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Event Details

BTO Rewind: The Crossroads Writers Conference

  • 26 Oct 2019
  • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
  • Downtown Branch of the Wicomico County Public Library

Registration is closed

Featuring readings and workshop sessions on "How to Write a Novel" with John DeDakis and "Make it Sound True: How to Hijack Your Reader's Hearts" with Nancy Mitchell!

Based on the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference 2019 surveys, you wanted more from these two phenomenal presenters.  We thrilled to be able to offer two free sessions to our ESWA members on opposite ends of the Eastern Shore, The Canal Town Writers Conference in Chesapeake City, Maryland, and The Crossroads Writers Conference in Salisbury, Maryland.  Feel free to join us for one or both of the sessions, both of which will feature readings and presentations from John DeDakis and Nancy Mitchell.  

Please be sure to register for each location(s) you will be attending.

Need to renew your membership?  Or bringing a friend that is not an ESWA member?  Visit this link to renew or join!

The Canal Town Writers Conference

Located at the Chesapeake City Branch of the Cecil County Public Library (2527 Augustine Herman Highway) on September 28th from 10 am - 1 pm.  A networking lunch will follow at Maria's Restaurant from 1:15 pm - 2:45 pm.  Please note that participants are responsible for their own lunch costs.

The Crossroads Writers Conference

Located at the Downtown Branch of the Wicomico County Public Library (122 S Division Street) in Salisbury, Maryland on October 26th from 10 am - 1 pm.  A networking lunch will follow at Market Street Inn from 1:15 pm -2:45 pm.  Please note that participants are responsible for their own lunch costs.

The Sessions:

How to Write a Novel with John DeDakis
A practical 15-point plan that demystifies and deconstructs novel-writing--from the mere germ of an idea all the way through the creative process, with an eye on getting a finished book into the hands of potential fans. We'll discuss how to tap into your subconscious and life experiences to transform them into a book-length project, populated with interesting characters, a twisty-turny plot, snappy dialogue, and an interesting setting. We'll also look at strategies for finding an agent, marketing the finished product, and facing your writing and marketing fears. 


Make it Sound True: A Guide to Hijacking Your Reader's Hearts with Nancy Mitchell
Long before the proof of scientific evidence was in, musicians, poets and filmmakers have long intuited that of all our senses, sound is the expressway loop to the emotional center of the brain. Because early humans communicated via sound before the evolution of language, the resultant, logical part of the brain, the cortex, will immediately defer to the sound of words before engaging in the lengthy task of processing meaning—which was, and still is quite handy during emergencies, when there was/is no time to parse meaning. Because of this primal hard-wiring in the primitive, limbic part of our brains, the poetic device of sound is one of the most potent as it has instant access to the emotional center of the brain. Yet, it's often the most under-utilized and the least understood of all the tools at a writer's disposal. During this presentation we will examine three very different, widely anthologized poems to understand how these poets revealed the complexities of the human heart with near miraculous economy and simplicity through the poetic device of sound.

About Our Presenters:

John DeDakis:  Journalist, novelist, and writing coach John DeDakis is a former Senior Copy Editor on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." DeDakis is the author of five novels in the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense series.  His fourth novel, Bullet in the Chamber, is the winner of Reviewers Choice, Foreword INDIES, and Feathered Quill book awards. In his most recent novel, Fake, Lark is a White House correspondent dealing with “fake news” in the era of #MeToo.  DeDakis regularly teaches novel writing at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda and the Politics & Prose Bookstore in D.C. He is also a jazz drummer.  For more info, visit: www.johndedakis.com

Nancy Mitchell:  Nancy Mitchell, a Pushcart Prize 2012 recipient, is the author of The Near Surround, Grief Hut, and The Out-of-Body Shop and co-editor of Plume Interviews I. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Daily, Agni, Green Mountains Review, Washington Square Review and others. Mitchell teaches at Salisbury University, Maryland and is Associate Editor of Special Features for Plume Poetry. She is the Poet Laureate of Salisbury, Maryland.  For more information, visit: www.nancymitchellwriter.com




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