Upcoming
Contact Tim about scheduling talks, workshops, or travel programs.
June 2, 10:30AM – 1:30PM — Novel Revision Series: Symphonic Endings, GrubStreet (Zoom)
June 15, 2023, 3:00pm — In Conversation with Danielle Trussoni, Nantucket Book Festival, Nantucket Atheneum
June 24, 2023, 11AM — “Finding Inspiration and Creativity in Fly Fishing” (with artist Samantha Aronson), Bookstock: Green Mountain Festival of Words, The North Chapel, Woodstock, VT
June 24 – July 2, 2023 — The Newport MFA Summer Residency, Newport, RI
July 7, 2023, 10:30AM – 1:30PM— Fictional Characters I: Creating Unforgettable Characters, GrubStreet (Zoom)
August 4, 2023, 10:30AM – 1:30PM— Fictional Characters II: Heroes & Villains, GrubStreet (Zoom)
September 28, 2023, 6-7 PM — “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba and the U.S.A.” Vermont Humanities Council Speakers Bureau (illustrated lecture), Pittsfield Library, Pittsfield, VT
November 29 – Dec 5, 2023 — Friends’ Trip to Cuba (contact Tim if interested)
February 19 – 23, 2024 — San Miguel Writer’s Conference, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
March 9 – 17, 2024 — Cuba Writers Program – contact Tim for details and/or to pre-reserve your place
Past Events
May 13, 2023 — Novel Architecture, GrubStreet (Zoom)
May 5, 2023 — Novel Revision Series: Killer Openings, GrubStreet (Zoom)
April 10 – 17, 2023 — The Art & Cuisine of Oaxaca, Mexico (Brattleboro Museum & Art Center)
March 25, 2023 — “What’s Your Novel ‘About’?“, GrubStreet (Zoom)
March 4, 2023 — “Finding Your Literary Voice,” GrubStreet (Zoom)
February 14 – 19, 2023 — San Miguel Writers’ Conference, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
January 7 – 15, 2023 — Newport Winter Residency in Havana, Cuba
December 10th, 2022, Novel Revision Series: Image Systems — GrubStreet (Zoom)
November 30 – December 8, 2022 — Private Trip to Cuba: Havana, Cienfuegos, Playa Larga
November 5th, 2022, Novel Revision Series: Descriptive Writing — GrubStreet (Zoom)
October 13 – 16, 2022 – Brattleboro Literary Festival
October 7, 2022, Backstory & Flashback — GrubStreet (Zoom)
October 1, 2022, Sentence-Level Music III: Making Sentences that Sing —The Skills (Zoom)
September 24, 2022, Sentence-Level Music II: Sentence-Level Suspense & Cumulative Syntax The Skills (Zoom)
September 17, 2022, Sentence-Level Music I: The Core Qualities of Great Sentences —The Skills (Zoom)
September 10, 2022, Fiction’s Inner Landscape — GrubStreet (Zoom)
August 6th, 2022, Point of View in Fiction, Part II: Degrees of Omniscience — GrubStreet (Zoom)
July 18 – 22, 2022 — “Heroes & Villains in Fiction,” Grub Street YAWP (Young Adult Writer’s Program)
July 9, 2022 — Point of View in Fiction, Part I: POV & Psychic Distance — GrubStreet (Zoom)
June 27 – July 3, 2022 — Newport MFA Summer Residency
June 4, 2022 — Novel Architecture — GrubStreet (Zoom)
June 2, 2022, Groton Public Library: “Cuba: Playground for Empire” – (virtual illustrated lecture)
May 25, 2022, Pangyrus Anthology “Underlying Conditions,” Launch Party & Reading (Zoom)
May 21, 2022 — Scene, Summary, and Dialogue in Fiction — GrubStreet
May 14, 2022 — Beyond Conflict: Sources of Narrative Drive in Fiction — GrubStreet
May 13, 2022 — Brattleboro Literary Festival Literary Cocktail Hour: A Conversation with Ben McGrath (“Riverman”)
April 2, 2022 — Fictional Characters II: Heroes and Villains— GrubStreet
March 5, 2022 — Fictional Characters I: Creating Unforgettable Characters — GrubStreet
February 26, 2022 — “Novel Revision Series: Symphonic Endings” — GrubStreet
January 22, 2022 — “Novel Revision Series: Killer Openings” — GrubStreet
January 4 – 9, 2022 — Newport MFA Winter Residency — Newport, Rhode Island
December 11, 2021 – “Interiority: Fiction’s Inner Landscape” – GrubStreet (LIVE at the Seaport)
November 20, 2021 – “Novel Revision Series: Descriptive Writing” – GrubStreet
November 13, 2021 – “Technique in Historical Fiction, Part II” – Grub Street
November 6, 2021 – “Technique in Historical Fiction, Part I” – Grub Street
October 30, 2021 – “Finding Your Literary Voice” – Grub Street
October 2, 2021 – “Novel Revision Series: What’s Your Novel ‘About’? – Grub Street
September 17, 2021 “Omniscience” – Grub Street
August 14, 2021 — “Sentence-Level Music II: Making Sentences That Sing” – Grub Street
July 17, 2021 — “Novel Revision Series: Scene, Summary, & Dialogue” – Grub Street
July 10, 2021 — “Sentence-Level Music I: Core Principles of Great Sentences” – Grub Street
June 5, 2021 — “Novel Revision Series: Dramatic Structure” – Grub Street
May 22, 2021 —“Beyond Conflict: Sources of Narrative Drive in Fiction” – Grub Street
April 22, 2021
“Writing in the Age of the Climate Crisis” (with Julie Carrick Dalton) The Muse and the Marketplace
April 10th, 2021 — “Novel Revision Series: Image Systems” -Grub Street
March 13th, 2021 — “Novel Revision Series: Backstory & Flashback” – Grub Street
March 6th, 2021 — “Interiority: Fiction’s Inner Landscape” – Grub Street
February 13th, 2021 — “Omniscience” – Grub Street
January 29th, 2021 — “Fictional Characters II: Heroes & Villains” – Grub Street
January 23rd, 2021 — “Novel Revision Series: POV and Psychic Distance” – Grub Street
January 15th, 2021 — “Fictional Characters I: Creating the Cast” – Grub Street
January 8, 2021
Literary Cocktail Hour, a conversation with William Souder, author of Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck – sponsored by the Brattleboro Literary Festival
January 2 – 10, 2021
Newport MFA in Creative Writing Winter Residency
December 19, 2020
“Novel Revision Series: Symphonic Endings” Grub Street
November 14, 2020
“Novel Revision Series: Killer Openings” Grub Street
October 15 – 18, 2020
Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brattleboro, VT
October 10, 2020
“Novel Revision Series: Descriptive Writing & Image Systems.” Grub Street
September 19, 2020
“Novel Revision Series: Dialogue & the Scene.” Grub Street
September 16, 2020, 7pm
EVERYWHERE STORIES On the Air (Sponsored by Press 53)
September 15, 2020
WILL POOLE’S ISLAND reissue: paperback & audio editions
August 1, 2020 –“Technique in Historical Fiction.” Grub Street – (REMOTE)
July 18, 2020
“Sentence Level Music.” Grub Street – (REMOTE)
July 11, 2020
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Point of View & Voice” (REMOTE)
June 20 – 28, 2020
The Newport MFA in Creative Writing – Summer Residency (REMOTE)
June 12, 2020
May 30, 2020
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Interiority & Backstory” REMOTE!
April 18, 2020
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Dramatic Structure & Narrative Drive” REMOTE!
March 21, 2020
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Concept, Premise, Theme” REMOTE!
January 25, 2020
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Cast of Characters”
January 22, 2020
“Thunderbolt: True History of a Scottish Highwayman in 19th Century Vermont” – Putney Public Library (Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council Speakers Bureau)
January 4 – 12, 2020
Newport MFA Winter Residency in Cuba: Havana & Playa Larga
December 7, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Killer Openings & Symphonic Endings”
November 9, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Fictional Love Stories”
October 25, 2019, 7PM
Belmont Books Writer’s Craft Series: Climate Fiction and Writing the Anthropocene (with Julie Carrick Dalton & Sonya Larson)
October 18 – 20, 2019
Brattleboro Literary Festival
October 12, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Dialogue & the Scene”
September 23 – October 3, 2019
National Geographic Expeditions: Douro River Cruise, Portugal & Spain
September 7, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Point of View & Voice”
August 1 – 4, 2019
Cape Cod Writers Center Conference, Hyannis, MA. “Fiction’s Inner Landscape”; “Beyond Conflict: Sources of Narrative Drive.”
July 27, 2019
Grub Street: “Technique in Historical Fiction“
July 13, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Interiority & Backstory“
June 22 – 30, 2019
Newport MFA in Creative Writing, June Residency
June 8, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Descriptive Writing & Image Systems“
June 6, 2019
Boston Lit Crawl, “A Little Box of Yes.” (Storymatic)
May 18, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Dramatic Structure & Narrative Drive“
May 2 – 10, 2019
Cuba Writers Program, Havana & Playa Larga
April 15 – 23, 2019
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in Cuba: 13th annual Havana Art Biennial
April 5 – 7, 2019
The Muse & The Marketplace, Boston, MA. “Interiority in Fiction”; “Image Systems.”
March 27 – 30, 2019
AWP Conference, Portland, Oregon. Cuba Writers Program: Reading. Green Writers Press Book Signing: A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing.
February 23, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Sentence-Level Music“
January 26, 2019
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Killer Openings & Symphonic Endings“
January 5 – 13, 2019
Newport MFA in Creative Writing, January residency
December 15, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Dialogue & the Scene“
December 13, 2018
Brattleboro Words Project, 118 Main Street, Brattleboro. “The Round Schoolhouse & the Legend of ‘Thunderbolt’: History, Fiction, & Early Brattleboro Publishing”
December 8, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Fictional Love Stories”
November 7 – 18, 2018
National Geographic Expeditions: Exploring Patagonia
November 2, 2018
Historical Writers of America Conference, Providence, RI: “Point of View in Historical Fiction”; “World Building in Historical Fiction”
October 27, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Cast of Characters”
October 12 – 14, 2018
Brattleboro Literary Festival
September 29, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Point of View & Voice”
September 7, 2018
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW) Colorado Gold Conference, Denver: “Essentials of Voice in Fiction.”
August 27, 2018
Cornelia Street Café, New York City: Cuba Writers Program public reading
August 22, 2018
GrubStreet Open House: Student & Instructor Reading
August 18, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Interiority, Backstory, & Flashback”
July 21, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Descriptive Writing & Image Systems”
June 22 – July 1, 2018
Newport MFA inaugural residency
May 14 – 22, 2018
Cuba Writers Program
May 5, 2018
Grub Street: “Technique in Historical Fiction”
April 20, 2018
Green Writers Press Reading & Earth Day Book Launch (launching paperback of A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING). Next Stage Art Project, Putney, VT.
April 14, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Dramatic Structure & Narrative Drive”
April 6 – 8, 2018
Muse & the Marketplace, Boston. “Dreams, Visions, & Hallucinations in Fiction.” “Beyond Conflict: Sources of Narrative Drive in Fiction.” “Essentials of Backstory & Flashback.”
March 18 – 27, 2018
Cuba Off the Beaten Track (with Brattleboro Museum & Art Center)
