The Art of Suspense

How to Keep Your Readers Turning the Pages This event will be LIVE at the new GOODNESS Community Center off of Piedmont Avenue, right behind Peets Coffee. Space is limited, grab your tickets asap! About the Event Every great story is a suspense story, no matter what its genre might be. Suspense is the artful balance you create between the readers’ hopes and doubts, between their concern for your characters and their uncertainty about what lies ahead. It is the essential quality that makes your readers ask, “What happens next?” and keeps them turning pages to find out the answer. This workshop reveals the secrets of creating suspense, using techniques like tension and pace effectively, and earning that cherished accolade: “I couldn’t put it down.” About Speaker Margaret Lucke Margaret Lucke flings words around as a writer and editor in the Bay Area. She writes tales of love, ghosts, and murder, sometimes all three in one book. Her latest novels are HOUSE OF DESIRE, the second book in the Claire Scanlan Haunted House series, and SNOW ANGEL, featuring San Francisco artist and detective Jess Randolph in a desperate search for a missing child. She is the editor of FAULT LINES, a short story anthology published by the Northern California chapter of Sisters in Crime and has published numerous short stories, feature articles, and scripts for mystery weekends. A teacher of fiction writing classes for UC Berkeley Extension and other venues, she also writes how-to books on writing craft. Visit her and join her mailing list at MargaretLucke.com About the California Writer's Club THE CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB was started by a group of community-minded writing professionals in the early 1900s. They met informally until 1909, when the Club was founded, with Austin Lewis as its first president. The Berkeley Branch is the founding branch of the statewide Club, which now has 19 branches and around 2000 members throughout California. We are the third oldest writers’ club in the country, celebrating over a century serving Bay Area writers. The CWC is a nonprofit professional organization open to writers in every genre and at every level of experience, from novice to published. Our mission is to educate writers of all abilities in the craft and business of writing. Our purpose is to promote fellowship and to provide practical information that supports all members in achieving their publishing goals. Our writer’s motto, “Sail on!” is from Joaquin Miller’s poem, Columbus.