Novel Workshop
Tommy Hays is the author of five novels, including his forthcoming novel, The Marriage Bed,to be published in March 2026 by Blair. His other novels are The Pleasure Was Mine (St Martin’s Press), In the Family Way (Random House), Sam’s Crossing (Atheneum) and the YA novel What I Came to Tell You (Egmont USA). His short fiction and articles have appeared in various magazines and literary journals such as Redbook, storySouth, and Our State.
Inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors, Tommy was also named to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the governor of North Carolina. He’s retired Executive Director of the Great Smokies Writing Program and Lecturer Emeritus at UNC Asheville. He received his BA in English from Furman University and an MFA from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.
Course Description
This class will be anchored in craft discussion informed by readings from Alice LaPlante’s most excellent craft book, The Making of a Story. We’ll also bring what we learn from LaPlante to workshop members’ submissions, looking at strengths and weaknesses, always in service of the work. Finally, we’ll tackle some in-class writing prompts that may inspire us to explore other avenues.