Leah Lore is a woman with short-cropped brown hair. She is sitting on a large boulder in a field of wildflowers.

DATE | October 18th, 2025
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, small group workshopping on your novel or work in progress

LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and Room 1 at the Hilliard Library, 4500 Hickory Chase Way, Hilliard, Ohio

FACILITATOR | Leah Lore

TOPIC | Brainstorming/Plotting in Small-Group Sessions
Come with your book ideas and get ready to brainstorm/plot in small group sessions, Each person has a turn to share where they could use group help brainstorming anything. For example, are you:

Stuck somewhere?
Got a plot hole that swallowed a bus and want ideas how to drive out of it?
Need ideas for events to occur in the plot?
Worried about your characters’ wound and whether it’s strong enough to drive the novel?
Want a general sounding board?

Then come for the plotting/brainstorming! Being in person is highly recommended. Those on Zoom will perform this exercise in a Zoom room.

Pictured here is Juliette Hyland, outlining her book Falling Again for the Single Dad, using one of the templates that the workshop provided. This was prior to Harlequin offering her the first contract. In September 2025 she will have 25 published Harlequin novels, and is waiting on edits for three more!

Attending Our Hybrid Meeting

Presentation is free for members and prospective members who have not yet visited for two complimentary meetings.

For those members who cannot join us in person, join us via Zoom. The password will be posted in the Central Ohio Fiction Writers Google Group, and on the Central Ohio Fiction Writers Facebook page.

If you are not a COFW member and wish to attend this presentation via Zoom, email cofwpresident@gmail.com. Please note, the link spans from the moment we open the room to the social half hour through the business meeting and this program.

Per library policy, “Prepared food and non-alcoholic beverages are allowed in meeting rooms.”

About Our Speaker

Leah Lore is our 2025 Programs Chair. Her debut release, To the Stars, is a sci-fi novelette in ebook that has received Amazon best-seller status.

Leah was a finalist in the 2024 NYCMidnight Short Story Challenge and her short stories have been published in several anthologies. Leah writes character-driven adventures with an emphasis on mental health and self-worth. She has a MS in biology from Wright State University. Her education and love of nature have been pivotal elements of creating beautiful yet realistic worlds brimming with magic. Follow Leah’s progress on her newsletter, website, and social media: https://linktr.ee/leahlore

DATE & TIME | March 19th, 2022 – Social at 12:00 PM, Business meeting at 12:30 pm, Speaker at 1:30 pm or later–after the business meeting concludes
LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and Community Room at the Woodbourne Library, 6060 Far Hills Avenue, Centerville, Ohio 45459. See below for further instructions.
TOPIC | Shari Heinrich & You all!: Brainstorming your Current or Future Creative Writing

Brainstorming your Current or Future Creative Writing

Juliette Hyland plots one of herbooks — Rachel Plots one of her books, now published with Harlequin Medical Romance

Our March program, Brainstorming your Current or Future Creative Writing, is back by popular demand. This program includes light instruction on brainstorming techniques. Members are encouraged to bring their favorite craft book to chat briefly about in the small group, especially if it helps them with brainstorming. You go home with the book you brought, unless you are offering it up to a new home.

Following the brief instruction offered by Shari Heinrich, we’ll spend the majority of the program in hands-on practice, broken into small groups. Those on Zoom, we will attempt to break users into groups of 4-5 (this will be our first time trying that). Last time we offered this program, several of our members worked on novels, such as Juliette Hyland plotting out Falling Again for the Single Dad (now available from Harlequin) and Shari Heinrich using the technique “unlikely combinations” to come up with the idea for one of her novels now in second draft stage, a young adult paranormal about a teenage shifter who is not the animal she expects.

poster boards for brainstorming — these poster boards cover different types of brainstorming

COFW will supply small poster board and markers, in case members find them helpful, along with several visual models of story structure. Donna MacMeans is supplying a host of sticky notes, which she encourages you to take home with you. You supply places where you are blocked, or want additional ideas, to brainstorm your plot, a plot hole, or anything else. Novel or short story, novelette or novella, it’s all fair game. Group members will take turns so that each person has a chance to make forward progress. After the first round of brainstorming, the room will decide whether to stick with the existing groups for the next round, or to mix up members. Participants don’t have to ask for brainstorming help, but if you’re staying for the session, we hope you’ll helping kick-start creativity for one of your COFW friends. Guests are welcome to attend this brainstorming session.

Attending Our Hybrid Meeting

Presentation is free for members and prospective members who have not yet visited for two complimentary meetings. For those members who cannot join us in person, join us via Zoom. The password will be posted in the Central Ohio Fiction Writers Google Group, and on the Central Ohio Fiction Writers Facebook page.

If you are not a COFW member and wish to attend this presentation via Zoom, email cofwpresident@gmail.com.

About Our Speaker

Shari Heinrich writes young adult fantasy populated by characters full of sass and heart. She’s querying Queen of Wands, where teen thief Angela makes the unforgivable mistake of falling for her mark and activating the family’s curse to the ancient Egyptian goddess of retribution.

Contact Shari: www.ShariHeinrich.com

Shari will supply brainstorming techniques that Harlequin medical author Robin Gianna shared one of the times COFW offered this program, along with additional techniques.