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2019 Fall Schedule Update
September 21 STAR Meeting Barnes & Noble Vestal
Meeting 10 AM Presentation 10:30-11:30 Fast Drafting Tricks by Zara West
October 5th Writing Retreat 8:30 to 4 Members Only
Location & directions posted in our Groups.io Listserve
October 18-19 New Jersey Put You Heart in a Book Writers Conference STAR delegation.
We will be bringing a raffle basket. Theme is chocolate – feel free to donate books or chocolate
November 16 STAR Meeting Barnes & Noble Vestal 10 AM
Meeting 10 AM Presentation 10:30 to 11:30 Voting on 2020 officers
December 7 Award Luncheon
Location & directions posted in our Groups.io Listserve
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2019 STAR Meeting & Event Schedule
STAR Meetings and workshops occur on the third Saturday of the month every month, except as noted.
All workshops and events open to the public
February 16th
Writing & Romance Trivia
- Location – B&N Vestal, NY
- Time – 10:30 to 11:30
- *STAR meeting 10-10:30
March 23rd
The First Page
Rhonda Penders, editor of Wild Rose Press, explains what editors are looking for and take pitches for all genres
- Time – 10:30 to 11:30
- Location: Meeting Room, Core Life Eatery, Vestal Parkway Pay-your-own luncheon to follow
- *STAR meeting 10-10:30
April 7th
Members-Only Spring Retreat
- Location Itaska Valley Farm
- Time – 8:30 to 4
May 18th
Tarot for Writers
Romance author, Paula Scardamalia will present on how to use tarot cards to deepen characters and plots. .After, she will give Tarot readings for those interested
- Location Meeting Room Core Life Eatery, Vestal Parkway Pay-your-own luncheon to follow
- Time 10:30 to 11:30
- *Star meeting 10-10:30
June 15th
Protect & Serve for Writers
Members of law enforcement will share their experiences
- Location – B&N Pay-your-own luncheon to follow
- Time – 10:30 to 11:30
- *Star meeting 10-10:30
September 21
Members-Only Fall Retreat
- Location TBA
- Time – 8:30 to 4
October 12th *date changed due to NJ conference
Literary Agent or Writing Roundup
- Location – B&N Pay-your-own luncheon to follow
- Time 10:30 to 11:30
- *Star meeting 10-10:30
October 18-19th
New Jersey Writers Conference
November 16th
Literary Agent or Writing Roundup
- Location – B&N Pay-your-own luncheon to follow
- Time 10:30 to 11:30
- *Star meeting 10-10:30
December 8th
Members-Only Awards luncheon
- Location – TBA
- Time – Noon
*Regular STAR meetings will precede public events to allow time for chapter business and member sharing of good news.
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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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2018 STAR Chapter Awards
~ STAR Awards ~
Presented at the STAR Annual Holiday Awards Luncheon
Membership Awards
20 years
Carol Henry, Karen Hendershott, Thea McGinnis
Yearly Write Awards
STAR Shine award – Most contribution to STAR in a year
2018 – Jen Bokal
STAR Attendance Award – Attended the most meetings in a year
2018 Rasha Selim
STAR Writing award – Most writing accomplishments in a year
2018 Sara Benedict, Michaele Stoughton
STAR Publication award – Publishing a novella/novel(s) in the year.
2018 – Jen Bokal, Sara Benedict, Zara West, Carol Henry, Rasha Selim, Selena Lindalh
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Report on the New Jersey Romance Writers Conference
~ Put Your Heart in A Book ~
The annual New Jersey Romance Writers Conference took place on October 19 and 20. Three members of STAR drove down to the conference: Jen Bokal, Joan Koster, and Rasha Selim. As always there were wonderful speakers and great workshops. The opportunity to pitch your books to editors and agents is always a great feature of the conference.
Hearing successful romance writers is one of the highlights of the conference. To start off, Melinda Leigh gave an overview workshop on writing romantic suspense, but which really covered writing any romance. On Saturday, Virginia Kantra gave the breakfast keynote and Jane Porter spoke at the luncheon. Rebecca Zanetti and Hope Ramsey also gave marvelous workshops.
Although, the meals have always been delicious, the food this year was served buffet style so attendees could enjoy a choice of offerings and not be held up by slow service. There was more than enough to eat and plenty of dancing and fun at the Roaring 20s party on Friday night.
Here we are with Rhonda Penders, editor of Wild Rose Press
2018 New Jersey Romance Writers Conference If you missed the conference this year, consider going down with a group of us next year.
submitted by Joan Koster
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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
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2018 STAR Officers
~ 2018 STAR Officers ~
President -Jen Bokal
Secretary – Joan Koster
Treasurer – Michaele Stoughton
Pan Representative – Carol Henry
Webmaster – Joan Koster
Online Workshop Coordinator – Joan Koster
Questions? Comments? News? Contact our officers via this form:
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2017 Officers & Events
Our officers for 2017 are:
President: Emma Barron
Secretary: Jen Bokal
Treasurer: Joan Koster
PRO Liaison: Carol Henry
Officers will assume their offices in January at our Annual Meeting at the Edge of Thyme.
Congratulations to them all!
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2016 Officers
Our officers for 2016, elected by a unanimous vote are:
President: Emma Barron
Secretary: Jen Bokal
Treasurer: Joan Koster
PRO Liaison: Carol Henry
Officers will assume their offices in January at our Annual Meeting at the Treadway Inn.
Congratulations to them all!
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