California Writers Club BulletinSpring/Summer 2015

B U L L E T I NVol. 2015 No. 1 Spring/Summer 2015

California Writers ClubCWC Branches Take onthe Conference Challenge

T H E

The Bulletin is the official publication ofCalifornia Writers Club, an educationalnonprofit 501(c)3 corporation.

OFFICERSOFFICERSOFFICERSOFFICERSOFFICERSPresident President President President President — David George

Mt. Diablo BranchVice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President — Margie Yee Webb

Sacramento BranchSecretary Secretary Secretary Secretary Secretary — Joyce Krieg

Central Coast BranchTTTTTreasurer reasurer reasurer reasurer reasurer — Sharon Svitak

Tri-Valley Branch

THE BULLETINTHE BULLETINTHE BULLETINTHE BULLETINTHE BULLETINEDITOR

Joyce Krieg (Central Coast)PROOFREADER

Laura Emerson (Central Coast)Donna McCrohan-Rosenthal (East Sierra)

CIRCULATIONRay Malus (San Fernando Valley)

PRINTERProColor — Los Gatos, CACHANGE OF ADDRESSCHANGE OF ADDRESSCHANGE OF ADDRESSCHANGE OF ADDRESSCHANGE OF ADDRESS

Contact Your Branch Membership Chair

Copyright 2015 by the California Writers Club.The contents may not be reproduced in any formwithout prior written permission. The Bulletin ispublished by the California Writers Club, Incor-porated, on behalf of its members. The Califor-nia Writers Club assumes no legal liability orresponsibility for the accuracy of any informa-tion, process, product, method, or policy de-scribed herein.

OUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONEducating writers of all levels of expertisein the craft of writing and in the marketingof their work.

R

R Few projects undertaken by an all-volunteerorganization are as ambitious as an all-day orweekend-long writers conference. Several CWCbranches are up to the challenge and thensome.

Tri-Valley held its first writers conferenceon April 18 at Four Points by Sheraton,Pleasanton. Three tracks were offered—Craft,Marketing and Self-Publishing. Presenters in-cluded Smashwords’ Jim Azevedo; mysteryauthor and Agatha Award winner, PennyWarner; crime/thriller author, David Corbettand Booktrack’s Jason Hovey. Novelist andRITA Award winner Shelley Adina providedthe keynote address, “Why It’s a Good Timeto Be a Writer.” Sessions covered a wide rangeof topics such as “Plot, Character and Pacing,”“The Importance of an Editor,” and “NewThings to Expect from eBook Publishing.”Tri-Valley President Deborah Bernal says,“Our goal is to make this a bi-annual event.CWC President David George attended—special leg boot and chair included.” Meanwhile, as the largest CWC branch, Red-wood Writers sponsors a bi-annual “Pen to

Published” writers conference. PR Chair BillHaigwood reports planning is now under-way for the next conference to be held April23, 2016, at Santa Rosa’s historic FlamingoHotel. The all-day conference will feature work-shops on publishing, marketing, genre andcraft, as well as a pitch-o-rama for authorswho wish to present their work to agents. The High Desert branch is busy workingon the 2015 “Howl at the Moon” writers con-ference this coming November 7 in AppleValley. Publicity Chair Bob Isbill tells us theconference will feature Dr. Rachel Ballon, psy-chotherapist to the stars and writers of Hol-lywood, who will conduct a two-hour work-shop on “Breathing Life into Your Charac-ters.” Chris Lynch will present an intensethree-and-a-half hour seminar on self-pub-lishing, educating participants on all the insand outs of indie publication and the little-known benefits and pitfalls.

Panelist on genre writing at the Tri-Valley con-ference, from left: Shelley Adina, romance; DavidCorbett, crime/thriller; Penny Warner, young adult.

Success Tip: Meetup Looking for a way to boost membership?Promote your branch on Meetup.com! TheSF/Peninsula branch has almost doubledattendance at monthly programs and openmics by announcing events on Meetup.com.Treasurer Carole Bumpus says, “This hasalso stimulated our membership numbers!” The branch hosted a workshop with SimonWood on “The 21st Century Author” on May9 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City,focusing on how authors can connect with anever-changing publishing industry, build anaudience and utilize social media. MaurineKillough reports that SF/Peninsula will againsponsor the Literary Stage at the San MateoCounty Fair.

