A fresh batch of writing classes for a new year Obituary notes

Readers starting the year with renewed resolve to write can find support with low-cost online classes.

On Jan. 23, a workshop will aim to help writers with laying down some of the bones of story, through exercises in creating and developing characters, in creating scenes and scenarios, and more. Holly Day, a longtime and prolific writer and writing instructor at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, will teach “Let’s Write a Story — From a Blank Page to the Last Page.” ( What’s prolific? 7,000 published pieces, 40 books and chapbooks.)

The details: A Traveling Pen workshop from Hampton Roads Writers, via Zoom. Check-in at 9:15 a.m., workshop from 9:30 to noon. About $16 for members, $26 for non-members. Register at HamptonRoadsWriters.org/ tps2020.php

Then in February, the Muse Writers Center begins a new slate of workshops. There are scores, all via Zoom. Some of the teachers: bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz of Seattle; Erin Beaty; Steven Blythe; John DeDakis; Luisa A. Igloria and a predecessor as Virginia’s poet laureate, Tim Seibles; Howard Andrew Jones; Susan Isaak Lolis; Joy Priest; Suzanne Rhodes; agent Steven Salpeter; Morgan Sawyer; Michele YoungStone; and Diane Zinna. Details: the-muse.org.

Lawrence Wright, author of virus novel “The End of October,” wrote a 31,000-word account of how the U.S. let the COVID-19 coronavirus become a “yearlong catastrophe.” The New Yorker dedicated an entire issue to “The Plague Year:

The mistakes and the struggles behind America’s coronavirus tragedy.”

NetGalley, a website through which professional reviewers can read books before publication, was hacked Dec. 21, and a database — including user information — was breached. (Publishers Lunch, NetGalley)

Roxane Gay is starting the Audacious Book Club. It’s part of a newsletter called The Audacity, which launches Monday and features new writing by Gay and emerging writers. The January pick: “Black Futures,” edited by Jenna Wortham and Kimberly Drew; February’s “Detransition, Baby,” by Torrey Peters. (Publishers Lunch)

Scott Donaldson, a biographer of literary figures including Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Archibald MacLeish, was

92. Donaldson, who joined the faculty at William & Mary in 1966 and taught American lit there for 27 years, lived in Scottsdale, Arizona. He had lung cancer. (NYT)

Kim Chernin, who wrote perceptively about anorexia and bulimia before they were widely known issues, was 80; she died of COVID-19. Her book “The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness,” seven years in the making, was rejected by 13 publishers before Ticknor & Fields bought it in 1980. It sold out quickly and was the first of what became a trilogy about women’s appetites and identity. (NYT)

the new york timesPartnerships ACROSS

1 Venomous snake 6 “To be honest ... ” 12 “My goodness!” 16 Extinct flightless bird that once grew up to 12 feet

19 Like the water in a

whistling teakettle 20 Puzzled remark

21 A student may pass

it

22 Kid’s refrigerator

display 23 Lawpartners 25 Booty call? 27 How-to manual

component

28 ____ learning 29 Richard of

“Chicago”

30 Mount ____, workplace of the Cyclopes in Greek myth

31 Having a very high

body mass index 33 Singer with the

2020 album “A Holly Dolly Christmas” 35 Problems with

streaming

36 Puller of strings? 39 Silentpartners 42 Noticeably amazed 43 Leigh who played

Scarlett

44 Train ticket info, for

short 45 Writingpartners 48 Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man, for Calvin in “Calvin and Hobbes”

54 Red ____

55 Who “can get in the way of what I feel for you,” in a 2007 No. 1 Alicia Keys hit 56 Business suits? 57 Famous bed-in

participant

58 Nest noise

60 For example 63 Salmon and sturgeon delicacies

Partners incrime

64 69 Modern meeting

method

70 Some U.S. space

launch rockets 71 “See ya” 72 Requests at

security lines 73 Chicago mayor

Lightfoot

74 Gave up

76 First dynasty of imperial China, 221206 B.C.

79 Flier trier? 82 Businesspartners 85 Commotion 86 Fervent believer 88 Walker’s need 89 Romanticpartners 94 Tight-fitting suits 96 Apartment, in real

estate talk

97 Core principles 98 Bake, as an egg 99 Evil Kermit or

Grumpy Cat

100 How Phileas Fogg

traveled

101 Money in coins

rather than bills

104 Earnest request

108 Like some

vinaigrette

110 Domesticpartners 112 Sponge off of

113 Calendar row

114 Magazine bestowing Best of Beauty awards

115 Not a big studio film 116 Take possession of 117 Makes a typo, say 118 Gave a boost

119 S-shaped moldings

DOWN

1 Officers above

capts.

2 What San Diego

and Tijuana do 3 Airplane ____ 4 “Notorious” rap nickname

It may be blond, brown or ginger 6 Of the utmost

quality 7 Snapchatter’s

request

5 8 1981 Stephen King

thriller

9 Certain bolt holder 10 Being fixed, as a car

at a garage

11 Vegan milk source 12 Still being

debugged

13 Turn against 14 Event organizer’s

count

15 ____ to come 16 Cocktail with rum, curaçao and fruit juice

17 Like monarch

butterflies

18 Debut album for

Etta James 24 Apollo’s half

brother

26 Fool

29 Sweet red dessert

wine 32 Representatives’

term lengths

34 A thing in poker? 36 Unfortunate events,

old-style

37 C.I.A. whistle

blower Philip 38 Encountered by

chance

39 Subject of a Magritte work (or not?)

40 Simple palindromic reply to “Madam, I’m Adam”

41 Fiscal year div. 43 Ryder ride

46 Dweeb

47 Rihanna or Mariah

Carey

49 Have a preference 50 Deep-fried tortilla

dish

51 Group of heavies 52 Universal donor’s

blood type, in brief 53 Brand of pads 59 Sewing 101

assignment

60 Didn’t go

anywhere 61 Spanish article 62 Investment options, for short 63 Setting for Hitchcock’s “Notorious,” informally 64 Portend

65 Emperor who ruled for more than 13 years, dying at age 30

66 More eye-catching 67 Anthony ____, 1950s British P.M. Villain with the “real” name Edward Nigma

69 Teen’s woe

73 Big game changer? 74 This is what it sounds like when doves cry

75 P.D. or F.D. worker 77 Kindergarten

comeback 78 Indefinite degrees 80 Sweetness and

sourness 81 Canoodling in a

crowd, for short 82 Prominent feature of the Who’s “My Generation” 83 Cheer for Real

Madrid

84 Drinking game that

requires aim 87 Winter setting in

N.Y.C.

89 Deceptive talk 90 Perturbation 91 Small hole-drilling

tool

92 Obstinate sort 93 Talents

94 Really stood out 95 Patchy in color 98 Close call

102 Sport with saddles 103 Bevy : quails :: mob

: ____

105 Fill with freight

106 Lake largely fed by

the Detroit River

107 Lemon or lime

drinks, informally 109 Wonder

110 Piano tune

111 Words accompanying a headshot, in brief

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