HEIDI RUBY MILLER

Workshops I've had some recent questions about how our Pennwriters Online course will be conducted. See if this helps to explain it a bit better: 1. When you sign up for the class, you'll receive access to a Yahoo group. Follow this link to an example of one: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PennwritersOnlineCourses 2. Once you sign up and are invited (by the Pennwriters moderator) to our Yahoo group, you'll be able to see an area for MESSAGES and FILES. 3. On Friday, April 1, 2011, we'll post a welcome and introduction in the MESSAGES. This will include details on how to select your writing project (novel beginning, short story, article) for the course. 4. Every Sunday, you can email your revised project (revised based on information from the new lesson) to heidirubymiller@gmail.com so we know you're on the right track and to see if there's any individualized help we can offer. If you can't get your assignments to us right away, no problem. Th...

News To celebrate the release of the new writing guide Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction , we are scouting for stops in our three-month mega virtual book tour (VBT) during April, May, and June. Do you… …have an author interview series? We have contributors ready to be interviewed. …review books on your site? We can offer you pdf copies of our book for review. …provide contests and giveaways? We have swag to give away. …do something special? We can provide that special something. All VBT participants will be listed with a link and description on a VBT page on the Many Genres, One Craft site: manygenres.blogspot.com as well as announced and promoted during the day/s of your stop. Contact me at heidirubymiller@gmail.com for further inquiries and to schedule your stop today. I will also be glad to interview you for my two author series: HEIDI'S PICK SIX and PATHS TO PUBLICATION as a thank you!

Books I am one of several Seton Hill Writers who contributed to the Low-Residency MFA Handbook: A Guide for Perspective Creative Writing Students by Lori A. May . This guide offers prospective graduate students an in-depth preview of low-residency creative writing MFA programs, as well as interviews with program directors, faculty, alumni, and current students. Low-Residency MFA Handbook by Lori A. May Here is the full list of Seton Hill Writers : Shelley Bates (Shelley Adina) Matt Duvall Natalie Duvall Heidi Ruby Miller Jason Jack Miller Cynthia Ravinski Nicole Taft Albert Wendland ABOUT LORI A. MAY Lori is a part-time writing instructor and a member of the AWP , MLA , and the Michigan College English Association . She is a frequent guest lecturer and workshop presenter at writers' conferences and graduate writing programs. In addition to her freelance writing, Lori is the author of Moving Target (Athena Force) , The Profiler , and stains: early poems . More ...

Submissions Here is the annual look back at my submission record for this year and some stats on my total submissions since I started to record them in 2004. 2010 SUBMISSIONS AND RESPONSES: 22 total submissions *The total is 10 more than 2009 . 6 rejections *All but one were from literary agents on novel queries. 9 non-responders *Six of these were from literary agencies, the other three from magazine editors. 7 acceptances *These are from various sources for a variety of projects. 2010 RESPONSES FROM 2009 SUBMISSIONS: 3 withdrawals - 380/388/390 days *This was for the MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT proposal, which Mike and I placed with Headline Books, Inc. 2010 RESPONSES FROM 2008 SUBMISSIONS: 1 acceptance - 321 days *This was for my poem Starship Stowaways at Beyond Centauri . So this goes against the past two years where I've said that having a sub out longer isn't necessarily a good thing. In this case it was! 1 other - 726 days *I created the "othe...

WORKSHOPS WRITING WITH AUTHORITY Online Course INSTRUCTORS: Jason Jack Miller and Heidi Ruby Miller DATE: April 1 – May 2, 2011 LIMITED CLASS SIZE. Enroll now. COURSE DESCRIPTION: The easiest way to engage your reader is by using concrete nouns and action verbs. In this one-month online course, Seton Hill University creative writing faculty Jason Jack Miller and Heidi Ruby Miller will show you how to analyze your writing and use easy techniques that will increase the authority of your voice. Participants will: * Discover how to spot passive voice * Scrutinize their writing for generic nouns and indefinite pronouns * Learn to avoid weak verbs and overuse of “be” in all its forms * Practice using strong synonyms to find the best action verb * Apply word cloud research to make their plot come alive FREE BONUS: Course participants will receive a free excerpt (.pdf) from the new writing guide, MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT: LESSONS IN WRITING POPULAR FICTION ( Headline B...

Websites Co-editor Mike Arnzen launched the official website for our new book Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction at http://manygenres.blogspot.com . Many Genres, One Craft is the equivalent of a graduate program in creative writing captured in the pages of a book...stuffed with great advice, but not stuffy at all. Gathering the voices of today's top genre writers and their published students from Seton Hill University's acclaimed MFA program -- the country's only graduate program specifically focused on writing popular fiction –- Many Genres, One Craft is an academic instructional guide that aims to be the most entertaining textbook a new author will ever read. It targets those who want to write commercial novels of quality, rather than to publish only in academia. And because it is a multi-authored collection, it is like a writing community, a group of like-minded thinkers and kindred spirits, assembled between its covers, focused on ma...

Conferences From Julie Long and Meredith Cohen , 2011 Pennwriters Conference Coordinators 20 Things You’ll Learn About Craft and Career in Just Three Days: 1. How to start, survive and thrive in a critique group 2. Creating a powerful sense of place in your novel 3. The art of social networking and shameless self-promotion 4. How to balance narrative with dialog 5. Why writing for younger audiences is different 6. How to give a great reading 7. Identifying your learning style to become a better writer 8. Understanding your character’s psychological issues 9. Setting and reaching writing goals 10. How to interview for the nonfiction book 11. How to know if you need a prologue 12. Life balance skills for writers * 13. How fixing your first page can improve your entire manuscript 14. Understanding the creative process and the writer’s inner turmoil 15. Taking your writing to the screen 16. How to perfect your pitch 17. What makes a good memoir 18. Using meditativ...