July 21, 2009

Kelly Parra & Shelley Adina

Today’s market is more difficult to break into than ever, but there are under served niches that editors and agents are looking to fill. Multi-published young-adult authors Kelly Parra and Shelley Adina enlightened us about two of these: the multicultural and inspirational genres. Focussing on young adult fiction, They provided many useful tips on how to write for these readers, strategies for breaking in, and the do’s and don’ts they’ve learned the hard way.

Since writing is only half the battle these days, Kelley and Shelley outlined marketing strategies and avenues, conventional and leading edge, to put your work effectively in front of editors, publishers, and the buying public. Kelley's success started even before her first novel was finished: her polished and professional marketing web-based marketing pitch virtually pre-sold her idea and proved she had a well developed vision for her own success. Don't we all need that?

A big thanks to Kelly and Shelley for bringing some serious buzz to our July meeting.

Kelly Parra debuted into young adult fiction in 2007 with her Latina novel Graffiti Girl, which garnered attention as a double nominee for the Romance Writers of America RITA award, a Latinidad YA top pick, as well as chosen for the California High School Reading Collection and National Book Foundation "BookUpNYC" program. Her latest novel Invisible Touch has hailed fresh praise from bestselling author Lauria Faria Stolarz, and given the Gold Award of Excellence from TeensReadToo. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and co-author of the popular young adult blog, YA Fresh. Kelly resides in her agricultural hometown in Central Coast California with her husband and two beautiful children, where she continues to write entertaining novels for teens.

Read more about Kelly and her work at her Web site: www.kellyparra.com

Shelley Adina has also found success in the YA market with her two novels, Who Made You a Princess? and The Fruit of my Lipstick.

An award-winning author, Shelley wrote her first teen novel when she was 13. It was rejected by the literary publisher to whom she sent it, but he did say she knew how to tell a story. That was enough to keep her going through the rest of her adolescence, a career, a move to another country, a B.A. in Literature, an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction, and countless manuscript pages. Shelley is a world traveler and pop culture junkie with an incurable addiction to designer handbags. She writes books about fun and faith--with a side of glamour. Between books, Shelley loves traveling, playing the piano and Celtic harp, watching movies, and making period costumes.

Read more about Shelley and her work at her Web site: http://sabates.home.att.net/

At left, CCW President Harold Grice welcomes new member Cristy Shauck of Salinas, a former member of South Bay CWC.

At right, Harold welcomes new member Wanda Sue Parrott of Monterey.

During the pre-meeting session, CCW Member Beverly Shaffer read excerpts from her novel Dark Persuits and talked briefly of her writing experiences.