All Monthly Meetings are Virtual until further notice.
Members can find the programming meeting links on the RCRW’s forum and on the private Facebook page.
Guests may attend two meetings to help make their decision to join. Some meetings are exclusive to RCRW members only, such as the December holiday workshop. Please contact [email protected] at least 72 hours in advance for a link to access the remote meeting. We use the Zoom software.
Meetings and Programs are live and are not recorded.
We ask Guests who attend their second Virtual Programming Workshop to please consider helping us continue bringing excellent programming content by donating to RCRW.
Please note that the meeting platform has changed to Zoom. Please contact [email protected] for the correct monthly link.
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Virtual Meeting Schedule
Rose City Romance Writers (RCRW) meets the second Saturday of each month.
Meeting are at no-cost for RCRW Members. People are welcome to attend our meetings, up to two times, before they are required to become RCRW chapter members.
10-11(ish): Chapter business meeting
11-12:30(ish): Workshop/presentation
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October 10, 2026 Programming
Build Better Characters
Creating realistic characters means understanding why people behave in the way they do. This workshop outlines how writers can use psychological theories to better understand their characters making their manuscripts feel more realistic and helping readers to connect to the story. Participants will learn how motivation works, the importance of internal conflict, and how individual’s beliefs shape their reality, relationships, and decision making. Prompts will be provided so attendees can apply these concepts to their novel/story.
Presenter Bio:
Eileen Cook is a multi-published, award winning author with her novels appearing in nine languages. She’s written YA, Middle-Grade, Non-fiction, and most recently under the pen name Kate MacIntosh, an adult historical novel that People magazine named a best book of December. She’s an instructor/mentor with The Creative Academy and Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio. Several of her books have been optioned for TV or film, but she hasn’t yet had a chance to walk the red carpet. However, she has perfected her Oscar speech into her hairbrush.
Eileen lives in Vancouver where she is always in search of a great bottle of wine, a swoon worthy period drama, and can be counted on to pet any random dog she meets.
November 14, 2026 Programming
A Vision of A Better Life–One Key To Creating Universal Emotion and Hooking Readers
Welcome to our workshop! We hope this will be an interactive session where we use familiar characters from Harry Potter to explore what makes fictional characters resonate with readers.
We’ll look at how characters are shaped by what they want, what they fear, and the vision they hold for a better life. Along the way, we may also touch on archetypes and tropes and how they can help deepen characterization.
Our goal is to give you practical ideas you can apply to your own characters, help you bring readers along for the emotional journey, and show how a clearer understanding of character can make writing the book a little easier.
Presenter Bios:
Wendy Warren, is the author of twenty novels published by Harlequin. She loves to write about ordinary people who have the courage to fight for the love that will make their lives extraordinary. Most of her romances are set in close-knit communities, and she would happily live in Mayberry (if it existed, and she could convince her family to live without a mall). Still, as much as she enjoys gentler, happier places—and writing about them—she also loves to explore the passions of people who yearn for a better life and are willing to face every obstacle on the road to their dreams.
Wendy lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she loves to watch her family grow, take long walks with her dog, and sneak tofu into her husband’s dinner.
She is a 2-time Rita award winner, currently working on a women’s fiction novel.
Susan Lute is an award-winning author and hopeful daydreamer who writes bold, brave, and heart-stirring stories that blur the lines between romance, women’s fiction, and a dash of the fantastical. She has published 19 books. Whether it’s a small-town love story or a sweeping romantasy with dragon-marked heroes and fire-kissed destinies, her tales are always rooted in courage, connection, and a spark of magic.
When she’s not conjuring worlds, you’ll find her sipping that sacred first cup of coffee, wandering through her garden, chasing light with her camera, or adding one more finishing touch to the house she’s turned into a haven over the past thirty years. She believes in second chances, found families, and that love—of all kinds—is the most powerful magic of all.
Currently, she divides her writing time between romantasy, The Dragonborn Chronicles, and a contemporary series set on two ranches in Colorado, The Strawberry Ridge books.