2

California Writers Club Bulletin

The quest for the Fountain of Youth didn’tend with Ponce de Leon. Put two or moreCWC branch presidents in the same roomfor any length of time, and inevitably thetopic of conversation will turn to wonder-ing what they can do to get more youngpeople to join the club. The question found its way onto theagenda of the last CWC NorCal Group meet-ing on May 2. In mentally preparing for thediscussion, I had a moment of insight. Atmy home branch, Central Coast, we havemanaged to attract quite a few younger mem-bers over the past year – with no grand plan,no change in our usual way of doing busi-ness. They just showed up and stuckaround. At this point, I feel the need to pause andclarify. By “younger,” I’m not talking aboutteens and twenty-somethings. At CentralCoast, a “young” member would be some-one who isn’t yet eligible for Medicare. Ihave a feeling the situation is much the sameat most of the other branches. This past year our membership grew from107 to 130, more-or-less, and a significantnumber of those new members are in their30s, 40s and 50s. Not only that, but they’reactively working on their writing and pursu-ing publication, slowly transforming whathad been a club of mostly retired hobbyistsinto a lively organization brimming with ex-citement and enthusiasm. Like I say, there was no strategic plan togo out and capture these younger members.We didn’t even try. Yet they continue to sur-prise us by showing up to meetings. Hereare some of the key factors, at least in myopinion:

Speakers are everything: They’re the baitthat gets potential new members through

The Age-Old Quest for Younger MembersSpring/Summer 2015

JOYCE’S VOICE

By Joyce KriegBulletin Editor

ContactingThe Bulletin

Editor Joyce Kriegpacificgrovejoyce@gmail.com

Submissions of branch news and photosare always welcome. Send text as Worddocs. Photos should be in JPEG formatand sized between 100K and 1M. Shortstories and poetry should be submitted tothe CWC Literary Review.

the door. Book the very best speakers yourbudget can afford. Get recommendationsfrom other branches. Pay travel expensesif you have to.Spread the word: Flyers at

the library and localcoffeehouses, a Facebookpage, notices in the localpapers. At Central Coast, wepay for an ad in the localalternative weekly.

Location, location, loca-tion: Find a place to meetthat doesn’t have an “old”atmosphere. Central Coastmeets at the clubhouse atour municipal golf course,recently remodeled with aclean, contemporary feeland a menu to match.

Free always works: If you possibly can,make it free for someone to try out a meet-ing for the first time. Yes, even if you chargemembers to attend your meetings, I stillsay make it free for the newbies. If yourmeeting includes a meal, is there a way tostructure things so that a potential newmember can come just for the speaker?

The welcome mat: Make sure there’s

someone stationed at the front door orcheck-in table to greet the walk-ins, helpthem find a place to sit, introduce them toother people, and just generally make them

feel like this is “home.”Follow up: Be sure to col-

lect email addresses of thewalk-ins at the check-in tableand then send a follow-upmessage a few days laterthanking them for attendingand encouraging them tojoin. No question, Central Coasthas benefitted from the gen-eral zeitgeist. We’ve reachedcritical mass when it comesto the number of people whoown an electronic tablet ofsome sort. Not only are we

reading books on our tablets, we’re creat-ing our own content. The stigma that usedto be attached to self-publishing has prettymuch disappeared. The bottom line is anexplosion of interest in writing and pub-lishing among people of all ages.

And that can only be good news for Cali-fornia Writers Club—if we’re prepared toseize the moment.

Regional Groups Stay Busy

Left: CWC South once again s taffed abooth at the Riverside Dickens Festival thispast February. Judy Kohnen (Inland Em-pire) has a literary encounter with a festivalcast member portraying H.G. Wells.Top: The passing of the gavel —or in thiscase, the pile of paperwork —as JoyceKrieg (Central Coast) finishes her term aschair of the NorCal Group and hands offleadership to Kimberly Edwards (Sacra-mento) at the May 2 meeting in Oakland.

3

Coastal Dunes Will Be 20th CWC BranchCalifornia Writers Club BulletinSpring/Summer 2015

The Joy of Discovering Good Writing

By David GeorgeCWC President

PRESIDENT’SMESSAGE

I am delighted to announce the formationof a new branch of our venerable club. CoastalDunes Writers has been meeting in Nipomo(near Santa Maria) since November under thementorship of CWCmember CatherineKitcho. An accreditationcommittee of senior Cen-tral Board representativeshas certified that CoastalDunes Writers has met allrequirements to becomethe 20th branch of the Cali-fornia Writers Club. Members of CoastalDunes Writers recentlycompleted their seventhmonthly meeting. Havingmet all of the other re-quirements for Clubmembership, Ms. Kitchosubmitted a formal letterasking for her new branch to be chartered. Theyconstitute 36 members at last count, over halfof them qualifying for membership in theActive (published) category, and are growing

monthly. Check out their new website atwww.coastaldunesCWC.com. Coastal Dunes Writers meets at the Nipomolibrary, located in the southernmost part of

