Hello Milwaukee, Day 3 of the Romance Slam Jam Conference

Crystal and Lillie (in front)

The workshop run by authors and playwrights Crystal Rhodes and Lillie Barnett Evans really challenged the RSJ attendees.  These wonderful ladies took characters from their book ‘Grandmothers Incorporated’ and created a play.  The process of taking beloved characters from your published novel to the stage seemed a little intimating but these ladies believe every author should think about the genre.  It’s another form of writing that will inspire authors to stretch their writing skills.

Theaters are always looking for new material for upcoming productions so take a moment, examine your favorite characters, and see if you can breathe new life into them in a stage setting. Check out the African American Playwrights Exchange for more information.

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Ann and Barbara

Authors Barbara Keaton and Ann Clay created an interactive workshop that had RSJ attendees explaining why they loved their favorite romance characters.  It was a lively exchange as everyone relieved why certain heroes and heroines have a special place in their minds.

These ladies reminded us that the most amazing characters that we have encountered are the ones that seem to be snatched from real life. They jump off the page and make us see them as real people.  They are layered, confident, and have us thinking about re-reading an author's book again and again.

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The Romance Slam Jam Book signing area was packed with authors and I’m sorry to say I only had a few moments to speak with a few authors but the ones I spoke to are authors you need to read. Yvette Hines, Ann Clay, Regena Bryant, Daphne Douglas. I’ll be blogging about each of these ladies more in-depth in the next few days.

The Emma Awards Banquet was a lovely affair but I must speak about it on a separate blog entry so give me a few moments and you’ll be able to see who was the Belle of the Ball last night.