We have an exciting variety of classes to offer writers and illustrators.  Pam is teaching “Writing for Magazines, Part 1 and Part 2,” “Writing the Short Story,” “Writing Memoirs,” “Marketing Your Work,” and “Characterization, Plot, and Structure.”  Tim is teaching “Writing and Illustrating Picture Books” and “Digital Illustration Skills.”

We have two new teachers this year:  Sarah Russo will be teaching a class on Photography.  This class will be especially helpful for anyone wanting to also sell photos to magazines with their magazine articles.  Carol Baldwin will be teaching a writing workshop for teens in 6th grade through 10th grade.  This will be a great class for teenagers who might not feel comfortable in an adult writing class, but it will be wonderful for any teenager who loves to write and wants to learn how to do it better.

To sign up for a class, go to “Course Catalog” on the navation bar and then click on “2010 Schedule and Registration” on the drop-down menu.  You can then click on the class you want to take and fill in the registration form.  You also have the option of paying by PayPal.  Or you can mail a check to Pam Zollman, 406 Plano Drive, Greenville, SC 29617.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at pam.zollman@gmail.com.

Ooops!

We have changed servers, and when we did, not all of our information got pulled over to the new server.  I’m working with Bryan to get everything back up and running.  I’ll be reposting our conference photos in the new few days.

I apologize if you’ve gone to our Fall class schedule and found it missing.  It will be back up very soon, as will the PayPal option. 

Thank you for your patience!

PS:  Yes, I know that the picture in this post isn’t really what happened, but as Bryan knows, it’s the usual technical problem I have to deal with.  LOL!

Camp MyOwnBook is for kids ages 6-12.

For more information, email Pam Zollman at pam.zollman@gmail.com or call her at 864-232-5405.

To hold your place for Camp MyOwnBook, click on the “Events and Classes” button on the navigation bar at the top of this page. Then click on the camp date you want your kids to attend. This will take you to the page where you will register for Camp MyOwnBook. We now have paypal as a convenience for you.

Visit our office at 475 Haywood Road, Suite 8 (inside Hargis Art Services and Gallery), Greenville, SC 29607.

After our initial choice was unexpectedly withdrawn from consideration, AnAuthor World has settled on a terrific new location for our August 7 conference. The brand new Courtyard Marriot in downtown Greenville made us an offer we simply couldn’t refuse! With the excellent speakers we’re lining up, we anticipate a conference that will be too good to miss! Hope you’ll plan now to join us.

Tim spoke at Bryson Middle School’s Career Day presenting the day to day adventures of a freelance author and illustrator. Firing up the competition!

The words we write are like a lump of clay.

 There are days when we writers just sit and stare at the blank screen.  The words aren’t coming.  Our Muse has left us.  Cleaning toilets even starts to look appealing.  So it’s easy to “Not Write.”  The only problem with “Not Writing” is that there are no words on that screen.  It’s still blank.  There’s nothing to work with.

You’re a writer, so you must write.  Write those words down and worry later about correctness of grammar and spelling.  If nothing else, write about how hard it is to write.  Get those words flowing.  Once you do, you’ll find that more words, better words, a whole story will appear.  Creativity begets creativity.  Creativity also abets more creativity.

Think of your words as a lump of clay. 

As long as they are in your head and not on your screen, no one can read them.  Don’t worry that they aren’t the “best” you can do.  Who cares?  No one is going to read this version anyway.  Once your words are out of your head and onto the computer screen or on paper, you can work with them.  You can shape them and mold them and turn them into something.  Whether it’s an ashtray or a vase or a sculpture is up to you.  You can keep playing with the word clay until it’s finally in the shape that you like.   No words on paper or screen, then no word clay to work with.  No word clay means you’re not closer to your goal of writing a story or article or poem. 

So start typing.

AnAuthor World is a sponsor for Book Your Lunch, a regular event organized by Jill Hendrix (far right) of Fiction Addiction . We were privileged to hear author Ann B. Ross (second from right) speak of Miss Julia’s adventures past, present and future. A very engaging character–and Ann is every bit as fun as her fictional heroine.