San Luis ObispoCounty. The newbranch targets for mem-bership writers in bothSan Luis ObispoCounty and the north-ern part of Santa Bar-bara County in the SantaMaria area. As the foundingmentor of the newbranch, Catherine wrotein her Request for Char-ter letter, “I choseNipomo as our meet-ing place to avoid con-flict with SLONightwriters (which

meets in San Luis Obispo, about 25 milesnorth) and to reach the more populous nearbycity of Santa Maria, eight miles to the south.Nipomo is a small but growing town of

The CWC Literary Review has become anannual event, the fourth issue planned forlater this spring. We received fewer submis-sions this year: 134 versus 207 for the 2014issue, but the work submitted, we feel, reachesa bit higher mark. Those who submitted, ac-cept my thanks, and the appreciation of 1800readers. For those not finding their work inthe Review, let your imagination roam and yourfingers follow. The Literary Review is established in the club’sPolicies and Procedures manual, Article XXIII.Practice, however, may exceed what appears,and such is the case with the critique we haveoffered, and, with available time will continue.Our hope is that authors will benefit fromknowing our editing reflections—why a piecehas not found its way onto the pages of thetargeted Review. We don’t always have the timefor a hasty response; we appreciate the pa-tience of the writers who submitted work. Producing the Review is a voluntary effort,the only exception being printing and mail-ing. Each submission is stripped of its au-thors identity, read and graded by three acqui-sition editors with disparate reaction moder-ated by me. Grades are converted to numbers

16,000, due to the development of three ma-jor active lifestyle retirement communities,which have brought in many professional,highly educated people from both Northernand Southern California, and many of themare also authors.” The new branch board has already bookedspeakers through December, 2015. Catherinesays, “Local authors have been very excitedabout coming to speak to our group, and Ihaven't been turned down yet. We have a coregroup of attendees who have been quite activein continuing the momentum and making thisbranch successful.” One of our major goals during my tenure aspresident has been to grow membership inthe club incrementally at each branch andthrough the addition of at least one newbranch. Through the hard work of Catherineand her founding members, Coastal DunesWriters has become our newest branch. Pleasejoin me in welcoming each and every new mem-ber, both at Coastal Dunes and at your ownbranch.

Elections, Awards at Next CB Meeting

By Dave LaRoche, Literary Review Editorand averaged, and a global ranking achieved.The magazine is composed using MS Pub-lisher. Format is established, and margins andcolumns planned. Boilerplate is added andcontent poured in until the allotted pages arefilled. Tweaking begins. Margins are adjustedand spacing unique to each piece is developed,orphans and widows are killed—no sympa-thy there. Pagination, table of contents, graph-ics, font sizes and locations, column separa-tors are determined and placed—a tedious,time-consuming effort but satisfying when

done. I liken it to rising too early from a bed inthe morning. Producing the Review is a gratifying experi-ence for me and the acquisition team. Hey, wereturn. The enjoyment of discovering goodwriting among us, seeing it published, andhopefully providing some fruitful guidance isa way to repay the many opportunities ourclub provides. There is also camaraderie amongeditors involved, and we thank the CentralBoard and those who submit for providing it.

Your CWC Central Board will hold its nextmeeting July 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.at the Holiday Inn Express at the OaklkandInternational Airport. A major highlight of the day will be theluncheon presentation of the Jack LondonAwards, honoring volunteerism at thebranch level, as well as the official charter cer-emony for the new Coastal Dunes branch. Also on tap will be the annual election ofofficers. Nominating Committee ChairJeanette Fratto (Orange County) is present-ing a slate consisting of David George (Mt.

Diablo), president; Joyce Krieg (CentralCoast), vice-president; Donna McCrohan-Rosenthal (East Sierra), secretary. As of thiswriting, the Treasurer position does not havea candidate. President Dave noted an urgent need to lo-cate a volunteer willing to be Treasurer for 2015-16. The candidate should have basic skills inExcel, but beyond that, in the worlds of out-going Treasurer Sharon Svitak, “If you canbalance a checkbook, you can do this job.” If interested, contact Dave George,president@calwriters.org.

California Writers Club Bulletin Spring/Summer 2015

Talk about an innovative way to help pro-mote members’ books! High Desert split thecost of a booth at the Los Angeles TimesFestival of Books in April with members ofthe branch to create a win-win: the club hadvisibility at SoCal ’s premiere litera ry event,and individual authors had a chance to selltheir books. Pictured is President DwightNorris.

CWC considers Joaquiin Miller Park inOakland to be the birthplace of the club,and Linda Brown of the Berkel eybranch represents us on the board ofFriends of Joaquin Miller Park. Lindarecently participated in a park clean-upand renovation day under the auspicesof Rebuild Together Oakland.

