Virginia Pye

April Writing Show and Master Class Recaps: Mining for Stories with Carrie and John Gregory Brown (2014)

April Writing Show Recap
Coloring Between the Lines: Using What You Know and Where You’re From in Fiction
by Kris Spisak, KS Writing

Surrounded by the Broadberry’s chic chandeliers, stomachs happy from a sumptuous spread, April’s Writing Show audience had a night to remember. Author and JRW advisory board chair Virginia Pye moderated the evening, introducing us to veteran novelists and professors Carrie Brown and John Gregory Brown, who discussed mining one’s own geographical and personal history as a writer. More

JRW ED / Master Classes, Uncategorized, Writing Show recaps / 2014, Bruce Yoder, Carrie Brown, John Gregory Brown, Kris Spisak, Master Class, Virginia Pye, Writing Show /

April 2014 Writing Show: Coloring Between the Lines: Using What You Know and Where You’re From in Fiction

“Write about what you don’t know about what you know,” instructed Eudora Welty. But how exactly do you dig deep into the familiar to create an extraordinary experience for your readers?

Veteran novelists and professors—and husband and wife—Carrie Brown and John Gregory Brown talk about mining your own geographical and personal history as writers, as well as tools and techniques for finding out more about what you already think you know about your place—or places—in the world.

Virginia Pye, author of River of Dust, will moderate the discussion about anchoring your writing through environment and experience. The second half of the panel welcomes questions from the audience.

Recap by Kris Spisak

Thursday, April 24, 2014
6:30-8:30 p.m., with complimentary hors d’oeuvres
The Broadberry (note the new location we’re trying out for April’s show!)
2729 W. Broad Street
Ample parking available in the Children’s Museum parking lot across the street, on street, and in the lot adjacent to the Broadberry

$10 in advance, $12 at the door, $5 students

JRW ED / Uncategorized, Writing Show descriptions / Carrie Brown, fiction, geography, John Gregory Brown, place, Virginia Pye, Writing Show /

James River Writers Announces the 2013 Best Unpublished Novel Contest Winner and Finalists

James River Writers is pleased to announce Laura Long of Charlottesville, for What Will Burn, as the first place winner of the JRW and Richmond Magazine 2013 Best Unpublished Novel Contest. Phyllis Haislip of Williamsburg, for The Viscount’s Daughter, and Derek Kannemeyer of Richmond, for The Memory Addicts, have been selected as finalists.

The Best Unpublished Novel Contest, held since 2008 in alternating years with the Best Poetry Contest, is at the heart of James River Writers’ mission of connecting and inspiring readers and writers.

Seventy-two writers submitted the first fifty pages of their manuscripts to be scored by a cadre of volunteer readers. The process was completely anonymous. A team of second-round judges—Maya Payne Smart, Gigi Amateau, and Douglas Jones—selected the three finalists from the top nine’s complete manuscripts. Head judge Virginia Pye then determined the winner.

“Long’s What Will Burn is written in simple, clear language that shows admirable restraint and even, at times, elegance,” says Pye, author of River of Dust (Unbridled Books, May 2013).More

JRW ED / Best Unpublished Novel, Contests & Awards, News, Uncategorized / A.B. Westrick, Best Unpublished Novel Contest, Derek Kannemeyer, Douglas Jones, Gigi Amateau, Jessica Haddad, Laura Long, Maya Payne Smart, Phyllis Haislip, Richmond Magazine, Virginia Pye /

May 2013 Writing Show Recap: The Gritty Truth About Editing

For the May edition of JRW’s Writing Show, “River of Dust: The Gritty Truth about Editing,” held on May 30 at the Children’s Museum of Richmond, debut novelist Virginia Pye and her editor Nancy Zafris discussed the importance and intricacies of editing. Zafris—an award-winning author, manuscript consultant, and series editor for the Flannery O’Connor award for short fiction—visited Richmond from Ohio to share her expertise. Moderator Patty Smith, a local writer and teacher, steered the discussion towards subjects such as the role of editors, the importance of plot, and how to know what to let go and what to keep.

Pye explained that her novel, River of Dust, selected as an Indie Next Pick for May 2013, has been through at least twenty drafts. By the end of the editing process, only the first twenty and last twenty pages of her original manuscript remained. More

JRW ED / Uncategorized, Writing Show recaps / editing, Nancy Zafris, Patty Smith, River of Dust, the writing show, Virginia Pye /