Guest Speakers

Workshop: Suspense Tips from a Crime Novelist

Keep readers fidgeting and turning pages with these…wait for it…cliff-hanging suspense tips from crime novelist, Mar Preston.

“Suspense is important in every type of fiction,” said Mar, who is the author of six crime novels and the instructional series, Writing Your First Mystery.

On Saturday, 17 November, she’ll cover some of her best tips for injecting any fiction story with page-turning suspense. From structure and stakes to conflict and pacing—there are many places to build suspense into your story. After Mar’s workshop, you’ll know exactly how to spot them and the best techniques to pull it off.

Workshop Details

• When: 17 November 2018, 8:45-11:30am
• Where: Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield
• Tickets: $10 for members, $15 for guests, include a buffet breakfast and can be paid at the door or online.

Workshop: Learn to Sell the Sizzle with Relationship Expert’s Tips

If you’re willing to write about your personal experiences in love, sex, and relationships, Joey Garcia wants to show you how to profit from it.

Joey Garcia is a relationship advice columnist and the on-air Relationship Expert at Fox 40.

Her workshop will explore ways to manage the fear of revealing personal details about yourself or your friends, how to recognize and capitalize on relationship trends, and how to find markets for your writing.

Workshop Details

• When: 20 October 2018, 8:45-11:30am
• Where: Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield
• Tickets: $10 for members, $15 for guests, include a buffet breakfast and can be paid at the door or online.

Workshop: How to Create Realistic Characters for Your Fiction

Great storytelling relies on great characters. And now there’s a fun system to help you develop yours.

Join Writers of Kern and creative writing instructor, Joan Raymond, for our September meeting and workshop.

Joan will walk writers through all the easy steps and fun questions that lead to those realistic characters in breakout stories. She’ll show you “how to get inside a character’s head and discover hidden secrets and emotions” that go beyond basic description and outer appearance.

Joan Raymond teaches creative writing through Bakersfield College’s Levan Institute and served as Writers of Kern president for four years. Her short stories have been published online and in print.

Workshop Details

• When: 15 September 2018, 8:45-11:30am
• Where: Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield
• Tickets: $10 for members, $15 for guests, include a buffet breakfast and can be paid at the door or online.

Self-Publishing Workshop in Bakersfield

Ready to self-publish your book but don’t know where to start?

Join Writers of Kern and First Draft Publishing executive duo, Marcus and Donnée Harris, to find out how to create and market a self-published book that readers will love to buy.

Marcus and Donnée will cover tools for publishing and selling a manuscript, how to use easy social media resources you probably already have to find new readers, and how to make the most of self-publishing platform, Amazon.

Donnée, journalist turned self-published novelist and busy mom of three, wrote six novels that sold thousands of copies—all while staying home with her girls. Marcus created and marketed seven books while working full-time as an engineer. Both prove that writers can successfully self-publish and sell their books even when they don’t have a lot of time.

Workshop Details

• When: 18 August 2018, 8:45-11:30am
• Where: Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield
• Tickets: $10 for members, $15 for guests, include a buffet breakfast and can be paid at the door or online.