CWC once again had a presence at theSan Francisco Writers Conference in Feb-ruary, thanks to volunteers from the SF/Peninsula branch, including, from left:Carole Bumpus, Audrey Kalman andLisa Meltzer Penn. Special thanks toCarole for coordinating this outreach ef-fort at the last minute!

Central Coast has found that participating in community parades is a fun way topublicize the branch and create camaradarie among members. Above, the PacificGrove Good Old Days parade in early April.

East Sierra has found an ideal partner in MyEnchanted Cottage and Tea Rooms inRidgecrest, hosting both “meet the author”events and an interactive murder mysterywritten by one of the branch’s members. Thelatter proved to be so popular, East Sierra isgoing to stage another mystery event in Sep-tember, celebrating “the stranger side of thedesert.”

Tea, Authors and Mystery Mix in the Desert

Sometimes a Picture Says It All

By Donna McCrohan-Rosenthal, East Sierra branch This spring we repeated our very successful“Read the Book Meet the Author,” now in itsthird year. For this, participants buy and readthe book in advance, then discuss it with theauthor over tea and scones at My EnchantedCottage and Tea Rooms, our local Victoriantea shoppe. The series has increased our vis-ibility in the community and contributed toour fundraising efforts. We’ve also used My Enchanted Cottage for

an interactive murder mystery written by ourmember Daniel Stallings. With a 1940ssetting, “Goodbye Hollywood” sold outits three performances so quickly that wescheduled a fourth. Profits benefit ourbranch scholarship program. The local the-atre company approached Daniel to present“Goodbye Hollywood” on their stage. He’swritten an expanded version for them.

4

California Writers Club BulletinSpring/Summer 2015

5

Jack London and CWC – The Saga Continues In the Fall/Winter 2014 issue of The Bulletin,I began sharing research that might possibly solvethe mystery as to whether Jack London was or wasnot the founder of California Writers Club. Thearticle ended with the discovery of the text of aspeech given by then-CWC President William Mor-gan at the 1939 Treasure IslandWorld’s Fair – a piece of our his-tory unearthed in a paper bag ofclub memorabilia being stored in aformer president’s garage! And now, the saga continues … Morgan said, “The CaliforniaWriters Club emerged from theAlameda Press Club in 1909 …Jack London (1875-1916) wasone of the most colorful mem-bers of our club. He was oneof the initial forces in its orga-nization.” Morgan goes on to relate howhe wrote a letter of condolence to CharmianKittredge London on the occasion of herhusband’s death, and made note of her reply.He also stated that the president of CWC madean address at London’s memorial service. A decidedly different view is offered by afellow named Faraday Nelson in a paper writ-ten in the mid-1970s, also found in the infa-mous paper bag being stored in the garage. He states, “It was founded in 1909, butnot, as the oral traditions of the club main-tain, by Jack London, who never was morethan an honorary member. The actual founderand first president was Jack London’s friend,Austin Lewis, labor lawyer and socialist pam-phleteer … ” (An aside from your editor … is this the

By Joyce Krieg, Bulletin Editorsame Faraday “Ray” Nelson who wrote sci-fishort stories in the 1960s and invented thepropeller beanie cap? His bio on Wikipediahas him living in the San Francisco Bay Area inthe 1970s so it could be possible. Anyone outthere know? Another CWC mystery!)

Nelson continues, “One gets a strong im-pression from later reminiscences of a smallgroup of talented and incredibly active jour-nalists from the Alameda County Press Clubjoining forces with a few enthusiastic amateurpoets and fiction writers to enjoy, at least oncea week, a life of typical Edwardianbohemianism. There were, at any rate, infor-mal meetings in private homes where worksin progress were read aloud and discussed,and big-name pros occasionally deigned to givetalks on ‘How to Write’ (Jack London madetwo guest appearances.)” The most tantalizing – and tragic – bit ofinformation comes as an addendum to Will-iam Morgan’s speech at the 1939 World’s Fair.In it, he shares a letter he received from the

Jack London in his office at his ranch in Glen Ellen.

club’s first president, Austin Lewis, in 1936. Lewis writes, “I don’t think that CaliforniaWriters Club emerged from the AlamedaCounty Press Club. It was started by a smallgroup of us – Jack London, HermanWhitaker, George Sterling and myself, with a

few other people, one ortwo who came fromAlameda. As far as the in-side group was con-cerned, it was started withthe idea of forming asomewhat distinguishedgroup but the general at-titude to literary matterson the part of the mem-bers very soon disposedof that notion and theoriginators of the enter-prise retired in disgust.” Retired in disgust? Oh,

dear. This is starting to sound not like theglorious history I was hoping to find! Perhaps the truth lies not in researching thelife of Jack London, but somewhere deep inthe papers left by the other gentlemen whoapparently played a role in the early years ofour club – Austin Lewis, Herman Whitakerand George Sterling. A trip to the BancroftLibrary may be in order. But that’s anotheradventure for another day. Until then, the question of Jack Londonand his connection to CWC remains muchlike Winston Churchill’s famous descriptionof Russia: “A riddle wrapped in a mysteryinside an enigma.”

Branch Round-up: So Much News, So Little Space Fremont Area Writers welcomed MarthaEngber, author of Growing Great Charactersand The Wind Thief, to share her expertise onApril 9. Nancy Curteman says, “Attendeespraised both her presentation and the practi-cal ideas they took away from the workshop.” Activities at High Desert, reported by BobIsbill, include video recording stories from vet-erans for the National Archives of the Libraryof Congress, and working on the 2015 anthol-ogy for the Dorothy C. Blakely Memoir Project.Bob says, “Our biggest challenge is selectingour Jack London Award recipient from so manyoutstanding member/volunteers!” The Inland Empire branch recently re-freshed the branch website and invested in a

Meetup account. According to Judy Kohnen,this increased meeting attendance and mem-bership. The branch hosted “AnotherBloomin’ Writers Conference” in early May,and is planning an Open Mic Showcase ben-efiting the Prison Library Project. At the Marin branch, Joan Steidinger re-ports planning is underway for the 2nd An-nual CWC Marin Book Launch in Novemberand a conference in late March of 2016 fo-cused on craft. Recent programs at the Long Beach branchhave ranged from how food writing can in-form your fiction to ways to handle familymembers when writing a memoir. An affiliatecritique group now meets in the library before

the monthly meeting. In early June, LongBeach will co-sponsor an Open Mic eveningat indie bookstore Gatsby’s Books. Thespeaker at the regular June program will ex-plain how he has used Amazon andCreateSpace to successfully publish and pro-mote his YA/fantasy series. Allene Symonssays, “This program is one example of howwe are increasingly using digital projection andWiFi to visually enhance programs.” Mt. Diablo recently paired with an art groupat an arts and crafts sale at the Clayton library.Twelve member authors took turns staffingtables through the weekend and donated apercentage of their profit. “Our annual Young

continued on page 7

California Writers Club Bulletin Spring/Summer 2015

6

BerkeleySharing ideas at the monthly Marketing Suc-cess Group is the heart of helping membersget published, get publicity, and sell books.Author members display books at workshopsand speaker meetings, which have an AuthorTalk segment. Twenty-six authors promotetheir works on www.cwc-berkeley.org underthe ‘Our Members’ tab. With advance coordi-nation, media notices of awards, new publi-cations, and local readings go out to over 225media and industry contacts.

– Linda BrownCentral CoastTaking a tip from other branches, CentralCoast recently created a tri-fold display featur-ing members’ book covers – all 48 of them!The tri-fold proved to be enormously popu-lar from the moment it took center stage atour monthly meetings. We also took the dis-play “on the road” at the Central Coast au-thor table at the Pacific Grove Good Old Dayscelebration.

– Joyce KriegEast Sierra (Ridge Writers)We schedule speakers who cover the range ofpublishing avenues from blogging to e-booksand self-publishing to traditional publishing,as well as “how to get in the door” in fieldssuch as screenwriting (Robert Funke gave aterrific program on that subject). We also havebooths at community fairs.

– Donna McCrohan-RosenthalFremont Area WritersFAW publicizes members’ books in severalways. At meetings, authors have a minute tospeak about their novels. At Open Mic, au-thors read selections from and comment abouttheir books. We have book presentations, in-cluding library and shopping mall gigs. Wemention books in our newsletter and on ourwebsite. “Tips and Tricks” is a ten-minutewriting strategy presented at each meeting toimprove members writing.

– Nancy Curteman

High DesertHigh Desert Branch offers books for sale onlyby the monthly guest speaker so that we arenot competing with him/her. However,when we have a program without a guestspeaker, we notify our members to bring theirown works to the meeting to promote andsell. This happens about quarterly.

– Bob IsbillInland EmpireThe ability to promote starts within the writer.Our challenge is to practice our “elevatorspeeches” at every meeting by introducingourselves as writers or authors, reciting a shortbiography or pitching a book respectively.When this becomes too easy, we’ll brag aboutsocial media and promotion. In these ways,we create seasoned writers who are comfort-able networking while sharing inspirationalplatform-building steps along the way.

