EUGENE - Jump-start your writing career this spring! "Focus on Fiction: Character and Plot" will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 5 and 6, at Tranquility Farm, a rural wooded setting outside Eugene.

Oregon writers Elizabeth Engstrom and John Reed will present the workshop. Engstrom, author of nine books and more than 200 short stories, is a sought-after conference and convention speaker and has taught fiction and presented writing seminars since 1989. She is also a director of the Maui Writers Retreat.

Reed, author of "Thirteen Mountain" and "The Kingfisher's Call," has taught writing classes and conducted workshops and seminars for 20 years and has been a presenter at the Willamette Writers conference in Portland and the PNWA Writers Conference in Seattle. He operates www.writ erswelcome.com, an editing and critique service.

The two-day retreat features lively and informative presentations on character and plot, as well as a special session on marketing. The retreat includes a homework assignment and a critique session of participant's work.

Cost of the workshop is $190, before May 20, and includes lunch both days. Space is limited, early registration is advised. Registration after May 20 is $220.

For more information and registration packet, contact Reed at 541-461-0789, e-mail juancarr@qwest.net or juancarr@earthlink.net or contact Engstrom at 541-484-1682, e-mail Liz@ElizabethEngstrom.com.