Draft Works is proud to participate in events to educate, encourage, and celebrate writers.
Cliches and Tropes and Stereotypes, Oh My!: Tallahassee Writers Association (5/11/2023)
Lead Fiction Editor Lisa Blackwell was the featured speaker at the May 2023 meeting of the Tallahassee Writers Association.
Imagine their confusion at discovering that not all detectives are one day away from retirement. Not all heroes are six feet tall, and not every car immediately explodes on impact! As authors, we have the power to save them from the crushing disappointment of learning that not every woman moving back to her hometown miraculously became gorgeous while she was away.
The program was a combination of lecture and interactive exercise to learn how to actively make different choices and catch a reader’s attention in a fresh, imaginative way.
Indie Author Faith: Athens-Clarke County Library (11/12/2022)
Editor Lisa Blackwell spoke with a breakout group at the 2022 Indie Author Fair in Athens, Georgia, about research and how to incorporate it effectively into the text. (If you weren’t able to make it to the event, the key to effective research is a matter of putting questions before answers–in other words, know what you don’t know.) Click here for details and schedule of events.
After the individual sessions, Draft Works participated in a panel discussion about “the benefits of Personal Publishing, including writing, critique, editing, design, marketing, networking and other resources.”
The Rotary Club of Tallahassee (9/22/2022)
Photo credit: ©2022 Photos by Ti Adoro Studios. www.Ti-Adoro.com
The Rotary Club of Tallahassee celebrated its centennial anniversary on September 22, 2022. Draft Works composed and assisted with editing The First 100 Years: 1922-2022, a retrospective history of the club’s members and activities in the community.
Jan Carol Simonsen — Brooklyn Girl
“Simonsen has done an excellent job, giving us an accessible story that offers experiences all immigrants share, as well as experiences specific to those who came from Norway to the urbanism of Bay Ridge. It balances out the laughter, shock, and pain that life delivers to all of us, and it allows you to see why Norwegian Bay Ridge has had such a hold on Norwegians both in the United States and in Norway, where many towns hold on tightly to the American dream that beckoned so many of their ancestors, whether for a few years or a lifetime.”
— May 6, 2022, issue of The Norwegian American
Brooklyn Girl by Jan Carol Simonsen (edited and composed by Draft Works) is available in paperback and Kindle at Amazon.com
Elizabeth Rosario — Own Your Fire
It takes a strong and courageous woman to be open, vulnerable, and willing to share her truth with the world. With unflinching honesty, Ely Rosario takes us through the lessons of her childhood, from the highs of motherhood, graduate school, and a successful career to the harrowing lows of a ten-year marriage to an alcoholic. With determination, grit, and self-motivation, Ely has overcome unimaginable difficulties to become a noted speaker, a marathon and Ironman finisher, a respected business woman in her community, and most importantly, the mother of three amazing children.Sharing directly from her own life, Ely inspires those facing their own personal challenges. She uses encouraging humor and straight talk to guide others in how to develop the skills and positive habits to set boundaries, create coping skills, and break free of unhealthy patterns.If this speaks to you, know that you are not alone. You may have heard these words before, but now you’re finally ready to take the first step. Mak
COVID-19 (2020-2021)
In all seriousness, in the midst of the pandemic, so many authors found the time to turn inward and produce amazing work that we’ve been proud to help edit and guide on to the finish line.
Dialect to Die For: Tallahassee Writers Association (7/11/2019)
Lead Fiction Editor Lisa Blackwell was the featured speaker at the July, 2019 meeting of the Tallahassee Writers Association.
Dialect to Die For
Is your book full of quirky Southern characters, but you’re not sure how to put that backwoods drawl on paper? Do you love historical fiction but aren’t confident about capturing the sound of another time? Does your New Jersey mobster sound like a bad James Cagney impression?
Don’t be afraid! There are four simple linguistic principles that govern dialect, and you don’t need to be a linguist to use them! Come to the Tallahassee Writers Association on Thursday to hear linguist, editor, and author Lisa Blackwell demonstrate how to give your writing some dialect to die for.