– Judy KohnenLong BeachCWC Long Beach continues to explore alter-natives in publishing. Recent speaker ClaudiaSuzanne focused on using styles and format-ting in Microsoft Word to avoid amateurishglitches. Such tips help ensure that pages lookprofessional, whether submitting a manu-script to a traditional house or sending it to aprinter/publisher as a self-pub author.

– Allene SymonsMarinCWC-Marin is evolving. Last fall, we began anew book launch for our member authors. Ourplan is to hold this event every November. Lastyear, we had eight authors and it was a greatsuccess. This year, we will choose six authorsthrough a lottery process.

– Joan SteidingerMt. DiabloMt. Diablo pairs with library branches whereauthors volunteer to present the panel “SoYou Want to Write a Book.” We advertiseonline, in our newsletter, and with flyers.Speakers promote CWC and sell their booksafterwards. Representatives from

Smashwords and Createspace have spoken atthree meetings about self-publishing. Manyothers speak on issues related to polishingmanuscripts, publishing, and marketing.

–Elisabeth TuckNapa ValleyOur “No Modesty Zone” gets top billing. Ateach meeting, we open up a free-to-boast nomodesty time for members to tout what they’vepublished, awards received, and the like. Eachspeaker introduces his or her self so we get toknow one another.

– Sue KeslerOrange CountyEach meeting there are display boards with cov-ers of members’ books, kudos are requested atthe beginning of each meeting for members toannounce a publication or recent promotionalevent, and the monthly newsletter contains an-nouncements of members’ latest publishingsuccess and/or upcoming book signings.

– Jeanette FrattoRedwoodOur Redwood Writers Book Launch each Julypromotes new work by members with a specialbook release event where writers read from theirnewly published books. The club’s monthlymeetings often feature speakers with expertiseand success in publishing and marketing books,especially in the rapidly growing and changingfield of self-publishing.

– Bill HaigwoodSacramentoWe display posters boards of members’ bookcovers at our general luncheon meetings to helpour members publicize their books, and thatalso serves to showcase our club to guests. Wealso have a table for members to place book-marks, business cards and other promotionalmaterial. Additionally, we publish news frommembers of books published, book reviewsand book awards in our Write On! newsletter.

– Margie Yee Webb

continued on page 7

Today’s Topic: How Our Branch Helps Promote Members’ Booksand/or Helps Them Understand Today’s Publishing Realities

CWC ExchangeID EA

California Writers Club BulletinSpring/Summer 2015

7

continued from page 6San Fernando ValleyPerhaps out favorite innovation is our (Au-gust) ‘Mid-Summer Meet & Greet’. This is ameeting with no moderator, no speaker, noOpen Mic, no business. We simply have a“Pot Luck Cookie Buffet” and lots of net-working and conversation. It's the perfect wayto ‘ramp up’ for the coming year.

– Ray MalusSF/PeninsulaWe hosted a workshop with Simon Woodon “The 21st Century Author” on May 9.The focus was on helping authors connectwith an ever-changing publishing industry, tobuild an audience and to utilize social media.Simon Wood is the Anthony Award-winningauthor of more than a dozen mystery, thriller,and suspense novels who has used his mar-keting savvy to sell more than 500,000 ebookssince 2011. In June, the SF/Peninsula Branchwill again sponsor the Literary Stage at the SanMateo County Fair.

– Carole BumpusSouth BaySouth Bay Writers presented at BookBuyer’s“Author Series.” Our monthly speakers high-lighted networking, social media, and onlinepublishing, including tips from Smashwords’CEO. We now feature authors onGoodReads.com (a colorful widget links fromour Web page), and new TalkBooks club dis-cusses their books. Our “Authors Table” fea-tures an array of books at monthly meetings.

– Kimberly MalaczukTri-ValleyTri-Valley promotes members’ books severalways. Our website includes a revolving book

Idea Exchangecover display, and Our Member pages list in-dividual members’ social media links: includ-ing their blog/website, Facebook, Twitter andLinkedIn. In addition, we provide an authortable where members can sell their books atmonthly meetings, as well as displaying aposter board with members’ book covers forpublicity at local libraries and other events.

– Deborah BernalWriters of KernIn 2015, Writers of Kern continues the theme,“From Inspiration to Publication.” Our 6thAnnual Spring Conference, held April 25,brought four fabulous speakers together withWOK members and guests from the com-munity. Speakers included screenwriter DavidCongalton, editor/agent Toni Lopopolo,middle grade author Allison Crotzer Kimmel,and journalist Herb Benham. They inspired,taught, coached, amused, reminded, and en-couraged. The planning committee is alreadyin motion for next year’s conference, whichwill be March 12, 2016, in Bakersfield.

