Workshops

One learns from books and example only that certain things can be done.

Actual learning requires that you do those things.

New York Novels Workshop in The Hague, The Netherlands

Writing is like lightning searing through our veins, like our blood inking our pages. The power of storytelling is more than the mere act of putting pen to paper, or fingers to a keyboard and words on a screen. Writing opens channels of creativity and energy, making us writers more than one solitary person pouring our soul onto a page. We are storytellers, and storytellers go back as far as humanatiy’s need to communicate, from dancing around a fire to actors on the silver screen, storytellers touch humanity’s core.

My writing classes are a dynamic working writing experience for the student. In my classes, you’ll get extensive one-on-one time for rigorous personal attention and feedback as well as active class participation. Classes are both online and live with handouts and outlines available on the class webpage.

My workshops focus on teaching the fundamental principles such as plot, structure, character, voice, dialogue, description, and point of view, as well as how to become a better editor, including line editing, and critiquer of your own work and others. These principles are taught through lectures, class discussions, writing exercises, a chatroom, and in-depth critiques of your writing.

For a complete schedule, see the 2026 Workshop Schedule below. 

About the classes

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To celebrate and share the joy, power and creativity of writing,
I present readings and writing online, live, and on-and-on workshops all over Texas, and around the world!

Neurons that fire together wire together.

Workshops in 2026

March 2-27, 2026

The Cosmic Kitchen
A Worldbuilding Wizardry Workshop for Speculative Fiction Romance Writers

July 6-31, 2026

Generating Gorgeous Genre

First Page Fixes

October 5-30, 2026

First Page Fixes

ALL Workshops

First Page Fixes
Generating Gorgeous Genre

Previous Workshops

  • The Art of Critque: Digging the dirt out of your draft
  • Characters as Creatures
  • Editing Like a Pro
  • Examining Online Media: How to build your audience before your book is sold
  • Fang-Dangle Your Fantasy with Urban Delight!
  • Formatting Fundamentals: Shaping up your manuscript for publication
  • Generating Gorgeous Genre
  • Generating Gorgeous Genre II: Getting gritty (requires student participation)
  • Goth, Gadgets & Grunge: Steampunk with style
  • List ItemFormatting for Effect: How to power up with formatting
  • Me & Chi: Increase your creativity and health with Tai Chi and meditation for writers
  • NaNo-ing Your Novel to Publication
  • New York Novels: How to write, edit, and polish your manuscript for the American publisher and audience
  • The Science in Science Fiction
  • Sizzling Synopses & Captivating Queries: Hook that editor/agent the first time
  • Tropes, Trollops & Truth: Fantastical women in fantastical times
  • Urban Fantasy: More vamp for your tramp and more bang for your fang
  • Witches, Faeries & Wizards Oh My!
  • Worldbuilding with Words
  • Worldbuilding Wizardry

What My Former Students Say

Start Date: Monday, October 5, 2026
End Date: Friday, October 30, 2026

Bestsellers are bestsellers for a reason. Bestselling authors use their writing toolbox and skills to create a fascinating story. In this class, we will analyze bestselling authors and see how they created their bestseller and apply those techniques to our own. Bestseller here we come!

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Generating Gorgeous Genre-Using Genre Elements and Tropes to Enhance Your Stories

Start Date: Monday, July 6, 2026
End Date: Friday, July 31, 2026

Your readers crave the essential elements that make their favorite genres irresistible—and it’s your job to deliver them brilliantly. Genre fiction thrives on tropes: those familiar yet powerful building blocks that readers expect and love. Master these elements, and you’ll have the tools to craft stories that satisfy genre expectations while standing out from the crowd. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to identify, adapt, and elevate classic genre tropes to create fiction that keeps readers hungry for more.

She’s running from the darkness. But what lurks inside her is darker.

The debut novel from award-winning author Pat Hauldren explores questions of who we think we are vs the truth of who we are, and the price we pay no matter the path taken.

Life is not simple for Zarachiel, freshly escaped from her drug-dealing foster parents in deep South Texas. In Dallas, she stays off the grid. She finds a new family in Gracie, from whom she leases an extra bedroom, and Katie, Gracie’s four-year-old daughter.

The cartel attacks just as Zarachiel makes contact with her biological father. They want what she stole from them.

Amid chaos and survival for both her and her new family, Zarachiel discovers her true nonhuman self as she fights for her freedom and the freedom of humanity.