The NOWA Speakers Bureau is proud to offer the excellent speakers below. Please feel free to reach out to them about their presentations. They may also be able to assemble customized presentations.
S
peaker: J.R. Bale
Presentations:
- Turning the Voices in My Head into Novels
J.R. discusses the creation process for each of his novels, which sometimes have
humorous origins. - The Self-Marketing Author’s Checklist
J.R. discusses various approaches and techniques to marketing one’s books in a crowded and chaotic book market. Intended audience: Writers
Bio:
J.R. Bale has always tried to explore the themes in his stories from an unusual perspective, whether it was politics in Phoenix in the Middle of the Road or consciousness in Cognition Chronicles series. Pursuing diverse perspectives, he has traveled to over a dozen countries across four continents. He even applied to NASA’s space program. (NASA wisely declined his services.) When not writing books, he is a marketing and communications consultant and college professor. He is also the organizer of the New Providence Book Festival.
Compensation: Negotiable
Available for Virtual Presentations? YES
Books by J.R. Bale:
Speaker: Elissa Matthews 
Presentations:
- How to Tell a Great Story: We all love to tell stories and jokes, but sigh, somehow they just don’t always come out right. This workshop lays out the elements of making jokes and stories “work”, and how you can put those elements together your own way. Discover the fun of being a good storyteller!
- How to Build Dynamic Story Plots: No matter how much experience we have as writers, we all get lost in how to make our stories more vibrant and our action more important. This workshop lays out the core structure of structure fundamentals, and reviews what all the different methods (Hero’s Journey, Save the Cat, Story Grid, etc) have in common, as well as how they differ.
- The Three Kinds of Historical Fiction – Which One Calls to You? Did you ever read a book you thought would be wonderful, and somehow it just didn’t hit the mark? It was well written, and yes, the research was excruciatingly correct, but… Well maybe the problem was that it wasn’t your type of historical fiction. There are three of them, each appeals to a different reader. Which one are you?
- Using Your Fear as Your Fuel: From writer’s block, to fear of getting lost in the woods, to skipping your high school reunion, fear has a lot of power over us. What if you could use that power to energize your writing – and your life? While this workshop is not a treatment for clinical anxiety, we will look at tools for understanding and tapping all the power and positive energy of our fears.
Bio:
I was born in New Jersey, grew up in New Jersey, and when I finished college, I got a job at the phone company. In New Jersey. After two years I realized if I didn’t make serious changes I would spend the rest of my life there. I freaked out, quit my job, and launched on a voyage of discovery. I went to Florida, California, New Zealand, Australia. I was a cook on a prawn trawler, a bartender in a strip club, a receptionist in a law office, a professional scuba diver. One frigid day in November, at 6 in the morning, climbing into cold water scuba gear, I realized that maybe a 9-5, climate-controlled job in an office somewhere (even New Jersey) wasn’t as bad as it sounded. I now have a husband, two sons, and a very stable desk job. Let’s hear it for central heating!
Compensation: Negotiable
Available for Virtual Presentations? YES
Books by Elissa Matthews:
