RIRW exists to promote excellence in women’s and popular fiction, to help writers become published and build careers in their writing field, and to provide continuing support for writers within the women’s and popular fiction publishing industry. Formed in 1983 as a Romance Writers of America chapter, we disaffiliated in 1988. We are an independent, nonprofit organization in Rhode Island.
If you are serious about writing popular fiction, we invite you to join us! Click here to see membership benefits.
We welcome everyone, without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, religion, cultural identity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or any other identity distinction. Furthermore, we recognize that because racism, homophobia, and other forms of bias are systemic in our national culture, people from marginalized communities continue to be denied advancement in our industry. RIRW strives to address this by raising awareness within our membership and increasing our efforts to attract members from a variety of backgrounds to enrich our community of writers.
We meet from September to June on the first Saturday of the month (except for February, when we hold our annual retreat). Because of holidays and/or other conflicts, the date or venue may change (scroll down to see list of dates). We will announce changes here on our home page. We do meetings via ZOOM.
Check us out on our public Facebook page (click here!)
RIRW RETREAT (Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025) featuring Deb Dixon and Jo Ann Brown (Ferguson) is now open to MEMBERS ONLY for early bird registration. Click here or on the RIRW Retreat tab above. Note: Sign-up for non-members opens on Dec. 1st (or you can join the group and sign up now for the early bird price).
We welcome Visitors for up to two regular meetings before you need to join. If you want to check us out, please send us a message by NOON on Friday (day before meeting) and we’ll send you a ZOOM link.
Dec. 14, 2024 — Jeanette Smith on How to Edit Sticky Sentences
Why do readers adore certain sentences and trip over others? It could have to do with those tricky sentences being full of glue words. In this presentation, you’ll discover what glue words are, how they make sentences “sticky,” and why unsticking them can do wonders for multiple aspects of your editing. We’ll explore plenty of examples to see how to simplify writing while maintaining clarity and artistic expression.
About Jeanette: Jeanette Smith is a copyeditor, content writer, and mermaid Instagrammer based in Fort Worth, TX. She aims to demystify the editing process through self-editing instruction and help authors produce the best manuscript possible. Her fiction works have appeared in Glassworks, Jelly Bucket, Second Chance Lit, and others. Her nonfiction book, Modern Mer: Become the Mermaid of Your Dreams, is available on Amazon. Find her at https://www.jeanettethewriter.com/
gather to chat at noon; Meeting starts at 12:30, with workshops starting about 1:30
Fall Schedule:
September 7 Susan Kaye Quinn
October 5 – Renita McKinney on Trends and Tropes
November 2 – Brenda Chin on Layering
December 14 (ARIA Expo is Dec 7) – Jeanette Smith on Self-editing
2025:
January 4 Roundtable
Jan. 31 -1 February 1 (Retreat, with Deb Dixon and Jo Ann Ferguson)
March 1
April 5 (Easter 20 April)
May 3
June 7