Classes

Classes are being offered online through Zoom at UNM Continuing Education.
To register, call 505-277-0077 or go to ce.unm.edu. For information about a class, call Carol at 505-235-9753

Writing the Story of Your Life

May 25 through June 29, Wednesday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

.Our stories tell us where we’re been, what we’ve learned, and who we are. As we write, we remember, evaluate, and deepen our perspective. If you want to explore your life story, whether for legacy, published memoir, inspiration for fiction, or personal development, this course will give you the tools you need. Classes include writing exercises, prompts, resources, and discussion. Feedback on writing provided if desired. No previous writing experience necessary.

From Inspiration to Publication

July 6-27, Wednesday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

You want to write a book—a novel, memoir, historical, self-help or inspirational book to share your knowledge. The first step is finding your vision. What is your message? Who are you speaking to? Find your passion and you’ve found the subject of your book. The next step is to organize and position your book to sell in today’s marketplace. You will learn how to research the market, decide where your book fits, and how to write it to appeal to your target audience. No writing experience necessary, only a desire to learn. Takeaways include resource lists, a plan of action, and organizational tools.

Writing for Healing

July 26 through August 16, Tuesday, 5:30-7:30 PM

Personal journal writing helps us navigate uncertainty, stress, and dislocation. When our lives are turned upside down, it’s normal to experience unease and frustration. Writing about what’s going on helps us move through the experience and develop new strategies for the future. In a safe, supportive environment, we will explore simple yet powerful writing techniques that enhance well-being and help develop resilience. The benefits of this type of journaling are similar to those derived from yoga and meditation.
No writing experience necessary. All writing is confidential and need not be shared.

The Writer’s Mindset

August 3-17, Wednesday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Are you writing or thinking about writing a book, short story, or essay? Do you find that keeping on track with your goals is a challenge? You may be experiencing doubt, lack of confidence or simply feeling overwhelmed. You’re not alone. Many beginning writers have great ideas, but aren’t sure how to get started and then maintain a writing practice. Everyone is busy, and being a writer means making choices, finding good resources, and setting goals that are reasonable, given your life situation.

The Writer’s Mindset will help you stop thinking about writing and get to work! Practical strategies, helpful resources, and practice lead to a productive writing practice. You will learn how to short-circuit the messages of the inner critic so you can write with joy and abandon.

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Your Creative Self is Waiting for You!

My next nonfiction book has a working title of Your Creative Self is Waiting for You. I am writing it for readers who want to access their creativity in any form. I believe we are all creative. Even those who protest, “Oh, not me, I have no talent.” We can’t all be...

How Healthy is Your Brain?

About 50 million people worldwide are suffering from dementia in 2021, but the total number of people with dementia is projected to reach 82 million in 2030 and a staggering 152 million in 2050. For Kate Kunkel, the tragedy of this disease struck three times. Both...

A Different Kind of Memoir

New Mexico author Jean Stouffer has written a moving memoir of healing from the effects of growing up with an alcoholic mother. But Sometimes I Cry is not just another recounting of a child caring for an absent parent and the self-esteem and abandonment issues that...

Making Space for Happiness

By now, we thought our lives would have settled into whatever the “new normal” turned out to be. That doesn’t ring quite true. Not with a new virus strain, economic and political challenges, and warm weather that is both pleasant and a harbinger of an uncertain...

The Book I Feared to Write

When the pandemic of 2020 crashed down like a tidal wave, I retreated into my home to wait it out. A writer and teacher who works at home, it wasn’t a stretch to teach classes online and restrict communications to telephone and Zoom sessions. Enforced isolation seemed...

Valentine for a Beloved Dog

I thought my dog Buddy would enjoy a companion because he loved playing with other dogs at the dog park. But when I brought Zena home one scorching August day in 2010, I learned I was wrong. Buddy was jealous, annoyed, and intimidated by this big Shepherd/heeler...

Dancing With the Creative Self

Many of my students sign up for a writing course because they have an urge to bring forth their experiences. They want to write stories, poems, memoirs. Many have never written before. They don’t know where to start. What to write about. How to choose fiction or...

Is the Story of Your Life Changing?

The stories of our daily lives have changed. We had no choice. We’re working at home. Not working. Home schooling the kids. Can’t travel. No baseball games, concerts, movies, or parties. We learned to operate on Zoom and discovered you can order anything, literally...

Why We Need Visionary Fiction

I have always written visionary fiction. It wasn’t as much a choice as how I perceived the world. Dreams, visions, alternate realities that peek from behind the veil, reincarnation, ghosts, messengers from other worlds—all the stories that dropped into my mind...

What Do You Want to Have, To Do, To Be?

A good question, posed in a graduate social psychology class, and an eye-opener for me. I had recently moved from Philadelphia to California to escape an abusive relationship. What I wanted for the past year was crystal clear. Get my affairs in order, plan the move,...