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Practical Starship Design

Whether your characters are sunjamming the solar wind or sleeping for centuries between the stars, how you present their spacecraft lends authenticity to your fictional world. In this Writers Knowledge seminar, we will explore the real-life physics of interstellar travel—-the hazards, the distances, and some of the solutions proposed to overcome them. We will survey…

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Punctuation and Grammar Revealed

In this interactive seminar, we’ll start by writing your grammar and punctuation questions on the whiteboard, and then explore them together using simple exercises, examples, and tips. In the last half of our session, we’ll take a look at samples from your own writing and find ways to make your prose shine more brightly, unencumbered…

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Sleuthing and Detective Work

“It is my business to know what other people do not know.” (Sherlock Holmes) Tales of crime, detectives, and mysteries often take central stage in our stories. In this Research for Writers Seminar led by a noted police officer, you’ll be able to better understand and write your own characters and plotlines, whether you are…

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The Deep History of English

What languages existed in ancient Europe before the advent of the modern Indo-European family? How far back can we trace these languages, and how are they woven into the tapestry of the English we use today? In this two-part Writers Knowledge seminar, we will begin with the ancient Paleo-European languages, including two cultures which have…

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The Deep History of English

What languages existed in ancient Europe before the advent of the modern Indo-European family? How far back can we trace these languages, and how are they woven into the tapestry of the English we use today? In this two-part Writers Knowledge seminar, we will begin with the ancient Paleo-European languages, including two cultures which have…

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Making Historical Writing Real

Do you have an awesome idea for a piece of historical fiction, but it’s set in ancient Rome and your only knowledge of the period is based solely on the movie “Gladiator” or Monty Python’s “Life of Brian?” How about if you have a killer idea for a medieval story, but the brutality of “Braveheart”…

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Making Historical Writing Real

Do you have an awesome idea for a piece of historical fiction, but it’s set in ancient Rome and your only knowledge of the period is based solely on the movie “Gladiator” or Monty Python’s “Life of Brian?” How about if you have a killer idea for a medieval story, but the brutality of “Braveheart”…

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The Work of a Detective

Sherlock Holmes said, “There is nothing like first-hand evidence.” Every case is different, but the kinds of clues a good detective seeks are often very similar from one case to another. In this Research for Writers Seminar led by a noted police officer, you will be led through a real case, following the detectives as…

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Alien Life on Exoplanets

In recent years astronomers have discovered over four thousand planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy, from just a few light-years away to halfway across the galactic disc. Many of these new worlds are types we had never imagined before, from the “roasters” orbiting their stars in just a few days to terrestrial planets with…

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