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A message UPDATE from BARN’s Executive Director:
Dear BARN community:
In response to updated guidance from the CDC and the Washington State Department of Health, BARN will continue to be closed through the end of April.
However, the real story is how our volunteers are stepping up with creativity and care to make a difference in our community. BARN is working with Bainbridge Prepares and COBI's Emergency Operations Center to organize volunteers who are making face masks for health care providers. Several studios have donated N95 masks and nitrile gloves that they had in stock. We are keeping our commercial kitchen available for organizations like Arms Around Bainbridge to continue to provide healthful meals to families in need. This past weekend, the Woodworking Studio designed and built outdoor food cabinets for Helpline House, so they can continue to provide food to those who need it.
In addition, we are making connections through Internet channels. BARN staff and volunteers are developing ideas for online learning and sharing. Certificate of Craft students and faculty are learning through technology: doing design work and home jewelry projects.
If you want to learn more about how you can contribute to the COVID-19 response, please contact https://www.bainbridgewa.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=638
Listen to the latest BCB/BARN media arts podcast with Loren Bast of Bainbridge Prepares:https://www.bestofbcb.org/were-all-in-this-together/
Thank you for your understanding and support. I continue to welcome your questions, ideas, or concerns. Please contact me at denised@bainbridgebarn.org.
May we all remain healthy and be happily reconnecting in person, soon,
Denise M. Dumouchel, PhD Executive Director
NEW: This class will take place with Zoom video-conferencing.
Writing for middle grade readers is an incredibly rewarding experience – magic is made when such earnest readers engage with an author’s work. With New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient, Kirby Larson, workshop participants will spend the day exploring the key elements of successful middle grade fiction, through conversation, examples from published work and in-class writing exercises. Come prepared to channel your inner 11-year-old! Substantial doses of humor and chocolate included.
Kirby Larson is the acclaimed author of the 2007 Newbery Honor Book, Hattie Big Sky, and its sequel, Hattie Ever After. In addition to the Dogs of WWII series-- which includes Duke, Dash (Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Prize), Liberty, and Code Word Courage-- she has written The Friendship Doll, The Fences Between Us and Audacity Jones to the Rescue and Audacity Jones Steals the Show (an Edgar award nominee).
With good friend Mary Nethery, Kirby has written the award-winning Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival (illustrated by Jean Cassels) and the New York Times bestseller, Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle.
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Instructor Bio: Once a journalist in New York, A.C. Fuller now writes stories at the intersection of media, politics, and technology. He’s the author of eight novels in two series: The Alex Vane Media Thrillers and Ameritocracy. Before he began writing full time, he was an adjunct professor of journalism at NYU and an English teacher at Northwest Indian College. He lives with his wife, two children, and two dogs near Seattle.
Writing by chasing publishing trends is a fool’s errand. Narratives about apocalyptic survival and vampires can be hot one day and over by the time you finish writing your book. In this class we will discuss the types of universal stories readers and publishers truly want, and how your unique voice and life experience can inform a story that speaks to readers today, and still holds universal themes and timeless truth.
Jennifer Longo is a novelist with Random House Books. Her first two YA novels, Six Feet Over it and Up To This Pointe were both finalists for the Washington State Book Award. Her third novel, What I Carry, received a starred review from Kirkus and publishes January 21, 2020. Jen holds a B.A. in Acting from San Francisco State University and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Humboldt State University, and lives in the PNW with her husband and daughter. Join Jen for updated book tour dates, blog posts, and other antics at www.jenlongo.com
In this one-session class, Clare will explain the narrative structure behind her true animal stories and what makes a strong character and compelling plot. She will also touch on research techniques to provide rich details and description to deepen character and setting.
Clare Hodgson Meeker is the author of a dozen award-winning picture and chapter books for children, including the Smithsonian Notable Book Lootas Little Wave Eater: An Orphaned Sea Otter’s Story, the Junior Library Guild Selection Rhino Rescue!, and her new book Growing Up Gorilla: How a Zoo Baby Brought Her Family Together.
This four session course will walk students through the process of creating their own comics and graphic novels from idea to finished product. Topics covered included elements of story telling, creating narrative, creating characters, drawing, inking, and coloring comics.
Billy Simms is an award winning artist and educator. He holds a BA from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in theatrical scenic and lighting design, an MS from The Johns Hopkins University in special education, and an MFA in studio art from Miami University. He lives in Hamilton, OH with his wife and four cats.
Details:
Age Level: Youth Class, Ages 12-18.
