ART Station Presents: Keystones of the Art of Excellent Writing
has been postponed – date to be announced shortly
Download Registration Form Here
After a long hiatus from presenting writing workshops, ART Station will launch a new series of workshops for writers in all genres. Using the symbol of the Keystone as a base, these workshops will provide excellent speakers and industry professionals who will offer their expertise to help authors achieve success. Beginning with the Meet and Greet Reception on Friday evening, writers will be immersed in the culture of the writer, including a book signing and tour of the ART Station galleries. On Saturday, following a continental breakfast, attendees will choose from a variety of fascinating workshops designed to engage writers and challenge them to excel while conveying ideas to launch them on the journey to success. Topics include Movie Making in Georgia, Keystones of Successful Fiction, Writing with Humor, Successful Indie Publishing and much more. After the workshop is over, writers are encouraged to attend the reception and opening of the exciting new Tiny House Exhibit.
Workshop presenters include the following:
Ann Hite: Ann sold her first novel at age 51. Her debut novel, Ghost on Black Mountain won the Georgia Author of the Year Award and was a Townsend Prize Finalist. Her novel Where the Souls Go is a finalists in the IndieFab Book awards and is available through Mercer University Press. Sleeping Above Chaos, her fourth novel, is set in Black Mountain, NC and will be available September 1 from Mercer University Press.
Raymond Atkins: Ray resides in Rome, Georgia, where he is an instructor of English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. His first novel, The Front Porch Prophet, was published by Medallion Press in 2008 and was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel. His second novel, Sorrow Wood, was published by Medallion Press in 2009. His third novel, Camp Redemption, was released by Mercer University Press in 2013 and was awarded the Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction and the 2014 Georgia Author of the Year Award for Fiction. His fourth novel, Sweetwater Blues, was a Townsend Prize nominee and 2015 Georgia Author of the Year runner-up for fiction. South of the Etowah, his first creative non-fiction book, was released by Mercer University Press on March 1.
Kate McArdle: Kate spent the first twenty years of her career working as a producer and creative executive in the entertainment industry in both theatrical feature films and TV. As a high-level cable executive at USA Cable network, feature film executive with producers Hawk Koch at Paramount and Dino De Laurentiis productions, and as a producer with actor Michael Douglas, she was in charge of creating the stories that would become mainstream entertainment. Kate recently accepted the position as Director of Film Workforce Development for the newly minted Georgia Film Academy. As Director she is in charge of helping Georgians train for jobs on productions shooting in Georgia and is helping to build the above the line culture by working with local writers, producers and directors to partner on independent projects. She keeps her fingers in the producing world and is currently developing a TV movie at the Hallmark Channel.
Holly Sullivan McClure: Raised by Shaman, storytellers, preachers, and bluegrass musicians, child of the Smoky Mountains with a Cherokee mom and a father whose people came from the Scottish Highlands, Holly draws on her heritage for inspiration as an author and storyteller. She founded Sullivan Maxx Literary Agency and represented authors of fiction and non-fiction until the agency was acquired by Lexium Talent and Entertainment where she is still a consultant. She is an ordained priest in the Celtic Christian Church and resides in Atlanta Ga. Her writing is literary with a touch of the supernatural. Among her books are The Vessel of Scion, [Ecanus UK, Conjuror, [Mercer University Press] Low Country Mysteries, YA [Shuttered Lamp Books] for ages 9 and up Ghost Horses, Ghost Guardian and A Message from Anne Elise, [Shuttered Lamp Books].
Nancy Knight: Nancy is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter and short-story writer. With twelve novels published, six plays produced, one screenplay produced and numerous short stories published, she crosses the genres with ease. She has taught writing classes for more than twenty-five years. Many of her students have gone on to be published, some even achieving the New York Times Bestseller lists. Because of her dedication to helping unpublished authors along in their careers, Georgia Romance Writers name their coveted mentorship award for her. For the past five years, The Nancy Knight Award for Mentorship has been given at their annual conference to published writers who are recognized for mentoring upcoming authors. She has been a director of Dragon Con’s popular Writers’ Track for the past eighteen years and won the Hank Rhinehart Georgia Fandom Award, given annually to people who are recognized for promoting genre fiction. Nancy was a founding partner of BelleBooks and Bell Bridge Books and is now creative director of Gilded Dragonfly Books. She is a highly sought-after speaker at writers conferences and presents workshops across the country.
Nicki Salcedo: Nicki is the author of All Beautiful Things and Intersections. She writes a weekly column for Decaturish.com and has contributed to Urban LUX Magazine and GoodHousekeeping.com. Nicki has appeared on stage with “Listen to Your Mother” and “WRITE CLUB Atlanta.” In addition, she has been a guest of Georgia Public Radio’s “On Second Thought.” Nicki is an excellent example of a writer who works to inspire other writers. She speaks at conferences and presents workshops.
Nicole Pierce: Noelle Pierce has always been fascinated by art in both its visual and written forms. An avid reader, she believes a cover should convey a sense of the book’s tone, genre, and a hint (or more) of the story. As an artist, she’s drawn to covers with bold colors and high contrast. Her philosophy is: Minimal imagery, high impact. Covers that make you think, but still give a significant idea of what you’re about to read. When she’s not making book covers, she spends her time as an online psychology professor, romance author, and mother. Occasionally, she sleeps.
Cherry Weiner: Cherry Weiner grew up in Australia, lived in Europe for three and a half years and moved to American when she married her husband Jack. She has been agenting since 1977, when she was fired by her boss the well-known Robert P. Mills. Mills’ famous clients (she will not any drop further names, but might tell you about it, if you ask her), took two years to convince her to open her own agency. They did this by inundating her with new authors and their manuscripts. She started out by handling science fiction, fantasy, and horror. She now handles all genres. Among the *all genres* she handles a good number of fairly well-known authors in the field of Horror, Romance, Mystery, Westerns, Native American novels and Historical novels covering all the various genres. Only once in a while has non-fiction crept into the mix but no poetry, no children’s fiction and almost no Young Adult works. If there is Y.A., then it is science fiction, fantasy or horror, and only by the authors she already handles in adult fiction.
Other speakers are yet-to-be announced.
The Friday evening reception, Saturday continental breakfast and catered lunch (You may select vegetarian, ham or turkey sandwiches for your meal.) are included in the price of the conference. In addition, you will tour the ART Station galleries and the new “Tiny House Exhibit” which opens on August 13.
Conference fees are as follows:
ART Station members: $99.00
Non-members: $129.00
ART Station membership: $25.00 (artist level membership entitles you to many advantages and discounts)
Additional options: You may submit up to ten (10) pages for agent Cherie Weiner to critique for a fee of $25.00. You may submit up to twenty-five 25 pages for Nancy Knight to critique for a fee of $25.00. These pages must be submitted in advance. Mail to: ART Station, P. O. Box 1998, Stone Mountain, Georgia 30087. Writers submitting manuscripts for critique must include a check or money order made out to the appropriate person.
ART Station is located at 5374 Manor Drive, Stone Mountain, Georgia, 30083. Phone: 770-469-1105.
E-mail: Info@artstation.org.