Have you been struggling with seeing the vision for your book come to life on the page? Working on a novel or memoir and desperately need a few readers and some critical feedback? At the Ulin Workshop, an exclusive group of your peers, led by professional critic and author, David Ulin, will spend up to two hours diving deep into the core of your project and help you brainstorm around ideas, solving problems, and most importantly, unearthing the potential in your book.

Here are a few things we will focus on as well as some key reasons to attend:

• Close attention and lengthy discussion around your manuscript not only as it stands today but also your intentions for the direction of the story
• Input on how to get those intentions into motion on the page
• Characters and their motivations. You have a great character but what is their story and how do you best tell it?
• Plot – what elements does your story need?
• Structure – how do you sequence those elements? How might you re-arrange or re-order events to tell a better story?
• Deadlines get things done. Signing up for the workshop is a great motivator to make some real progress on your project.
• The value in reading other author manuscripts and organizing your feedback around their work. This can help you see and solve problems in your own work.

So far, we’ve had two attendees who have been published in major publishing houses, three who have found top New York agents. All count our workshop as the key to those successes.

David L. Ulin is the author of Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles, shortlisted for the 2016 PEN Literary Award. He’s authored eight previous books, including The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time and the Library of America’s Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology, which won a California Book Award. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, he is former book critic and book editor of the Los Angeles Times.

Each day of the two-weekend workshop will include discussion of two manuscripts, this means every participant will have half a day of discussion devoted entirely to their own work. The discussion is in depth, honest critique delivered with the authors’ creative intentions in mind. Because of the intensity and personal focus, the workshop is strictly limited to 8 participants. Attendees will be expected to have read the other manuscripts. See below for comments from previous attendees.

Coffee and snacks are served throughout the day. On Saturdays, lunch is provided, usually savory pie or soup; Sundays, lunch is on your own. Ivy Salon is located the historic South Park area of San Diego, 3 blocks from a variety of restaurants. If you are coming from out of town, I can suggest a comfortable hotel in nearby Little Italy, or B&Bs within walking distance. Or, Airbnb has been a great option for previous participants with many options within a block.

This workshop is by acceptance and referral only. If you are interested in attending, please email me for instructions: amyliz@amywallen.com. The workshop fills fast, so check with me sooner, rather than later.

How many chances are there to have a book critic review your manuscript before you submit it to an agent or editor?

Cost: $1800 for four-day intensive workshop in a comfortable setting (no cold metal folding chairs, just comfy couches).

WORKSHOP DATES

Two consecutive weekends:

Fall 2017: October 7 & 8 and 14 & 15

Spring 2018: February 3 & 4 and 10 & 11

Upcoming deadlines:

August 1, 2017 Enrollment ends. Sign soon as the workshop fills FAST! 50% deposit due upon acceptance.

September 5, 2017 manuscript due. Final Payment due.

Due to logistics and advanced preparation, all deposits and payments are non-refundable, except in the rare case that David or I must cancel and are unable to reschedule.
 

Limited to 8. By acceptance only and referral only. Email me for further information amyliz@amywallen.com

We have numerous repeat students. This is a sign that something’s working! Here’s what others are saying about the workshop:

“It was intense and critical…I took volumes of notes because I wanted to remember everything [David] said. He has a remarkably good heart in tandem with his humongous brain. [Amy] is especially good at seeing the core, what a book is really about. I realized that for me writing is not so much about writing as uncovering secrets and lies I tell myself.” Lawrence Spann attended October 2015

“David was brilliant, insightful and gentle. He’s not only a master of craft, he masterfully runs a workshop. Best experience ever!” Rachel Groves attended May 2014 and January 2015

“David’s comments and written notes are worth the trip alone. A supportive and small (no name tags or sign-up sheets!) group of smart, fun writers. Generous, safe workshop – with pie.” Tudy Woolfe attended January & October 2013, May 2014 and October 2015 (4 times!)

