Judith Starkston

Author

Pulling Your Reader in Close, Mastering Deep Point of View

Attendees will learn about:

• How to recognize what deep point of view is and why you want it
• How to fix common ways we distance our readers
• How to add details that close the distance
• How to get physical without clichés
• How to put deep point of view into your setting

Judith Starkston has spent too much time exploring the remains of the ancient worlds of the Greeks and Hittites. Early on she went so far as to get degrees in Classics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Cornell. She loves myths and telling stories. This has gotten more and more out of hand. Her solution is her brand: Fantasy and Magic in a Bronze Age World. Hand of Fire was a semi-finalist for the M.M. Bennett’s Award for Historical Fiction. Priestess of Ishana won the San Diego State University Conference Choice Award. Judith is represented by Richard Curtis.

For more information, visit www.judithstarkston.com/

Pete Cruz

Author

Why Evoking Emotions in Writing is Vital to Engaging Readers

Attendees will learn about:

• Why emotions are significant to telling a story
• Challenges to feeling our emotions
• How to access emotions
• Why Show, Don’t Tell is the golden rule.
• Tools and tips for writing emotional content

Pete Cruz is a member of our California Writers Club–Sacramento Branch.  He has won awards for short stories, served on writers panels, editing teams, and presented talks and workshops on a variety of subjects during his professional career in adult education and as a trainer and consultant for the State of California.

His memoir, No Tears for Dad, was published last November.  It’s his raw and sensitive account of recovery from childhood trauma and its effects on adulthood. He calls his book the most significant thing he’s ever done in his life, besides being a father to his daughter. For more information, visit www.PeteCruz.com, Facebook: PeteCruzAuthor, Instagram: @PeteCruzAuthor.

Gini Grossenbacher, M.Ed.

Award-winning Novelist, Poet, Editor, Publisher

Lisa Cron says, “A story is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes as a result.” Thus, story is what happens to our character internally, not externally. Our workshop will examine five key ways to deepen the character’s internal agenda and reveal her struggles through her inner lens. Writers will take away useful character-building strategies they can use crafting on their stories, memoirs, and novels.

Attendees will learn about:

• The Character’s Life You Will Turn Upside Down
• Your Protagonist’s World View
• Your Protagonist’s Past and Current Beliefs
• Your Protagonist’s Goals in both Scenes and Story
• Defining your Protagonist’s Overarching Plot Problem
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In addition to teaching writing, editing, and publishing the work of her fellow authors, Gini Grossenbacher loves writing historical novels. Madam in Lace, set in France, received a Reader’s Favorite Five-Star review and the 2022 Independent Publisher Silver Medal for Best European Fiction. Chinese American Madam in Silk was the Runner Up in the 2020 National Indie Excellence Awards for Historical Fiction. Her debut novel, a tale of Baltimore, New Orleans, and San Francisco, Madam of My Heart, won the 2018 Independent Publisher Silver Medal for Historical Fiction. She is currently celebrating the launch of her poetry collection, Glimpses. Founder of Elk Grove Writers & Artists, Gini leads weekly writers’ Zoom workshops on style and substance, the novel, poetry, and flash fiction. You may contact Gini at www.ginigrossenbacher.com

Claire Booth

Crime Fiction Author and Journalist

Take the elements of a good mystery—like pacing, dialogue, and character development—and transfer them to any genre of fiction.

Attendees will learn about:

• How to use the three-act structure to monitor your novel’s pacing
• How to avoid the dreaded “info dump”
• How to use clues in the right places
• How to write dialogue that doesn’t give things away
• How to keep the suspense going

Claire Booth, speaking on “Making a Good Mystery: Pacing, Clues & Character.”

Claire Booth is a former journalist who has reported on high-profile stories all over the country, including that of a California cult leader who became the subject of her nonfiction book The False Prophet. She now writes the Sheriff Hank Worth mystery series. Her latest is Dangerous Consequences. Find out more at www.clairebooth.com.