Meetings
Regular meetings are usually held in-person and on Zoom, on the second Saturday of the month (unless otherwise noted) in January, March, April, May, June, September, October, and November. February is our annual Valentines luncheon and July is when we have our summer picnic. There are no meetings in August or December. Directions for in-person meetings can be found here. Meetings typically consist of a two-hour workshop and may include a brief business meeting and, if needed, a lunch break. Please see workshop descriptions below for times.
**Guests are welcome to attend one or two regular meetings before joining. Please e-mail us for more information.**
*Please note, dates and/or times are subject to change based on workshop presenter’s availability.
May 9, 2026 (AGM)
Topic: Dear Reader: A Newsletter Primer
Speaker: Dani Collins
Location: UVic, Engineering & Computer Science Building, Room ECS660, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria and via Zoom
Time: 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Learn to love your newsletter so your readers will too! Discover how to turn your author newsletter from a dreaded chore into your most powerful (and enjoyable!) marketing tool. In this workshop, you’ll explore simple strategies to connect authentically, grow your list, and make readers look forward to every email you send.
Dani Collins, award-winning and USA Today bestselling author, thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. While she is best known for writing contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule Publishing, she also writes historical and erotic romance. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Dani is married to her high school sweetheart. They’re empty-nesters and live in Southern BC, Canada.
June 13, 2026
Topic: Adding Character Depth
Speaker: Marlies Sargent
Location: UVic, Engineering & Computer Science Building, Room ECS660, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria and via Zoom
Time: TBD
Looking to create characters readers will connect with and remember long after putting your book down? Adding depth to your characters can help with that! In this presentation, Marlies will share some essentials you can add to your character profile, including ideas around distinctive personalities, complex inner struggles, rich backgrounds, and thoughtful quirks. This presentation will hopefully inspire you and give you some practical tips as you write characters that readers will want to root for.
Marlies Sargent (she/her) is a fiction editor living in Calgary. Marlies is passionate about helping authors feel confident in their writing, and learning new skills along the way. She uses her 10 years of previous teaching experience to work one-on-one with authors through their writing journey. When she’s not reading or editing, Marlies can be found walking her dog, playing soccer, and making cheesy postcards for her nephews.
July 11, 2026
VIRA Summer Picnic
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Sit back and relax for a few hours with your fellow writers at our annual summer picnic. Please bring 1 – 2 double-spaced pages of your current work in progress for a friendly—and anonymous—roundtable discussion of your work. You’re welcome to join us even if you don’t wish to bring your work. Hope to see you there! Complete details and directions can be found in the VIRA calendar.
August, 2026
No meeting
September 12, 2026
Topic: TBD
Speaker: TBD
Location: TBD
Time: TBD
October 17, 2026
Topic: TBD
Speaker: TBD
Location: TBD
Time: TBD
November 14, 2026
Topic: The Invisible to the Reader Work
Speaker: Sarah Proulx Calfee
Location: UVic, Engineering & Computer Science Building, Room ECS660, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria and via Zoom
Time: TBD
December 2026
No Meeting