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The Porch: The Origins of the Original with Visiting Writer Rebecca Makkai

When we sit down to write, the first words, scenes, characters, conflicts, and settings we come up with are often the least original ones of which we’re capable. Digging past the obvious, the stock (and even the products of the collective unconscious), we might finally arrive at stories that are strikingly new and memorable. In this class we’ll cover some key elements of originality — specificity, idiosyncrasy, complexity, repetition, and change — and talk about accessing them both in drafting and revision.

For writing to succeed, it must be both well-executed and original. While originality might seem intuitive, or even a product of the writer’s personality, it’s in fact a skill that can be sharpened. That’s what we’ll be doing.

Online Workshop Via Zoom

Saturday, April 30th, 2022 | 2:00pm – 4:00pm CT

$68 for members

$75 for non members

on April 30 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In-Person Event with Paul Holes / Unmasked

 

Join Anderson’s bookshop for an in-person event with Paul Holes, the retired cold-case detective behind investigations into the Golden State Killer, Jaycee Dugard, and Laci Peterson cases,  to discuss his new memoir Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases.  Paul will be in conversation with New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Makkai.

After a discussion by the author and a conversation partner, fans will be welcome to join a live signing line to get their book autographed by the author.  COVID safety protocols will be followed.

This event will be held at Wentz Concert Hall on the campus of North Central College, and pre-registration is required as space is limited. 

 

Please read these COVID protection requirements carefully:

Masks are required of all customers, regardless of vaccination status, and must remain properly covering the face for the entirety of the event.

A ticket is required for all attendees, attendance may be capped, and seating may also be restricted in order to allow for social distancing.

Anderson’s Bookshop, the author, and the publisher reserve the right to change the format of this event to a virtual one at any time if it becomes necessary.  A change in format will not entitle ticket holders to any refund.

Failure to follow these guidelines and to treat all participants with courtesy and respect may result in your expulsion from the event.

 

Please be advised that Anderson’s Bookshop assumes no responsibility or liability for any personal injury or other loss you may incur as a result of your decision to attend an event, including the transmission of Covid-19 or related illnesses.  We expect that for the protection of everyone, all applicable Covid related protocols will be followed.  

 

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

More about the book:

In this memoir, Paul Holes takes us through his memories of a storied career and provides an insider account of some of the most notorious cases in contemporary American history, including the hunt for the Golden State Killer, Laci Peterson’s murder, and Jaycee Dugard’s kidnapping. This is also a revelatory profile of a complex man and what makes him tick: the drive to find closure for victims and their loved ones, the inability to walk away from a challenge—even at the expense of his own happiness. Holes opens up the most intimate scenes of his life: his moments of self-doubt and the impact that detective work has had on his marriage. This is a story about the gritty truth of crime-solving when there are no flashbulbs and “case closed” headlines. It is the story of a man and his commitment to cases and people who might otherwise have been forgotten.

About the author:

In 2018, Paul Holes retired as a Cold Case Investigator after spending more than 27 years working in Contra Costa County in California’s Bay Area. Paul specialized in cold case and serial predator crimes, lending his expertise to notable cases, including the murder of Laci Peterson and the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard. Most prominently, Paul’s career culminated with his identification of the Golden State Killer, the most notorious and cunning serial predator in U.S. history.

 

Since the arrest of Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, Holes has been very involved on the media side, continuing to assist law enforcement and victims’ families with their unsolved cases through the television shows The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes and America’s Most Wanted, and with the podcast Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad.

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Great BelieversThe Hundred-Year House, and The Borrower, as well as the short story collection Music for WartimeThe Great Believers was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize, among other honors. Makkai is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

 

on April 27 2022· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

Wednesdays September 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th join me to learn to read like a writer. In this discussion- and lecture-based class, we’ll use short assigned texts to become stronger and more engaging writers. This workshop has four sessions.

We tend to read as readers and then write as writers, missing out on many of the craft lessons we could be learning from the stories, novels, and memoirs we love. You might pause to admire a great line, but when was the last time you took apart an author’s structure, or charted out their use of tension, or examined their scenes as units?

In this four-week class, we’ll use short assigned texts as jumping-off points for craft talks about scene structure, summary and exposition, character interiority and exteriority, and stakes. Most importantly, we’ll learn how to read (and even watch movies) for craft so that we’ll never run out of free writing education.

Class meetings will be discussion-and-lecture based; this is not a workshop class. Students will have access to an exclusive community to continue the discussion outside of class time, sharing reading notes and recommendations.

