May 5:  Novelist Rick Yancey to Discuss Life as a Writer

By Austin Kodra

Award-winning novelist Rick Yancey

will discuss the working life of a professional writer at the May 5 meeting of the Knoxville Writers' Guild. Following the presentation, Rick will also answer questions about his work and profession.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Theater, located at the corner of Laurel Avenue and 16th Street (in Fort Sanders). A $2 donation is requested at the door. The building is handicapped accessible.

Yancey is a critically-acclaimed author of adult fiction, young adult fiction and memoir. His work includes three series of novels, The Highly Effective Detective, Alfred Kropp and Monstrumologist, one standalone novel, A Burning in Homelandand a memoir, Confessions of a Tax Collector.

In all, Yancey has written 14 books that have been translated into more than 20 languages around the world.

After earning a degree in English at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Rick returned to his native Florida to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a full-time author. While attempting to live this dream, Rick decided to take a job with the Internal Revenue Service, where he served as a revenue officer for more than a decade.

It was this life experience that jump-started Yancey's writing career. He left the IRS in 2004, upon the publication of Confessions of a Tax Collector, which proved to be a resounding success. The Wall Street Journal named the memoir one of the five best books on taxes ever written.

Following the critical recognition of Confessions, Rick continued garnering impressive accolades for his work. He has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal for the Alfred Knopp trilogy, was the Printz Honor Recipient for The Monstrumologist (2009), and his most recent book in that same series, The Curse of the Wendigo (2010) is a finalist for this year's L.A. Times Book Prize in Young Adult Literature.

Book critics have recognized Rick's talent and versatility. Publishers Weekly said about The Monstrumologist, "Yancey's elegant depiction of an America plagued with monsters, human and otherwise, spares no grisly detail. ... Horror lovers will be rapt." Yancey is currently working on the third installment of the Monstrumologist series, The Isle of Blood.

The Knoxville Writers' Guild is excited to welcome award-winning novelist Rick Yancey to its May meeting, during which he will discuss life as a working writer.

More Workshops!

The Knoxville Writers' Guild is sponsoring a panel discussion on Writing Dialogue from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 7 at the Redeemer Church of Knoxville, 1642 Highland Ave. Cost is $15 for Guild members, $20 for nonmembers.

The panel includes novelist and screenwriter Shannon Burke, playwright Lisa Soland, novelist Pamela Schoenewaldt and screenwriter Russell Schaumburg. Novelist Terry Shaw will moderate the discussion.

"We have a great group of writers with varied backgrounds who are willing to share their experience," Shaw says. "It's going to be a lot of fun and everyone involved should learn something."

Burke is a former Harlem paramedic whose novels include Safelight and Black Flies, which The New York Times Sunday Book Review called "searing and morally resonant novels." He also worked on the script for Syriana, which received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay.

Soland is an award-winning playwright with more than 30 publications to her credit, including The Man in the Gray Suit and Truth Be Told, both published by Samuel French. While living in Los Angeles, she established two theaters. She is currently playwright-in-residence at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre.

Schaumburg is a Knoxville native and Webb School graduate who wrote the independent film Tennessee. Schoenewaldt's debut novel, When We Were Strangers, was released in January by HarperCollins and was a Book of the Month Club and Doubleday Book Club alternate. Shaw is a former newspaper reporter and editor. His debut novel, The Way Life Should Be, was published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.

To register and pay by credit card or PayPal, click here or send check to KWG Workshops, P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville TN 37939-0326. For more information, contact Guild President Terry Shaw at tshaw05@comcast.net.

From Pen to Publication: Judy DiGregorio, May 14

Humorist Judy DiGregorio will teach the workshop "From Pen to Publication: How Do You Start?" from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 at the Redeemer Church of Knoxville, 1642 Highland Ave. The event is sponsored by the Knoxville Writers' Guild. Cost is $15 for Guild members, $20 for nonmembers.

The workshop is aimed at beginning writers who need to know the basics of manuscript and query letter preparation. It also discusses writing tools and resources such as writing conferences and classes. The course will show you how to improve your writing skills and publication opportunities.

DiGregorio's work has appeared in the Army Times, The Writer, ByLine Magazine, the Chicken Soup Books, New Millennium Writings, CityView, and numerous anthologies. She is also the author of two humor books from Celtic Cat Publishing, Life Among the Lilliputians and Memories of a Loose Woman, and a new CD of humorous stories, Jest Judy.

To register and pay by credit card or PayPal, click here or send check to KWG Workshops, P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville TN 37939-0326.

Writing Dialogue: May 7, 2011

The clock is ticking! April 30 is the deadline for 2011 Guild Contest.... New Genres: Novel Excerpts, Flash Fiction and Blog Writing!

April 28: Poet Linda Parsons Marion reads from her 3rd poetry collection, Bound

Linda Parsons Marion's third poetry collection, Bound, chronicles the work and fabric of a Tennessee family, from grandparents to parents to daughters to granddaughter. Bound as they are on journeys together and apart, memory seams one generation to the next, redeeming the stumbles of the past and blessing the plenteous future.

New Writing Groups!

 We're forming several new writing groups: