter.com/calistafoxbooks

Cassie Ryan (a.k.a. Tina Gerow) started her published writing career writing steamy paranormal romance under another pen name. However, when one of her critique partners, Brit Blaise, suggested she try her hand at erotic romance, she gave it a shot! After all, she’s not a girl to turn down a challenge of any type. So, she pulled out all the stops and wrote the first several chapters of what would become CEREMONY OF SEDUCTION.

After hearing Audrey LaFehr from Kensington speak on a new erotic romance line shed started called Aphrodisia, at RWA Nationals, Cassie sent in her partial and went back to writing. So, when Audrey fished her partial out of the slush pile and offered her a three-book deal, Cassie Ryan was officially born.

Cassie lives in Phoenix, Arizona and besides being a write-a-holic, is a frequent speaker on several writing and motivational topics.

ew York Times bestselling author Erin Quinn writes dark paranormal romance for the thinking reader. Her books have been called “riveting,” “brilliantly plotted” and “beautifully written” and have won, placed or showed in the RWA RITA Award, Booksellers Best, WILLA Award for Historical fiction, the Orange Rose, Readers Crown, Golden Quill, Best Books, and Award of Excellence. Go to www.erinquinnbooks.com for more information or follow Erin on Facebook or Twitter

This workshop deals with tools, techniques, and tenacity.

Pamela Tracy is a USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty works.  First published in 1999, she’s written contemporary, historical and suspense – all in the romance genre.  She’s been a Rita finalist and has won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the year award.   She is currently president of Christian Writers of the West.

Historical research involves so much more than digging into a setting or

time period for historical accuracy. Learn how to research the history of

your chosen setting and time period for characterization, plotting, and so

much more.

MONA HODGSON is the author of 40 books, historical novels and novellas for

adults and children’s books, including her popular Sinclair Sisters of

Cripple Creek Series, The Quilted Heart novellas, and Prairie Song. Keeper

of My Heart, is a novella in The Convenient Brides Collection. Look for

Something Blue in The Heirloom Brides Collection. Her children’s books

include bestseller, Bedtime in the Southwest and Real Girls of the Bible: A

31-Day Devotional.

Confused by the social media options? Not getting the results you want? Let me cut through the noise to give you the straight story on social media, what it can and cannot do, and how to use it for your business.

I help you find the tools that showcase your business strengths to your target audience. I help you find the conversation topics that turn casual visitors into clients and fans.

Charlene Kingston is an information strategist, writer, and speaker with 25 years of experience providing information products to solve practical business problems.

Through Crow Information Design, she provides information solutions for businesses and freelance professionals through websites, blogs, ebooks, social media tools, training programs, software user assistance, technical writing, and feature writing services.