Course Info: Wednesdays | Sep 8 – Sep 29 | 5pm PT / 8pm ET| 90 min | Limited to 20 participants
Price: $400.00 for all four sessions: September 8, September 15, September 22, September 29, 2021

on September 29 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

Wednesdays September 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th join me to learn to read like a writer. In this discussion- and lecture-based class, we’ll use short assigned texts to become stronger and more engaging writers. This workshop has four sessions.

We tend to read as readers and then write as writers, missing out on many of the craft lessons we could be learning from the stories, novels, and memoirs we love. You might pause to admire a great line, but when was the last time you took apart an author’s structure, or charted out their use of tension, or examined their scenes as units?

In this four-week class, we’ll use short assigned texts as jumping-off points for craft talks about scene structure, summary and exposition, character interiority and exteriority, and stakes. Most importantly, we’ll learn how to read (and even watch movies) for craft so that we’ll never run out of free writing education.

Class meetings will be discussion-and-lecture based; this is not a workshop class. Students will have access to an exclusive community to continue the discussion outside of class time, sharing reading notes and recommendations.

Course Info: Wednesdays | Sep 8 – Sep 29 | 5pm PT / 8pm ET| 90 min | Limited to 20 participants
Price: $400.00 for all four sessions: September 8, September 15, September 22, September 29, 2021

on September 22 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

Wednesdays September 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th join me to learn to read like a writer. In this discussion- and lecture-based class, we’ll use short assigned texts to become stronger and more engaging writers. This workshop has four sessions.

We tend to read as readers and then write as writers, missing out on many of the craft lessons we could be learning from the stories, novels, and memoirs we love. You might pause to admire a great line, but when was the last time you took apart an author’s structure, or charted out their use of tension, or examined their scenes as units?

In this four-week class, we’ll use short assigned texts as jumping-off points for craft talks about scene structure, summary and exposition, character interiority and exteriority, and stakes. Most importantly, we’ll learn how to read (and even watch movies) for craft so that we’ll never run out of free writing education.

Class meetings will be discussion-and-lecture based; this is not a workshop class. Students will have access to an exclusive community to continue the discussion outside of class time, sharing reading notes and recommendations.

Course Info: Wednesdays | Sep 8 – Sep 29 | 5pm PT / 8pm ET| 90 min | Limited to 20 participants
Price: $400.00 for all four sessions: September 8, September 15, September 22, September 29, 2021

on September 15 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Speakeasy Workshop: Reading Like A Writer

Wednesdays September 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th join me to learn to read like a writer. In this discussion- and lecture-based class, we’ll use short assigned texts to become stronger and more engaging writers. This workshop has four sessions.

We tend to read as readers and then write as writers, missing out on many of the craft lessons we could be learning from the stories, novels, and memoirs we love. You might pause to admire a great line, but when was the last time you took apart an author’s structure, or charted out their use of tension, or examined their scenes as units?

In this four-week class, we’ll use short assigned texts as jumping-off points for craft talks about scene structure, summary and exposition, character interiority and exteriority, and stakes. Most importantly, we’ll learn how to read (and even watch movies) for craft so that we’ll never run out of free writing education.

Class meetings will be discussion-and-lecture based; this is not a workshop class. Students will have access to an exclusive community to continue the discussion outside of class time, sharing reading notes and recommendations.

Course Info: Wednesdays | Sep 8 – Sep 29 | 5pm PT / 8pm ET| 90 min | Limited to 20 participants
Price: $400.00 for all four sessions: September 8, September 15, September 22, September 29, 2021

on September 8 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Society For The Study Of Midwestern Literature Celebrates Mark Twain Award Winners Marilynne Robinson and Rebecca Makkai

Marilynne Robinson and Rebecca Makkai, winners of the 2020 and 2021 Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature, in conversation with Phil Christman, author of Midwest Futures. (Free for current SSML members; open to non-members for a $5 registration fee.)

SSML Members Register HERE

Non-Members Register HERE

on June 14 2021· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

StoryStudio Chicago Presents: The Geek-Out Book Club | Rebecca Makkai + Cristina Henriquez Discuss “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

The Geek-Out is writers geeking out about literature, plain and simple! One writer will make the other read something for the first time (in this case, Rebecca made Cristina read Shirley Jackson’s legendarily unnerving “The Lottery”) and then for about an hour they talk together about craft, impact, what they loved, what they didn’t. The audience is encouraged to read the piece too, and participate via the chat box.

The event is a fundraiser for StoryStudio’s Doro Boehme scholarship fund, benefiting writers working on book-length projects. If this first go is successful, we hope to make The Geek-Out a regular series, inviting your favorite writers to participate and discuss other legendary stories and books.

on December 14 2020· Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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