Our Teachers
The Muse's instructors are all working writers and published authors who have taught courses at colleges, universities, and other community organizations. Read our teachers’ biographies and see what classes they are currently teaching.
Rick Eley
Rick Eley is a Tidewater native, an IT professional, and an author of several fine sentences. He is a guild member of SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and writes sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and both creative and instructional nonfiction. His work is featured in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, "Issues in Science and Technology" magazine, Hampton Roads Writers newsletters, the Owl Creek Press anthology "Cabinet of Curiosities", Third Flatiron Publishing's anthology "Brain Games", the Death Knell Press horror anthology "Nightmare Sky", and in the upcoming Fahrenheit Books sci-fi anthology "Automobilia". Four of his short stories have won prizes in multiple writing contests, and he was featured on the WHRO "Writers Block" radio series. Rick has also presented writing craft seminars for The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, at Hampton Roads Writers annual conferences, and for HRW's Traveling Pen series. In his spare time, he organizes the Tidewater Writers critique group. Sometimes, he even finds a few minutes to work on his concurrent writing projects: a memoir collection, multiple sci-fi novels, and many short stories.
Previous Classes Taught
- Avoiding Pantsing Pitfalls
- (Winter/Spring 2020)
- Creative Writing Camp for Adults
- (Summer 2022)
- Exploring Novel Plotting Methods: How to Easily Create a Story Blueprint
- (Summer 2022)
- Five Amazing Ways to Improve Your Writing
- (Summer 2020)
- Five Amazing Ways to Improve Your Writing
- (Fall 2021)
- Getting Started (or Restarted) on a Novel
- (Winter/Spring 2024)
- Getting Started (or Restarted) on a Novel
- (Fall 2023)
- Getting Started (or Restarted) on a Novel
- (Winter/Spring 2020)
- Getting Started on a Novel: Building the Book's Bones
- (Winter/Spring 2022)
- Humor in Writing: Laughter Keeps It Interesting
- (Winter/Spring 2024)
- Linear, Waterfall, Pyramid, Snowflake: Novel and Story Plotting Methods
- (Winter/Spring 2020)
- Mastering the Three-Act Story Structure
- (Fall 2022)
- Submit Your Work to Magazines, Journals, and Publishers
- (Winter/Spring 2023)
- Submit Your Work to Magazines, Journals, and Publishers
- (Summer 2023)
- Submitting Your Writing to Magazines, Journals, and Publishers
- (Fall 2022)
- The Snowflake Method: Turning a Single Idea into a Novel-in One Morning
- (Summer 2020)
- The Snowflake Plotting Method
- (Winter/Spring 2021)
- The Snowflake Plotting Method
- (Summer 2023)
- The Snowflake Plotting Workshop: The Easy Way to Create a Story
- (Winter/Spring 2022)
- Twenty Ways to Immediately Improve Your Writing
- (Summer 2021)