Wed, January 17, 24, 31 & February 7, 6:30-8:30pm CST, Hybrid (in-person at Gemini Ink and online via Zoom)
Instructor: Laura Castro
Nonmember: $155; Member: $130; Student/Educator/Military: $75

*EARN CPE’S

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Class Full

Compelling lovers, an emotionally driven plot, and steamy sex scenes–these are the ingredients of every great romance story. If you’ve always wanted to write a romance but didn’t know how, now is your chance! Bring your story idea to life with award-winning romance author Laura Castoro (aka Laura Parker). 

In this 4-session, generative workshop, we will guide writers through the creation of an emotionally resonant plot with a unique slant and irresistible characters for a fascinating and unforgettable romance. Yes, there will be sex scenes! Writers will build on a story concept by constructing a synopsis and a first chapter while also learning about potential problems that can derail the creative process. By the end of the workshop, each writer will have the good bones of a riveting romance.

This course is open to fiction writers 18+ who want to write or finish a romance manuscript.

By the end of the class, students will have: 

• A story synopsis with characters and plot
• The story structure and a good starting place
• Ideas on how to keep the creative process going

Read Laura’s Writer’s Desk Interview!

Laura Castoro, a USA Today, Amazon top 100, and Apple Books bestseller, has published 47 novels with major publishing houses such as Dell Books, Berkley, Avon, Warner, MIRA, Harlequin, Kensington, Pocketbooks, St, Harper Collins, Martins Press, and William Morrow. She has also contributed to several fiction anthologies and has published non-fiction YA and short fiction in Good Housekeeping. Under the name Laura Parker, she writes historical and contemporary romance, westerns, and sagas. As Laura Castoro, she writes contemporary African American and contemporary women’s fiction. Writing as D. D. Ayres, she publishes a romantic suspense series called the K-9 Rescue Series. Her current release as Laura Castoro is Love On The Line (2021) through William Morrow. Laura has won multiple national writing awards. In 2005, she was inducted into the Arkansas Writers’ Hall of Fame. She is a past president of Novelists, Inc. (2013), an international professional fiction writers’ organization. She is a past president and board member of the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow, a writer residency program in the AR Ozarks. She speaks at numerous conferences and workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Laura currently lives in San Antonio, TX. Visit Laura at www.ddayres.com.

Parking at Gemini Ink
Gemini Ink offers free parking along the back wall of our downtown offices. Please access this parking lot from Augusta St and first park in any of the 12 spots along the back wall. Only when these 12 spots are full do we ask that you park elsewhere in our lot. We now rent our offices from UTSA and are collaborating with them to create a secure and accessible parking lot for our community of writers and readers.