GBF Offers Free Workshops for Adults, Teens and Children

Do you love writing and want to hone your skills? Are you an author – or author-to-be – and want to know how best to promote your work? Is your child showing an interest in writing or illustration? If so, you need to mark your calendar for May 20, when the Gaithersburg Book Festival will host a wide array of free workshops for adults, teens and children.

Workshops for adults and teens are being offered in partnership with The Writer’s Center and area professionals. All workshops (for ages 16+, unless otherwise noted) will last 55 minutes, and be available on a a first-come, first-served basis by signing up at the workshop tent on the day of the Festival. Workshop topics include:

• Write Your Way Into College (Grades 9-12) – Presented by Mason Henderson
• Writing Children’s Books – Presented by Mary Quattlebaum
• Intro to Fiction – Presented by Con Lehane
• Mystery Writing – Presented by Alan Orloff Haiku To Go – Presented by Melanie Figg
• Promoting Your Book: An Author PR Toolkit – Presented by Cherrie Woods
• How to Write Winning Short Stories – Presented by Nancy Sakaduski
• Thinking Like a Child: Explaining the Constitution to Young Readers – Presented by Syl Sobel
• Teen Creative Writing (Ages 13-18) – Presented by Lucinda Marshall

The children’s workshops will be led by writing professionals and graphic artists. No pre-registration is required for these workshops. Participants should just plan to show up at the time their preferred workshop is scheduled to start. Workshops are generally limited to 20 participants, but individual presenters can expand the workshop at their discretion. Children’s workshop topics include:

• How to Write a “How-To” (Ages 7-15) – Presented by 826DC
• Comics Character Team Up (Ages 6-15) – Presented by Dave Roman and Alexis Frederick-Frost
• Three Different Ways to Design and Create Cool Creatures and Characters (Ages 6-15) – Presented by Timothy Young
• Journal Writing for Young Sports Fans (Ages 8-15) – Presented by Fred Bowen
• Fiction and Fun! (Ages 7-15) – Presented by Jocquelyn Downs