The Brave, Enthusiastic and Talented…

2009 has been a terrific year for Writing Workshops Los Angeles.  We’ve started to teach novel writing in addition to the usual and beloved short fiction workshops.  We’ve hired new instructor Leslie Parry, who will begin teaching in 2010.  We’ve consumed copious bottles of sparkling water, and many a fine cheese plate.  And the students have continued to impress!   To wit:

Maya Sloan sold her first novel, High Before Homeroom, to Simon & Schuster.  Maya worked on a short story with WWLA–so we can’t and won’t take any of the credit for her book, but the novel manuscript went out to publishers in the last week of class, and it was so exciting to reunite a few weeks later to celebrate her success. High Before Homeroom will be published in June of 2010.  Learn more about Maya here.

This summer, J.P. Bumstead starred in “Proof” at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, and he was really spectacular.  The entire Advanced Novel Workshop went to see him perform.  When J.P. isn’t acting, he’s working on a beautiful novel about…actors in Los Angeles.

Paria Kooklan recently had a short story accepted for publication in Edge Magazine.  She workshopped “Burial” in class, and this will be her first fiction publication.  In the meantime, you can follow Paria’s exploits on her hilarious blog, Stuck in the Safety Net, and read her guest post at the Vroman’s Bookstore blog about writing her novel.

Mindy Farabee began her first year in the graduate creative writing program at the University of Edinburgh, where she is the recipient of the Saltire Scholarship.   Other WWLA students are currently applying to MFA programs and writing fellowships, so we hope to have news next year of their admittance.

Sarah Tomlinson co-wrote Todd Bridges’ memoir, Killing Willis:  From Diff’rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted, which comes out next March.  When she’s not helping celebrities find le mot juste, Sarah is writing her own fabulous novel and workshopping it in the Advanced Novel Workshop.

In September, Stephanie Eve Halpern gave birth to a beautiful baby boy: Jonah Eli Shultz!  A warm congratulations to her and proud new dad, Elan Shultz.

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If you’d like to announce writing-related news, or any other news that might interest your fellow students, please email writingworkshopsla@gmail.com.  I’d love to write a follow-up post, as I know I haven’t covered everything…

Happy New Year, and happy writing!