“I signed up for this workshop for the chance to work with some of the most brilliant minds in literature. I was stuck and sheepish about showing my novel-in-progress with all its flaws and broken plot lines. What sets this workshop apart from others, besides the chance to have a critique of 200 pages of work, is the comfortable atmosphere: a comfy living room, pets, homemade pies, and laughter. My fear disappeared. I left the workshop feeling confident and inspired, with specific ways to transform my manuscript into something so much better.This workshop will do miraculous things to your work in progress.”Susan Henderson attended May 2014 and October 2015, her book will be published Spring 2018

How many times have you been to a reading and found it wanting? The story may be terrific, but if the author’s delivery doesn’t rise to the occasion, the audience can’t appreciate it. The upshot? Writers need to learn how to deliver their work in public, to be comfortable when they share their words.

Creative people, especially writers, are often asked to share their work publicly. Rae Dubow, Director of Talking Out Loud, has worked closely with writers at all levels. Even if you don’t have a reading or book signing in your near future, she’s compiled a Career Tool Box you don’t want to miss.

The first thing she’ll do is assess your comfort zones. To read publicly, you need to know what you want to read and how you want to read it, and she can help with both. She’ll go over your content; then, she’ll take you through a series of practice runs. At every turn, she offers focused performance feedback in a safe and secure environment, working with you to develop and put into action an effective communication strategy.

This one-day workshop is scheduled during the Manuscript Review Workshop, but it can be taken alone or added to the longer workshop.

Friday, January 23, 2015 10am – 5pm with lunch break

Public Reading (optional) Sunday, January 25, 2015 Venue TBD

$110/one-day workshop

$90/added to the Manuscript Review Workshop with David Ulin

You’ve worked so hard on your manuscript. Shouldn’t you work as hard on your presentation of that work?

Email me at amyliz@amywallen.com for more info.

I first met Dinah when she was on my LA Times Book Festival panel ready to talk about her memoir, Bigger Than Life: A Murder and Memoir. A brilliant story of Dinah’s self-reckoning when her father, a character bigger than life, is murdered by teenagers in a botched abduction and robbery. Her new book of essays, The Object Parade is no less brilliant and a look inside the things, and sometimes not things, that make up her life, her memories, who she is. From her Steinway piano, to the kiss she must give her friend’s husband because they are playing Gertrude and Claudius on stage, she peals back layers within layers, making you laugh, and cry, and want to hug the hardcover book because she’s now your best friend, or you hope she will be soon.

Please join me in hanging out with Dinah in my living room. Email me now, as this will book quickly: amyliz@amywallen.com

Date: Saturday, September 13 Time: 11am – 4pm

Where: Ivy Street Salon in the historic South Park neighborhood (directions provided upon registration)

Why: Because who doesn’t love to talk to authors while we eat pie. Lunch will be a savory pie and dessert and some wine, if you so desire.

Cost: $150 for a luxurious day. It’s like Spa Day for writers and readers.

Click on Dinah’s website link to see all that she does beside writing. She’s writer, actor, mother, teacher, friend and beyond. dinahlenney.com

Here are only a few of the incredible things that have been said about Dinah’s books:

The Object Parade: Essays

“Dinah Lenney’s marvel of a book is both unflinching and confiding. Her subjects are, ostensibly, the familiar objects of daily life. But no matter what this writer sets her sights on–a scarf, a coffee scoop, a pair of shoes–its sure to yield unexpected meanings, intricate histories, and memorable stories. The objects in this parade quickly transcend their personal significance to the writer and stir the reader with a sharpened sense of life’s pleasures and risks. Lenney knows that everything we touch has the power to change us.” —Bernard Cooper

“A pensive perusal of the objects that can define and shape a life… the collection’s pieces build on each other, layer upon vivid layer of Lenney’s personal history, her heart firmly invested in hearth and home…One of the book’s most moving entries also happens to be its shortest: a strikingly gorgeous, two-page homage to Lenney’s daughter, portrayed as a young girl bouncing in the sun trailing a kite flush with bright streamers. An eclectic treasury of the cherished and the evocative.” —Kirkus Reviews

Bigger Than Life: A Murder and a Memoir

“A brilliant contribution to autobiographical, literary non-fiction; the author takes us right into her con¬sciousness, and recreates thought and feelings with passion and restraint. This book is a model of engaged and engaging memoir-writing.”—Phillip Lopate

But she doesn’t just write novels, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Best American Short Stories and beyond. Read more about her award winning books and stories on Sarah’s website.

