Alexander Stuart

Alexander Chow-Stuart by Hudson Chow-Stuart. Like most writers, I do not especially like being photographed - in fact, usually, I do all I can to avoid it, unless it is a family snap with our children, when I feel totally relaxed. I do not have a natural love affair with the camera - unless behind it (I love taking pictures) - but Hudson (seven) has had his own camera, and one of our old iPhones, since he was three, and is quite the accomplished photographer - not only taking pictures, but using various apps of his own discovery to enhance them, colorize them, and otherwise have fun with them. I would not usually post a photograph of me here, but this picture - which Hudson took completely unexpectedly, when I was sitting at my desk writing - captures more of who I think I am (which may or may not be close to other people's perceptions:) than most photographs of me that I have ever seen. I think the reason is that when I look at Hudson, I "see" love - or see with

"I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom" - Simone de Beauvoir. I believe that it is - and that we should be grateful for every infinite instant that we share in this beautiful unending cosmos.

I am very excited to announce that my next Creative Writing and Screenwriting Workshop  will take place in the very hospitable space of the Central Sierra Arts Council at 193 South Washington Street, Sonora, CA 95370 (directly opposite the Bank of America building at the intersection of West Stockton Street/Highway 49). The date is Saturday December 3rd from 10:00am-1:00pm. The price for the workshop is $20 on the door - or $10 if you're a student. Following the very enthusiastic response to my workshop on Saturday November 19, I will be exploring the excitement and challenges of writing books and screenplays, with a structured approach that examines the birth of an idea, the absolute need to focus on both character and plot, the essential elements of the three act narrative structure (and its variations), the "ticking clock" required even for comedies or non-fiction, the interweaving of protagonist, antagonist and plot lines - and much more. I have always enjoye

Please note, this is not to be confused with the live writing workshop in Sonora, the following Saturday, December 3 (please see post above for details of that). This is late notice, I know, but I am hosting another WRITING WEBINAR (webinar only this time, so that I can focus on and interact with people online) this Saturday November 26 from 10:30am-11:30am Pacific (or your equivalent time zone). It's free to those who took part in last Saturday's webinar but didn't have a chance to talk with me (and those who did talk, as well:) - for everyone else, it's $10 in the US and £10 in Europe and elsewhere, payments via PayPal, please. We'll be exploring screenwriting and creative writing from the first spark of an idea, through character development, narrative structure and more. For those of you who are not entirely sure what a webinar is, it is a live streaming online interactive event. In this case, you can see and hear me talking onscreen and, if you have a webc

Photograph: Alexander Chow-Stuart. This is a photograph I took of Sonora's stunning "Red Church," St James Anglican Church , which was built in 1859, in the Carpenter Gothic style, and consecrated in 1870. I took the picture last Sunday, on a beautiful, chilly afternoon, when the light was changing dramatically by the moment. The tree in front could not be more perfectly placed.