Writing requires discipline and solitary focus, but it’s so crucial to get feedback during the process, combining honest critiques with encouragement. This course is designed to offer both—whether you’re working on stories, a novel, or work of autofiction. It’s also ideal for those looking to expand their literary community, including beta readers. The unique alchemy of a workshop provokes excitement, unexpected solutions and perspectives, and most importantly, support and camaraderie.

Classes will take place at the instructor’s home in the Marigny, and please note there is a (very mild-mannered) cat on the premises.

Creative Nonfiction blends elements of fiction and essay. It is a perfect medium for students who wish to write about their own lives in ways that will be compelling for other readers. Like fiction writers, we will work on building interesting stories out of our own experiences, with attention to striking details, characterization, and effective pacing.  Like essayists, we will also attempt to interpret our experience and draw lessons from it.  We will use the workshop method in our class: students will bring in their own work and we will read it and critique it. Depending on class size, each student will be expected to submit original work two to three times over the course of the session. We will also read a range of published creative nonfiction, to get a sense for the possibilities of the form.

This hands-on workshop is for any fiction writer–genre or literary–who wants to create visceral, palpable suspense on the page. We’ll take a deep dive into the fragile and powerful craft of suspense, including the narrative mechanics of building tension in-scene, atmosphere and setting as the handmaidens of discomfort, and the importance of withholding on the page. Short excerpts from contemporary writers will offer participants key insights into techniques for building suspense in fiction, before we move on to custom, guided exercises designed to generate material that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats.

As your instructor, I’ve spent decades writing and editing dark, suspenseful stories and novels that subvert genre expectations and leave readers feeling haunted and squirmy, so I’ll also be sharing personal experiences from my own writing process, including choices and challenges I faced in writing my latest novel, Rough Beast, a New Orleans noir psychological thriller. In short, I’ll be offering up to the class what I wish someone had shown me eons ago.

Test your skills: tuition includes written feedback from the instructor on a scene to be submitted via email in the week after the workshop. 2000 words max.”