$5 for members; $10 for non-members
Set Your Characters Free: The pitfalls and unexpected rewards of turning memoir into fiction.
We are told to "write what we know," which is valid enough when drawing on events and locations which can lend authenticity and supply the ever important "telling detail." But beware taking a real person (a family member, friend or acquaintance) and placing them, as a complete entity, into a story. You know just how they look, and remember exactly what they said and did, but you can never know the whole truth: how they felt and thought, or why they behaved that way.
Mary-Rose Hayes will discuss writing her new novel, What She Had to Do ($14.95); the reasons it took so long (more than ten years) and how that was a blessing in disguise; why the characters in the book didn't seem real until she stepped out of their lives and allowed them to develop on their own; and how, by the time she had typed “The End” for the final time, she had surprisingly come to terms with past issues of her own.
British-born Mary-Rose Hayes is the author of eight previous novels including the Time/Life best seller Amethyst, and two political thrillers co-authored with Senator Barbara Boxer.
The Marin branch of the California Writers Club celebrates 14 years with Book Passage. Meetings are open to the public. See www.cwcmarinwriters.com for information.