Our meetings are held the third Saturday of each month, with the exception of our December Christmas party. Locations are at various metro libraries and are announced a month or so ahead of the meeting date.

 

2025 Programs…

 

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July 19 - Expanding the Modern Female Archetype with Kit McKenna and Brooke Taylor (Downtown Library)

 

Flipping feminine roles & turning typical tropes for women on their heads for a fresh narrative and unique perspective. In this workshop, we’re going to focus on how to make your female characters stronger and more integral to the plot. Hint- it isn’t how you might think. Tired of the typical female tropes like the damsel in distress, the innocent ingenue, and even the feisty firecracker? We’re going to turn these tropes on their head. Think the only option for your female main character is to be pure of heart, mind, and body? Think again. Having trouble making strong female characters likeable and/or realistic? We’ll show you how to give sharp characters soft edges.

 

Kit McKenna writes romance with a slice of danger blended with strong, seasoned women and steamed to perfection set against the backdrop of Oklahoma. Kit is a born and raised Oklahoma gal who has lived here her whole life except for a brief detour to look at the mountains for a while. She is an artist and free spirit who loves roaming around in the woods and finds great joy in the unusually and sometimes darkly beautiful. Kit has worn a lot of hats in her life, a server, a factory worker, nightclub manager, office administrator, state drone, and business owner. A bit of a dichotomy, she loves all things positivity and light but still loves to play in the dark. Her favorite book offerings range from authors like Eckhart Tolle to Stephen King. Her favorite movies are horror and holiday is Samhain (Halloween) but she still loves a good romance. She’s a huge sucker for a story where the underdog comes out on top. If the bar doesn’t have a good cider, she’ll opt for a fine whisky. She comes to writing later in life after tiring of reading books that seem to only focus on perfect, perky, barely legal heroines. Her stories are about real people who have their own demons, drama, and challenges to overcome.

 

Brooke Taylor is an award-winning author of daring Romantic Suspense novels filled with sizzling chemistry and adventurous locales. Audiences will be on the edge of their seats as they fall hard for her beautifully flawed heroes and heroines. Brooke’s stories inspire her readers to live life to the fullest and to love without limits. Brooke has worked extensively in the travel industry, from dude ranches to ski resorts to cruise lines. Her many overseas adventures include skydiving in New Zealand, scuba diving with sharks, sailing through hurricanes, and having her tent attacked by wild animals in the Mara game reserve in Kenya. These days Brooke lets her characters do most of the risk-taking. Brooke has been previously published in Young Adult. Her novel UNDONE (Bloomsbury) made the ALA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, was nominated for ALA’s Best Books, and was a finalist for the National Reader’s Choice Award.

 

August 16 - OKCPD Homicide Investigator Sherrica Buckingham (Downtown Library Tentatively)

 

September 19-21- retreat - For non-members, the fee to attend the retreat is $75.00, which includes your food. For members the retreat is free unless you spend the night. Members and non-members, the fee for overnight stay is $50 per night. Pay your deposit of $50 to reserve a room for overnight accommodations – More details to come

 

AirBnB in OKC

 

October 18 - Monster Contest (Only Members May Enter) - We will announce and read aloud the winners of the contest. Potentially there will also be a program. TBD.

 

Romancing the Monster contest!

 

As part of our October meeting, members are invited to enter our Romancing the Monster contest.

 

Write a 500 to 1,000 word romance story with a movie or literary monster, villain, creature or famous murderer as the hero or heroine. (the 'monster' must be a love interest)

 

Submit to me at Alicia@AliciaDean.com by September 27, 2025. Send as an email attachment with your name and the title of the story in the body of the email. NO NAMES ON THE DOCUMENT PLEASE, only titles. The subject of the email needs to be: Romancing the Monster Entry.

 

These do not need to be an entire story, just a scene, as if it were plucked out of a story. Or it can be a complete mini story. They do not need to be love scenes, they can just be a 'connection' scene, as long as there is a romance/attraction.

 

****!!!! The monster MUST be either the hero or heroine of the story AND the scene MUST be romantic in nature

 

You do not have to be at the meeting to win/place, but by entering, you are giving permission to have your story possibly read aloud at the meeting and shared with the group.

 

Rather than general creatures like vampire, shifter, ghost, etc, we want scenes with specific monsters/creatures.

• Deadline: September 27, 2025

• Email an attached Word Doc to me at Alicia@AliciaDean.com

• Subject of Email: Romancing the Monster Entry• 500 to 1,000 words

• Prizes: This FABULOUS Trophy for each place AND: 1st Place: $20 Amazon Gift Card, 2nd Place: $15 Amazon Gift Card, 3rd Place: $10 Amazon Gift card

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November 15 - Lou Berney Writing crime fiction — character woven through character.

 

Lou Berney is the USA Today best-selling author of seven novels, including, most recently, Double Barrel Bluff, Dark Ride, and November Road. He has been awarded the Edgar, Hammett, Barry, and Anthony awards, and is a three-time finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize. He teaches at Oklahoma City University.

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December 13 - Christmas party (Members Only) (Location TBD)