Writing Workshops - Journal of the Plague Years

How does landscape influence plot and character?
Can it be a character itself?

Whether it's the desert or the mountains or an interior landscape such as the inside of a car, this five-week workshop will explore these questions, drawing from writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Barry Lopez, Rick Bass, the author's own work, and others.

You'll develop a piece of writing as the workshop progresses, coming away with enhanced powers of description and a firmer grasp on nonfiction fundamentals.

Class is open to six writers.

Deanne Stillman is the author of four books, including Mustang, Desert Reckoning, and Blood Brothers. Mustang was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. Desert Reckoning, based on a Rolling Stone piece, won the Spur and LA Press Club Awards, was a Southwest Book of the Year and an Amazon editors pick. Hunter S. Thompson called her cult classic, the bestselling Twentynine Palms :“A strange and brilliant story by an important American writer.” Deanne taught creative writing for more than a decade in the MFA program at the University of California-Riverside's Palm Desert campus.

Students Talk About Deanne

"Deanne Stillman was an indispensable piece of my education as a writer. She taught me to trust my artistic instincts, strengthen my structure, and connect my prose to the deeper themes I wanted to write." -
Trey Burnette, MFA, UCR-Palm Desert; essays in the LA Times, NBC News, LA Review of Books

"It's hard to imagine I would be where I am as a writer without Deanne's generous mentoring. She also happens to be one of the most talented travel writers around."
Tiffany Hawk, author of Love Me Anyway (St. Martin's Press)

"Deanne Stillman has an uncanny ability to understand and connect with places. She helps students discover and explore the places—geographical and emotional—they aim to inhabit in their writing. It's a true gift to be in the space of Deanne Stillman's writing workshop."
Lizi Silver, graduate of UCR-Palm Desert Low Residency MFA Creative Writing Program

Mark Lamonica photo
Gayle Brandeis, Los Angeles Review of Books, on Desert Reckoning
"One of the greatest gifts of this book is how Deanne Stillman is able to open our hearts to people we might otherwise judge or dismiss...One can’t help but be filled with gratitude and awe toward Deanne Stillman — her clear eye, the depth of her research, her brave and compassionate imagination. She takes us on a journey as full of desolation and grandeur as the desert itself."

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Tote Bags
Books
A Journal of the Plague Years: Words & Music from the Lost Days
$35.00
Telling the stories of our recent lives, A Journal of the Plague Years: Words & Music from the Lost Days offers perspective on how the pandemic fueled personal, social, and political upheaval. Writing by such luminaries as Steve Erickson, Mikal Gilmore, Blanche McCrary Boyd, Thrity Umrigar, and others, with QR codes linking to musical playlists that work as commentary, counterpoint, and occasionally clever parody, this hip, well-designed paperback is saddle-stitched, with a high-quality cover including a French flap that allows you to keep your place, and color photographs. As you look back at events that changed our lives, this book will be a touchstone. Authors are available to sign for an extra charge. Shipping is free in the U.S. If you live elsewhere, send an email and we'll check prices. Questions? Email us: plaguejournal@gmail.com
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The Capacious Double-Sided Tote Bag
$40.00
The Big Kahuna, a gusseted tote that will carry all your groceries and maybe a small child. A puppy? Seriously, it's a solid bag that can stand on its own (more or less) which is where the gussets come in. Journal of the Plague Years magazine on one side, Blue Books on the other. Flip it depending on your mood. This bag will last longer than the mood, we promise! Free shipping within the U.S. If you live somewhere else, send us an email and we'll work it out.
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The Practical Publisher Tote Bag
$25.00
This sturdy but low-cost tote bag marks you as a reader of distinction. Compact, in a tasteful shade of gray (because there are as many shades of gray as there are authors and readers) this bag carries the Blue Books logo wherever you go - the bookstore, the farmer's market, Tangier......
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Book and Capacious Double-Sided Tote
$70.00
Buy our book and the Capacious Double-Sided Tote and you get a $10 discount. We can sell it to you wholesale! (OK, close.) This canvas bag is a great size, large enough for groceries or a small dog, maybe a small toddler. It is gusseted, which refers to those pleats (gussets?) and as we recently learned that means it can stand up. So stand up for the Journal and carry it around!
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Book and Practical Publisher Tote
$50.00
Calling this tote bag the Practical Publisher was a joke - OK, not a funny one, but the kind that makes you smile ironically, if only inside. Publishing is anything but practical and we are proud to be in it for the sake of the work. But still. If you're a low bagger, this bag is for you. It is perfect for carrying books and the gray background makes the Blue Books logo look really good! Be the first on your block. Or somewhere. Buy a bag to put your copy of A Journal of the Plague Years: Words & Music from the Lost Days in for a $5.00 discount. Shipping included within the U.S.
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Learn to Write the Easy Way with Journal of the Plague Years
Send me the workshop schedule!
We'll keep you posted as new workshops become available.
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How does landscape influence plot and character?

Can it be a character itself?

Whether it's the desert or the mountains or an interior landscape such as the inside of a car, this five-week workshop will explore these questions, drawing from writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, Barry Lopez, Rick Bass, the author's own work, and others.

You'll develop a piece of writing as the workshop progresses, coming away with enhanced powers of description and a firmer grasp on nonfiction fundamentals.

Class is open to six writers.

Students Talk About Deanne

Gayle Brandeis, Los Angeles Review of Books, on Desert Reckoning

Sign up

A Journal of the Plague Years: Words & Music from the Lost Days

$35.00

The Capacious Double-Sided Tote Bag

$40.00

The Practical Publisher Tote Bag

$25.00

Book and Capacious Double-Sided Tote

$70.00

Book and Practical Publisher Tote

$50.00

Learn to Write the Easy Way with Journal of the Plague Years

Send me the workshop schedule!

We'll keep you posted as new workshops become available.