Or read an excerpt of Ms. Hempel’s Chronicles, “The Yurt”  in The New Yorker here and you’ll see for yourself how delectable and mesmerizing her storytelling is.

Date:  Sunday, November 2, 2014

Cost: $150 lunch included

Limited to 10 pie-eaters.

Email me to save your seat, or for further information email me at amyliz@amywallen.com

Hope has also written a gorgeous memoir The Possibility of Everything about her search for a cure to her family’s escalating troubles, and the leap of faith that changed everything for her.

But she also raises two beautiful daughters, teaches writing at writing workshops and hikes mountains. Many of you may know about my own 50th birthday and trying on all sorts of new challenges. For Hope’s birthday this year, I joined her on a hike in Topanga Canyon as she was preparing for her Inca Trail trek.

Come join us to talk about everything from the Inca, the Maya, the history of Motherless Daughters.  We will laugh and tell tall tales and grieve and probably even gossip a little.  It will be a wonderful day full of magic, and that’s really all I can guarantee, but that’s a pretty big guarantee.

Read Hope’s blog about her trek to Machu Picchu, and check out her website for more info.

Sunday December 7, 2014

11am – 4pm

Cost:  $150.00 Lunch is included, and the salon is limited to 8 people, so book early.  amyliz@amywallen.com

Here’s the recipe:

Pie Dough

2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp salt 2 TBS sugar 12 TBS unsalted butter, frozen 8 TBS vegetable shortening, chilled 1/2 cup ice water, although adjust according to your climate and pie Apple Filling 4 lbs Granny Smith Apples ( you can use others like McIntosh, but I prefer the tartness of Grannies.) about 8 large apples 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 TBS lemon juice 1 tsp lemon zest from one lemon (I just zested the whole lemon, again I like the tartness so the pie isn’t too achingly sweet) 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon (I always add extra cinnamon to anything that calls for it. A teensy bit more) 3 TBS chopped crystallized ginger. 1/8 tsp ground allspice 1 egg white, beaten slightly 1 tsp sugar for topping Assembly: 1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor with steel blade. Pulse to combine. Using a cheese grater shred butter into workbowl and pulse to mix. Add shortening pieces, and continue pulsing until flour is combined an it looks like pebbly sand. Do not over mix. Sprinkle water over mixture by the tablespoon, pulsing as you go. When the mixture starts to form a ball remove from workbowl. Dough should be pliable, but not too moist that it’s wet to the touch, but it should also not break apart. So keep an eye on the moisture level as you add the water. You may not need to add the entire 1/2 cup! 2.Wrap ball of dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or longer. 3.Remove dough from fridge just before you are ready to assembly the pie. Make two disks, one slightly larger than the other. Use the larger one to make a bottom crust. Roll out on a floured surface into a twelve inch circle, place into a deep dish pie pan. Press into pan and leave overhang and return with 2nd half of dough ball to fridge. 4.Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make sure oven rack is in the center slot. 5.Peel, core and cut apples into thin slices. I prefer the thinner slices for arranging in the pan later, and when it’s cooked it looks so beautiful with layers upon layers of apples stacked up somewhat tidily. Toss apples with 3/4 cup sugar and lemon juice, zest, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. 6.Turn fruit mixture, including all the yummy juices, into chilled pie shell and mound in the center. Roll out 2nd disk of dough and place over pie filling. Tuck under egdes, crimp in your own style. Cut slits at right angles on top of dough. Brush egg white on the top crust, and sprinkle evenly with remaining 1 TBS of sugar. 7.Bake until top crust is golden brown. About 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees, continue baking until juices are bubbling, your house smells like Martha Stewart’s perfume and the pie is deep golden crusty brown, about 30 minutes more. 8.Cool pie to room temperature. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream. You will have many new friends if you share.

