Classes/Workshops/Conferences
Ongoing: Mentorship in Creative Writing, 
UCLA Extension, Online
Work with me on-on-one through UCLA Extension
Mentorships provide individualized support to advanced writers who seek specific and focused guidance in their work. Students select a mentorship focus from a pre-determined list of options provided by the instructor as part of their application process. Instructors review applications to determine student readiness for intensive personalized instruction and to ensure the student’s writing goals are achievable within the mentorship period. Students and instructors develop a Mentorship Agreement to guide their interactions over six contact hours during the ten-week mentorship period. By the end of the mentorship, students have received advice, input, and support to help them reach their short-term goals.
October 2-December 10, UCLA Extension, Online
Novel Writing Two
Armed with your overall concept and first chapter, you continue to develop your knowledge of craft by writing scenes using characters and situations from the projected novel and workshopping your in-progress work. Mini-lectures on the art of the novel, intuitive creative process and conventional vs. non-conventional approaches to novel structure also are covered. The goal is to complete 50 pages of your novel.
October 14-December 22, SNHU MFA Online
MFA 702--Thesis Class Three, Capstone
Revise, finalize, and submit a publication-ready novel for the capstone in the MFA program. Assemble a professional portfolio including a query letter and synopsis, accumulated evidence of writing work, and a personally branded website. Reflect critically on one’s place within a writing genre, examine influential books and writers, and envision a career in writing in the context of literary citizenship. Demonstrate mastery of program outcomes through a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade evaluation.
October 14-December 22, SNHU MFA Online
MFA 624--Contemporary Fiction Writing
Continue to explore the conventions, tools, and skills required for writing a successful Contemporary Fiction novel, with emphasis on implementing worldbuilding and setting, dialogue, voice, style, and pacing. Compose, workshop, and revise an original scene intended for a novel. Examine ideas that tie scenes together, such as foreshadowing, backstory, flashback, and subplot.
January 6-March 16, 2025, SNHU MFA Online
Romance Fiction Writing, II
Continue to explore the conventions, tools, and skills required for writing a successful romance fiction novel, with emphasis on implementing world building and setting, dialogue, voice, style, and pacing. Compose, workshop, and revise an original scene intended for a novel. Examine ideas that tie scenes together, such as foreshadowing, backstory, flashback, and subplot.
January 8-March 18. 2025, UCLA Extension, Online
Novel Writing Three
For those with a minimum of 50 pages of a novel-in-progress, this workshop guides you to generate at least 50 new pages, as well as learn essential self-editing techniques with the instructor and peers reviewing each participant's project in detail. Refinements of character, structure, emotional content, and the development of the writer's voice are also explored. The goal is to produce a substantial portion of your novel.
March 31-June 10, 2025. UCLA Extension, Online
Novel Writing One
That novel is inside you waiting to emerge, but knowing how and where to start can be daunting. This course provides you with weekly assignments, group interaction and instructor feedback to help you explore various methods of writing your first novel while learning the key craft points of plot, structure, characterization, point-of-view, sense of place and voice. The goal is to complete the first chapter of your novel by establishing an intimacy with your characters as you artfully shape their journey and to develop an overall concept to guide you through your story. Required for students considering the long-fiction sequence