Latecomers Welcome to Bootcamp Face-to-Face

THE DANCE OF PLOT AND CHARACTER

We just learned that we'll be able to add people to the meal list even if they want to register at the door on the morning of April 30.  The cut-off time is 8:45 because the program starts promptly at 9am. We'll even feed you juice, various breakfast breads, fruit and get you jump started with hot coffee or tea.  Coffee, tea, and water will be available all day . . . and we hand out cookies at the afternoon break.  Doors open at 8am, the seminar starts promptly at 9am, so get here early to check in, eat and chat.

LUNCH MENU:
Your choice of:
    * 6 oz. NY steak
    * Chicken breast w/pesto sauce
    * Pork chop with carmalized apples
    * Vegetarian: Ravioli w/marina sauce

Meal choice will be made during registration check-in. 

Walk-in Registration fee is $150. Register online by the 29th to get the $125 fee.  

LOCATION:
The Historical Monti's La Casa Vieja Steakhouse
100 S. Mill Avenue
Tempe, Arizona 85281
Phone: (480) 967-7594

You find Monti's on the corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado. The entrance is on Rio Salado but park in the back. There's a special entrance for us because the restaurant isn't regularly open that early.  If you are totally unfamiliar with Monti's and unsure about finding it, email me at bootcamp4novelists@cox.net for more detailed instructions.

SCHEDULE:   
8:00     Doors open/check in/continental breakfast
9:00     Seminar begins - Characters Discovered
10:30    Break
10:45    Seminar resumes - Boxes to Put Them In
12:00    Lunch
1:30      Seminar resumes - The 8 Major Story Events
3:00      Break
3:15      Seminar resumes - The Glorious Dance
5:00      Seminar complete

We must exit the dining room promptly at five.  Another event is schedule right after us.

Bring a jacket or sweater and something to write with.  Laptops are okay. You can travel light because most everything you need for a successful seminar will be provided.

bootcampfornovelists.com

Free Saturday Workshop, Good Guys and Vile Villains

Villains are so often overlooked in the process of learning to write.  We develop characters -- protagonists, secondary characters, love interests, antagonists, buddies and parents and children and whatever other people might populate our story.

Yet many of us think the villain will take care of himself -- he's bad, right, people hate him, right? what does it take to write a bad person?

Well, probably the same amount of effort it takes to write an antagonist.  Romance writers are good at antagonists because the hero and heroine are always each others antagonists.  But they aren't bad people, simply misguided, at least from the others perspective.

While villians are antagonists, there's something special about them, at least there needs to be if the villain is more than a Snidely Whiplash.  Okay some of you might not remember the Perils of Pauline. Actually neither do I, but I do know that combined with Dudley Do-Right, the three stars personified stereotypical characterization.

We do much better jobs with building believable heroes and heroines these days, but not always as well in building villains.  We need to look back at some memorable villains to see how often this role is neglected.  How many of you write villains who match the pure intellect of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis, Moriarty?  How about the wit of Hannible Lector from Silence of the Lambs?  Captain Hook's doomed obsession with getting his hand back from the crocodile?  The cold and ruthless focus of The White Witch in The Narnia series?  The mad genuis of the Joker in the Batman series?

There is a common element that makes these villains unforgettable.and the major one is that they're all unique personalities.  Their planning is diabolical; they are ruthless and will stop at nothing; and they have some deep sorrow or personal code of conduct that maintains their humanity.

Do you have a favorite Villain? If so, maybe you could take a moment to tell us what about that vile creature makes them unforgettable in your mind.  Or, If you attend the Desert Sleuths Sisters in Crime  free Saturday workshop at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library I'll be in one of the workshop rooms at 2pm, delivering a presentation on Constructing Killer Characters.   I'll be dealing with developing a memorable villain so stop on by, stay if the workshop is of interest, and let me know who you thinks is/are the vilest of the vile.

If you can't make that workshop, consider my all-day workshop on April 30th called the Dance of Plot and Character.  We will cover villians then, too. And much, much more because the day's devoted to making your characters come alive.  In the meantime, I invite you again to post your idea of a memorable villain and why.