D. M. Pirrone
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NEW RELEASE: Promises to the Dead (Book 3 in the Hanley & Rivka Mysteries, from Allium Press of Chicago)
Got ZOOM fatigue? Here's a short video featuring me and fellow Allium Press author Adam Shafer, talking about our latest books: PROMISES TO THE DEAD (Hanley & Rivka Book 3) and NEVER WALK BACK, Adam's fresh take on the Western genre and the expansion of the railroads. Click here to watch: https://youtu.be/0OrLSFodUmk
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person book events and workshops are currently in limbo. Watch this space for virtual versions; I will post info and links as soon as any become available. Please feel free to contact me at dmpirrone@gmail.com.
Workshops and Presentations
The Best Words
Drawing on her 20-plus years as an editor and author, Diane Piron-Gelman lays out common errors writers make that many of us don’t think about. From grammar mistakes, to uses and misuses of punctuation, to correct-but-clunky quirks of writing that really need to go, the “word nerd” of Word Nerd, Inc. offers self-editing tips and best practices that help authors put their best words forward.
Why These Words Now? An Actor Looks at Dialogue
In real life, people talk just to talk. We use speech as social glue, and a lot of our words aren’t that important. In fiction, characters talk because they need to. Author, actor and audiobook narrator Diane Piron-Gelman brings an actor’s perspective to the fine art of dialogue: what works on the page, what doesn’t, and the compelling reasons characters talk in the first place.
Whose Head Is It: Mastering Point of View
Characters are the heart of fiction, and point of view is the heart of character. Learn how to effectively use point of view to show readers your fictional world through your characters’ eyes. This workshop covers different point-of-view techniques: first person, variants of third person, and how to avoid the dreaded “head-hopping.”
Elements of Story: Character, Connection, Conflict
Stories have evolved a lot since ancient times, when people sat around the campfire and told tales of their ancestors or their tribe or their history. At first glance, those ancient stories don’t seem to have much in common with a Dickens novel or the latest fiction blockbuster on the NY Times bestseller list. Yet all good stories have the same basic elements: character, connection, and conflict. In this hands-on workshop, author and editor Diane Piron-Gelman (writing as D. M. Pirrone) takes you through the basic elements of storytelling, using photos and objects as jumping-off points for creating your own story frameworks.