March 3, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Zeroing in on Genre & Theme”
February 17, 2018
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Sentence-Level Music”
January 15 – 25, 2018
National Geographic Expeditions: Exploring Patagonia
December 16, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Killer Openings & Symphonic Endings”
November 26 – December 4, 2017
Contemporary Art in Cuba (with Eric Aho)
November 6 – 16, 2017
National Geographic Expeditions: Exploring Patagonia
November 4, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: “Minor & Supporting Characters”
October 21, 2017
Northern Woodlands Conference, Fairlee, Vermont. Discussion of place in fiction & readings from A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING
October 19, 2017
Vermont Humanities Council Lecture, Thompson Senior Center, Woodstock, VT: “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba and the U.S.A.”
October 12 – 15, 2017
Brattleboro Literary Festival: Short Story Showcase
October 7, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: Dialogue & the Scene
October 1, 2017
Tattered Cover Bookstore, Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado
September 21 – 24, 2017
Historical Writers of America Annual Conference, Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
September 19, 2017
Phoenix Books, Burlington, Vermont: Green Writers Press reading
September 16, 2017
Burlington Book Festival, Burlington, Vermont
August 28, 2017
Cornelia Street Café, New York City: Cuba Writers Program Reading with Ann Hood, Alden Jones, and Michael Ruhlman
August 26, 2017
Grub Street: Fictional Love Stories
July 26, 2017
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center: “Nantucket: Art, Literature, and the Sea.”
July 22, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: Point of View & Voice
July 5 – 11, 2017
Featured Expert, National Geographic Student Expeditions in Cuba: Trinidad, Santa Clara, & the northern coast
July 1, 2017
New Hampshire’s Toadstool bookstores: Keene (11AM) & Peterborough (2PM). Reading from A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING
June 29, 2017
Harvard Book Store, Cambridge. MA. Discussion & reading from A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING (with Crystal King & FEAST OF SORROW)
June 24, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: Interiority, Backstory & Flashback
June 22, 2017
Mitchell’s Book Corner, Nantucket, MA. 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM. Book signing: A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING & WILL POOLE’S ISLAND
June 14, 2017
Bixby Library, Vergennes, VT. Vermont Humanities Council Lecture: “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba and the U.S.A.”
May 27, 2017
Orvis Flagship Store, Manchester, VT. A joint Orvis/Northshire Bookstore event, 11AM – 2PM: A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING
May 20, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: Descriptive Writing & Image Systems
May 16, 2017
The Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury, VT. Reading from A FIELD GUIDE TO MURDER & FLY FISHING (with Dede Cummings of Green Writers Press)
May 13, 2017
– Stratton Mountain School, Stratton. Vermont Humanities Council Lecture: “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba and the U.S.A.”
May 5 – 7, 2017
Grub Street’s The Muse and The Marketplace Conference, Boston. Craft Talk: “Essentials of Voice”
April 27 – May 5, 2017
Cuba Writers Program: Havana & Cienfuegos (with Ann Hood, Michael Ruhlman, & Alden Jones)
April 15, 2017
Grub Street Novel Revision Series: Dramatic Structure & Narrative Drive
April 7, 2017
Green Writers Press Spring Book Release Party, Next Stage, Putney, VT
March 10 – 19, 2017
Green Writers Press Cuba: Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegos, & The Coast
February 11, 2017
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Sentence-Level Music”
January 15, 2017
“Writers Resist,” Brattleboro, Vermont
January 10, 2017
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Killer Openings & Symphonic Endings”
December 10, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Dialogue & the Scene”
November 28 – December 6, 2016
Art and Culture of Cuba: Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad. Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
October 22, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Point of View & Voice”
October 14-16, 2016
Brattleboro Literary Festival
September 17, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Interiority, Backstory, & Flashback”
September 16, 2016
Landgrove Historic Association, VT. Vermont Humanities Council Lecture: “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba & the USA”
August 27, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Descriptive Writing & Image Systems”
July 30, 2016
Bookstock Lit Festival, Woodstock, VT: “Will Poole’s Island: The Making of an Historical Novel.”
July 21, 2016
Brattleboro Museum and Art Center: “The Life and Times of Francisco de Goya.”
July 16, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Dramatic Tension & Narrative Structure”
July 6 – 15, 2016
Featured Expert
National Geographic Student Expeditions: Santa Clara & Havana, Cuba
June 25, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Zeroing in on Genre & Theme”
May 21, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Killer Openings & Symphonic Endings”
May 10 -18, 2016
First Annual Cuba Writers Program (with Alden Jones & Ann Hood)

