I would love to come and give a talk or workshop for your organization, group, school, book club, or event. I give a 45-minute talk which includes a brief reading which I call "World Travels and Travel Writing: Turning One Obsession Into Another." After the talk, I open the discussion up to the audience for questions and comments. These talks have been one of the highlights in my writing career since it's so interesting and so much fun to meet the audience and hear stories of other peoples' travels.

I also give a variety of creative writing workshops-at elementary and high schools, music festivals, women's groups, university clubs, book clubs, libraries, arts organizations, and would be happy to give them at other places too.

One of my workshop blurbs:

"Many people say they've always wanted to write but don't know where to begin. We'll explore ways of opening up your creative mind and emptying it onto the page with lots of fun and inspiring writing exercises which will help set you on the road to becoming a writer. We'll discuss writing about a place, childhood memories, your deep dreams for life, and the importance of rewriting and paring down sentences. You'll also be given advice on getting published. Bring a notebook, a pen, and an willingness to surprise yourself."

In these workshops, I usually begin with a brief history of how I got started as a writer and then discuss where writers get their ideas and the importance of first thoughts, which have tremendous energy, and first drafts-knowing that first drafts will only be seen by the writer. We usually start with easy ways to begin the flow of writing and do some exercises to stimulate childhood memories since childhood is always an intriguing topic to write about. We also discuss writing about places we've been and how to capture the essence of that place by bringing out its unique details. We discuss the craft of writing, the importance of rewriting, the importance of reading, and I give some basic tips on what makes good writing. If there's interest, I give advice on getting published and the Canadian/American writers' market. If people would like to read aloud anything they've written at the workshop we sometimes do that too. These workshops can be for beginners or for those already well into the practice of writing.