Merien spent a decade traveling the world as a military intelligence analyst. She has multiple degrees specializing in Anthropology, Sociology, English, and Communications Technology. She is currently a member of the RWA national ethics committee. The last ten years she been an active volunteer with several RWA chapters, to include board member, board liaison, webmistress, and conference committee positions. Merien lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier with her husband, incorrigibly lazy dog, and a little one who rules the land with an iron hand at least until bedtime.
2020 SCHEDULE OPEN FOR JULY, AUG, and OCT
Chapters requesting webinars please submit through the form below.
Merien is not currently doing in-person events due to COVID-19.
PIRACY FOR AUTHORS - UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES
Available for 2020
This class is for authors who want a working understanding of literary piracy. The class covers how piracy occurs, where readers find pirate sites, how the sites work, and where the files they use come from. It covers what Digital Rights Management is exactly and in what ways it is and isn't effective. We will discuss the various sides of the issue and why some people feel they have every right to pirate authors work and why some authors don't bother to worry about it. There are various interviews and comments from best selling authors on what they do or don't do and why. There are recommendations on what authors can do to lessen the impact of piracy and what they can do to advocate for better enforcement industry wide. Examples of take down notices will be given and various opinions given on how effective they are as well as why they are useless sometimes. An extensive bibliography of articles and websites concerned with literary piracy will be provided at the end of the class.
This class is offered as a 60 or 90 minute in-person presentation in the Seattle area, four week online course, or 90 minute webinar.
This class is offered as a 60 or 90 minute in-person presentation in the Seattle area, four week online course, or 90 minute webinar.
VOLUNTEERISM - MAKE IT WORTH YOUR TIME AND THEIRS
Available for 2020
This class if for authors who know they want and need to network but don't know where to start and don't want to waste their time with no benefit in return. Which is OK! There is no reason to not get some personal benefit in return for your volunteer service. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. Here we will talk about how to volunteer in a way to get something useful for your volunteer service ethically, without breaking self-promotion rules that govern non-profit organizations. We will discuss the general duties required at the national, chapter, contest, and conference level positions. We will discuss various types of liaison positions. We'll talk duties, work load, mutual benefit, plus how to get into and out of those positions while staying productive and professional. We will cover how to volunteer for the time you have, be it an hour here an there or a long term commitment you can get comfortable with. Volunteering does not have to take over your writing time, become a distraction, or be a thankless burden. This class offers sage advice from various long term volunteers and leaders within RWA on how to keep a health balance between getting something for your trouble and doing a service for your peers.
This class is offered as a 60 minute webinar, four week online class, or 60 or 90 minute in-person class in the Seattle area.
This class is offered as a 60 minute webinar, four week online class, or 60 or 90 minute in-person class in the Seattle area.
BREAK INTO WEBINARS - TEACH FROM ANYWHERE
Available for 2020
This class is for new and experienced instructors who want to add webinars to their offerings. It is also good for chapter boards who wish to start offering webinars in their workshop offerings. Being able to offer a webinar option means an instructor can teach anywhere in the country anytime from their own home. It also means chapters can afford instructors they would not have normally been able to consider due to travel expenses.
The class covers the types of classes that work well in webinar format, the various software options with the advantages and drawbacks of each, how to coordinate for a webinar, and how to arrange for payment after. We will discuss how to offer webinars direct to students and how to offer a webinar through another organization.
This class can be booked as a 60 or 90 minute webinar (of course), four week online course with live session the final week for those who wish to see a demonstration, or a one hour and fifteen minute live presentation for organizations in the Seattle area.
The class covers the types of classes that work well in webinar format, the various software options with the advantages and drawbacks of each, how to coordinate for a webinar, and how to arrange for payment after. We will discuss how to offer webinars direct to students and how to offer a webinar through another organization.
This class can be booked as a 60 or 90 minute webinar (of course), four week online course with live session the final week for those who wish to see a demonstration, or a one hour and fifteen minute live presentation for organizations in the Seattle area.
