Enhance your Prose: Make Every Word Matter
Come join us at the MIllhopper on at 2:30 p.m. on October 11, 2026, when author Marie Q Rogers—known to her friends and colleagues as Pat Caren—will share tips and advice on improving your writing skills.
Her presentation will include discussions on these 8 topics:
- The importance of the reader’s experience
- The writing process
- Making your style fit your story
- Character and point of view
- Scenes and dialogue
- Sentences and rhythm
- Engaging the senses
- Word choices for stronger narrative
Whether you are an experienced writer or a newbie, you will gain knowledge and understanding that will benefit both you and your readers.
This prolific author studied Literature at Eckerd College and did her graduate work at the University of Florida. She has been writing off and on all of her life. “Work and children,” she says, “were excuses for my ‘off,’ and retirement allowed the ‘on.’”
Three of her novels have won awards: Trials by Fire, Season of the Dove, and an unpublished novel which will be out this fall.
Also to her credit are Quest for Namai, House of No When, and short pieces published in Bacopa Literary Review, Eckerd Review, Pilcrow & Dagger, and Local Lives in a Global Pandemic: Stories from North Central Florida. And, she posts stories and observations on her weblog: marieqrogers.com.
Under the name Pat Caren—which she calls “mundane”—she has served as President of the Writers Alliance of Gainesville (WAG) and Chairman of the Sunshine State Book Festival. She also currently serves as WAG’s membership coordinator. We are indeed fortunate to have Pat on our team of volunteers.