– Annis CassellsWriters of The Mendocino CoastEducating members on publishing optionsworks best for our branch through one-on-one tutoring when help is requested. We spon-sored an event with a local college professorthis year who lectured about writing craft andher experiences with publishing houses andself publishing. Our go-to source for realworld details comes from a friend of thebranch at a small publisher here on the coastwho is generous with her time.

– Doug Fortier

Writers Contest awarded prizes to middleschool writers in May,” Elisabeth Tuck re-ports. “Writing categories included personalnarrative, short story, poetry and the newly-endowed category, humor.” A popular speaker at a recent OrangeCounty meeting was mystery author HarleyJane Kozak. According to Jeanette Fratto,“She had a career as an actress in movies andtelevision. She now has a series of mysterynovels featuring a female protagonist, whichare hilarious. Although she had Hollywoodconnections, she experienced the same upsand downs we all do when starting out as anauthor.”

Branch News Round-up from North and Southcontinued from page 5

In April, the Sacramento branch was in-vited to participate in the Local Author BookFestival at the Sacramento Public Library. Out-reach Coordinator Nanci Lee Woody andPresident Margie Yee Webb represented theclub at the Sacramento branch table to greetattendees, hand out CWC flyers and invitethem to events. The festival featured over 40authors, including seven branch members. At San Fernando Valley, Ray Malus tellsus, “Although we’re a relatively small branch,we have managed to have seven books pub-lished by our members in the last six months.Several have won prizes. In addition, one ofour members (a university professor) won

the Kennedy Center/Stephen Sondheim In-spirational Teacher Award South Bay Writers is on the move, addingtwenty-nine new members since July, andbringing over fifty members and guests to themonthly meetings. The branch boasts fouractive critique groups and two salons. DaveLaRoche says, “We host two open mics everymonth, with a third in the making. Programsare vital, and we’ve focused on craft, publish-ing and platform.” South Bay has recentlyfound success in recruiting new board mem-bers with an officer apprentice program. Tri-Valley devotes its January meeting toshowcasing members’ accomplishments.Deborah Bernal tells us more: “This year,our Winterfest celebrated Ekphrasis. Mem-bers submitted photographs of their originalartwork, sculpture, photography, needlework,etc., in October and November. The submis-sions were then posted on the website forother members to view and compose proseor poetry inspired by the pieces during De-cember.” At Winterfest, the actual artistic pieceswere displayed along with the accompanyingwritten works inspired by them. Tri-Valley re-cently wrapped up its fourth annual highschool writing contest with an awards cer-emony that took place on May 17 at TowneCenter Books in Pleasanton. The brainchild of newsletter co-editor, TerryRedman, Writers of Kern inaugurated a cel-ebration of National Poetry Month. Mem-bers submitted original poems, which werefeatured on the branch’s website blog. AnnisCassells tells us that for the second year, Writ-ers of Kern has partnered with the foundersof the Young Writers of Kern Competitionand county school districts. A dozen winnerswere honored at an Honors Dinner with cashprizes and student memberships in Writersof Kern. Redwood Writers has a busy list of activi-ties, shared by Bill Haigwood: presentationsby writing professionals at its monthly meet-ings, regular open mic readings for authors atlocal venues, a monthly writers salon, and amonthly author support group, plus publish-ing anthologies of members’ work and col-laborating with a local theatrical companyin the sponsoring of an annual playwritingcontest. The club’s website and listserv formembers also includes news of regional andstatewide activities, workshops, and presenta-tions of interest to the branch’s writers.

California Writers Club Bulletin Spring/Summer 2015

The BulletinCalifornia Writers ClubPO Box 201Danville, CA 94526

R

Return Service Requested

Sat., July 25, 2015 1:00-4:00 p.m.Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland

Barbecue & PotluckOpen Mic

Lit-Cake ContestFree for CWC Members & Guests

Details: calwriters.org

R

Annual Picnic! Reserved forRobertson Ad

Welcoming Our Newest Branch— See Page 3

R

Robertson PublishingWe’ll publish your book, list it in the US, UK, Europe, and Australia with Ingram Books, Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, and others, plus cre-ate and host a webpage showcasing your books and writing career, with direct links for purchase. Many other tools for our authors can be found at our website.

