Author of “˜The Glorious Whore of Milan’ switched from technical writer to novelist after UCLA Writers’ Extension Program

When he showed a co-worker his first attempts at writing a political thriller, Larry Maisner got a piece of advice that’s been embedded in his memory ever since.

“He told me, “˜Larry, your work needs work,'” Maisner said.

With those words, Maisner opted to enroll in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program to hone his skills. Maisner participated in the program for three separate semesters, gaining insight into novel writing from established authors and screenwriters such as Michael Levin, Leonardo Berkovici and Richard Setlowe.

Maisner has now written three novels. The latest, “The Glorious Whore of Milan,” released in January, is the story of the titular character, a young woman who fights against established Church rule in 16th-century Italy.

The provocative title came from a line in Maisner’s first novel, where the main character’s love interest describes herself as a descendant of the Italian figure.

But before he wrote tales of rebellious young heroines, Larry Maisner was a technical writer for three decades, constructing user manuals for government industries.

He still has copies of the guides for the Magnavox MX 4102 GPS/Transit Satellite Navigator he authored in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

One day, during the aforementioned conversation, Maisner and his friend were discussing the advancement of military technology. Together, the two men stumbled on a phrase that helped him segue into fiction writing.

“We were talking about how much we focus on the engines of destruction, but we neglect to talk about the engines of corruption,” Maisner said.

Seizing the idea, Maisner started to put together some notes and sample chapters for a political thriller, one of his favorite genres.

After working for a couple of weeks, he showed his friend his progress. Maisbner’s colleague saw the foundations of effective writing, advising him to look for some extra classroom experience.

Once he was studying at UCLA Extension, the hardest task for Maisner was to disregard the firmly held conventions of technical writing and apply his vocabulary to a freer, more expansive work of fiction. As an instructor in the Writers’ Program for 15 years, Setlowe saw many individuals like Maisner who come from backgrounds in various forms of writing.

“You have a community of writers here in Los Angeles with a lot of advertising account writers, screenwriters and non-fiction writers,” Setlowe said. “I’d tell them to get away from the do-it-yourself manual. A novel doesn’t have a set of instructions written in,” Setlowe said.

According to Maisner, creating characters was more taxing than making a list of instructions. But special writing assignments helped him and his classmates to find their voices.

“I would tell them, “˜Take someone you’re attracted to and stalk them for two pages. On the third page, you attack. You’re a vampire.’ People would look at me strangely, but some of those assignments were the best writing that came out of the class,” Setlowe said.

Katy Flaherty, the current program representative from the Extension’s online creative writing wing, said the program also offers assistance to writers once their stories are finished.

“We want our students to get to the point where they can publish their work,” Flaherty said. “We can help them write query letters or submit to a literary magazine or even a mainstream publication.”

Maisner succeeded in taking the seeds of his political thriller and morphing it into his first published work. “Engines of Corruption” was released at the end of 1999, followed five years later by “Glow from a Gentle Lantern,” Maisner’s first foray into mainstream fiction.

Now finished with his period piece, Maisner plans to tap into yet another form of writing and a new audience.

“I volunteer as a reader at the local library, reading to the kids,” Maisner said. “So I think my next project is going to be a children’s book.”