Registration deadline: Feb. 10^th    

Lots of people have a great idea for a book. To transform an idea to a finished book takes perseverance, some talent and discipline. The writer needs a guide to follow, a structural roadmap to take him or her from the beginning to a satisfying end.

This course will be presented in two, two-hour sessions. The first session will cover basic structure; turning points, POV, setting and characters. The author will read examples from one of her books to enlarge on these points. (The middle-grade book Curse of the Komodo will be included in the price of the course and given to students on the first day of class.) During the second session we’ll discuss the development of ideas using a storyboard, genres, writers’ groups, conferences, basic information about agents, publishers and some realities about getting published.

Margaret C. (Peg) Berkhousen wrote her first poem in sixth grade and has been writing all her life, integrating writing with her nursing career. While in Staff Development at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan, Peg wrote, produced and directed staff training videos that were published by J.B. Lippincott, New York, and won awards at the American Journal of Nursing Film Festival. She was scriptwriter and Associate Producer for “Lincoln…In His Own Words,” a project for Lincoln Life Insurance Company, narrated by actor Hal Holbrook. Finally signing with a publisher at the age of 75, Peg has now published three award-winning middle-grade novels.