What a great group of writers, and so much fun! Definitely doing this again next year. (If you’re interested, Google the website for details.)
May 8, 2016
Brooks Memorial Library, Brattleboro, VT. Vermont Humanities Council Lecture: “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba and the U.S.A.”
April 29 – May 1, 2016
Teaching Scholar, Muse and The Marketplace Conference (GrubStreet), Boston. Lectures: “What’s Your Book ‘About’?” & “Fiction’s Inner Landscape”
April 2, 2016
Rockingham Public Library, Bellows Falls, VT. Vermont Humanities Council Lecture: “A Playground for Empire: Historical Perspectives on Cuba and the U.S.A.” (Listen to an audio recording of this lecture here.)
March 26, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Dialogue & the Scene”
March 7 – 15, 2016
Private Cuba Trip (Brattleboro Museum & Art Center)
Havana, Trinidad, Playa Larga
February 26, 2016
Grub Street, Boston: “Novel Revision Series: Minor & Supporting Characters”
February 25, 2016
Brattlleboro Museum and Arts Center: 7pm Lecture: “Georgia O’Keeffe: American Visionary”
January 25, 2016
Book and history talks: Will Poole’s Island. The Laurentian Club of Canada (& combined Mont Tremblant book clubs)

Special thanks to the lovely Beryl Puddifer for orchestrating a most enjoyable mini-book tour in the Laurentians. Thanks also to the well-read members of the Laurentian Club and the Mont Tremblant book clubs. You all are an inspiration!
December 27, 2015 – January 8, 2016
Featured Expert
National Geographic Expeditions: Exploring Patagonia
December 6 – 14, 2015
Featured Expert
National Geographic Expeditions: Cuba
November 14 – 22
Private Cuba Trip (Brattleboro Museum & Art Center)
Havana, Trinidad, Playa Larga

