Presidents Desk
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2024 STAR OFFICERS
The following members were elected to serve one year.
President: Jen Bokal
Secretary M.L. Stoughton
Treasurer Joan Koster
To contact a board member, email starofficials@gmail.com
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2024 Meeting Schedule
Southern Tier Authors of Romance meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, except when a special event is scheduled and during the months of July and August. In person meetings are held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the music section of B&N. These are public. Member-only meetings are held on ZOOM.
January 10th: Our first meeting of 2024. We will discuss plans for the rest of the year and create a Vision Board for our 2024 writing goals. Please bring any supplies you may want. Suggestions are: old magazines, scissors, markers, glue sticks, images printed from the internet.
Saturday, February 10th: Romance Book Signing at B&N, noon-2:00 p.m. (Tentative) To be guaranteed a spot in this event, you need to be a paid member of RWA and STAR. Other spots might come available and will be filled in conjunction with the store.
Wednesday, March 13th, 6:30 p.m: Zoom, Guest Speaker TBA
Wednesday, April 10th, 6:30 p.m: B&N, Writing Federal Agent Characters with retired FBI Special Agent, John Bokal
Wednesday, May 8th, 6:30 p.m: B&N TBA
Wednesday, June 12th, 6:30 p: Zoom Guest Presentation
Saturday, September 14th: Fall Retreat Location: TBA
Wednesday, October 9th, 6:30 p.m: B&N
Wednesday, November 13th, 6:30 p.m: Zoom TBA
December Holiday and Award Luncheon Time and place TBA
Check back often for updates!
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STAR Fall Meeting Schedule
Happy Fall 2020
Due to the coronvirus, we are currently meeting via ZOOM. The chapter has purchased a subscription so we can have meetings for the length of time and number of attendees that we require.
With the availability of ZOOM, we are instituting a new policy. Our RWA Chapter business meetings will be held four times a year – January, April, August, and November. Our regular monthly meetings will continue to take place on the third Saturday of the month unless we have a special event.
So here is what is coming up:
Fall Schedule
September 19th 10 AM to 2 PM Writing Retreat via ZOOM – Writing events will be scheduled throughout the day for members to pop in and out of.
October 17th 3 PM ZOOM video conference with award-winning author Shannon Donnelly. The topic will be Writing Deep POV and consist of a discussion followed by writing exercises. This presentation is open to the public. Contact us if you would like to attend.
November 21st A guest speaker to be announced.
December 13th (Sunday) 11 AM A quick ZOOM meeting so members can open their STAR holiday awards and gifts in front of each other. The awards and gifts will be sent via mail beforehand.
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February 2020 Meetng
The next meeting of STAR will take place on Saturday February 15th at 10:15 AM at Barnes&Noble Vestal NY.
The meeting will be followed by a public presentation starting at 11 AM.
Topic : Marketing Resources for Romance Writers presented by Zara West
This presentation will cover:
- Preparing to market your book
- Sales sites that work
- Author Services
- Giveaways and Facebook Ads
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Protected: Members-Only Resource Library
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Message from the President on the RWA Issue
A Statement from the 2020 STAR PRESIDENT
In light of recent events and the past events that continue to come to light in the RWA breakdown, I, as the president of STAR, emphatically state STAR’s support of marginalized writers, authors, and industry professionals.
I know that trust in RWA has been broken, both by the actions taken by the RWA board, staff, and President and by the numerous other instances being reported of systemic bias within the organization, both obvious and insidious in nature.
However, I have hope that RWA can eventually change for the better, as does STAR’s membership. At our January 2020 meeting, the members of STAR decided to take a wait and see attitude to our affiliation with RWA with plans to revisit our affiliation again later in the year to see what steps are being taken to remove bias from the organization.
Meanwhile, I reaffirm my commitment to making our meetings and events safe, welcoming, and inclusive. Please know that I am always available to hear your questions and concerns. You can reach me via our contact form.
Joan Koster, 2020 President of STAR
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2020 Officers Elected
Here are our officers for 2020.
President Joan Koster
Vice President Rebecca Chen
Secretary Jen Bokal
Treasurer Rasha Selim
You can contact them at starofficials@gmail.com
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2019 Officers
2019 STAR Officers
Board of Directors
President – Jennifer Bokal
Secretary – Zara West
Treasurer – Rasha Selim
RWA Representative – Carol Henry
To contact any of our officers, please use our contact form
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Enneagram Workshop
~ The Enneagram Window into Character ~
Coming on Saturday September 15th is a wonderful workshop offered free to the public by our chapter. Do you know what an enneagram is? It’s an amazing tool. It can help you understand yourself better. It can help you understand others. And if you are a writer it can help you develop complex characters with deep emotional ties to others.
Come and find out more. 10:30 to 1:30 at Barnes & Noble in Vestal NY.
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From the Desk of the President: 2018 Schedule
~ What’s Happening in 2018 ~
Hello and welcome to the new year for the Southern Tier Authors of Romance! I’m Jennifer D. Bokal, new president for STAR. For 2018 we are trying something new. Several of our meetings will be open to the public and have a fabulous speaker to help writers at all phases of their career. There’s still plenty of activities for members only, so check that out, too.
3/17 8:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. Retreat
Location: Pumpelly House, Owego, NY ***Members only***
4/21 10:30 a.m. “Literary Devices” Joan Koster, PhD.
Location: Barnes and Noble, Vestal, NY
5/19 10:30 a.m. “Law Enforcement in Writing” Special Agent, John Paul Bokal, Jr. FBI
Location: Barnes and Noble, Vestal, NY
6/16 10:30 a.m. “Current Trends and Marketing” Veronica Parks, Literary Agent, Corvisiero Agency
Location: Barnes and Noble, Vestal, NY
9/15 10:30 a.m. Enneagram Workshop
Location: To Be Announced
10/13 10:30 a.m. Rhonda Penders, Publisher The Wild Rose Press. Topic TBA
Location: Barnes and Noble
November Retreat. ***Members only***
Location: To Be Announced
December Holiday Dinner. ***Members only***
Location: To Be Announced
Happy Writing!
Jennifer D. Bokal
President STAR
