MWA NORTHWEST IS PROUD TO PRESENT

A DOUBLE-BARRELED ZOOM SEMINAR ON CREATIVE WRITING

With SJ ROZAN and BRIANA LANE

11 AM PDT: SJ ROZAN (yes, THAT SJ Rozan) tackles

“PLOT, STORY, STRUCTURE, WHAT IS THIS STUFF AND WHY IS IT SO HARD?”

SJ Rozan’s eighteen novels and eighty-plus short stories have won multiple awards, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, and Macavity, and also the Japanese Maltese Falcon. She’s been honored with Life Achievement Awards from both the Private Eye Writers of America and the Short Mystery Fiction Society (although she is not planning on dying or putting down her pen anytime soon). Many of her stories have appeared in various “Best Of” collections, and she’s edited three anthologies. The latest of them, CRIME HITS HOME, has just been nominated for an Anthony Award.

Born and raised in the Bronx, SJ now lives in lower Manhattan. She’s a graduate of Oberlin College and got her Master’s in Architecture at SUNY at Buffalo. SJ was a practicing architect in New York City for over twenty years.

SJ teaches and lectures widely, including a July workshop in Assisi, Italy. In 2003 she was an invited speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. SJ has been Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime, Toastmaster at Bouchercon, twice a presenter at the Shanghai Literary Festival, a Master Artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and a Writer-in-Residence at the Wisconsin Writers’ Association and at Singapore Management University.

Yes, THAT SJ Rozan: www.sjrozan.net – and MWA NW is thrilled to have her!

1:30 PM PDT:

Join SJ ROZAN and BRIANA LANE for a half-hour Q&A, with questions solicited in advance from attendees.

2:00 PM PDT:

BRIANA LANE (yes, THAT Briana Lane) promises at least two wardrobe changes as she assays

“VOICE AND THEME, THE ESSENTIALS OF ESSENTIAL WRITING”

Two tough topics in a crash course, and maybe a little inquiry into AI too (time permitting).

Based on Prof Lane’s real world career experience as a best-selling book author, renowned short story author, award-nominated playwright, long-time television and film writer, producer, and show runner; and University Professor who created and ran the Multi-Disciplinary MFA Degree Program in Dramatic Writing, offered jointly by the Department of World Literature and Classics, the Department of Theatre, and the Department of Film and Electronic Arts at CSULB, the July 15 event is a highly-condensed and complex but fun introduction to writing theory and practice, guaranteed to expose you to creative concepts you have not heard before.

One note of warning: leave home any checklists, buzz words, writing systems, and Chinese restaurant menu approaches to creativity. Come with an open mind and a desire to write something that matters and endures even as it is fabulously entertaining. Prof Lane absolutely believes that every person — whether or not they are professional career writers — every person has at least one story that must be told and must be heard.

MWA NW WRITING SEMINAR BY ZOOM ON JULY 15, 2023

— ROZAN AND LANE — BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

MWA and WGA Members attend free, but space is limited, sign up now! All others pay $10 — a great opportunity to check out what MWA NW has to offer!