Writing Workshops with Author/Teacher Chris Eboch

Online, in May: I'll be teaching an online workshop on Advanced Plotting: Keep Those Pages Turning.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Many books and workshops teach the basics of plotting: conflict, complications, and climax. Now learn advanced techniques that will make a decent plot dynamic. Start with a “grab you by the throat” opening to pull readers into the story. Learn how to pack the plot full by complicating your complications. Control your pacing through sentence and paragraph length. And finally, cliffhanger chapter endings ensure late-night reading under the covers. Learn techniques to make any story or book better. Novelists will benefit from these insights, whether they are just starting out or have years of experience.

COST:  $125, which includes weekly assignments and individual feedback from the instructor. This class will be conducted through a Discussion Board, with the opportunity for students to ask questions and post homework samples.

BUY NOW: Advanced Plotting with Chris Eboch (4 weeks, starting 5/4/2016) Limit: 15 students. Early registration is recommended.

New York, in June: I'll present three workshops at the 21st Century Children's Nonfiction Conference. The conference is June 10-12 at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. To learn more about the conference, visit the website.

My programs are:

Children's Nonfiction 101: Friday Intensives (an optional extra three-hour intensive): If you are new to children’s nonfiction publishing, or want a refresher about the current terminology, markets, and acquisition process, this intensive will be invaluable. Presented with Caryn Wiseman (Andrea Brown Literary Agency) and Michelle Bisson (Capstone).

Show Me the Money: What can an author earn? Learn how writers are making a living, through original book projects, work for hire books, magazines, test passages and more. Explore how to reach some of the less obvious markets, and discuss the attitude changes that need to happen to turn writing into a business.

How to Find NF Work: Where can you look? How do you follow up leads? Learn where and how best to connect with publishers, book packagers, and digital developers at conferences, book fairs, and exhibitions. Presented with author Jennifer Swanson

August, in North Carolina: I'll present two workshops at the Writers Who Run Retreat, August 3-6 in Fontana Dam, NC. You'll enjoy three full days packed with a morning 2-mile trail run (optional), breakfast, two 2-hour intensive workshops focused on craft and the business of writing, lunch, roundtable critique groups, free writing time, dinner, and a fun social event each evening. Learn more at the website.

My programs are:

Plotting Techniques: Are you struggling to plot your novel, or do you have a plot that  isn't working? Chris will help you learn how to plot like a pro.

Revisions that Sing: Revising and editing looks easy when Chris shows you how. Learn lots of tips and tricks to help tighten your manuscripts

If you wind up at any of these events, please be sure to say hi!

Chris Eboch is the author of almost 50 published books. Her writing craft books include Advanced Plotting and You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers. She has sold over 60 writing articles to Writers Digest, Children’s Writer, and the annual Writer’s Guides.

Chris’s novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Haunted series. Her recent nonfiction titles, published under the name M. M. Eboch, include World War I Battlefield Medicine, Native American Code Talkers, A History of Film, and Chaco Canyon. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page.

Chris also writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Kris Bock writes action-packed romantic suspense involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.

The Ghost Miner’s Treasure from Spellbound River Press

What do you do when a ghost needs your help?

Thirteen-year-old Jon and his eleven-year-old sister, Tania, are typical kids – except for the fact that Tania can communicate with ghosts. Their mom and stepdad are producers of a ghost-hunter reality television show, but they don’t know about Tania’s gift, and Tania wants to keep it that way.

Jon can't see ghosts and didn't believe in them, but things are getting too crazy for any other explanation. And if softhearted Tania wants to help the ghosts, Jon will have to protect her and try to keep them both out of trouble.

In The Ghost Miner’s Treasure, Jon and Tania travel with the ghost hunter TV show to the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. The crew visits an abandoned mining town, where the ghost of an old miner is still looking for his lost mine.

Tania is determined to help the old miner move on. But to do that they must resolve the problem keeping him here, which means helping him find his mine. And that means taking the TV crew deep into the rugged land of deserts and canyons.

In the words of an old fortuneteller, “Many dangers you face on this quest. Many trials.”

But they could hardly have imagined the trouble this adventure would bring! 

"The action never lets up in this fast-paced story, with something exciting happening in every chapter." – Reader Review

Aladdin/Simon & Schuster released the first three Haunted books in 2008. Now The Ghost Miner's Treasure is back in print from Spellbound River Press.

School Library Journal said of the series, “Haunted is a fun read with some thrills and chills and has the added bonus of some genuine, compassionate personalities.” 

A reader review noted,"What I loved most of all, was the way my 4th grade daughter got sucked into the story. She’s a reluctant reader so it was a joy to see her completely absorbed in a book; she immediately started the second book in the series when she finished, and can’t wait for more." 

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Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages, with several novels for ages nine and up. In Bandits Peak, a teenage boy meets strangers hiding on the mountains and gets drawn into their crimes, until he risks his life to expose them. The Eyes of Pharaoh is an action-packed mystery set in ancient Egypt. The Genie’s Gift draws on the mythology of 1001 Arabian Nights to take readers on a fantasy adventure. In The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan girl in ninth-century Guatemala rebels against the High Priest who sacrifices anyone challenging his power. 

Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page.