SIMPLE SITES FOR NON-TECH TYPES - WEBSITE IN AN HOUR
Available for 2020
Need a simple site and not a tech type? This is a four week online course that provides the basics, in plain language, of how to build a simple website. Each week we will talk about what makes up a site, common terms companies selling website services use, the services those companies actually sell, and what will be needed information and budget wise to start and maintain a site. The class will take the confusion out of how sites are set up and updated, what domains are and who owns them, how to create your own email accounts, and the various fee schedules associates with everything mentioned above. The class is six lessons. The final week of class is for questions and all participants will have the option to schedule a one hour web session with the instructor and Merien will offer a shared screen consult to walk the student through setting up their own site, you guessed it, in an hour or less ;) This class is specifically for people who want an easy, simple site they don't have to pay someone else to update or maintain but they don't know the first thing about where to begin or what that entails.
Disclosure Note: The webhost Fatcow.com and the Weebly site builder will be recommended for use during this class due to ease of use and the customer service of each being willing to work with people with no experience doing web work. Other host services and builders will be equally discussed and may be a better choice for some students. However, in the interest of full disclosure prior to the class those are the services that will be recommended. The instructor is not endorsing either and has not been paid by either service but has had excellent experience with them on several fronts. There will no pressure or requirement to use them.
This class can be booked as a one hour webinar with an option for students to schedule an individual appointment after or it can be done as a four week online with the appointments included the final week.
Disclosure Note: The webhost Fatcow.com and the Weebly site builder will be recommended for use during this class due to ease of use and the customer service of each being willing to work with people with no experience doing web work. Other host services and builders will be equally discussed and may be a better choice for some students. However, in the interest of full disclosure prior to the class those are the services that will be recommended. The instructor is not endorsing either and has not been paid by either service but has had excellent experience with them on several fronts. There will no pressure or requirement to use them.
This class can be booked as a one hour webinar with an option for students to schedule an individual appointment after or it can be done as a four week online with the appointments included the final week.
FIGHTS IN FICTION
Available for 2020
Want to know what it feels like to be hit? Come find out. This class discusses information directly from interviews with fighters, police, soldiers, and emergency medical personnel. This class doesn’t teach how to punch, it teaches what it feels like to be hit, how if feels to recover, warrior mentality, and what various other wounds and injuries feel and look like. It is appropriate for all genres.
Fights are like making love as far as evoking emotion. If done properly, a reader can tell more about a character in those few minutes than they can in several paragraphs or even chapters worth of backstory. This class is to give authors insight into the various story-enhancing opportunities they have in fight scenes. This class teaches authors to present more than just a thrown punch or ringing slap. It shows them how to research and exploit the emotional aspects of confrontations to add as many emotion invoking tools to their writers tool box as possible to create detailed realistic fiction.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
Fights are like making love as far as evoking emotion. If done properly, a reader can tell more about a character in those few minutes than they can in several paragraphs or even chapters worth of backstory. This class is to give authors insight into the various story-enhancing opportunities they have in fight scenes. This class teaches authors to present more than just a thrown punch or ringing slap. It shows them how to research and exploit the emotional aspects of confrontations to add as many emotion invoking tools to their writers tool box as possible to create detailed realistic fiction.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
SEVEN PEOPLE EVERY WRITER SHOULD MEET BEFORE THEY NEED THEM
Available for 2020
When a writer is creating those first few books they may feel like they can't do much more to toward becoming a published author except write and build their numbers on social media. When it comes to the business side of writing there are seven key business connections that can be made before an author "needs" them or is in the midst of trying to market a release and build a brand in earnest. For example, finding an attorney before there is a contract to review or a copyright infringement notice for a random image picked off the internet and used on the authors website can cut down on stress. More importantly, it can mean the difference in an attorney the author trusts and likes and who has the author's best interests in mind and one that will simply do. There are specific skill sets that can be very valuable to authors if they knows how to seek out professionals that have them. Finding the right business contacts is time consuming but can be done in small increments and with minimal effort if started early in an author's career and doing so can save time, stress and usually money for the author. This class covers how to find, vet and take on services of a literary attorney, accountant (with literary experience), webmistress/master, business insurance agent, business specific banker, secretary of state representative and a department of revenue officer. It also covers how to select and vet seven service providers. This portion of the class includes tips on how to find branding consultants, web hosts, newsletter services, offsite data storage, formatters, editors and cover artists.
Available as a ninety minute in person class, if in the Seattle Area, and a four week web/loop class.
Available as a ninety minute in person class, if in the Seattle Area, and a four week web/loop class.
