Writers' World featured the following workshops, held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, during July 2–4, 2011:

Phyllis Karas teaches writing at Boston University School of Journalism and still faces a combination of elation and terror every time she sits down at her computer to write. To her amazement, she has published nine fiction and non-fiction books, including the 2006 New York Times bestseller, BRUTAL: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger’s Irish Mob. Her most recent book, Where’s Whitey, was released just last month. Whitey Bulger was second only to Osama bin Laden on the Most Wanted list, and he still has a two million dollar reward on his head for information leading to his capture.

Phyllis has been a stringer for People Magazine since 1998 and has written for Boston Magazine and Vogue. She has also received several literary awards.

In her workshop, Karas discussed Where’s Whitey, a story of murder, friendship and loyalty within the mob, using many situations that were omitted from BRUTAL. The story is fact-based, making it all the more intriguing, and uses insider knowledge to more than hint at the whereabouts of the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitive.

Irene Pepperberg is an associate research professor at Brandeis University and a lecturer at Harvard University. Dr. Pepperberg is a scientist noted for her studies in animal cognition, particularly in relation to parrots. She is head of the Alex Foundation and author of The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots.

Alex (1976 –2007) was an African Grey Parrot and the subject of a 30-year experiment after Pepperberg bought him in a pet shop when he was about one year old. Alex had a brain the size of a shelled walnut, yet he could add, sound out words, understand concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer and none, and he disproved the widely-accepted idea that birds possess no potential for language or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence.

“You be good. I love you,” were Alex’s final words to Pepperberg before his premature death at age 31. Her 2009 bestseller, Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process, is the remarkable, true account of an amazing, irascible parrot and his best friend who stayed together through thick and thin for 30 years. It is the astonishing, moving and unforgettable story of a landmark scientific achievement and a beautiful relationship … and the focus of her Writers’ World workshop.

Janet Ruth Young, who lives in Gloucester, graduated from Salem State College and the creative writing program at Boston University. She was a co-editor of the literary magazine stet and a founder of Writers’ Circle, the writing workshop at the Cambridge Women’s Center. Janet’s first novel, The Opposite of Music, is about a family dealing with a father’s depression. It won the PEN New England Discovery Award and was a Book Sense Pick, a Borders Original Voices selection and an American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults nominee. Her second novel, The Babysitter Murders, focuses on a babysitter who has thoughts of harming the child she cares for. It will be published by Simon & Schuster this month.

For her workshop, Janetl presented the idea that if the Internet has changed the way many of us get our information, then the same changes ought to take place in the lives of characters we write about. How do online newspapers, chat rooms, social networking sites and blogs affect the way a character thinks and makes decisions important to the story? Author Janet Ruth Young will discuss these issues in the context of her books, The Opposite of Music and The Babysitter Murders.

Lynn author Florence Goodman and her husband, photographer and editor, Henry Goodman, will talk about writing and marketing their cookbook, Something Healthy to Eat: A Love Story with Food. Following their presentation, they will hold a discussion with the audience.

As an accomplished cook, Flo was able, over the years, to reverse her husband’s high cholesterol without medication by changing ingredients in the preparation of well-loved and familiar foods. Their amazed friends and family wanted Flo’s recipes because they found the meals tasty, quick, easy and, most of all, healthy. Ultimately, she was encouraged to write over 600 recipes for a cookbook.

Collating the numerous versions of recipes scribbled on scraps of paper and index cards was an overwhelming task. Flo tested all the recipes, and Hank photographed every meal, snack and dessert. Then Hank organized it all into a computer file ready for self-publishing.

Flo and Hank found securing a printer to be a daunting experience. Many wanted to redesign the book and the PDF file and to charge large fees for their work. Ultimately, the first printing of Something Healthy to Eat was done in Atlanta, and the Goodmans found a local printer for the second printing. All seemed well until the book had to be marketed. As John Grisham said, “Marketing a book is harder than writing.”

As they have done since Writers’ World started, the Mugford Street Players read selections from the winning entries, reading pieces from each category. Following the readings, the public was invited to a reception in the Literary Arts Café held for the Mugford Street Players and our winning writers.