Beyond Chocolate and Roses: Writing Love of All Sorts with Beatrice Alder

Most fiction revolves around love—platonic, romantic, or filial. But what makes the rapport between best friends, the tension between exes, or the fierce affection of a grandmother feel real and gripping on the page? In this workshop, we will reach beyond the tropes of heteronormative romance to craft convincing, complex relationships, with a focus on same-sex friendship and family bonds. In each workshop session, we will cover a new writing technique, discuss a short story that features surprising expressions of intimacy, and engage with a guided writing prompt. By the end of the month, writers will have a literary toolbox, a draft of a short story or novel chapter, and ideas for character dynamics that will make their story spark.

Beatrice Alder (she/they) is a genderqueer writer and teacher from Edmonds, Washington. A University of Montana MFA graduate, Stanford history major, and two-time Fulbright scholar, Beatrice writes historical fiction that centers real and imagined queer ancestors. Her work has appeared in The Jewish Quarterly, StoryQuarterly, Santa Fe Writers Project Quarterly, and Shoreline of Infinity Science Fiction Magazine, and garnered awards in both the academic and literary worlds.