HARDWIRED FOR HOT©
Available for 2020
Ever wonder why, we as humans, find the things we do attractive? There are biological reasons we enjoy sex but what about before we get to that part? As humans, we are hardwired to find certain things "hot". This workshop examines the newest innovative theory behind what determines what we find attractive and why. It will cover what catches our eye in the first place and why we immediately have the urge to leave or stay. There will be an extensive list of traits and mannerisms the average human female instinctually finds hot, with scientific explanations why. The material is based on cutting edge anthropological, biological and sociological concepts that are beginning to unravel the mysteries of initial human attraction.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
BRINGING SOMETHING TO THE TABLE -
HOW TO BE A SOUGHT AFTER SPEAKER BEFORE YOU ARE PUBLISHED
Available for 2020
Merien Grey has been teaching professionally for fifteen years and been a paid speaker on the literary scene for three. She believes all aspiring authors can bring something to the table and build their reputation by teaching what they know, even if they aren’t published yet. She will be teaching authors how to find relevant and interesting material in their own backgrounds, how to build engaging one hour presentations and how to present them in a dynamic manner at meetings, conferences and online to build an author’s reputation and if they are good, even make some money.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
THE ACTUAL HOW OF MAKING TIME TO WRITE -
PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR WRITERS
Available for 2020
Are you tired of people telling you if you want to write bad enough you will make time? Most of us would do that on our own if we knew how or even where to start. You are not lazy or unmotivated and you know you want it bad enough. You just need someone to give you some hints on how to actually do it. With a corporate and military background in process, project and time management Merien will give a full hour of specific, do-able proven ways to make minor changes and create more time to write. She will also teach you how to assess your situation and personal practices to see how to get the most out of the time you already have for yourself, your family and your career.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
Available as a one hour and fifteen to one and a half hour in-person class if in the Seattle Area, a one to one and a half webcast presentation for any other area or a four week web/loop class.
BRING YOUR BRAND FACE TO FACE
Available for 2020
This class deals with how to use cutting edge video conferencing technology to get more out of your interactions, save time and build your brand with professional contacts, readers and peers. It takes premises of in person handselling and shows how to translate those to social media and the digital world in general.
Example: An author puts out on social media that she will be having a video conference chat/tea for five lucky members of her newsletter list. She advertises via social media to drive more subscribers to her newsletter. She randomly selects five people and sets a time. She author could prepare a swag box with her favorite tea and cookies and mail it out prior to her tea party. The day of the party, the author makes her tea and has her five do the same and has a one hour video conference Q and A session/visit with those five people. The visit could include a reading or just a visit with tea and cookies. The possibilities are endless.
Example 2: An author has paid for edits from an editor and would like to go through some of them page by page or line by line. The author pulls up her WIP and does a session with her editor using the screen share function and can go line by line, word by word with ease and in a format that is efficient time wise for both parties.
Available as a one hour class for in person presentation (requires internet access in the presentation area), a projector and projection screen or it can be a two week online course divided into four lectures and four optional online meetings, times will be listed in the class synopsis. This class is also available for webinars for small online groups up to six people showing the various options and interfaces online. Fees for the small class will depend on the number of people involved and the depth of information requested, email for a quote. Class is typically $15-$25 per person for private groups.
Example: An author puts out on social media that she will be having a video conference chat/tea for five lucky members of her newsletter list. She advertises via social media to drive more subscribers to her newsletter. She randomly selects five people and sets a time. She author could prepare a swag box with her favorite tea and cookies and mail it out prior to her tea party. The day of the party, the author makes her tea and has her five do the same and has a one hour video conference Q and A session/visit with those five people. The visit could include a reading or just a visit with tea and cookies. The possibilities are endless.
Example 2: An author has paid for edits from an editor and would like to go through some of them page by page or line by line. The author pulls up her WIP and does a session with her editor using the screen share function and can go line by line, word by word with ease and in a format that is efficient time wise for both parties.
Available as a one hour class for in person presentation (requires internet access in the presentation area), a projector and projection screen or it can be a two week online course divided into four lectures and four optional online meetings, times will be listed in the class synopsis. This class is also available for webinars for small online groups up to six people showing the various options and interfaces online. Fees for the small class will depend on the number of people involved and the depth of information requested, email for a quote. Class is typically $15-$25 per person for private groups.