Join us on Write On Radio this Thursday, June 28th for great conversations with author Barry Eisler and three Loft instructors: children's author Lisa Bullard, memoirist Cheri Register and poet Heid Erdich.

Host Jen Nemo speaks with author and former CIA Operative Barry Eisler about his new novel, Requiem for an Assassin, the sixth book in the John Rain series featuring the Japanese/American "contract killer with a conscience," John Rain.

Evident in all Eisler's Rain novels, is an element of authenticity that has garnered much critical acclaim for his writing style that combines extensive research and direct personal experience as a former CIA Operative.

"Eisler is one of the most talented and literary writers in the thriller genre." - Chicago Sun Times

"First-rate... Perhaps not since the James Bond of the Ian Flemming novels has there been an assassin so charismatic." - San Francisco Chronicle

About Barry Eisler:

Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA's Directorate of Operations. There he trained in small arms, long arms, hand-to-hand combat, improvised explosive devices, small water craft, air drops to friendly forces, surveillance, counter-surveillance, counter-terrorism, agent recruitment and management, and interrogation and manipulation techniques.

After leaving the CIA, Eisler has lived and worked in Japan - the country that inspired his John Rain Series novels - where he earned his black belt from the Kodokan, International Judo center.

The John Rain Series novels - The Last Assassin, Killing Rain, Rain Storm, Hard Rain, and Rain Fall have won the Barry and Gumshoe Awards; translated into twenty languages and optioned for films by Barrie Osborne, the Oscar-winning producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Visit Barry Eisler's website

And Host Lynette Reini-Grandell speaks with Loft teaching fellows Lisa Bullard (children's author), Cheri Register (memoirst) and Heid Erdich (poet) about the Loft Literary Center's Week Long Writing Immersion classes that begin on August 6th. Bullard, Register and Erdrich will talk about their upcoming week-long classes they will teach that meet for four to five days, Monday through Thursday or Monday through Friday, at the Open Book Center.

About the Loft's Week-Long Writing Intensive Classes:

Children's Book Writing Intensive for Intermediate Writers with instructor Lisa Bullard.

This four-day immersion into the world of children's book writing is ideal for students who have developed a first draft or who have a significant start at writing a children's book-whether a picture book, nonfiction, chapter book, or young adult novel-and are now ready to take their project to the next level.

Enlivened Places: Using Historical Sites to Yield Story with instructor Cheri Register.

Visiting and researching historical sites can yield a wealth of stories, whether documented as history, told as memory, or conjured out of the atmosphere. In this one-week writing intensive, Minneapolis will be the common fount.

Deep and Wide: Making a Manuscript with instructor Heid E. Erdich.

When you think you have almost enough to make a book but can't develop the table of contents-when you keep missing contest deadlines because the "whole thing" is not yet ready-that's when to go deep and wide.

Visit the Loft's website for more information on the Week-Long Writing Intensive class schedule