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2025: Prepare for an amazing year of COFW Programs
April
DATE | April 19th, 2025
TIME |
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker (via Zoom)
LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and South High Library, 3540 South High Street Columbus
SPEAKER | Kathleen Donnelly
TOPIC | Incorporating Four-Legged Detectives Into Your Books
From Lassie to Rin Tin Tin, canine characters have captured our hearts. The intrigue of a dog finding a lost person, buried body, drugs, bombs, or risking its life to protect a handler, has long been a source of fascination. Working dogs are showing up in crime fiction more than ever, but what is the real world of working dogs like? Discover everything from how a handler chooses their dog to training to real life scenarios searching with a K-9.
About Our Speaker:
Award-winning author Kathleen Donnelly is a retired K-9 handler. She worked K-9s for a private company for 19 years. Her debut novel, Chasing Justice, won a Best Book Award from the American Book Fest, a PenCraft Award and was a 2023 Silver Falchion finalist in the Suspense category and Readers’ Choice Award. Her second book, Hunting The Truth, was the 2024 Pencraft Book of the Year, a Silver Falchion finalist and a Colorado Authors League finalist in the mystery category. She lives near the Colorado foothills with her husband and four-legged friends. Visit Kathleen’s website and sign up for her newsletter at www.kathleendonnelly.com, or find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/authorkathleendonnelly, and Instagram @authorkathleendonnelly.
May
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, small group workshopping on your novel or work in progress
Location: Zoom and Dayton location TBA.
Facilitator: Leah Lore
Come with your book ideas and get ready to brainstorm/plot in small group sessions, Each person has a turn to share where they could use group help brainstorming anything. For example, are you:
- Stuck somewhere?
- Got a plot hole that swallowed a bus and want ideas how to drive out of it?
- Need ideas for events to occur in the plot?
- Worried about your characters’ wound and whether it’s strong enough to drive the novel?
- Want a general sounding board?
About our Speaker:
Leah Lore is our 2025 Programs Chair. Her debut release, To the Stars, is a sci-fi novelette in ebook that has received Amazon best-seller status. She was a finalist in the 2024 NYCMidnight Short Story Challenge and her short stories have been published in several anthologies.
June
DATE | June 14th, 2025
TIME |
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and Room 2A at the Hilliard Library, 4500 Hickory Chase Way, Hilliard, Ohio
SPEAKER | Ava Cuvay (in person)
TOPIC | Building Believable Worlds for All Genres
It’s not just a Sci-fi thing. Worldbuilding is a crucial aspect of any story in any genre. Award winning, bestselling author Ava Cuvay outlines why, how, and what to avoid to enhance your worldbuilding thought processes for a truly engaging story. (There might be a few Star Wars references 
)
About our Speaker
Ava Cuvay is an award-winning bestselling author of out of this world Sci-fi and Paranormal Romance featuring sassy heroines, gutsy heroes, passion, adventure… and the word “moist”.
She resides in central Indiana with her own scruffy-looking nerfherder and teen kiddos who think her “Rizz” is “cringe” but she “passes the vibe check” and her books “hit different.” No cap.
She believes life is too short to bother with negative people, everything is better with Champagne, and Han Solo shot first. Star Wars references are her love language.
Social Media & Other Links
Website – https://avacuvay.com/
Author Facebook – https://facebook.com/AvaCuvayAuthor/
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15051407.Ava_Cuvay
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Ava-Cuvay/e/B01E5OIZ0I/
Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ava-cuvay
Instagram – https://instagram.com/avacuvay/
Newsletter – https://drinkingthestarspressllc.eo.page/v8296
July
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
August
DATE | August 16th, 2025
TIME |
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker (In Person)
LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and Columbus location TBA
SPEAKER | Tobi Doyle
TOPIC | Create Your Own Audiobooks with Minimal Equipment
Participants will be taken through the process of creating an audiobook and uploading it for sale. We’ll discuss equipment, software, and best techniques.
About our Speaker:
Tobi Doyle is the author of over a dozen romance novels. A recipient of RWA’s 2022 Service Award and 2022 PRO Mentor of the Year Award, and the WV Writers JUG award. Tobi loves working with Sheila at Intensive Genre Workshops, where they provide a writing craft foundation for genre writers. Learn more at www.ASKIGW.com.
