6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 19-25, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com 831 Future fiction writers don’t have to travel to Los Angeles or New York to launch their projects. They don’t even need to have long manuscripts. Since 2015, Northern California Writers’ Retreat has offered a five-day annual workshop on the Central Coast for a group of 198 writers who have a chance to work with a professional editor and meet literary agents. Right now, Heather Lazare, a former editorial assistant at Random House and former senior editor at Simon & Schuster, is recruiting writers for the 2025 workshops that will take place— each with different cohorts of 18 people—in March, April and May next year. (The submission period is now open and ends on Nov. 4.) Each session comes with an author-in-residence (who has published at least one book), two guest literary agents and Lazare, now an independent editor, for five days to work on their material, learn about publishing and hopefully launch their writing careers. Many past workshop participants have already signed a book deal. “I got an internship in publishing in my early 20s,” Lazare says. “I returned to the industry after a period of teaching English in France.” Lazare was raised in Carmel and Carmel Valley and her husband is from Pacific Grove, where the couple currently live with their son. They returned from New York in 2013. After coming back to the area, Lazare realized that there are not a lot of publishing opportunities locally. In 2015, at the San Francisco Writers Conference, she met literary agent Chelsea Lindman. Together, they came up with the workshop idea. In 2019, Lindman changed professions and Lazare took over. Up to 2020, the retreat took place in Santa Cruz; the pandemic moved it online. Finally, in 2023, the Northern California Writers’ Retreat found its home at Hidden Valley Music Seminars in Carmel Valley. What should a writer do to qualify? “I have to like their fiction,” Lazare says, emphasizing that she is driven by passion for good books. “I like all my writers.” It is the publishing process, not necessarily writing itself, that is at the heart of the workshop. The author-in-residence mentors the group, sharing their own experience. Some participants travel from as far as Seattle; each writer has to agree to spend five days and four nights in Carmel Valley, even if they are locals. There is a fee to participate—about $2,700—but one doesn’t need to pay just to be considered. To submit an application, writers don’t need a full manuscript; all that is required is 20 pages of fiction. There is a scholarship available to one of the lucky writers. Founded by 2024 Author-in-Residence Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Other Black Girl, the scholarship covers 100 percent of the cost. The first session will feature Pacific Grove’s own Alka Joshi, the author of the award-winning The Jaipur Trilogy, as well as Margaret Sutherland Brown from Folio Literary Management and Amy Bishop-Wycisk from Trellis Literary Management. Other 2025 authors-in-residence will be Xochitl Gonzalez, the author of Olga Dies Dreaming, and Janet Skeslien Charles, the author of The Paris Library. Out of season, Lazare also meets with other writers independently, helping with their projects or finding a literary agent. She is most interested in contemporary literature, “the next great thing,” she says. Among her favorite books are Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. In addition to the retreat, anyone can sign up for the Book Journey Club. It’s free, and they meet once a month via Zoom. Also, Lazare offers virtual courses for writers. “I’ll be adding more of these courses in the future and they are open to anyone who wants to learn more about publishing and writing—no application necessary,” Lazare says. For more on the Northern California Writers’ Retreat, email info@norcalwritersretreat.com or visit norcalwritersretreat.com. Writers’ Paradise A local workshop teaches authors about the publishing process and helps launch their writing careers. By Agata Pop˛eda Eighteen debuting writers, an author-in-residence, two literary agents and a professional editor work together each year in Carmel Valley to teach authors the ins and outs of publishing. Contemporary literature is “the next great thing.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE COURTESY OF HEATHER LAZARE EXPO BUSINESS monterey bay 2024 presented by CLAIM YOUR BOOTH! EXHIBITOR REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Connecting businesses throughout Monterey County THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2024 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM EMBASSY SUITES - MONTEREY BAY REGISTER NOW AT MONTEREYCHAMBER.COM
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