Thanks to the indefatigable Dede Cummings for putting this group together and helping me share some of what I love about fascinating, contradictory Cuba. Great fun to travel with you all!
November 1 – 9
Private Cuba Trip (Creative Travel Arts)
Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegos

Thanks to Cherry, Chris, Suzanne, Dan, Roger, Miriam, Mark, Ellen, Debbie, Julie, Dayron, and Haarlen for being such great traveling companions!
October 17, 2015
Book and writing talk: Will Poole’s Island
Monadnock Writers’ Group Speakers Program

Really enjoyed meeting this group of writers! Special thanks to Denny Caldwell for making it happen.
September 17 – 27, 2015
Featured Expert
National Geographic Expeditions: Northern Spain by Private Rail
September 3, 2015
Brattlleboro Museum and Arts Center Lecture: “Hemingway in Spain & Cuba”

Thanks to Danny Lichtenfeld, the staff and volunteers at BMAC, and all the wonderful people who showed up for the talk. A most enjoyable evening!
July 18 – 24, 2015
Guest Author
Writing in Prague program (Putney Student Travel)

An inspiring travel and writing experience with my colleagues Brenna Casey and Nate MacNamara, and a coterie of highly talented young writers. Look out, world!
July 12 – 17, 2015
“Life Stories: Creative Adventurers, Adventurous Creators” (5-part lecture series)
All-Star 2 Family Conference
Star Island, Isles of Shoals, NH

Special thanks to Gene and Nancy Taylor, to the participants of AS2 for your generous welcome, and to Peter Erickson for showing me the ropes of fly fishing his sublime granite islet . . .
May 1 – 3, 2015
Talk on “Voice and Dialog in Historical Fiction”
GrubStreet’s Muse & The Marketplace Conference, Boston, MA
April 24 – 26, 2015
Talks on the Jungian Shadow in YA Fiction and Image Systems in Fiction
New England Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Conference. Springfield, MA

Really enjoyed this conference – thanks to Pam Vaughn for the photo and to all those who participated for your attentiveness and great questions!
March 18, 2015
Reading from WILL POOLE’S ISLAND (with Warren Wilson Alumni): Cambridge Boat Club, Cambridge, MA

Thanks to Tracy Wynn, Helen Fremont, my fellow readers, and all the Wallies that came out on a raw and windy March evening beside the frozen Charles!
March 8, 2015
Book and history talk: Willow Dell Historical Association, “The Barn.” South Kingstown Land Trust, RI

What a great event! I forgot to get a picture so this one will have to stand in. My heartfelt thanks to Janet, Dede, and all the wonderful, well-read, and friendly members of WDHA who came out!
November 30, 2014
Reading & Book Talk: Duxbury Free Library, Duxbury, Massachusetts

Most grateful to Carol Jankowski of the Library and Brooke McDonough of Westwinds Books for the warm welcome, and to Bill Benjes for making the connection!
November 22, 2014
Book Signing: World Eye Bookshop, Greenfield, MA
October 25, 2014
Book Talks/Signings: The Toadstool Bookshops in Peterborough and Keene, NH

Nice to be back in New Hampshire. Thanks to all who came out, and to the wonderful folks at Toadstool Peterborough and Toadstool Keene!
October 23, 2014
Signing: Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut

What fun to hang out and talk books with these two scholarly gentlemen, John Francisconi of Bank Square Books and my old friend Ron Samul!
October 4, 2014
Book Talk & Reading: Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brattleboro, Vermont

A most enjoyable reading, book talk, and Q & A with the talented fellow Vermont writer Don Bredes – just one episode in a stellar literary weekend
September 20, 2014
Book Talk: Burlington Book Festival, Burlington, Vermont
September 7, 2014
Official Book Launch and Reading, WILL POOLE’S ISLAND
Next Stage Arts Project, Putney, Vermont

Speaking to the hometown crowd. Very proud to live in such a warm and supportive community! Gratitude to Dede Cummings for the photo and so much more.
August 23, 2014
Signing: Nantucket Bookworks, Nantucket, Massachusetts
August 5, 2014
Reading & Signing: Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, Connecticut
June 21, 2014
Signing: Nantucket Book Festival: “Under the Tent: Local and Notable Authors in the Atheneum Garden.”
The Atheneum Garden, downtown Nantucket, MA
May 2, 2014
Grub Street’s Muse and the Marketplace 2014, Boston, MA
“Narrative as Time Machine: World-Building in Historical Fiction”
Leave a reply