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HOME . . ABOUT . . SCHEDULE . . LINKS . . IN PRINT

EDITS . . AWARDS . . STORY CHECKS . . CONTACT

(Looking for the short bio? Click here.)

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Renee's Writing-Related History

At thirteen years old, Renee’ made her first career move as a professional ventriloquist who wrote her own skits and booked her own engagements. As her interest in writing grew, she studied everything she could find about writing and being published. While raising her family, she wrote for magazines, newspapers, and other small projects.

From 2013 to 2018 at 4RV Publishing, Renee’ worked her way up from Acquisition Editor to a two-year position as the first Children’s Corner Imprint Editor before moving up to Special Projects Editor. During her time at 4RV, she also represented the company at multiple conferences: showing books, taking pitches, and speaking on a publisher’s panel. She resigned in January of 2018 due to family health issues.

In recent years, she has offered multiple writing workshops as a licensed instructor for the City of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and has traveled to work with middle grade students on the importance of editing their writing.

In 2000, using the pseudonym of JesPiddlin, Renee’ co-authored an educational book which taught basic HTML and computer skills. Being a time-sensitive subject for earlier operating systems, it is no longer in print.

She now writes for children through middle grade (MG) under the pseudonym of JesPiddlin. For young adult (YA) and up, she uses her full name, Renee’ La Viness. She recently added light romances (especially "cozy seasoned romance") to her writings, for which she uses the pen name Lacey Janes.

As Project Coordinator/editor for a multi-genre anthology in 2014, she worked with nearly two dozen international authors of different first languages. The anthology, Anything Goes, Volume I, was published in English.

Currently, Renee’ edits short stories and children’s books, sponsors and judges writing contests, offers occasional workshops, and designs all her own websites with a purposeful aim toward simplicity.

Having earned more than 40 writing awards, Renee’ encourages other authors to enter contests and attend conferences to help develop their own writing skills.

On a more personal note...

When Renee' is not exploring nature or working on arts and crafts with the grandkids, she might be teaching them about writing or taking them to local critique group meetings or her favorite writing conferences.

For more than a decade, she has enjoyed reading to elementary school classes and volunteered at a local elementary school library. The COVID-19 pandemic and open-heart surgery halted her time at the schools, but she hopes to resume her volunteer time in the near future.

Renee' lives in Oklahoma with her writing husband Gene and one very loveable, very ornery chicken.

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Renee’ is an active member of the following organizations.

Critical Ink Critique Group
Tulsa NightWriters Club (TNWC)
Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. (OWFI)
Novel Idea Critique Group
East Texas Writers Guild

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Renee’ Speaks at Events

––– Read.Write.Share. Writers Conference, AR – 2016
––– The Craft of Writing Conference, Tulsa, OK – 2016
––– Read.Write.Share. Writers Conference, AR – 2017
––– Arkansas Writers Conference, Little Rock, AR – 2017
––– Tulsa Genealogical Society, Tulsa, OK – 2017
––– The Craft of Writing Conference, Tulsa, OK – 2017
––– White County Creative Writers Conference, Searcy, AR – 2018
––– Read.Write.Share. Writers Conference, AR – 2019
––– The Craft of Writing Conference, Tulsa, OK – 2019
––– Tulsa NightWriters meeting, Tulsa, OK – Feb. 2020
––– Arkansas Writers Conference, Little Rock, AR – 2020
––– Read.Write.Share. Writers Conference, AR – 2021
––– Read.Write.Share. Writers Conference, AR – 2022
––– Kansas Authors Club Convention – 2022

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Renee’s Workshops

Behind the Scenes of a Writing Contest
Believable Dialogue
Critique Groups - Finding, creating, and loving them!
Cutting the Excess: Writing within word limits
Edit Your Fiction Story
EZ-Write Your Life Story – Good for family history events
The Nuts & Bolts of Submissions (especially contests)
The Twisted End (O. Henry Endings)
Tips & Tricks for Writing a Novel in 30 Days
Writing Emotion
Writing for Children
Writing Short Stories

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Renee’ Organizes Groups and Events

As a labor of love for her fellow writers, she founded and has continued to present the annual Meet the Publishers! event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since its inception in 2015.

Renee’ is a co-organizer of the Read.Write.Share. Writers Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, since 2016.

She founded and led Tulsa Area Children’s Book Writers, a critique group in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for six years. (2012-2018)

Since 2015, she’s been a co-organizer of the Critical Ink critique group in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Since early 2020, she has been the organizer of the Novel Idea critique group in Broken Arrow.

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Renee’ Sponsors and Judges Writing Contests

She leads a committee of judges for these contests, which she also sponsors, and serves as a judge for multiple others. The contests listed below are offered annually. (Contest titles may change.)

…1. Middle Grade Fiction for Boys – Ozark Creative Writers Conference, since 2015
…2. La Viness Award for Living Mystery – Arkansas Writers Conference, since 2017
…3. La Viness Short Story Contest – www.jespiddlin.com/writingcontest, since 2019
…4. Cozy Seasoned RomanceWhite County Creative Writers Conference, since 2020

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HOME . . ABOUT . . SCHEDULE . . LINKS . . IN PRINT

EDITS . . AWARDS . . STORY CHECKS . . CONTACT

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All images and text on this site, were created by JesPiddlin - copyright 2017 and forward.