Pie filling:

Ingredients

1 lb hot smoked salmon

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1 lb baby portobellos, sliced

Vegetable or your choice: artichoke hearts (quartered), frozen peas (one cup), spinach or swiss chard (1 lb, sautéed with mushrooms)

4 garlic cloves minced

1 ¾ chicken broth or vegetable stock

¼ half and half or milk

1 teaspoon salt, additional to taste

3 teaspoons dried tarragon leaves

1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

3 tablespoons sherry

To Assemble Pie:

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in heavy, non-stick deep skillet over medium heat. Saute sliced portobellos in butter until mushrooms lose their water, about 10 minutes, add garlic and continue to sauté until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Once mushrooms have released their liquid, shift to a separate dish and reserve.

In same pan add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Stir over medium heat until melted. Stir in flour one tablespoon at a time, and cook slowly, stirring. This is the roux.

Let the flour flavor cook out, about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the broth and light cream or milk. Then add seasonings to your desired taste: additional salt (remember the smoked salmon will be salty), tarragon, mustard, and sherry. Add additional broth as necessary to reach desired consistency of sauce for pie. I like a medium thickness that isn’t too runny when I cut into the pie, but not so thick that it stands up on its own like pudding. Somewhere in between. Adding the sherry helps to thin the consistency too, but too much sherry can make the flavors bitter. But taste as you go! That’s what spoons are for. Continue stirring over medium heat until the sauce is how you like it. Turn the burner to its lowest setting to keep the sauce warm, and occasionally stir, while you work on the rest of the pie.

Roll out the bottom crust to the desired size of the pan. This recipe makes one 10-inch pan or 3 5-inch individual pans, or 5 3-inch pans double crusts. It’s pretty rich so the smaller pies or the one big pie to serve your friends.

On the bottom of the crust lay out the salmon broken into 1-inch pieces. Drain water from reserved mushrooms, as they will have produced more while waiting. Spread the mushroom mixture on top of the salmon. Vegetable of your choice on the next layer. Spoon the sauce over the ingredients.

Roll out and place the top crust on the pie. Crimp edges decoratively or mash with a fork. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes, or until a knife jabbed in the center comes out bubbling hot.

Serve with an arugula salad with lemon dressing. The lemon is delicious with the salmon.

Basic Ingredients:

6 ripe plum tomatoes
2 medium sized onions
4-6 small sweet peppers
1 large eggplant
2 zucchini
½ lb mushrooms
¾ lb raw shrimp, shelled
1lb pork tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
fresh oregano
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded Manchego cheese

Preparation:

Blanch eggplant: Slice into one-inch rounds. Lay out flat on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Set the timer for 10 minutes. When the time chimes, wipe off the salt and water that has been released from eggplant slices. Repeat on other side.

Slice zucchini length-wise into halves. Grease peppers, zucchini and blanched eggplant with olive oil and grill on outdoor grill until just tender, but not overdone, about 5 minutes both sides.

Dip the tomatoes in boiling water to loosen the skin, then peel and dice.

Dice onions, slice mushrooms and sauté in olive oil over medium heat.

While sautéing, sprinkle garlic cloves with olive oil and roast until just turning brown in toaster oven or regular oven (watch closely or it will burn easily if you use broiler setting. I know this from experience.)

Once onions have browned and mushrooms have released their water, about 10 minutes, add the pork and brown.

Cut grilled veggies into bite-size pieces, remove seeds from peppers, and add to the meat and mushroom pan. Add the tomatoes and oregano (about 2 TBS). Cook for 5 more minutes on a higher heat stirring constantly.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove crust dough from fridge about 15 minutes before filling is done.

