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," and he'll be 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 and is a member of Hampton Roads Writers board of directors. Sometimes he even finds a few minutes to work on his concurrent projects: a book on the craft of modern writing, a memoir collection, multiple sci-fi novels, and many short stories.
Current Classes Taught
- Mastering the Three-Act Story Structure
- Submitting Your Writing to Magazines, Journals, and Publishers
Previous Classes Taught
- Avoiding Pantsing Pitfalls
- Creative Writing Camp for Adults
- Exploring Novel Plotting Methods: How to Easily Create a Story Blueprint
- Five Amazing Ways to Improve Your Writing
- Five Amazing Ways to Improve Your Writing
- Getting Started (or Restarted) on a Novel
- Getting Started on a Novel: Building the Book's Bones
- Linear, Waterfall, Pyramid, Snowflake: Novel and Story Plotting Methods
- The Snowflake Method: Turning a Single Idea into a Novel-in One Morning
- The Snowflake Plotting Method
- The Snowflake Plotting Workshop: The Easy Way to Create a Story
- Twenty Ways to Immediately Improve Your Writing
- Twenty Ways to Immediately Improve Your Writing
- Understanding the Three-Act Story Structure