August Symposium

Navigating Your Writing Life

Our keynote speaker will be New York Times best-selling author Jeffery Deaver. Other guest and workshop speakers include a dozen talented Virginia authors presenting in a varitey of genres.

To register, please complete the symposium registration form [pdf 662k], which also contains complete workshop and schedule information.

Cost
$85 ($75 VWC Members & Teens). VWC Chapter members need to be members of the statewide VWC to qualify for registration discount.

Deadline is JULY 15, 2011. Additional $10 after July 15. Price includes morning refreshments, boxed lunch and symposium goodie bag.

Time & Location
Saturday, August 6, 2011 | 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM

The Dickinson Fine and Performing Arts Center [Google map]
Piedmont Virginia Community College
501 College Drive
Charlottesville, Virginia

About Our Speakers

Camacho is also a public affairs specialist for the Defense Department. For more than a decade his radio and television news reports were transmitted daily on the American Forces Network. He was born in New York City but grew up in Saratoga Springs, New York. He majored in psychology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. Afterward he enlisted in the Army as a broadcast journalist.

After leaving the Army he continued to write military news and handle media relations for the Defense Department as a civilian. He also teaches writing classes at Anne Arundel Community College, and is the current vice president of the Virginia Writers Club.

Jeffery Deaver is the international number-one bestselling author of Roadside Crosses, The Bodies Left Behind, The Broken Window, The Sleeping Doll, The Bone Collector and twenty-one other suspense novels. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. He has been nominated for six Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year. His novel The Bone Collector was made into a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington. Deaver was born in Chicago, attended the University of Missouri and received his law degree from Fordham University in New York. In 1990, he quit practicing law to write full-time. Readers can visit his website at www.jefferydeaver.com

In addition, John has written four screenplays for Hollywood, adapting the works of Nelson DeMille, Norman McLean and Thomas Harris. John has also signed two movie deals for his books. He will write and co-produce the film adaptation of his book, Six Minutes to Freedom, and executive produce the film adaptation of Scott Free.

A frequent speaker at literary events, John also teaches seminars on suspense writing techniques at a wide variety of venues, from local libraries to The Smithsonian Institution. Outside of his writing life, John is a renowned safety expert with extensive knowledge of explosives, hazardous materials, and fire behavior. He currently works as the director of safety for a large trade association in Washington, DC. John lives in Fairfax, VA.

Karen has taught writing workshops and seminars at LSU, Austin Peay University, Old Dominion University, the University of Richmond and Christopher Newport University.

Jones also has fifteen years experience in television news as an on-air anchor, feature reporter and long-form series producer. Her AP award winning work includes "The Haunting of Virginia" and the BBC's "Pocahontas." Karen directed the Virginia Writers Conference and is a member of the National League of American Pen Women and The Authors Guild. She currently lives in Virginia Beach where she spends her time surfing and working on her next book, a 1951 southern coming-of-age story. www.jonesbrehony.com www.deathforbeginners.com

Patricia now lives in Virginia with her husband (and first beau) Steele Lipe, M.D., three dogs, two horses and two cats and near her three children and six grandchildren. She is the author of five books, each a different genre, past President of the National League of American Pen Women, La Jolla Branch and later as President of the DC Branch, past Historian for the DCDAC (Daughters of American Colonists), a 2002 winner of the San Diego Book Awards Association for her book on La Jolla, recipient of the 2004 Woman of Achievement Award from the NLAPW, Best Books Award Finalist, and 1st runner up trophy winner of JADA Award Winning Novel Contest. In 2010, Patricia was recognized by Cambridge Who's Who as an expert in the field of Creative Writing.

Currently, she is an instructor at OLLI (Osher Lifetime Learning Institute, George Mason University0 teaching a course on Creativity. She is also working on another book. This time the biography of her great uncle, Msgr. William A. Hemmick, the only American Canon of St. Peter's in Rome and, following WWI, the "Patriot Priest of Picardy".

Frank holds a bachelor's in psychology; a master's in business and public administration; and a master of arts in writing (fiction) from the Johns Hopkins University. He teaches creative writing in the continuing education program at Northern Virginia Community College, the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center, the Christopher Wren Association of the College of William and Mary, and other venues.

He is currently vice president of the Chesapeake Bay Writers organization and is at work on a thriller/suspense novel. WritingAfter50.com; WriteWayCommunications.com