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Writing Sexuality

You are writing a romance and want to include “sex scenes.” How graphic do you want the descriptions without them becoming smutty? What if you only want to include imagery that happens above the neck? What is the industry standard that is expected in the romance genre? Are there tricks to let the reader imagine what you only hint at?

Our long-time member, New York Times best-selling author Kathryn Shay, will answer these questions during her presentation on Saturday, August 23. We are fortunate to have an author with over 100 published romances in our midst who shares her expertise so freely.

Come visit our group for the business meeting that starts at 9:00, or join us at 10:00 and participate in the presentation. We invite visitors to attend one meeting for free before becoming a member. Our dues are only $20.00 a year. For that small amount, you get seven presentations, three peer critique sessions, and a December holiday party. Our location and meeting times are prominently displayed on the first page of this website.

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Kaycee John Visits

Kycee John gave us some excellent information during the presentation at the May Meeting. She is an agent from Wild Rose Press, and some of us knew her by her writing name, Kat Henry Doran.

Tips for submitting to any press.

  1. Follow the guidelines given, and include all information asked for.
  2. Don’t submit what they don’t want, or more than they want.
  3. Do your research to submit to the correct department or person.
  4. BE POLITE and patient.

Your main character needs to have a well-defined goal, conflicts that make the goal difficult to reach, and the motivation to attain the goal anyway. That’s what makes a reader keep turning the pages.

No matter who you publish with or whether you do it yourself, marketing is your job. Learn ways to build an email list, ask your family, friends, and writing group to help you share news of new books, and plan book signings at local libraries, and/or book stores.

Thank you, Kaycee, for sharing information with us.

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Character Development

Have you ever wanted to take a class from a New York Times best-selling author? On April 26, Kathryn Shay will present the basics on how to develop characters for your story, whether it’s a short one or a novel. The basics for doing this don’t change, so she will be sharing her methods with the group.

If not already a member of our group, you are welcome to visit one time free of charge.

The time and location of our meeting are given on the home page of this website.

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Show-dont tell – presentation

At last Saturday's meeting we were watching a video presentation entitle "show - don't tell." After a few minutes, fussy technology reigned and I couldn't get the video restarted. Member, Kim Gore jumped up from her seat and professionally saved the day. After a bit more instruction, she gave us the following prompt that tells about something happening and asked us to write the same scene showing it to our fellow readers. 
Prompt: He was so angry that he threw the shovel across the driveway and screamed. His wife came out of the house and gave him a cup of cocoa.  
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My descriptive version: by Paul Irvine

He stared hard at the shovel, half full of snow, the ice sticking to it adding ten pounds. His frozen toes now forgotten, he kicked it, shattering the ice and his big toe, and sending him flying down the driveway on his back. The resulting scream echoed down the street, like a blast from a shotgun. His wife, already half way out the door, rushed to him, slipped and spilled the hot cocoa down his open jacket. As she hit the ground, their duo screams set off their car alarms, adding to the winter cacophony filling their neighborhood!
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Effort to show not tell - Kathleen Plum:

It was a bitter cold wintery morning and the three feet of snow and ice on Jack’s driveway begged to be left alone. He was still steaming from the argument with his wife over their taxes; he was happy to feel the icy breeze brush his nose and cheeks as he stepped out of the house with the snow shovel. A thin, fluffy coating of snow had disguised the thick, hard layer of ice beneath it. In pure frustration, Jack threw his shovel across the driveway and screamed. But then he saw the outline of a bloody human hand, with only 3 fingers, encrusted in the ice below. Now the wind- or maybe it was the hand in the ice- took his breath away entirely. Jack was still speechless as his wife came out of the house bearing a cup a cocoa in repentance for her part in the dust-up that morning, oblivious to the macabre scene that awaited her.
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Immediate response to telling prompt -  by Sue Spitulnik

"This damn snow. I want to move south."
"You've said that for years and I agree, then you say you won't leave the kids."
"That's your line."
"Okay. It's your mother you won't leave. Go shovel before she gets here."
He put on three shirts, his insulated pants, a heavy coat and gloves. I added his knit cap and opened the door for him. Next thing I heard was a scream and a thump. I ran to the window. The shovel was five feet into the yard and he was sitting on his ass, fuming, but seemed okay. I watched. He slowly turned to get on all fours and gingerly got up. I went to the kitchen to make him a cup of hot cocoa and put a shot of whiskey in it thinking whatever works. I took it out to him. He would be nicer when his mother arrived. 
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As you can see, Paul and Kathleen followed the prompt. Sue rearranged the timeline in her writing showing that everyone wrote what came to mind with different character personalities, and different settings. This is because every author draws on their own personal experiences when writing, and no two people think alike. It was a good presentation for everyone present. Fun side note: more than one person included an argument about doing their taxes.
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Show, Don’t Tell

Every author has to learn to write prose that lets readers experience the story by using their five senses. It’s not as easy as it sounds because telling what is happening in a scene is how we generally write, but it leaves the reader feeling uninvolved. In some circumstances, showing is more challenging than in others. The meeting presentation on Saturday, February 22, will be Leslie J. Hall explaining how to show instead of tell by sharing great examples.

If you have heard this topic discussed before, I still encourage you to join us. There may be some tidbit of information spoken in a different manner that will help you incorporate showing into your writing more naturally.

The time and location of our meeting are given on the home page.

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Happy 2025

Our January 25th meeting will find us planning for 2025. As President, still, I will be asking what you hope to gain by being a member of the group, What areas of the writer’s world you would like explained in presentations, and who do you know who can share their expertise.

We will discuss some ideas about what more the members could be doing for each other as fellow writers. Plus, there should be time for a fun writing exercise just to get the creative thoughts working and some words written.

I wish each of you, members and non-members, who follow our website and give life to the group a happy, healthy 2025.

Sue Spitulnik

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November 23 Meeting

President Sue Spitulnik will be sharing her favorite conference takeaways from the year. One has to do with how to sell more books when you, as the author, are the guest speaker. Another concerns using that stored notebook you have waiting for a special occasion. (Bring it with you, please.) We will also discuss the importance of utilizing on-line conferences and why to go to live ones. One more item will be how to use the group to advertise your new books and/or anthologies before they are published and once they are.

Visitors are always welcome at Lilac City Rochester Writers. We hope you’ll come check us out. Our meeting location and meeting time are listed on the first page of this site.

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September Presentation

Steve Yates, LCRW’s treasurer extraordinaire, likes to learn shortcuts for accomplishing things in Word and Windows without using his mouse. He will be sharing those tips and tricks with us at our September 23 meeting. And yes, he also knows how to do it on Mac. He makes his presentations fun, so bring your laptop and we’ll all learn together.