Tinker Mountain Writers' Workshop 2011

I haven't posted lately because I've been at a workshop: the Tinker Mountain Writers' Workshop at Hollins University. I wasn't planning to do a workshop this summer, but I've been working on a novel and felt that I needed an extra push to get the revisions done. And Fred Leebron was teaching at the workshop, and I've missed a few other opportunities to work with him. So, it was something of a last minute decision--but I'm very glad I went.

The setting--Hollins University just outside of Roanoke, Virginia--isn't the most beautiful spot in the world (i.e., it's not a mountain top in Tennessee or Vermont), but it's a pleasant campus, and convenient. This year's conference had just four workshops--a few others that had been planned were cancelled--so it was intimate. But our workshop on the Advanced Novel was big--12 writers--which meant it was a lot of work (which isn't a bad thing at a workshop). Fred is a great teacher, and every session of the workshop included craft discussion in addition to the manuscript critique, which I think is ideal. I learned a ton, and am excited to get back to work on the book.

The other workshops were with Dan Mueller, Jim McKean, and Nick Lantz.