If the pisto sauce has too much liquid, let it boil away stirring to keep the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The sauce should be a thicker consistency with no wateryness to it. Otherwise your pie will be soggy. Finding that right middle ground is the essence of a truly comforting pie. Your guests will thank you.
Assembling the Pie:

Divide the dough into two halves, one slightly larger than the other. Roll the larger half into a circle a few inches larger in diameter than your pie plate. Fold it in half to lift and lower into the pan.

Spread 1 cup of shredded Manchego cheese on the bottom of the crust. Pour thickened pisto sauce into crust.

Roll out top crust and lay over filling. Trim edges of both crusts so they are about an inch wider than the pan. Dampen edge of bottom crust, seal the two crusts together gently. Fold under one time all the way around, and crimp decoratively either with your fingers or a fork to flatten. Slice think steam vents in top of crust.

Bake:

Mix one egg and a tablespoon of milk. Brush over crust. Bake pie in center of 425 degree oven for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown and a knife slipped into a vent opening comes out piping hot.

EAT.

Prepare Lavosh dough in advance and rest in fridge for at least an hour

Ingredients for Khoresht-e Bademjan (Eggplant Stew Filling)

1 cup olive oil
2 medium/large egglplant
2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 yellow onion, diced
1 lb stew beef, cut into one-inch bite-size pieces (I also use sirloin)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 hot peppers, seeded and chopped (I use jalapenos, because of my Texas roots, but Anaheims will do nicely too.)
3 limes, fresh squeezed
3 cups tomatoes, diced (I’ve also used one large can of tomatoes)
¼ cup tomato paste
1 cup water, or as needed

Prepare:

Blanch the eggplant so that it’s not bitter tasting: Slice eggplant into one-inch rounds. Lay them out in one layer on several papertowels. Sprinkle with salt, and set the timer for 8 minutes. The eggplant will sweat, water bubbling out. At the end of 8 minutes, wipe off the water with a papertowel. Turn eggplant over and repeat on other side. Once the eggplant is blanced, cut into one-inch bite-size pieces. Sauté the eggplant pieces over high heat in a large heavy bottom saucepan until they are browned. Remove them from the pan; season them while still warm with the salt and garlic powder.

Add the onions to the same pan and sauté until they just begin to turn brown, and then add the beef, continuing to sauté over high heat until they turn brown. Add the turmeric and black pepper, stirring until the beef absorbs it.

Add lime juice, tomatoes, tomato paste, along with the eggplant pieces. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for one hour or until the beef is fork tender. Add water only if necessary to achieve the desired thickness for a pie filling.

Assemble:

Remove dough from fridge and let it sit out for about 15 minutes. Once it’s ready to work with divide into two parts, one slightly larger than the other.

Roll out the bottom crust to fit in a 10-inch pie pan. Fill with Khoresht- Bademjan mixture. Roll out top crust and lay on top of pie filling or create a lattice top—the stew is a beautiful red against the golden color of the baked crust.

Lavosh Crust

{Short Cut Flaky Pastry}

2 sticks plus 2 TBS sweet butter
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp white sesame seeds
2 tsp black sesame seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp poppy seeds
pinch of salt
½ cup ice water, use only as much as needed.

This crust is best made with your hands, but can also be made with a Cuisinart. To work with your hands, place the butter in the freezer 30 minutes before you begin to harden. Put both flours, seeds and salt into a large mixing bowl. Once the butter has hardened, using a cheese grater, grate it into the flour mixture. Work quickly so the butter stays hard and doesn’t melt in the warmth of your working hand. With your hands, work the butter and flour mixture together until blended into small clumps. Sprinkle the water on 1 TBS at a time, until the mixture forms a dough. Add water as needed. This dough, because of the seeds and the whole wheat flour will need a slight bit more water as the whole wheat makes it dryer and tougher. You don’t want it to be soggy either, so add as needed. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least an hour before using.

