Dave (DJ) Butler

Editing for Muscular Prose

Wednesday, February 11th, 2026
Morning
Duration: 4 hours (8:00am to noon Mountain Time Zone)
Course Fee: $50

Class Location: Maple, Provo Marriott

Write sentences that are lean and mean and hit with the precise emotional punch that you intend. In this class, you will learn fifteen strategies for making every word matter. This is a vital skill for writers and editors alike. Bring a 2,000-word writing sample to work on and, if possible, a laptop. You will be sharing in small groups.

Fantasy Worldbuilding: Lessons from the Ancient World

Wednesday, February 11th, 2026
Afternoon
Duration: 4 hours (1:00 to 5:00 pm Mountain Time Zone)
Course Fee: $50

Class Location: Maple, Provo Marriott

Build realism and meaning into your fantasy setting by incorporating the spiritual and magical practices of real-world cultures. Learn about specific practices and also get more deeply into the differences between an archaic and a modern mindset. Learn to write characters who don’t just feel like your neighbor with a rubber sword and tell stories that are epic to their bones. Bring writing materials so you can workshop ideas.

About Dave (D.J.) Butler

D.J. (Dave) Butler has been a lawyer, a consultant, an editor, a corporate trainer, and a registered investment banking representative, and he is now a Senior Editor at ARK Press. His novels published by Baen Books include the Witchy War series (Witchy Eye, Witchy Winter, Witchy Kingdom, and Serpent Daughter), In the Palace of Shadow and Joy, Between Princesses and Other Jobs, and Abbott in Darkness, as well as The Cunning Man and The Jupiter Knife, co-written with Aaron Michael Ritchey, and Time Trials, co-written with M.A. Rothman. He also writes for children: the steampunk fantasy adventure tales The Kidnap Plot, the Giant’s Seat, and The Library Machine are published by Knopf. Other novels include City of the Saints from WordFire Press and The Wilding Probate from Immortal Works. His novels have won the Whitney Award, the Association for Mormon Letters Award for Novel, and the Dragon Award.

Dave also organizes writing retreats and anarcho-libertarian writers’ events, and travels the country to sell books. He tells many stories as a gamemaster with a gaming group some of whom he’s been playing with since sixth grade. He plays guitar and banjo whenever he can, and likes to hang out in Utah with his wife, their children, and the family dog.