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Fri & Sat, Oct 2 & 3, 2009
at Cuesta College in San
Luis Obispo
(Limited Enrollment)
Keynote Speaker
CHRISTIAN MOERK
© Les Kaner
Christian Moerk was a journalist and a film
producer before his first novel, The Council of Ten,
was published in his native Denmark, where it became an
instant bestseller and was translated in Russia and Germany.
He followed it up with Darling Jim, which so
far has sold to 15 foreign countries. Currently, he’s at
work on the first book in a trilogy. He writes in English
first, then translates all his novels into Danish himself.
He received a B.A. in sociology and history
from Marlboro College in Vermont in 1991, and an M.S. in
journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism the following year. He worked on movies such as
“Michael Collins,” “The Butcher Boy” and “The Devil’s
Advocate” while at Warner Bros. Pictures; was a senior
writer at the film trade publication Variety in both
New York and Los Angeles; and wrote about the film business
for the New York Times. He lives in Brooklyn, New
York and travels to Ireland often.
Visit his Web site at
http://www.christianmoerk.com.
Read an interview with
Christian Moerk at:
http://artandliterature.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/an-interview-with-novelist-christian-moerk-author-of-darling-jim/
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Advance praise for Darling Jim
. . .
"Moerk tightly meshes each
separate plot strand - the murders, the diaries and Quick's
tales - into an enthralling story that never falters." --Publisher's
Weekly, Starred Review
“Darling
Jim is wickedly good. From its shocking beginning to
the unwinding stories of three sisters, the tale spirals
like a Celtic knot, wending back into authentic Irish
folklore and forward into the modern world where
storytellers have a dangerous charm. A page-turner of the
highest sort.”—Keith Donohue, author of
The Stolen Child
“Christian Moerk is one very original
storyteller. At the core, Darling Jim is a whale of a
good mystery. But the greater pleasure is the way Moerk
wraps one story around another and then another and weaves
them all through with myth, nightmare and some wonderfully
hip, flashy and even comedic points of view. I could not put
this one down.”—Pam Lewis, author of Speak Softly, She
Can Hear and Perfect Family
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Workshops he is
presenting at the conference:
Session III: Saturday 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
311WC.309 Your Writing Isn’t Art—It’s a
Job: Building Your Toolbox
–
Christian Moerk
If you
want to make a living as a writer, you need the tools
for the job. In this class, you’ll build that toolbox.
You’ll find out: how to create a "skeleton" in the form
of a chronological synopsis; the importance of layering
in details in act one that you can pick up later; how to
write realistic dialogue, the secret to creating
satisfying openings and closings to your chapters; when
to stay inside your chosen genre and when to step
outside of it; and much more.
Session
IV: Saturday 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.
418WC.309 Creating an Authentic Time and
Place –
Christian Moerk
Many
period-based novels strive for authenticity but instead
deliver excruciating "Bow, yield, kneel!" dialogue that
pulls you out of the story. In this seminar, we'll look at
examples where the writer has successfully navigated the
pond of bottomless period clichés and come out alive with a
wonderful, believable tone. How do they do it? How can you
create characters that live in their own skin, yet do what
you want them to? How much period is just enough? What
details are used, and which are discarded? How do you create
narratives that move forward from specific characters' point
of view rather than using merely the conventional omniscient
third person narrator? And what are the pitfalls once you
fall too much in love with a certain tone?
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