Note: Lots of advance prep in this recipe so read it through before beginning.

Prepare crust in advance.
Cornmeal Crust
It took me many tries and many recipes to get this cornmeal crust to cooperate. My compliments to Beatrice Ojakangas for giving me the best combinations of dry and wet, although I have added more butter because it seemed my pastry continued to need more fat to have the right consistency of flakiness without being too crumbly after baking.

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
¾ (1 ½ sticks) + 2TBS chilled unsalted butter cut into ½-inch slices
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2-3 TBS ice water (more if needed)

Stir together the flour, cornmeal and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With a fork, stir the egg, vinegar and 1 TBS of the ice water together. Add the liquid to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until the pastry is moist enough to hold together. Add more ice water as needed to form a nice smooth ball of dough, one TBS at a time. This dough needs to be a little moister than others, due to the cornmeal, or it’s just too hard to work with and your piece will come out looking like a monster. Knead the dough for 3 or 4 rounds. Wrap the pastry and chill for 30 minutes or until ready to use.

Marinate Carne Asada:

Ingredients:
•2 pounds skirt steak
•1/2 cup tequila
•1/4 cup lime juice
•1/4 cup lemon juice
•1/4 cup orange juice
•4 cloves garlic crushed
•1 medium onion chopped
•2 teaspoons black pepper
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 teaspoons Tabasco (more if you have a whole of screaming to do)

Preparation of meat:
Mix juices, garlic, onion, tequila, Tabasco, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add meat and marinade both sides. Cover and refrigerate, turning meat over occasionally. Let steak marinade for 6 to 8 hours.

Remaining Pie Filling:

Ingredients:

Salsa needs to marinate for a day or two as well, so prepare the following in advance:
[6 jalapenos
5 cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin powder
5 tomatillos
3 roma tomatoes
1-2 TBS red wine vinegar]* alternative to screaming hot, using a 1 ½ cups of chipotle salsa from your local grocer, your spice level, substituting for the bracketed ingredients, because sometimes you don’t need to scream as much as other times. Or, if you are a complete wimp, you can substitute using V-8 juice and red and green bell peppers. My Southern mom would call that Yankee Pie.
Slice peppers top to bottom and scrape out the seeds. Cut garlic, tomatillos, and tomatoes into chunks. Place all ingredients in blender and pulse to desired consistency

1 TBS corn oil
½ pound fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
½ cup chopped onion
3 more Roma tomatoes
1 bunch of green onions, grilled
salt to taste
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tsp cumin

Preparation:

Preheat grill to high. Remove meat from marinade, reserving marinade. Place meat on grill and sear both sides to lock in the juices. Turn down heat to medium, place oiled green onions on top shelf of grill or away from direct flame and close lid. Turn steak once during cooking. Check on onions, as they may be done. Brush steak with remaining marinade. Cook to your liking (12 to 15 minutes for medium-rare). Cut into thin slices. Set aside.

Pour salsa, homemade or store-bought, into large heavy skillet. Heat 1 tablespoon of corn oil, cook the onions and mushrooms until tender and starting to turn brown. Add the salsa, corn, beans, chili powder, cumin, salt and grilled carne; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

Remove prepared pie dough from fridge at least fifteen minutes before time to assemble pie.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Assemble pie

Make egg glaze with 1 whole egg and 1 tablespoon milk beaten together. Relish the beating.

Divide the crust into 2 parts, and roll out half the dough to fit into a 9 or 10-inch pie pan. Spoon the filling into the pie shell. Roll the remaining dough out slightly larger than the top of the pie. Brush the edges with beaten egg. Place the dough circle on the top of the pie, and flute the edges to seal. Slice air vents in the top crust so steam will release while baking. Brush the top with the remaining egg glaze. Bake for 35 minutes or until the meat filling is hot and the crust is golden.

Serve with guacamole and sour cream to soothe the tongue.