May 18, 2024

May

Teri Wilson is a white woman with long, gently curling blond hair. She's holding a beverage. A cute brown and white dog with long brown ears that that dangle down like hair sits in her lap.

Date: May 18th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker via zoom.

Location: Zoom and Huber Heights Library. It’s on Brandt Pike, and a straight shot from the I-70 exit.
Speaker:  Teri Wilson
Topic:  Being Cute (and safe) Online

No, you don’t have to dance on TikTok to sell books. But you DO need a social media presence. In this workshop, we’ll explore the ways to build a social media identity that is authentically, uniquely YOU. And you just might sell some books and have fun at the same time.

Teri Wilson is a white woman with long, gently curling blond hair.

About our Speaker:  USA Today Bestselling Author Teri Wilson writes heartwarming contemporary
 romance with a touch of whimsy. Three of Teri’s books have been adapted into Hallmark Channel Original Movies by Crown Media, including UNLEASHING MR. DARCY. She is also a recipient of the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction and a 2022 inductee into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame.

 

 

June 15, 2024

June

Marisa Dillon is a white woman with long brown hair. She is holding a book about Celts, and is seated with what looks like a castle door behind her.

Date: June 15th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Whitehall Library
Speaker:  Marisa Dillon, via Zoom
Topic:  Instagram Business Account Basics

Would you like to earn more than hearts from your Instagram account? Learn what to include on your business account profile, including how to direct your followers to your books, website, and more in this presentation by Marisa Dillon.

About our Speaker: 

Marisa Dillon’s fascination with historical places started at an early age. Add in a love of all things romantic, a passion for writing, and a fully charged laptop, and you’ll find her creating adventures not for the faint of heart.

Marisa is the author of The Ladies of Lore, a three-book Tudor romance series distributed by Soul Mate Publishing. And she will have a new Regency Era release this Spring called The Duchess Heist.

 

 

July 13, 2024

July

Two women side by side headshots. On the left, Shelly Redling is a white woman with shoulder-length straight brown hair. On the right, Tobi Doyle is a white woman wearing glasses, with long, wavy brown hair.

Date: July 13th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Community Room at the Huber Heights library.
Speaker:  Tobi Doyle & Sheila Redling, in person!
Topic:  Build a mystery using the Intensive Genre Workshop Story Magic Cards. 

Join Sheila Redling and Tobi Doyle for a workshop on building a mystery story. We’ll be using our Story Magic cards to help you create and understand what makes a mystery a mystery, how to create a story, and much more. Open to all, from curious writer to seasoned pro who just wants to brush up on their writing craft skills. Learn more about our

Story Magic cards on our website. Library rules prohibit us from making any sales at the library directly, but we know our members may get hooked on the cards after seeing them in action. We’ll have to figure out how to handle that need!

About our Speakers:
Sheila Redling, writing as SG Redling, is the author of nine novels of pure mayhem, including the bestselling thrillers FLOWERTOWN and the Dani Britton series. She is the co-founder of Intensive Genre Workshops and was the recipient of the 2022 WVLA literary merit award.    

Tobi Doyle, A hybrid romance author, has published over a dozen romance books. She writes HEAs with heat and humor, romantic suspense, and cozy mysteries. She is the recipient of the 2022 Romance Writer of America PRO Mentor of the Year, and a Service Award for her work on RWA’s Pen to Paper, a guide to romance writing.

August 17, 2024

August

DiAnn Mills is a white woman with short-cropped reddish brown hair. She's wearing a green long-sleeved top and sitting on a bench.

Date: August 17th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Columbus-area location TBD
Speaker:  DiAnn Mills, via Zoom
Topic:  How to Attract Book Clubs

Writers love to have their books featured by book clubs. We’re excited, passionate; and we long for readers to enjoy a new adventure. We might think that should be enough fort book clubs to jump onboard our book, but we can thrill them even more by offering ways to enjoy the within a book club. This session includes How to Create a Book Club Kit – Step by Step, with lots of examples that have brought Mills success.
About our Speaker:  DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels with threads of romance. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure?

 

 

September 14, 2024

September

Date: September 14th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Dayton-area location TBD
Speaker:  Jen Devon, in person!
Topic:  Voice in Dual POV Romance

About our Speaker:  Jen Devon writes sexy, cinematic contemporary romances about imperfect people finding their perfect match. A former ecology academic and university lecturer, she currently works in the tech industry and dreams of writing full-time. She’s an avid gardener, photographer, and boardgamer, a thrift store enthusiast and unapologetic nerd.

 

October 19, 2024

October

Date: October 19th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Columbus-area location TBD
Speaker:  Pending finalization, Siera London, via Zoom
Topic:  Scenes & Sequels

About our Speaker:  I write about Sassy, Sensual heroines and the Alpha Males that love them, flaws and all. Siera London is the author of twenty-two contemporary fiction novels and novellas . She is a native Floridian who served 22 years in the United States Navy as a registered pediatric nurse practitioner and nursing clinical instructor before deciding to focus on her writing career. Her debut novel, Chasing Ava, was an Amazon Best Seller in the contemporary romance and women’s fiction category.

 

 

November 16, 2024

November

Date: November 16th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Dayton-area location TBD
Speaker:  Beth Morrow, in person!
Topic:  Self-Care for the Creative Soul: How to Create a Mindfulness Practice to Support Your Writer Self

About our Speaker:  I’m Beth, a 200 hr. RYT and 200 hr. certified meditation instructor, author, and veteran middle school teacher. My love is to help you connect back with the most important person in this world–yourself–through the breath. My approach to and philosophy of meditation is that regardless of your beliefs and experiences, meditation is available to every person through multiple modalities. Meditation is a practice that meets you where you are to help you connect back to the true joy, love, and wonder you carry deeply in your soul

 

December 7, 2024

December

Graphic of ornaments, some presents, and "Happy Holidays COFW Members"

Date: Date TBD
Time: noon
Location: Private Event
Topic: Celebration of all things COFW and writing romance. Awarding pens to our members publishing their first novels, and awarding our member of the year.
Details for this event will be available through the COFW Google Group email

1/13/2024

January

 

Date: January 13, 2024

Time: Networking at 12:00 pm, Business meeting at 12:30 pm, Speaker at approx. 1:30 pm
Location: Zoom and Community Room at the Burkhardt Library, 4704 Burkhardt Ave., Dayton, OH 45403. This is a newer location for us, in the Dayton Metro Library System.
Speaker: Jules Bennett, in person (weather permitting, otherwise, Zoom)
Topic: Breathing Life Into Your Work

Make your characters and even your settings come to life with realistic descriptions. Fun concepts to make your manuscript stand out!

About our Speaker: USA Today Bestselling Author Jules Bennett has penned more than 100 contemporary romance novels since the start of her career. She knows a thing or two about love considering she met her husband when she was 14, dated him all through high school, and they have been married nearly 25 years. They have 2 teen girls and live in the Midwest with their rescue pup, Maggie. Jules loves to travel and spend time with her family. In her spare time, she’s a true crime junkie.

February 17, 2024

February

Libby Waterford is a white woman. Her brown hair is tied back behind her head, and she is wearing glasses and a lacy blue top.

Date: February 17, 2024
UPDATED Time, first time we are trying this:
  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and Hilliard Room of Hilliard Branch, Columbus Metropolitan Library, 4500 Hickory Chase Way, Hilliard, OH 43026
Speaker:  Libby Waterford, via Zoom
Topic:  Self Publishing Basics

Your self-publishing journey is as unique as your writing journey, and this workshop will help you understand what you need to consider as you start down the self-publishing path. We will cover working with editors to get your book publication-ready, packaging your book, distributing the finished product, as well as next steps like marketing and advertising.
About our Speaker:  Libby Waterford is the author of the Sawyer’s Cove: The Reboot and the Never a Bride series. She’s obsessed with her pollinator garden, DIY fermentation, and writing swoony first kisses and hopeful happily ever afters. Her steamy contemporary romances mix witty banter and all the feels with a solid dollop of good old-fashioned sexual tension. Libby wrangles her two ever-growing sons and a husband in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
The former President of the

Connecticut Chapter of Romance Writers of America®, Libby is also an instructor at the Westport Writers’ Workshop.

April 13, 2024

April

Gery Deer is a white man with blond hair, wearing glasses

Date: April 13th 2024
Time:

  • 12:00 pm, Networking
  • 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
  • around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
  • 1:30 pm, Speaker

Location: Zoom and NEW Location: Meeting Room of Urbana Public Library, 1060 Scioto St, Urbana, OH 43708-2228. Room is Just to the right as you enter the library.

Speaker:  Gery Deer
Topic:  Building a Following as a Writer Means Thinking Like a Business Owner
About our Speaker:  As Gery says, “I can’t give you my biography, I’m not done with it yet.” So I had to hunt for information, but here’s what I have found. Gery Deer is the CEO and PR Director of GLD Communications. He has been a freelance journalist since 1987. He’s been nominated for multiple journalism awards, including a 2010 Pulitzer Prize nomination.