Friday, August 15, 2014

Beach House Writing Salon in San Diego




Please join us on October 11, 2014, for a full day of writing tips and advice for aspiring writers and curious readers, from five successful authors with multiple books under their belts. Ron Franscell, Tammy Greenwood, Steve Jackson, Matthew J. Pallamary and Caitlin Rother will conduct workshops, one-on-one critiques, and a panel discussion on the state and future of publishing, closing the evening with an intimate beach party and book signing.

Workshops:
--Your Hero’s Journey: Why are some stories timeless? All great novels, movies, myths, fairy tales and folklore have common threads. Bestselling author Ron Franscell can teach you how to weave these threads into your own writing to create powerful narratives and characters that resonate with readers of both fiction and narrative nonfiction. Learn the patterns that can transform your book from ordinary to extraordinary. When you know the essential steps, you’ll never have writer’s block again.

--So you want to write a memoir? New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother will discuss how to identify the key moments in your real life story and the relevant universal themes that will make it resonate with more readers than just your immediate family. She will examine how to weave these into scenes that come alive on the page and move your story forward, and also discuss how to deal with sensitive material such as violence, trauma, illness or abuse so as not to overload the reader.

--The Art of Interviewing and Research for Narrative Nonfiction: When interviewing subjects for a compelling book, the author must get beyond “just the facts” and delve into motivations and emotions. But that takes a whole new level of skill, technique and expertise, from setting up the interview to easing the subject into the tough questions, what Steve Jackson calls “planting the seed” and then following up. Jackson will offer tips on how he turned his stories into New York Times bestsellers, and discuss the important similarities and differences of researching fiction and non-fiction books.

--How to Keep Your Story From Bogging Down in the Middle: What do you do when your story loses its “oomphf” somewhere along the way? You resuscitate it and bring it back to life. By maximizing the dynamics of your story, the energy between the characters and how they interact with each other, Matthew J. Pallamary will help you achieve the supreme dramatic impact of your story arc.  He will show you how to strengthen the pacing and delivery of key narrative elements, rescuing your fiction or non-fiction manuscript from the doldrums so it can reach a fulfilling climax and resolution.

--Starting a Novel From Scratch: Novelist Tammy Greenwood will discuss strategies to determine the necessary key components of the novel you want to write and how to proceed to your first draft. Topics will include developing and evaluating your premise to determining who your protagonist and antagonist will be, your characters’ motivations, internal desires and external objectives, the five Cs, and the primary conflicts of your story.


Logistical details:
--The salon will be at a house in the Crown Point neighborhood of San Diego on Mission Bay, at 3712 Riviera, 92109.
--Check-in begins at 8:45 a.m., one-on-one critiques at 9, workshops at 9:30, panel discussion at 5:30, and party from 6 to 7:30. (Attendees will have 30 minutes for lunch on their own, on the beach if they choose.)
--Parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood although, depending on when you arrive, you may have to walk a few blocks.

Cost:
--Sign up until Oct. 1 for just $160, until Oct. 10 for $175, and $200 for late registration walk-ins. This price includes entry to workshops, panel, party (we will supply hors d’oeuvres, but attendees need to BYOB whatever alcohol they want to drink) and book signing.
--Critiques are additional: a 20-minute session, with the author of choice, to discuss 10 typed double-spaced pages, submitted by Oct. 4, for $50; or feedback on a verbal pitch for $40. ----Critique appointments will be made with specific authors on a first-come, first-served basis.
-- Payment will be accepted by money order or check by mail, and credit card by phone.

Bonus prize:
The first five attendees to sign up for the salon and a critique will receive a set of free books from the authors.


To sign up: 
Please contact Caitlin Rother, crother@flash.net to make a payment, or ask about registration and critiques. Attendance will be limited. Payment must be sent to reserve a seat.

Bios of faculty:

After 13 books, Ron Franscell has proven to be one of the most versatile writers working today, traversing the open range of journalism, fiction and nonfiction with extraordinary success. He is the bestselling author of the modern true-crime classic THE DARKEST NIGHT and the USA Today bestselling literary novel ANGEL FIRE, listed by the San Francisco Chronicle among the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century West. He lives in San Antonio, Texas. www.ronfranscell.com

Award-winning author Tammy Greenwood, the author of eight novels, has received grants from the Sherwood Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the  National Endowment for the Arts, and, most recently, the Maryland State Arts Council. Her novels TWO RIVERS and GRACE received San Diego Book Awards in 2009 and 2012. Five of her novels have been BookSense76/ IndieBound picks, THIS GLITTERING WORLD in 2011 and GRACE in 2012. Her latest, BODIES OF WATER, was released in October 2013. She teaches creative writing at San Diego Writers, Ink, Grossmont College, and online for The Writer's Center. She lives in San Diego. www.tgreenwood.com


With the WildBlue Press indie release of his latest true crime, BOGEYMAN, in August 2014, New York Times bestselling author and journalist Steve Jackson has authored nine nonfiction books—true crime, history and biography—and collaborated with former New York assistant district attorney Robert K. Tanenbaum to write eleven crime thrillers in the Butch Karp fiction series. Publisher of WildBlue Press, Jackson has taught writing and journalism as an adjunct instructor at Oregon State University in Corvallis, and at Metropolitan State University in Denver. Jackson is based in Colorado.

Award winning author Matthew J. Pallamary has six books in print, including a historical novel, a memoir, two short story collections, a nonfiction book, and a science fiction novel. His historical novel titled, LAND WITHOUT EVIL, received rave reviews and a San Diego Book Award and has been adapted into a full-length stage and sky show and is the subject of a PBS series, Arts in Context, which garnered an EMMY nomination. He has taught fiction workshops at the Santa Barbara Writers' Conference for twenty five years and also at the Southern California Writers' Conference. He lives in San Diego. www.mattpallamary.com.


New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored nine books of narrative non-fiction and fiction, mostly involving crime stories. Her latest, I’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU, was released in 2014. The most recent of her several memoirs (all of which are about her co-authors), MY LIFE, DELETED, hit the NYT bestseller list in 2011. Rother, who is now writing books #10 and #11, also works as a book doctor, writing/research coach/consultant, and teaches narrative non-fiction and journalism at UCSD Extension and San Diego Writers, Ink. She has done dozens of national TV/radio appearances on Investigation Discovery, E!, Oxygen Network, FOX and HLN, C-SPAN and PBS affiliates.  http://caitlinrother.com.



To sign up and make a payment, or ask about registration and critiques, please contact Caitlin Rother, crother@flash.net. Attendance will be limited. Payment must be sent to reserve a seat.



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