I teach courses and workshops in creative writing, crime fiction, creative nonfiction, and strategies for writers in writing, revising, publishing, and marketing and promotion. I teach popular fiction writing for the Northwestern University’s MFA in Prose and Poetry and have previously taught at Ball State University, Roosevelt University, Yale Writers’ Workshop, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference, Antioch Writers’ Workshop, Chicago Writers Workshop, Midwest Writers Workshop, and StoryStudio Chicago.
Looking for a speaker or panelist? My special interests include psychological suspense thrillers and amateur detective mysteries, historical mysteries, mysteries with strong female protagonists (and also troubled ones!), mysteries that address social ills, Chicago crime fiction, Midwestern crime fiction, writing unreliable narrators, and writing difficult-to-like protagonists. Pet craft topics include Suspense, Point of View, and Characterization. I can also talk about the influence of libraries and writing associations for as long as you let me. Sample talks:
One-hour talks
Motivation and Productivity for the Writer
They Fight Crime! How to Write the Amateur Sleuth
14 Tips for Writing Suspense
Writing Chills into Your Thriller
Up All Night: Writing the Crime Fiction Page-Turner
Point of View as Foundation of Story
Liars and Thieves, and These are the Good Guys: How to Create Conflict-Driven Characters People Still Want to Read
Self-promotion for Introverts
Mystery Writing for High School Writers
Book Club Talks for each of my books
Scalable talks
Mystery Bootcamp
(This program can be one hour to multiple days.)
Mystery Workshop
(Scale to any time requirement, including multiple days.)
The Art of Revision
(This program can be one to four hours.)
Novel Writing for Blank-Page Beginners
(Half-day to whole-day session.)
Want me to talk about a topic not listed here? Ask! For more information, contact me through this site.