It’s not too early to register for the 2027 San Miguel Literary Festival and Writers Conference, February 10-14, 2027! I will be part of the teaching faculty, offering this session:
Words Matter: 90-Minute Workshop Package
Every sentence makes a choice about who is centered, who is invisible, and who is stereotyped—and those choices can quietly build or dissolve reader trust. Misused, outdated, or careless language can signal contempt or indifference, alienating exactly the audiences we hope to reach, no matter how strong our story is.
In this 90-minute workshop and lab, we’ll explore how power, position, perspective, and privilege shape both our lived experience and our narrative voice on the page, using a 23‑vector “Privilege Staircase” and the “Words That Break Trust” model as mirrors rather than weapons. You’ll privately map your own positionality, identify language habits that might unintentionally exclude or stereotype, and then move straight into craft: drafting and revising a short passage to widen welcome without watering down your voice.
This isn’t a compliance‑oriented DEI session; it’s a craft lab for writers who want courageous but not corny conversations about language so their work can reach—and keep—more of the people it’s meant for.