September
DATE | September 13th, 2025
TIME |
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
SPEAKER | Jen Greybeal
TOPIC | Marketing Beyond Social Media
I’m just going to say it… there’s more to marketing than a social media presence. Consistently creating interesting, engaging content takes time and creativity–both are precious commodities for authors. Not to mention the challenge of finding followers. Let’s look beyond social media and ads to tap into other marketing options. We will also explore how to develop a marketing strategy with 3.5 questions and why marketing presents such a big challenge for authors.
About Our Speaker
Jen Graybeal (she/her) is dedicated to empowering authors through encouraging feedback, collaborative problem solving and gently-applied tough love. In ten years of coaching, workshops, and editing projects, she has helped over a thousand authors create stories they are proud of and businesses that align with their individual vision of success. Jen is a Certified Creativity Coach with a degree in English, an ever-expanding TBR pile, and a furball assistant that is usually on her lap. Visit her website for client testimonials at www.jengraybeal.com or follow her on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, and TikTok: @JenTheEditor.
October
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Columbus-area library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
November
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Dayton-area Library TBD
Speaker: TBD
Topic:
to come
About our Speaker: To come
December
Date: Saturday December 6, or Sunday, December 7, 2025
Time: noon-3
Location: Private Event, members only.
Topic: Celebration of all things COFW and writing romance. Awarding pens to our members publishing their first novels, and awarding our member of the year.
Details for this event will be available through the COFW Google Group email and the Facebook page.
January
Date: January 18, 2025
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
Location: Zoom and Community Room at the Burkhardt Library, 4704 Burkhardt Ave., Dayton, OH 45403.
Speaker: Rene Gutteridge, Zoom
Topic: The Writer’s Identity
One of the biggest moments we can experience as writer is to use the word to describe ourselves: I am a writer! But if we’re not careful, this can become a slippery slope of our core identity. In this class, Rene will explore how to keep your identity strong and protected while navigating the extremely tumultuous world of rejection and rebound called the writing life.
About our Speaker:
Rene Gutteridge has been writing professionally for over twenty years, with expertise in fiction, non-fiction, comedy sketches, novelizations and screenwriting. She is the multi-genre author of 24 novels plus several non-fiction titles. Her indie film SKID won deadCenter’s Best Oklahoma Feature, and her novel My Life as a Doormat was adapted into the Hallmark movie Love’s Complicated. Rene is co-director of WriterCon in Oklahoma City, senior contributor at Writing Momentum and is the head writer at Skit Guys Studios. Find out more at ReneGutteridge.com.
February
Time:
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, small group workshopping on your novel or work in progress
Location: Zoom and Karl Road branch of Columbus Public Library, Meeting Room 3. 5590 Karl Rd., Columbus, OH 43229.
Facilitator: Leah Lore
Come with your book ideas and get ready to brainstorm/plot in small group sessions, Each person has a turn to share where they could use group help brainstorming anything. For example, are you:
- Stuck somewhere?
- Got a plot hole that swallowed a bus and want ideas how to drive out of it?
- Need ideas for events to occur in the plot?
- Worried about your characters’ wound and whether it’s strong enough to drive the novel?
- Want a general sounding board?
About our Speaker: Leah Lore is our 2025 Programs Chair. Her debut release, To the Stars, is a sci-fi novelette in ebook that has received Amazon best-seller status.
March
DATE | March 15th, 2025
TIME |
- 12:00 pm, Networking
- 12:15 pm, Introductions & Incentives
- around 12:30-12:45 pm, Business meeting (we are not sure how long Intro & Incentives will take)
- 1:30 pm, Speaker
LOCATION | Meeting will be Hybrid via Zoom and Vandalia branch of the Dayton Metro Library. 330 S Dixie Dr, Vandalia Ohio 45377
FACILITATOR | Rochelle Bradley
TOPIC | Independent Publishing 101
Ever wonder what it takes to be a successful indie author?
In this class, local author Rochelle Bradley will lead us through the basics of what it takes to publish independently – from editing to formatting to marketing. This is your chance to get an overview and ask specific questions!
About our Speaker:
Rochelle is an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author. She writes romance with sass and shenanigans because the world needs more laughter and love.
She co-hosts (with author CJ Warrant) Wednesday Coffee & Books an Instagram Live show where they interview romance authors.
Born and raised in Cincinnati Ohio, Rochelle developed a love of nature and art. She is a Bearcat, a Buckeye, an interior decorator, and fluent in sarcasm. She currently shares her home with a black cat, a leash trained orange tabby, and her Prince.