Writers Who Read: Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel

May's meeting--IN PERSON at the Boulder Library Main Branch 2nd floor Flatirons Meeting Room & ONLINE (see link when you register)--is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (USA, 2022) on Sunday starting at 2:30 pm (for 2 hours). Facilities information here.

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING: Horizontal Structure

Ostracism takes many forms: exile to Canada; social leprosy; banishment to a ghetto lunar colony; or a life lived within a simulation. Mandel's speculative fiction unrolls like a series of nesting-dolls, revealing at its center a sad truth about extending the life of a novelist. Cue the violins and the whoosh of an airship.

We are Writers Who Read. We use Literary Forensics to dissect a recent novel (published within the past 18 months) with the goal of uncovering how the author has utilized their skills for effect. Storytelling is an art, but it's not a mystery. Every writer must address the following:

• Structure, Timeline, Pacing, Suspense, Omission
• Point of View, including Voice, Character, Place
• Language, Tense, Imagery, Metaphor, Symbols
• Motivation: Making a story pop - generating a thrill
• Why this story? And why now? Industry considerations

We ask that all attendees read the entire book in advance of the meeting, and come bearing their discoveries of how the author has addressed each of the five points above.

What is Literary Forensics? Find out here: https://www.garyalanmcbride.com/literary-forensics/