by Writing Workshops Staff
3 days ago
"Sit at your desk! Stay there!"
That's Linda Lenhoff's secret weapon for pushing through when the writing gets tough—advice that sounds deceptively simple but has carried her through four published novels. Her latest, the darkly comic Your Actual Life May Vary, published by Santa Fe Writers Project in August 2025, is proof that showing up to the page, combined with the right community and guidance, can transform a writing life from feeling stuck to absolutely flourishing.
Linda came to WritingWorkshops.com as an already accomplished author—her earlier novels Life a la Mode, Latte Lessons, and The Girl in the '67 Beetle had earned her readers around the world, with Life a la Mode translated into four languages. But even experienced writers need community and fresh perspectives. When she joined us for Writing Workshops Santa Fe in April 2025, she found exactly what she was looking for.
Working with novelist Swan Huntley in the gorgeous setting of Santa Fe, Linda experienced the kind of breakthrough that changes how you approach your craft. "I appreciated Swan Huntley's ability to get right to the heart of what would make a story better," Linda shares. "I've always admired this skill. She's a natural writing teacher." That direct, insightful feedback helped Linda push her work to the next level—the kind of editorial eye that separates good writing from truly memorable storytelling.
But it wasn't just the instruction that made the difference. When asked what she enjoyed most about her workshop experience, Linda doesn't hesitate: "The people! And meeting in Santa Fe, a gorgeous town for a writing workshop." She also emphasizes how much the community meant to her growth, noting that "the support of the other workshoppers meant the world to me." That combination of expert guidance and peer encouragement created the ideal environment for creative risk-taking.
Linda also participated in Idea Generators: Discovering New Direction in Your Writing, a cross-genre Zoom seminar with acclaimed author Ethan Joella. For a writer working across multiple projects—Linda is currently developing two novels, one about "turning trauma into joy" and another on health matters that she describes as "much funnier"—this kind of generative workshop helps keep the creative well full and the ideas flowing.
The result of all this work? Your Actual Life May Vary has earned glowing praise from critics and fellow authors alike. Library Journal called it "hilarious...quirky...an ironic, innocent, and entertaining commentary on capitalism and its limits." Elizabeth Gonzalez James, author of The Bullet Swallower, praised it as "a novel that's all heart, a story of finding solace and connection in a world that often seems designed for alienation." The book was also a finalist for the SFWP Publication Prize, the Galileo Prize from Free State Review, and the Orison Prize—recognition that came years before publication, speaking to the novel's lasting power.
When asked to describe her transformation, Linda puts it perfectly: before taking the workshop, her writing life was "stuck, about to burst open," but now it's exactly that—burst wide open, with two new novels in progress and a fourth book making its way into readers' hands.
For writers considering whether to take the leap into a workshop, Linda's advice is warmly encouraging: "Do it. You will pick up something worth knowing and meet great people. It's very supportive."
As Linda continues writing from her San Francisco Bay Area home—surrounded, she notes with characteristic humor, by cats—we can't wait to see what she creates next. With her dedication to the craft, her gift for dark comedy, and the community she's built through her writing life, there's no doubt more wonderful stories are on the way.
Ready to write your own success story? Whether you're working on your first novel or your fourth, our online creative writing workshops offer the expert instruction, supportive community, and creative breakthroughs that have helped writers like Linda take their work to the next level. Your desk is waiting.