(408) 354-5957Alicia.R@RobertsonPublishing.com

www.RobertsonPublishing.com

Proud sponsor of theCalifornia Writers Club

FIGMENTSand other poems

PAMELAO’SHAUGHNESSY

FIG

MEN

TSand other poem

sP

AMELA

O’S

HAU

GH

NESSY

Robertson Publishing™www.RobertsonPublishing.com

Pamela O’Shaughnessy is a Harvard-trained lawyer who, after sixteen years of legal practice, turned to fi ction and poetry. She and her sister Mary have written fi fteen books of suspense and mystery which have sold over eight million copies worldwide. Eight of their books have been New York Times bestsellers. Pam has been published in numerous poetry journals and has been a featured poet in the Triggerfi sh Critical Review. Her fi rst poetry collection, FLYING AT SEA-LEVEL, was published in 2007, and she published an anthology of twenty-fi rst century poetry, BURNING GORGEOUS, in 2010. FIGMENTS and other poems is a comprehensive selection of her poetry to date.

Pam lives on the California Central Coast.

“Reading Pam O’Shaughnessy, one quickly discovers an erudite, intelligent, thoughtful, and funny—yes—funny poet... this is a dark and absurdist humor, rooted fi rmly in the Surrealist feeling of juxtaposition, an unreality rooted in the real, and many of the poems deal with power and control—the ability or inability of the subjects (most of the poems deal with characters) to affect their world… She is a poet who has found the beauty, humor, and pathos in the world and is able to convert it into eminently readable—and enjoyable—poetry.”

—Brendan McEntee, Triggerfi sh Critical Review

Robertson Publishing™59 North Santa Cruz AvenueLos Gatos, California 95030 USAwww.RobertsonPublishing.com

US $13.95 UK £ 9.25

Freelandia

Jam

es Den

nis W

iseman

FreelandiaAn agent of the State Security Service, in an

all-female nation defects and leads

partisan fighters to form a new nation in

the wilderness

A New Beginning

James Dennis WisemanTHE BALLAD OF

HO� TIO’S GOLD

JAMES IRWIN KRUGER

It was an unspeakable crime that tore her family apart, but the courageous young girl stood fast, convinced that

neither shame nor blame could ever reveal her awful secret.

Kathy Fahey was only ten when she fell in love with a handsome priest. When her father discovered the aff air, he soon moved with his family from the city to a small town he felt was safe. Since he was the only att orney in the county, Frank Fahey was well received in town. All thoughts of the priest were forgott en.

In school Kathy proved to be a brilliant scholar who made many friends. When she fi nished high school, she was named valedictorian of her class. Then she told her family she was pregnant. When she refused to reveal who fathered the child, her father acted to hide the family embarrass-ment; he took his family on a tour of Europe. When the Fahey’s returned to the city, Kathy was taken in by her aunt Caitlin Day, a maiden lady, who cared for Kathy and her child – a girl.

Frank and his wife visited Kathy and her child frequently while Kathy busied herself with studies at the university. She graduated in only three years and went on to law school, where she also excelled. She found a job, but was always sure to take care of her child, MaryDa y, who grew up to be as beauti -ful as Kathy. Then the earth shook, and the world changed.

James Irwin Kruger, a native of Minneapolis, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he majored in English and minored in History. A former newspaperman, his 42 year career in Journalism took him from his hometown to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and San Jose. Now in retirement, he has written eight published novels.

USA $14.95 UK £ 9.95

Robertson Publishing™www.RobertsonPublishing.com

JAM

ES IRWIN

KRU

GER

THE BA

LLAD

OF H

OR

ATIO

’S GO

LD

“Joycee held her breath as she heard the sound of horse’s hoofs approaching where she lay hidden in the niche of the Mighty Tree. She waited anxiously praying that her wish had been granted by the “Golden Leaf”.

REVIEW:This is a wonderful love story. It gives hope and excitement to our younger generation, but it also sparks the faith of our older generation. So many great symbols and a lot of messages that allow the imagination to be fed.The author leaves you with a message that “when you have a pure heart, your desires and dreams can come true”. Such Great Hope For Today.

Ronda T. Payne, Owner/Principal of Midwest Elite Preparatory Academy, Merrillville, Indiana

Donna Rae RendinaThe writer is Donna Rae Rendina, a mother and grandmother. Donna had this fairy tale dancing in her head for 3 years. She wrote the story as a Christmas gift to her granddaughter. Mrs. Rendina lives in Northwest Indiana, with her family and her two German Shepherds Capone and Dakota.

WRITTEN BY Donna Rae Rendina

ILLUSTRATIONS BY Karen Kmetz Bronowski

BEWAREMagic Contained

Inside

Robertson Publishing59 North Santa Cruz AvenueLos Gatos, California 95030 USAwww.RobertsonPublishing.com

US $20.00 UK £ 12.95

One-on-one coaching is available to help you for-mat your book and get it ready for publication, and we help many of our authors with professional cover design. Collaborative book publishing, with royal-ties paid quarterly.