Teaching UNDERCOVER

This past Monday I went to Baltimore to spend some time with booksellers, librarians, and other writers. Mostly I went to answer one question: Is UNDERCOVER teachable, and if so, what sort of writing workshops and conversations might it spark?

The funny thing is that I didn't write the book with "teachable" in mind; I really was just following a story, building characters, looking toward and past conflict. But inevitably (probably) there are a whole lot of lessonesque moments in this book, scenes in which Elisa, the heroine, begins to build her own book of words, or to learn villanelles, or to think about what metaphors mean. I happen to be one of the biggest proponents of the imagination out there (my fourth book, SEEING PAST Z: NURTURING THE IMAGINATION IN A FAST-FORWARD WORLD, W.W. Norton, was dedicated to the theme) and I guess I just couldn't help layering into UNDERCOVER some of what I've tried to teach young writers myself.

If any of you reading any of this would like a flyer on the topic, let me know. I can send the PDF to your email address.