With the explosive growth of streaming video, the demand and opportunities for content has never been higher. This workshop will cover the basic information you need to get started:
Movies vs Pilots (opportunities and advantages)
Different types of pilots
Software and formatting
Basic structure of a TV pilot
Critical do’s and don’ts
Log lines / One sheets / Pitches
Instructor Bio: Stephen Wallenfels earned a BA in Physical Education and International Relations from USIU San Diego. His writing career started as a freelance journalist in the health and fitness industry. After a decade of writing non-fiction, he published some short stories then switched to novels. His YA science fiction debut, POD (Penguin-Ace), was published in eight languages and has been adapted into a screenplay. Then, keeping with the survival theme but switching to realistic fiction, Stephen published two YA survival thrillers with Disney-Hyperion: Bad Call, set in Yosemite National Park, and Deadfall, set in the mountains of southeastern Oregon. He is currently adapting his novel, Deadfall, into a screenplay.
So you want to write a novel? Or you’ve written 40,000 words of a novel, and suddenly find yourself stuck. Or your stories are interesting but lack a real plot.
Michele Bacon is here to help. Over the course of two Saturdays, she’ll put you to work on developing a compelling protagonist, raising the stakes, and plotting your manuscript. Come with a full story idea or with only a desire to write a novel. You’ll leave with clear direction and a plot waiting to become a manuscript.
The two sessions will include brief lectures, hands-on workshops, one-on-one discussion with Michele, and some partner work with other students. Please feel free to bring a lunch. BARN has a refrigerator to store your lunch in.
Instructor
Michele Bacon is the author of contemporary young adult novels Antipodes and Life Before. Her work focuses on families, friends, and the complicated relationships therein. When she’s not writing, Michele loves skiing, playing tabletop games, traveling, and dreaming of travel. She’s visited all 50 states and dozens of countries, always eager to hear people’s stories and immerse herself in other cultures. Wherever she goes, Michele enjoys helping writers find their voices and tell their stories. And she loves coming home to Seattle, where she lives with her partner and three young children.
Agents report that they’re flooded with more queries and proposals than ever before, even as publishers cut back the number of books they produce each year. How can you break through the noise and get your project noticed? This workshop will help you step back and see your fiction or nonfiction work through fresh eyes and a business-based perspective. We’ll identify the things that make your work unique, marketable, and irresistible to publishing gatekeepers, and then with lots of examples and time for practice and personal feedback, we’ll work on verbal “elevator pitches,” one-paragraph hooks (great for query letters), and the dreaded synopsis. (This is also a valuable class for self-publishing writers who want to pitch their books so that readers pay attention.)
Attendees will…
1. Be challenged to consider their work from a fresh, detached, commercial perspective.
2. Learn how to condense full-length fiction and nonfiction projects into industry-appropriate 1-2 page synopses, and how to identify the compelling “hooks” that make great verbal pitches and query letter descriptions.
3. Gain a realistic understanding of what publishers and agents are looking for in new authors, including author platform, compelling concept, and connection to existing popular trends.
Instructor Bio: Beth Jusino is a publishing consultant for both traditional and self-publishing authors, with almost 20 years of experience helping writers navigate the complicated space between manuscript and final book. A former literary agent and marketing director, she’s the author of the award-winning The Author’s Guide to Marketing and has ghostwritten or collaborated on half a dozen additional titles. Beth is a member of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild, a regular speaker for Seattle Public Library’s #SeattleWrites workshops, and has taught at writers’ conferences across the country. Visit her online at www.bethjusino.com or on Twitter @bethjusino.
Join Susan for a hands-on class that will work for emerging, intermediate, and experienced writers. Bring your ideas or your work-in-progress to explore the basics of novel structure, and leave with a work plan to move ahead with your story. Recommended reading prior to class: The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler, The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber.
Instructor Bio:
Susan Wiggs’s life is all about family, friends…and fiction.
Susan has been featured in the national media, including NPR and USA Today, has given programs for the US Embassies in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and is a popular speaker locally, nationally, internationally, and on the high seas.
From the very start, her writings have illuminated the everyday dramas of ordinary people. Her books celebrate the power of love, the timeless bonds of family and the fascinating nuances of human nature. Today, she is an international best-selling, award-winning author, with millions of copies of her books in print in numerous countries and languages.
Her novels have appeared in the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller List, and have captured readers’ hearts around the globe. Her newest novel, The Lost and Found Bookshop will be released in 2020.
BARN will be closed and the front and back doors locked down to both Members and Non-Members beginning at 7:00 PM on Friday night as we begin preparations for the Bazaar at BARN.
Doors will reopen to all on Saturday, at 8:00 AM.
If you have questions, please contact Carla our Membership Coordinator at Membership@bainbridgebarn.org.
BARN members wishing to participate in this event must be a member for a minimum of 3 months (must join by August 31st) to participate. You can contact Carla Mackey at membership@bainbridgebarn.org for an application which will be available TBD.
