Library offers a feast of writers

From the LA Times – November 3, 2001
By Young Chang

Panel discussion to bring Southern California authors to Newport Beach to talk about what inspires them

What do you get when you throw six writers into the Newport Beach Central Library and then label the get-together a "panel discussion?"

A whole lot of secrets and the urge to write.

Southern California writers James Blaylock, Rhondi Salsitz, Terry Black, Suzanne Forster, Gregory Benford and Neal Shusterman will share insider tips on everything from the joys of writing to how to get more imaginative at a moderated panel discussion this morning at the library. Louella Nelson, the author of five novels, poetry and short stories, will moderate. "I'd like to kind of engage them in a town hall meeting about writing," Nelson said. "About roadblocks, inspirations, muses, if you will, that influence each of the writers' works."

Called "A Banquet of Best-Selling Authors," the discussion will offer nothing short of a buffet of genres and writing styles.

Salsitz has written more than 40 novels (some of which were written under an alias) and short stories in the science fiction, fantasy and suspense genres.

Black, a UC Irvine Extension screenwriting instructor and the author of numerous "sexy westerns," has also written multiple episodes for television's "Tales from the Crypt."

Forster, who has published 23 novels, has written romantic thrillers. Benford, a physics professor at UC Irvine, is the author of more than a dozen science fiction books. Shusterman, who has written scripts for several episodes of the "Goosebumps" series on television, has won awards for his adult and teen novels.

And Blaylock, a professor at Chapman University and director of the creative writing program at the Orange County High School of the Arts, writes fantasies.

"There's more opportunities for crossovers," Black said. "Getting diverse points of views is helpful, and no two people break into the business the same way."

The Irvine author said he will talk about the lifestyle of a writer -- tends to be hand-to-mouth until you find a job to pay the bills, after which you'll struggle to find time to write -- tips for getting started, and how to continue doing it.

"A system of rewards," Black proposes. "Write one night, take the other night off. Allow yourself recreation and fun. As long as you always come back to writing."

Salsitz might share tips about overcoming writer's block -- rewrite material you've put aside for a while, she said -- and her secrets on how to enliven your imagination.

"Try to look through the eyes of a 4-year-old or a 5-year-old," the Fullerton writer said.

Nelson, who writes women's fiction, calls writers some of the most "giving" people she knows.

"We like nothing better than to talk about that world that lives in us," she said. "These authors will be very generous with secrets about what inspires them, motivates them, what keeps them going in tough times."