Location: Sealy Auditorium
Featuring: Tara Taffera, Tracy Wainwright, and Linda J. White
Moderated by: Traci Hunter Abramson

Published authors will share their experience in various publication paths and answer audience questions.

Type of Class: Publishing
Writing Level: All levels

Location: Room 105A 
Presented by: J.S. Furlong

Think you can write a book for children without understanding character development, story structure, and the current standards of publishing excellence? Think again!

In this class you will learn how to craft an enjoyable, readable story, what editors and publishers expect from a children’s book, and how to make sure that you write a story that will sell to your audience. We'll break down the necessary elements of writing for kids -- picture books to middle grade. We will cover the five pitfalls new authors fall into when writing for children and how to avoid them.

You will leave with actionable takeaways to go home and write the children’s book of your dreams!

Type of class: General Craft, Genre
Level of writing: All levels

Location: Room 105B 
Presented by: Meredith R. Stoddard

Are you writing a police procedural? Or a novel set in the Wild West of the 1860s? Maybe in modern-day Japan? Every book needs research, but how do you do it effectively?

Writers know the research rabbit hole all too well, but you don’t want to get stuck down there forever. You need to be confident that you have the right tools to find the information you need. Meredith R. Stoddard gives practical advice on how to search smarter, which tools to use, and what you can do if you want to go the extra mile.

Type of class: General craft
Level of writing: Beginner

Location: Room 133
Presented by: S.C. Megale

This crash course in major religious structures provokes authors to think about religion in their own worldbuilding. We'll look at elements from three real-life religious structures --Catholic, Latter-Day Saints, and Pagan (this is a wide term!) --and apply them to sci-fi and fantasy scenarios.

How can religious institutions act as a powerful influence in your imagined world? Do all classic fantasies need a pagan religious background? What makes a fantasy religion realistic? All of these questions and more will be discussed as we open the door to the variety of possibilities offered when storytellers contend with the divine.

Type of class: General craft
Level of writing: All levels