May 2017 Speaker

Alicia Dean is both a freelance editor and an editor for The Wild Rose Press. She lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, and writes mostly contemporary suspense and paranormal but has also written in other genres, including a few vintage historicals.
  She is the author of more than twenty-five published works under the name Ally Robertson for the Wild Rose Press suspense line. Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, and Lisa Gardner, to name just a few.
  Dean’s topic will be “Common Writing Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them.”
  From her experience as an editor, she will alert us to some of the issues she sees in submissions.
Examples:
• Filter Words (words that distance readers from the emotion and action (fewer of these will help make your writing more ‘showing’ vs ‘telling’).
• Head Hopping (switching points of view in scenes).
• Dangling & Misplaced Modifiers (what they are and how to be rid of them).


• Unnecessary words and phrases (ways to tighten your writing by eliminating them).