Bestselling authors William Bernhardt and Rene Gutteridge discuss the latest news from the book world, offer writing tips, and interview Alisa Lynn Valdes, author of The Dirty Girls Social Club and Hollow Beasts.

Chapter 1: Introduction
How a writing cruise could change your life.

Chapter 2: News
1) James Patterson Banned in Florida
2) Publishing Exec Who Stole Manuscripts Pleads Guilty
3) WGA Wants AI to be Allowed to Write Screenplays
4) A TikTok Ban Would Hurt Many Authors

Chapter 3: Interview
Alisa Lynn Valdés is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist and a former staff writer for both The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. With more than one million books in print in eleven languages, she was included on Time’s list of the twenty-five most influential Hispanics and was a Latina woman of the year as well as an Entertainment Weekly breakout literary star. She is the author of many novels, including The Dirty Girls Social Club and most recently, Hollow Beasts.

In this interview, she will discuss:
1) why she started a mystery series;
2) how she journeyed from journalism to fiction;
3) why she took a ten-year break from writing;
4) the role of setting; and
5) how she gravitated toward outlining.

Chapter 4: Parting Words
We’re taking registrations for the WriterCon small-group retreat, which is July 19-23 at the Stone Castle Convention Center in Branson MO. This is five days of intensive work with no more than eight writers, involving teaching, editing, feedback, and mentoring—and maybe some fun, too. Space is obviously limited, so register today. www.writercon.com/retreat

And after the small-group retreat comes the large-group conference, WriterCon. That’s September 1-4 (Labor Day weekend) in Oklahoma City. We have more than sixty presenters lined up, plus the best roster of agents we’ve ever had, including movie/tv agents, and publishers and much more. And if you register now, you can take advantage of the Early Bird prices. Adding new features to improve pitching and adding a Monday ReaderCon. www.writercon.com

Until next time, keep writing, and remember, you cannot fail if you refuse to quit.

William Bernhardt
www.williambernhardt.com
www.writercon.com