What is the secret to creating characters with traits that your readers will never forget? How do you translate those unforgettable traits into unforgettable dialogue?  How do you match characters to each other so they have both conflict and moments of clarity between them? How do you show what your characters are feeling, even if they can't put that feeling into words? Come to class with short descriptions of your characters so you can work on them in class. 

ALISON MCMAHAN is a native of Los Angeles, California, but grew up in Mexico and Spain. She is an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker, and author. Her films include the documentary Bare Hands and Wooden Limbs (2010), about landmine survivors in Cambodia, narrated by Sam Waterston. Her books include a critical study of the work of the first woman filmmaker, Alice Guy Blaché, Lost Visionary of the Cinema (Bloomsbury 2002), translated into Spanish and Japanese, adapted as a play by La Recua Teatro in Toledo, Spain (2012) and adapted into the documentary, Be Natural, by Pamela Green (2018).Her short mysteries have been anthologized by Level Best Books, Wildside Press, Down-and-Out Books, ThrillRide magazine, Open Road Media, and in the Scream and Scream Again middle-grade horror anthology edited by R.L. Stine for HarperCollins. She’s a two-time Derringer finalist and an "Other Distinguished Mystery Stories" author, Best American Mystery Stories 2018. When not writing she teaches English as a Second Language and Spanish. Represented by Sandy Lu, Book Wyrm Literary Agency. Please visit https://alisonmcmahan.com/ for more information about Alison and her books. 

This workshop is on Zoom and registration is required. Please click here to register.  

The video is available for on-demand viewing June 29 – October 7. 

Sponsored by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation.