California Writers Club Summer / 2016

THE BULLETIN Vol. 2 No. 3 California Writers Club Summer / 2016

Inside This Issue... BookFair Campaign Gets Nod for

President’s Statewide Promotions in Branches Corner ant to make money for your CWC Branch? Want to have an in-store oppor- Joaquin Miller tunity to publicize your branch's authors or upcoming event? High Desert Park Annual Party W Branch has done successful promotions, but limited to our own membership. Our most recent BookFair garnered some easy money for our branch with almost Literary Review ads no effort on our part!  Branches’ News arnes & Noble Booksellers has now allowed nonprofit book fairs to share in the purchases made by thousands of readers, just like you. We are looking for Anthology B other CWC branches who will also participate in these Barnes & Noble Book- Fairs to mutually support each other's efforts and expand the profit possibilities! Our Round Up CWC Central Board gave the okay to pursue this fund-raising plan.  Fundraisers ery simply, a BookFair (eligible as a non-profit organization) benefits the partic- Workshops ipating group by giving them a portion of the Barnes & Noble sales on products V sold during a set period of time when the purchaser uses a pre-assigned  & more voucher code in making their purchase. Purchases made using this voucher code count not only in one store, but in any store across the country or anything bought online! he possibilities, if we harness our enormous membership power, are incredible! High Desert will conduct GoToMeetings with interested branches with the goal The Bulletin is the official publica- T being to establish a cooperating coalition of branches who will commit to maxi- tion of California Writers Club, an mum communication for maximum success. educational nonprofit 501(c)3 cor- s your head spinning with ideas? A voucher number for each campaign, any poration. Issue e-edition 03 now in time, any shopper, all year. Read more on page 6. circulation as of August 2016. I To research this online, visit http://www.barnesandnoble.com/h/bookfairs. ~~ Bob Isbill CENTRAL BOARD (See voucher on back page) President: Joyce Krieg CWC Advertising & Promotions Vice President: Donna McCrohan Rosenthal Secretary: Elisabeth Tuck Treasurer: David George (interim) BUILDING BETTER BRANCHES: a Leadership Conference Mem-at-Large: Jeanette Fratto All branches throughout the State are invited to bring their newly acquired board members or any interested members within their branch to this most in- Branches: 21 formative leadership conference. This event will focus on problem-solving, brainstorming, digging ‘deep’ for ideas for more effective leadership, recruiting and re- California Writers Club taining volunteers, reaching out to new members, validating that what we do mat- PO Box 201 ters, and will especially include our most instructive peer-group breakout sessions. Danville, CA 94526 continued page 6

President’s Corner Making Time to Write That Book by Joyce Krieg

These are exciting times for California Writers Club! Earlier this summer, we passed the 2,000 member mark for the first time in our history. Our newest branch, North State Writers in Chico, will celebrate its first anniversary in Septem- ber, and our 22nd branch, San Joaquin Valley, located in Stockton, is due to charter in November. Our finances are healthy, thanks largely to the efforts of the hard-working Bob Isbill of the High Desert branch to generate revenue with our two publications, The Bulletin and the Literary Review. As a writer, I hate to resort to clichés, but I cannot help myself — our writers club is poised for awesomeness! Retirement is often the time when folks are drawn to writing. You know how it goes —“I’ve always wanted to write a book”— New President—Joyce Krieg and now that they’re retired, they’ve finally got the time and a lifetime’s worth of experiences from which to draw material. And here we’ve got the Baby Boomers retiring in huge numbers. Thanks to the digital revolution, it’s never been easier or more affordable to publish your own book. Put those two factors together, and like I say, we’re poised for awesomeness. At the July 24 California Writers Club Central Board meeting in Oakland, I was honored to be elected president for 2016-17. Among my goals: Continue the great stuff we’re already doing! Finally actually award a scholarship or figure out another appropriate use for the money sitting in our scholarship fund, in line with our mission of educating writers. Streamline and modernize our governing documents, the By-laws and Policies and Procedures. Boring, I know, but it’s got to be done. Clarify and put into writing the relationship between the branches and the Central Board, especially when it comes to transparency and conflict resolution. Make greater use of social media to attract new members and communicate with our existing members. Restore the prestige and name-recognition CWC held in the first half of the 20th century, creating an image more-or-less equal to that of organizations like Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America. continued on page 3

Your Central Board can now make use of the new GoToMeeting feature available to Branch Reps who wish to talk face-to-face about CWC business and ideas between branches. Thanks to the convenience of this tool, they request to speak through live conference calls online and get direct feedback. By request only, this subscription service, found online at GoToMeeting.com, provides private computers to link during face-to-face video and audio sessions. (see page 24 for details) This enhancement will allow for idea exchanges. You will need a mic and camera on your computer — or just type in your comments and watch on live chat. You must also schedule time through the administrator: [email protected]

2 continued from page 2 Once and for all, make a determination as to whether Jack London was or was not Our Founder, and create a statement that we can all use that recognizes London as part of our legend and lore, while still remaining true to the historical record. And did I mention greater and greater awesomeness? Finally, a bit about your new president: From the Central Coast branch, basically the Monterey Peninsula. Grew up in San Jose “before it became Silicon Valley,” San Jose State grad. Worked in radio for many years, where my greatest claim to fame—and shame—was to be part of the management team that discovered Rush Limbaugh and launched his career. Author of three mysteries published by St. Martin’s Press, winner of the St. Martin’s “best first traditional mystery” contest. In training to be a crazy old cat lady. But enough about me. Before I sign off, a tip of my pink flowered fedora to past president Dave George, a very hard act to follow, and outgoing treasurer Sharon Svitak, who devoted countless hours of volunteer time and expertise to the club. You did us proud!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ California Writers Club All Program Chairs: Invite Your Guest Speakers Mission Statement 1. The California Writers Club (CWC) shall foster professionalism in writing, promote networking of writers with the writing community, mentor new

To Advertise in The Bulletin writers, and provide literary support for writers and the writing community as is appropriate through education and leadership. Do you highly recommend a past 2. The club supports all genres, writing styles and related professions such as edit- speaker who will want to gain more ing, publishing, photographic journalism and agents. bookings for their services? Tell them CWC now has over 3. The branches provide an environment where members can obtain critique of their 2,000 members across the state— efforts, attend workshops, and share experiences. Branches are encouraged to men- that’s— 2,000 writers in every issue tor writers of all ages by providing educational programs for adults and fostering youth programs. of The Bulletin. Do them a huge fa- vor and send them a copy of each issue to illustrate what can be done with inexpensive advertising! Past members as well can be emailed a copy. Maybe they have completed a book, or have a service to offer but don't know about this new venture. Let's get the word out about this 1¢ per Word great “target market” of readers, authors, and speakers who want and need expanded services to help writers become better at their craft!

~~ Thanx! From the Editor

THE TRADITION CONTINUES – CWC’S ANNUAL PICNIC

LET’S EAT CAKE FIRST!!

Some 50 CWC members representing 14 branches carried out the tradition of the annual picnic at Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland the afternoon of July 23. Highlights included barbe- cued hamburgers and hotdogs by the “Fremont flippers,” Larry and Nancy Curteman, the cake decorating contest headed up by Margie Yee Webb of the Sacramento branch, and an Open Mic emceed by Kristen Caven of the Berkeley branch—plus lots of Haiku reader Henry Hitz friendship and fellowship. Joaquin Miller Park is considered the historic home of CWC, as the poet hosted many outdoor literary salons attended by well-known authors like Jack London, George Sterling and Ina Coolbrith at his home in the early years of the 20th century. After his death, CWC was instrumental in having his land set aside as a park. During the 1930s, CWC coordinated with the WPA to construct the park’s distinctive features: The Cascades and the Woodminster amphitheater. CWC maintained the tradition of planting a tree in honor of a California writer well into the 1980s. During CWC’s centennial year in 2009, the club renewed its ties with Joaquin Miller Park and began the tradition of the annual picnic. ~~ Joyce Krieg

Gina Graham Scott, Mary Ann Montague, Margie Yee Photos this page by Webb and new North State President Steven Thompson Linda Brown

Margie Yee Webb managed the LitCake contest Chris Harris and Kristen Caven of Berkeley Branch Mary Ann Montague shared her legacy book: No Life For a Lady continued next page 4

Central Board Met for Elections & Tasty Events Branch representatives of the California Writers Club met for a semi-annual Central Board meeting Sunday, July 24, at the Holiday Inn Express in Oakland, CA. Highlights included presentation if the Ina Coolbrith Award for to Ray Malus (see page 21) and, the election of 2016-17 officers: Joyce Krieg (president, from the Central Coast Branch), Donna McCrohan Rosenthal (vice president, East Sierra Branch), David George (interim treasurer, Mt. Diablo Branch), Elisabeth Tuck (secretary, Mt. Diablo Branch), and Jeanette Fratto (member-at- large, Orange County Branch). Joyce Krieg chaired the park festivities ably assisted by If we’d had a “best-dressed” Outgoing President Dave George and the Berkeley Branch, Nancy Cur- contest, Berkeley President incoming President Joyce Krieg led tra- teman (Fremont Branch) and husband Larry Karma Bennett would have ditional reading of the Joaquin Miller presided over the grill, Kristen Caven (Berkeley been the obvious winner. poem, “Columbus.” Branch) emceed member readings from their original works, Margie Yee Webb ran the Liter- ary Cake competition and handed out prizes (from gift cards to the “coveted Golden Fork”), Linda Brown (Berkeley Branch) coordinated with park officials and provided an historical display, and Donald Caven (Berkeley Branch) shuttled out-of-towners back and forth.

Nancy Curteman (left) from the Fremont branch and Kathryn Atkins from Long Beach, offered a stirring rendition of drinking song.

The Fire Circle at Joaquin Miller Park provided a shady and inspiring location for the annual CWC picnic. Nancy & Larry Curteman (Fremont) flipped tasty Photo Credits for this page by Joyce Krieg hamburgers & dogs at the grill

5 continued from page 1 LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE “BUILDING BETTER BRANCHES” HOSTED BY CWC NORCAL Sandy Baker, president of one of our most successful October 1, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. branches, CWC Redwood Writers, will be our keynote speaker. DeVry University - She will present a PowerPoint show with ideas for branch activities: "Presenting Authors to the Public," "Writers Read to Share," 6600 Dumbarton Circle, "On-going Writer How-to," “Writing Challenges," and "Writers Fremont, CA Helping Writers." Carole Bumpus, NorCal chair and president of CWC San Francisco Peninsula, will chair the all-day conference. The cost of $35 for each attendee to this event will include the entire program, plus lunch, and morning and afternoon snacks. This amount will be covered by each participating branch. Stay tuned for additional forthcoming details. If interested in helping out, contact Carole Bumpus at [email protected].

Barnes & Noble Book Fairs for Fundraising, More Details

With a potential fundraising opportunity for the branches, the CWC Central Board was recently presented details about Barnes & Noble BookFair funding campaigns. The High Desert Branch, which has held such events, illustrated the basic information necessary for the other branches to do the same, and urged them to work in conjunction with one another so that the participation could be maximized with as many CWC members participating as possible. “In the past, we’ve held these fundraisers with very good outcome,” said Bob Isbill, (High Desert branch) CWC’s new Director of Advertising and Promotions. “The potential to have any branch raise funds so easily is such an opportunity that should not be missed.” Barnes & Noble BookFairs offer schools and non-profit organizations a way to make money for their programs by holding B&N BookFairs, wherein the organization asks people who are planning a book-related purchase to make their purchase using an unique voucher number during the BookFair dates. By doing so, the hosting organization is paid a percentage of the sales of the items purchased during the fair in accordance with Barnes & Noble guidelines. All qualifying sales, whether purchased online or in any Barnes & Noble bookstore across the nation, count in the determination of how much money a non-profit unit can make on its BookFair. Even coffee and refreshments purchased in a non-Starbucks owned in- store coffee shop using the voucher code applicable dates will count. B&N BookFair event holders may also be given permission to promote their organization within the store, increasing chances for publicizing their non-profit. An informational email was sent as a follow-up to all CWC branches with more detailed information, and a state-wide GoToMeeting.com to be scheduled in the near future. During the Central Board meeting, the motion was made and carried, allowing each branch to consider conducting a Barnes & Noble BookFair. In turn, each branch can post the information on the www.calwriters.org web site so that all CWC members may find out when book fairs are being held. All CWC members can support the various fellow branches statewide in a cooperative effort. Anyone using the voucher number, even non- members and out-of-state buyers, can help raise funds for the hosting branch. High Desert CWC has scheduled a Barnes & Noble Book Fair for September 17 through September 22, 2016. Members are asked to make their purchases during that period using Voucher #11903309. Further information and details are available at www.BN.com. Buy in-store at any Barnes & No- ble Bookseller anywhere or online at www.BN.com Use Voucher #11903309 in promo field upon checkout.

Branch News

Coastal Dunes The Coastal Dunes Branch held two Workshops at the Nipomo Library this past spring; a Fiction Writing workshop in March, and a Publishing Workshop in May. The topics were chosen in response to a member survey conducted last fall. The fiction workshop was taught by local college instructor Deborah Foss, and covered topics: creating authentic characters by listening and observing; integrating a theme; developing the arc of your story; and, borrowing character traits from those you know. Attendees applied their new skills through writing exercises. The Publishing workshop was rather unique, and featured three panelists who covered three different ways of being published: Dianne Emley (Traditional/Big 5 publishing,) Catherine Kitcho (Small/Independent publishing,) and Brian Schwartz (Self-publishing.) Attendees received inside Information on rights and contracts, royalties, author responsibilities, and how to get started. The attendees also were able to compare the differences among the three publishing paths, and which one might make sense for their own works. In addition to the Workshops, the Coastal Dunes Branch hosted several unique speakers for their monthly meetings during the first half of 2016. They included a local cowboy, Gary L. Williams (author of Lessons from the Range: Adventures of a Working Cowboy, Wendelin van Draanen, bestselling author of Flipped (also a movie,) and local author Karen Kavanagh, author of Rock of Morro Bay. The Coastal Dunes Branch is lucky to have such a wealth of local writing talent who seem to have settled in this part of the California Central Coast, and we have already booked speakers for the first four months of 2017. We also welcome CWC member-speakers from other branches (as well as visitors to our meetings,) so if you are planning a visit or vacation to this area, please let us know! From Paso Robles to Pismo Beach to Solvang -- Nipomo is an easy drive. For our meeting schedule, go the Event Calendar at our website: www.coastaldunescwc.com .

~~ Catherine Kitcho ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ San Fernando Valley CWC-San Fernando Valley & Napa Valley Writers Joined Hands Branches collaborated and two double blind anthology projects were undertaken. Submittable service provides manageable double blind process. All submissions from one branch will be read by three readers in the sis- ter branch. Each branch will publish their own anthology. The branch anthologies will be published in 2017 with dates to be announced.

~~ Andrea Polk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Napa Valley Napa Valley Writers celebrated its 4th Birthday in June. We are growing with several new members in the past 30 days, many of whom are full of curiosity and enthusiasm. Summer solstice found 25 Napa Valley Writers and their guests enjoying an evening at our local brew-pub with food, conversation, beer, and a small group “speed dating” — an exercise that resulted in lively and productive discussions on the topics continued next page

Branch News continues of Critique Groups, Program, Community Outreach, and Pathways to Publishing. Several door prizes were handed out to winning members who had pre-paid their annual dues. Karen Stern recit- ed briefly from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. The new board was introduced, and the club honored Vicki Baird for her four years as Membership Chair. Napa Valley Writers is soliciting submissions in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, from NVW members-only, for its inaugural anthology. Members can submit up to two entries with no submission fees. We are using the Submittable website for submissions. San Fernando Valley, creating their own anthology, is exchanging submissions with NVW for the review process. The relationship has been mutually beneficial in guaranteeing the impartiality of the initial evaluations, spurring both branches into action, and keeping the momentum going. We plan to have a community-based contest with a financial prize for cover art/photography. Create Space will be our publication base. In the 2016-2017 budget, a scholarship program has been added to the mix of Outreach and Education activities. We’ve increased our speaker honorarium, and have started providing refreshments at our monthly guest speaker meetings. We’re looking forward to another fine year of workshops, salons, and good times while we improve our craft and rework our website https://napavalleywriters.net We’ve seen many journal articles, anthology tales, newspaper columns, and books published in the past year by members of NVW. We’re anticipating another great year as we continue to improve.

~~ Kathleen Thomas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ East Sierra

East Sierra had/has two unique events on the horizon. Local indie Red Rock Books held a “Celebrate Summer Read- ing Day” on Saturday, August 13. Festivities included local author book signings, a scavenger hunt, prizes, a Hawaiian shirt and cruise wear contest, and a lemonade stand. East Sierra offered a table featuring a word game, door prize drawing, sign- ups for September 24th’ Weird Storytelling Competition, and a sneak preview of Weird Weekend’s activities. Weird Weekend follows on September 23-24. East Sierra’s two-day festivity extols the stranger side of the desert – aliens, lost gold mines, apparitions, Bigfoot sightings, objects moving when they shouldn’t, and an assortment of eerie tales. Offerings include the 3rd annual Weird Storytelling Competition on Saturday 2 p.m. in the meeting room of Ridgecrest Presby- terian Church; actress Stevie Taken as Mary Shelley, “When Frankenstein Was Science” (plus tea and scones) on Friday 2.p.m. at My Enchanted Cottage; and the Daniel Stallings/C. W. Rowenson interactive murder mystery Pauper’s Grave, Satur- day 7:30 p.m. at Ridgecrest Presbyterian Church. Ridgecrest is located off Hwy 395, about two and a half hours northeast of Los Angeles, “on the road to Mammoth.” To sign up for storytelling, phone Red Rock Books, 760-375-3454. For more information, visit www.cwc-ridgewriters.com or facebook.com/RidgeWriters.

~~ Donna McCrohan-Rosenthal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ … and the Winner Is The winner of the free 5x7 advertising space in The Bulletin next issue is: San Francisco Peninsula That branch generated more advertising revenue for the Literary Review advertising promotion than any other branch. They can take the ad and use it as a give-away, promo, gift, or any use within the next issue coming out mid-November. The project has been successful, and that success belongs to those who have publicized the advertising opportunities in The Bulletin and the Literary Review! ~~ Bob Isbill CWC Advertising and Promotions

Branch News continues

Long Beach

Two Dads, One Survey and a Lawyer

Seeing Double?? Two members have published books about dads, one non-fiction (Dadly Wisdom by Jennifer Jordan) and one fiction (Max Evans’s Where’s Pops?). What’s cool? The authors have appeared together twice at local events and build off the synergy of what some might call "two-fers" in other industries, even selling the books as a pack- age deal to increases sales. Jennifer promoted the events and books through newer channels including email, Fa- cebook, YouTube, and so far 10 (!) Skype interviews arranged through her publisher, Motivational Press. A teacher with two Master's degrees, Jennifer received just the push she needed from the co-members of the Long Beach Branch's critique group that meets just prior to our monthly meetings. In other news, our first annual survey took place at the June 2016 meeting. Members and guests were invited to give us their ideas for meeting topics and to let us know if they were interested in serving in branch leadership positions. We received lots of great ideas. Here are a few: Craft, (How to Write for Elementary and Pre- schoolers); Marketing (How to Do a Bookstore Presentation); and Publishing (Brainstorming How-To Round Ta- ble). Eight brave people said they might be interested in leadership. Speaker recommendation: Finally…our July meeting hosted friendly, knowledgeable attorney Helen Sedwick who talked to riveted audiences (both at Long Beach and Orange branches on the same day). Her book, Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook, from which she excerpted her talk, were sold after the meeting like snow cones in Sedona. In case you don’t know a DMCA from an SPSC from an EIN, ISBN and DBA, Sedwick’s book decodes the acronyms and attempts to save you from the circling piranhas in today’s fishy publishing industry. Plus she’s a great speaker. ~~ Kathryn Atkins ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Inland Empire Reporting from the Inland Empire, there is no drought of writers, or writing activities. Our growing club has established a few cornerstone events. In January, we hold a publishing panel with member authors who review publishing trends from the year prior. In the summer, we host an open mic fundraiser for the Prison Library Project. Springtime is our annual writers workshop. The Board is thinking about a woodland retreat for the fall.

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Anthology Round Up

Your Branch’s latest compilation showcased here!

We asked branches across the state how they are doing with their latest anthology. Some insights for next projects, pitfalls & praises, or first-time projects can be found here.

From Sandy Baker For the first time, we are having an anthology Whatcha workshop, a 2.5 hour event on submission guidelines, craft, and writing an excellent bio. We want to ensure workin’ on? the highest quality submissions. We have already conducted playwriting, poetry, Share it and pitching workshops prior to our contests and pitching event. All those who attended said the work- here. shops were of enormous help.

Funds Allocated for 3rd Young Authors DCB Memoir Project Tri-Valley Writers

High Desert requested California Writers Club Central Published Statistics: Board allocate $1000 — as it did in 2014 and 2015 — 12 members out of 93, in support of the Dorothy C. Blakely memoir project. or 13%, have published books in the last six This will enable a third volume in the project’s success- months, not including ful series of memoir anthologies. The purpose of the TVW’s own third an- project is to capture stories of the elderly written by the thology, Voices of the young (senior high school students taught by the Valley: Word for Word. HDCWC), interconnecting generations and creating published anthologies of these tales which otherwise may never have been told.

The project has received local accolades, and recogni- HIGH DESERT BRANCH tion state-wide, and even nationally at conferences held by the National Association of Teachers of English. The support of the Central Board is crucial to the con- tinuation of this successful and highly visible project.

The DCB Memoir Project's anthologies (edited by HDCWC's Jenny Margotta and published by Roberta Smith) include “Let It Be Recorded... A Collection of Memoirs” and “All Our Yesterdays,” may be purchased on Amazon.com. All proceeds from the sale of these books and any private donations are dedicated to sus- taining the ongoing project for next year’s young authors. ~~ Bob Isbill, High Desert Branch

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The glue that keeps everyone interested is a regular program of excellent speakers. However, it took us three years to find a member willing to be a webmaster, and a well maintained website is key to attracting speakers and members! Recently, we added a monthly critique workshop for fiction and non-fiction/memoir writers, an activity that appeals to our seasoned authors who like to moderate these meetings for emerging writers. Future challenges are to do a better job of promoting our members’ books and to encourage newer members to publish their works.

~~ Judy Kohnen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mendocino Coast The Mendocino Coast CWC branch celebrates its fifth year with 73 members supporting the writing community here on the coast. We have many reasons to renew our memberships, including these activities in the past twelve months: Our 4th anthology, this with a Mendocino theme, closes submissions at the end of August. The exchange of art and writing occurred last month for Ekphrasis V, a collaboration with the Artists Co-op of Mendocino. “Art describ- ing art” has ten writers handing over a page of prose or poetry to individual artists who will respond with a piece of art, and ten writers receiving art to inspire a single page, all to go on exhibit at the Co-op Gallery in October. An- other opportunity to write is during Smatch-Up with the blind pairing of twenty writers, ten who write a single page, and ten who finish the story with a single page. The meeting for readings reveals the partnerships and great stories. In the past year, we’ve had a publishing strategies panel, a lecture on the anatomy of a query letter to hook an agent by Emily Lloyd-Jones, and a workshop with Karen Green on “Dusting Out the Corners” -- all well worth our time. Members have space for their biography on the website, WritersMendocinoCoast.org, and the opportunity to announce their publication and award credits.

~~ complied by Katherine Brown ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ North State 2016/2017 Officers & Appointees North State Writers is the only central valley branch north of Sacramento. Its membership has grown to include almost 50 members from across the north valley, with nearly half of the members being published authors. The mission of the new president and board is to continue building our branch into an organization that fosters and creates a nurturing environment for all writers, editors, and artists.

Photo: (L-R) Kathi Hiatt (Publicity), Gail Stone (Digital Content), Linda Sue Forrister (Newsletter), Marsha Dowd (Secretary), Steven Thompson (President), Lynn Tosello (Vice Pres), Ken Young (Membership), Rod Warren (Creative Dir), lower right corner is David Bruhn (Member at Large) and Cathy Chase (Central Board Rep) ~~ Kathi Hiatt

Branch News continues

Redwood Writers Redwood Writers Launches First-Ever Steampunk Contest Recently Redwood Writers invited members to submit up to 2,000 words of a Steampunk story. A subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy, Steampunk is an anarchic reimagining of life in the age of 19th century steam-powered ma- chinery. Members dressed for the launch in fun, evocative costumes reflective of Steampunk set- tings: alternative histories of the Victorian era, the Wild Wild West, or post-apocalyptic futures. Sub- missions are being judged now. Awards will be distributed at the branch meeting October 9th.

For its regular monthly meeting September 1, Redwood Writers is trying a new format: "Hot Topic Roundtables." Four experts will ‘speed date’ with attendees for 18 minutes each on topics such as three types of editors, three indie publishers, three legal documents for authors, and three types of third person POV. Get ready for a whirlwind of information that will leave you begging for more or send you to resource books and the Internet for follow-up details. When the cowbell rings, speed daters Arlene Miller, Charles Mar- kee, Helen Sedwick, and Marlene Cullen will regret- tably leave you for the next table. Take plenty of notes ~~ Photos submitted by Marian Lindner and hang onto the single handout each will give you. It's chaired by Redwood President Sandy Baker who will be ringing that cowbell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sacramento The Sacramento Branch kick-started the year by canvassing members on their needs. Craft, critique, and community scored high. These areas of focus came through surveys, open discussions, and “CWC in the Commu- nity” meetings held with members in new locations outside the regular structured format. The branch seeks ways to step up the formation of critique groups and to increase member network opportunities within genre groups. Members want a strong writing community, providing a sense of belonging, emotional safety for sharing, and a feeling that they can make a difference in the lives of each other. When an effective community exists, members share a vision, common goals, and high quality, meaningful activities. They take risks with each other in a climate conducive to creation and collaboration. With these interests in mind, the branch continues to attempt to improve meetings and pursue initiatives such as outreach to schools, libraries, book fairs, and service organizations.

Is E-Ballot Why is all this important? Our bylaws badly need overhauling. There has not been a thorough review of them (or our Policies and in Our Future? Procedures) in ten years. However, the bylaws state By Ray Malus that they themselves cannot be changed except by vote of the general membership, and that this vote “…shall be made by mail ballot…” In the one-hundred-eight years since our club was With two thousand members, postage (both ways!) founded, there have been momentous changes. We have is prohibitive — not to mention the task of counting, exploded from a handful of members to over two- and documenting, the results. thousand. We have grown from one branch to twenty- E-Ballot offers an alternative where any member one — almost literally — blanketing the state from Ore- can vote, at no cost to the club, from any on-line con- gon to Mexico. nected device The tally is instantaneous, and votes are During this time, the world has changed, too. Now-a- archived for possible audit. days, we communicate by email, Twitter, messaging. A far cry from nineteen-oh-nine! The challenge is, “How Much more needs to be explored. The Central do we preserve our traditions, yet adapt to the modern Board is a conservative body. Changes come slowly. world?” At the very least, one more mail ballot would be A group attached to the CWC Central Board has necessary (to adopt E-Ballot as a valid means of poll- been exploring ways modern technology can help. ing the membership). MRMS — with its on-line member directory, email We’ll see what the future holds. lists, and instant record keeping — is, of course, a great first step. The group has also been exploring electronic meeting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet facilities, with the aim of augmenting our con- Editor Now Forming ferencing time. Co-Production Team At the recent Central Board meeting, the Representa- tives saw a demonstration of E-Ballot, a just-completed As our new digital format of The Bulletin takes enhancement to MRMS. shape and gathers new advertising interest, I believe E-Ballot is a browser-based system, whereby each it is now time to create an extended production team. member can vote on matters having to do with Club A production team of skilled writers, proofers, and lay- governance. It’s like having a polling booth in your out artists can help to maintain the style, reliability, home office. and integrity of the issues for years to come. I've also noticed that many branch newsletters are Here are some of its features: produced with a staff of folks who work different de-  Any current member (and only these mem- partments. I've never had that luxury. So I am calling bers) can file ballots. for volunteers to help with production of The Bulletin. I create my layout pages in MSPublisher and con-  No Member can file more than one ballot. vert it to a pdf before uploading it to the software com-  Contents of member’s ballot are confidential. pany that converts it to the flip page formatting. Your duties would be to collect and format branch news in  Voting periods can not overlap. (One MSWord. Others with layout talent can produce pag- ‘election’ must ‘close’ before another can es ready for proofing. Are you interested? ‘open’.) So, if you hear of anyone who knows desktop pub-  Once a ballot is available to members, its text lishing that would like to work on one, two, or three cannot be altered. issues a year please let me know. I don't believe it would be prudent to have only one  Ballots can be easily constructed by author- editor/producer for our statewide newsletter when we ized personnel. (It does not require a web pro- now have paying advertisers involved and a growing grammer to construct and post a ballot.) membership. [email protected]  The system instantly provides flexible reporting of recorded vote tallies and trends. ~~ Rusty LaGrange editor-in-chief

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Branch News continues

Members are also interested in learning about markets for creative nonfiction, legal issues such as copyright and use of names in memoir, and delivering effective presentations about their work. Wide involvement remains a de- sirable goal. Lastly, the board of officers and appointed board members participated in a board training on CWC responsibilities, governing documents, ethics, discussion and decision making, and working together as a team.

~~ Kimberly Edwards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ High Desert When you read your new issue of The Literary Review be sure to stop at page 38 and read our own member’s submission “Dining Fine” written by Loralie Kay. Congratulations on a quality poem. Incumbent officers re-elected for another term are President Dwight Norris, VP Michael Raff, Treasurer Jenny Margotta, and Secretary Naomi Ward. Aaron Gansky’s Hand of Adonai wins 2016 Selah Award for Young Adult Fiction; prize-winning screenwriter Mary DeSantis continues to teach her year-long, in-depth screenwriter's class for HDCWC members only, which has resulted in four new members joining. One of our active members, author Davida Siwisa James, Executive Director of the non-profit Victor Valley Arts and Education Center, is producing a book festival in the High Desert community for Saturday, October 1st. The High Desert Book Festival will include: lectures and book signings by guest authors; booths for our many talented local published writers who will have their books available for sale; lectures on the writing craft; and the publishing business by guest speakers; book-related merchandise for sale; and, a children’s book corner with storytelling. For more information, visit http://highdesertbookfest.org/book-festival/ or email Davida at [email protected]. Michael Raff and Roberta Smith (Nevermore Enterprises, Inc.) plan another great paranormal Horror Book Festival for October 23. For further information, visit http://www.nevermoreenterprises.com/ ~~ Bob Isbill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mendocino Coast — more news Our branch is active in the Mendocino coastal community. All of our meetings are open to the public. Since we meet at the Mendocino Hotel, we often attract tourists as well as locals. One man visiting from out-of-state read about and participated in a holiday story meeting. He gave an oral story of how he became mentally and physically disabled one Thanksgiving. Although the story was tragic, it seemed cathartic to him to share it with a willing, attentive, and appreciative audience. We’ve held writing workshops open to members, high school students, and the public, with guest teachers such as Jean Hegland and Jody Gehrman. Our co-sponsors include Mendocino College, Gallery Bookshop, and the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. Our co-sponsors and fellow members have offered two scholarships for attendees. We have an Ekphrasis event annually, pairing work from our local painters and scultors with writing by our club members. The prose/poem and artwork are hung in a local gallery for a month. Each year we publish a branch anthology, which is sold by local bookshops and through our club’s website. Usually twenty to thirty branch members get published through the anthology, and we give a public reading of each of the pieces by the author. In the past year, we’ve had a publishing strategies panel, a lecture on the anatomy of a query letter to hook an agent by Emily Lloyd-Jones, and a workshop with Karen Green on “Dusting Out the Corners” -- all well worth our time.

~~ compilation news

Branch News continues

Tri-Valley Branch Community Involvement Tri-Valley Writers celebrated our 5th annual high school writing contest at our general meeting in May at the Four Points by Sheraton, Pleasanton. Aashna Avachat, teen author of the young adult novel Going Places, was the guest speaker. She gave an inspirational talk about her development as a writer to an audience of more than 80 community and Tri-Valley members. Students submitted up to two pieces of writing, including essays, poems and short stories. Cash awards were given for first, second and third place winners. All award winners were invited to read their entries, and several students joined Tri-Valley Writers after the award ceremony. In addition to certificates given by the branch, assemblywoman Catharine Baker’s office sent certificates for all the award winners to Tri-Valley Writers, which we delivered to the students’ schools for distribution and recognition. After Tri-Valley Writers created a display at the Dublin Public Library in February, Dublin’s teen librarian asked if the branch could present a workshop for teens during the summer. “Fiction 1-2-3: Story Structure, Ele- ments and Techniques” was the result. Jordan Bernal and Patricia Boyle presented the workshop in July, receiving positive feedback for the event. Awards and Grants Sharon Svitak received Tri-Valley Writers’ Sue Tasker Award at our June meeting. It was created in 2008 to honor the memory of Sue Tasker, Tri-Valley Writers’ founding president and volunteer ex- traordinaire. This biannual award is presented by Tri-Valley Writers in even-numbered years. Sharon has been a member of Tri-Valley Writers since 2009 and has served as treasurer for both Tri-Valley Writers and the CWC Central Board for several years. Her organization and attention to detail have proved invaluable to the financial health of Tri-Valley Writ- ers.

In June, Tri-Valley Writers received a grant from the Alameda County Arts Commission (ACAC) for $1700. We were the only literary group to receive a grant from ACAC this year. We will use the funds for our writers conference scheduled for 22 April 2017 at Four Points by Sheraton, Pleasanton, and for our high school writing contests in the springs of 2017 and 2018. Teen’s Summer Workshop Call For Submissions: 2017 Literary Review After Tri-Valley Writers created Are you aspiring to be published in a quality magazine a display at the Dublin Public that showcases CWC’s talent? The submissions win- Library in February, Dublin’s dow for the 2017 issue of Literary Review will open teen librarian asked if the this year on September 1 and run through November branch could present a work- 30. Guidelines will soon appear on the club’s website: shop for teens during the sum- www.calwriters.org. Members may submit one or two mer. “Fiction 1-2-3: Story items for this issue for a $10 fee. Make your selections Structure, Elements and Tech- as error-free as possible, as if you are submitting to niques” was the result. Jordan national contests, and follow the guidelines. Look for submission details on the website prior to submissions Bernal and Patricia Boyle presented the workshop opening date. Those producing the Lit Review encour- in July, receiving positive feedback for the event age all members to submit, so you have time to polish from the student participants and librarian. your prose and punch up your poetry. ~~ editor

Branch News continues

South Bay South Bay Writers hold their regular speaker meetings at Harry’s Hofbrau on the second Monday of every month. In April, SBW had a successful writing workshop led by their previous guest speaker, Amanda McTigue. Amanda taught us about the “The IT Factor: Amplifying Your Voice as a Writer.” SBW made their debut on twitter. You can follow us @SouthBayWriters. We are giving SBW Club members an option to sign up for a digital copy of the SBW newsletter WritersTalk. Our other projects are going full speed. Bill Baldwin religiously hosts Open Mic nights twice a month, every first Friday at Barnes & Noble Bookstore and every third Friday at Willow Glen Branch Library. Carole Taub continues to host TalkShop every last Tuesday at her home. It is not a critique group but a place where writers can comfortably kickback and vent. Jim Matthews and Frank Johnson, recipients of the 2016 Other news Matthews-Baldwin Award. Nine members of South Bay Writers won writing awards at the San Mateo County Fair. Sheena Arora: First, SF Peninsula Writers Club Writer of the Year Short Story: “Uniqueness Under My Pillow;” Mary Chiao: First, Humorous Short Story: “Jimmy and Perky;” Marcela Dick- erson: HM, Immigrant Experience Short Story: “Belly Dance;” Carolyn Donnell: Second, Children’s Story: “Easter Bunny Rules;” Jac Fitzenz: Third, Genre Novelist First Chapter: “Undaunted Lovers;” Karen Franzenburg: HM, Po- etry: “Ode to Cecil;” Marjorie Johnson: HM, General Fiction Short Story: “Gopher in My Living Room;” Dave Strom: First, Audio Book: “The Malevolent Mystery Meat;” Mimi Vaillancourt: Second, Personal Memoir: “New York Times Family.” Four members of South Bay Writers are published in the 2016 CWC Literary Review. Memoir—Sheena Arora: “A Single Stroke of the Pen.” Poetry—Leslie Hoffman: “The Scent of Almond Blossoms.” Poetry—Richard Burns: “Desert Idols.” Poetry—William Albert Baldwin: “So Here I Come.” Every year, South Bay Writers acknowledges and thanks someone for service given to the SBW club. This year Jim Matthews and Frank Johnson are the recipients of the 2016 Matthews-Baldwin Award. SBW is proud to recognize their more than ten years of faithful service, teamwork, and friendship. They come early to each SBW meeting to set-up the microphone and speakers; they return after the meeting to take down and put away every- thing. To honor their friendship, Jim and Frank were presented duplicate trophies.

~~ Sheena Arora ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ San Francisco / Peninsula June heralded in activities for our San Francisco Peninsula Branch at both the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, as well as ten full days of fun and writing/reading frenzy at the San Mateo County Fair in San Mateo. If you are a writer, both of these events meant that you had ample opportunities to get your books out on the streets, into the hands of eager readers, or meet those who could help you make that happen. Now what, you may ask, was so magical about the San Mateo County Fair? Think “Literary Stage,” where CWC authors’ events took place every day. They ranged from anthology readings and panel discussions on historical fiction or how to create award-winning writing to open mics, workshops on editing and self-publishing

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Branch News continues for dummies, and so much more. Our branch has the high privilege of fashioning this literary event once a year and draws writers from the entire Bay Area—and, happily for us, into CWC membership. In July, we held no monthly meeting, but instead made our first foray across the Bay to the State CWC Pic- nic at Joaquin Miller Park. We were about twelve members strong, which means we may try this trek again next year. I believe we had the largest attendance from any one branch—other than Berkeley/Oakland. Note: the Branch will again publish their Fault Zone anthology and will host a meeting August 20 to review guidelines. This anthology is open to all. Check website for current details. Peninsula Branch has unveiled a re- vamped website! Go to: http://cwc-peninsula.org/ and see the new look. Also, the Branch recently bestowed the “Louise Boggess Award” to long-time member, Ann Foster, for her outstanding generosity and hard work. Coming up on October 1, our branch will help host the NorCal CWC Building Better Branches Leadership Conference, which will be held at DeVry University in Fremont, CA. The outreach for this Conference is to the entire State branches, so please keep your ears perked up for upcoming details. We all need to come together to help our leaders improve our branches. Earlier this year, our San Francisco Peninsula Branch celebrated the 50th anniversary of its charter. We held the celebration at the Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City, CA which we inadvertently discovered was the location of our very first meetings. Beginning in September this year, we are happy to announce the branch will hold its regular monthly meetings at this new location. So if you are looking for us, come on down to the water!

~~ compiled by Carole Bumpus & Maurine Killough ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Orange The Orange Branch continues to meet the second Saturday of each month at the City of Orange Library and History Center. Our membership numbers are currently at 43 and most attend the monthly meetings. Our board serves for two years. The next election will be June, 2017. Pam Tallman, our president, opens each meeting with an introduction of the board, announcements, a welcome to guests, and an opportunity to share kudos for those members who have published or held a recent book signing event. Pam’s sense of humor ensures that each meeting will begin with a light touch and announcement of the winner of the latest contest, a “six-word” memoir. The memoir is read and a prize is given. Allene Symons, who arranges for most of our speakers, is then called to introduce the speaker for the day. Following the theme of the writer’s journey, our speakers have been experts in the many fields related to writing and publishing. Recently we were treated to a presentation by author and screenwriter, Lorna Collins, who instructed us on the “perfect pitch”, the one you give when you’re in an elevator and have only 20 seconds. In July, attorney and author Helen Sedwick, provided us with detailed information on self-publishing. Her presentation, “Protecting Your Rights and Your Wallet,” was well received and her handout gave us specific guidelines to avoid being taken advantage. An occasional departure from speakers allows us to venture into creative areas, which occurred when we had a meeting devoted to writing prompts. We had five minutes to write a story based on the prompt we chose and the results were often hilarious. Some member kudos should be mentioned. Both Jeanette Fratto and Pam Tallman have had essays accepted for publication in Orange Coast Magazine for their “My Orange County” feature. Pam’s pieces will be in the September and November issues, while Jeanette’s will be published in January 2017. continued next page

Branch News continues

Jeanette was also invited to speak at the Coastal Dunes branch in Nipomo in June and conduct a book signing. Her topic, “How a Career in Law Enforcement Led to Writing Mystery Novels”. Janet Simcic, with her frequent travels to Italy, has become an expert on the subject, writing both guidebooks and novels detailing the country. Her latest novel, The Man at the Rialto Bridge, set abroad a cruise ship, is an intriguing story which takes the reader on a beautiful tour of many port cities. Our goal for the next few months will be to increase membership through continued community outreach, as well as provide programs that will support, inform, and entertain our varied group of writers.

~~ Jeanette Fratto ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mt. Diablo The Mt. Diablo branch takes a summer hiatus for July and August, but that doesn’t mean the Idea board takes all that time off. Every July, Mt. Diablo’s board meets in a four-hour frenzy of planning Share! (with lunch) for the next year. This gives us an opportunity to iron out issues tabled from previous meetings, assess what works and what doesn’t work for our members, and engage in in-depth discussions of new ideas. This year, the board formed a new committee called, “Member Benefits.” This committee will explore and implement activities to assist our members with their writing careers. Not incidentally, we hope this encourages members to be more involved in their branch. Early ideas are helping members to form critique groups, provide opportunities for professional editing, open-mic nights, and silent writing groups, especially during NaNoWriMo in November. The board is also committed to continuing our popular “Writers Tables” and “Read-A-Page” events before general meetings.

~~ Marlene Dotterer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Central Coast

Members of the Central Coast branch prepare to march in the Fourth of July parade in downtown Monterey. Parades are a fun, low- cost way to publicize a branch, as well as a terrific method for building camaraderie among branch members. Posted: “When I want to read a good book — I write one.”

“I love the smell of ink in the morning.” Idea Share!

18 CWC’S HIGHEST HONOR Ray Malus of SFV Branch Receives Ina Coolbrith Award Pictured left to right — In 2011, Ray received the CWC’s Jack London Award for CWC Past service at the branch level. In his own branch, he designed the San President Fernando Valley website, serves as its webmaster, was longtime David editor of the branch newsletter "The Valley Scribe," and represent- George pre- ed the SFV branch on the CWC Central Board. sents Ina Last year he retired from the position of Member-at-Large Coolbrith on the CWC Executive Board. He’s still a busy guy. In 2016, at the July 24th Central Board meeting in Oak- Award to land, CA, held at the Holiday Inn Airport Express, the organiza- San Fernan- tion’s highest honor was bestowed on Ray. It recognizes exemplary do Valley service at the state level — known as the Ina Coolbrith Award. Branch On the state level, he created and developed the Member member Ray Record Management System (MRMS) for recording membership Malus during data and simplifying data entry. Since then he has provided user current support, responding to suggestions and requests for filing needs, board meet- and adding enhancements. Bob Isbill of the High Desert Branch, ing, Bob who nominated Ray for the award, assisted David George during Isbill nomi- the ceremony. Bob was, in turn, assisted at the presentation by his nated Malus. grandson, High Desert Branch member Kevin Morse.

ORIGINAL STORY FROM NOVEMBER 2015-----

Ray Malus, former Central Board Representative of the San Fernando Valley branch of the California Writers Club, has recently been voted by the Central Board members to receive the Ina Coolbrith Award for exceptional service to the organization. The award is named after California's first Poet Laureate, who was a contemporary of Jack London's and also one of the CWC's founders. The Member Record Management System (MRMS) is a program created by Ray Malus on his own time and at his own initiative when he became aware of the tedious, time consuming and inefficient method of reporting that fell primarily to the Membership Chairs and Treasurers of each CWC Branch. Malus, an experienced computer programmer, devised the versatile tool that is now used by CWC branches throughout California to literally do in a “click” what once took hours. High Desert branch member Bob Isbill was among the first to recognize the quality and value of the MRMS program, and to volunteer to try the system. The MRMS system gives contact access to other members within their home branch, as well as providing information within the branch so that State Treasurer and State Membership reports can be easily and accurately Photos generated. “I can’t say enough about the MRMS program by and Ray’s time behind-the-scenes for which he richly de- Andi serves the gratitude of every CWC member, and certainly Polk worthy of its highest recognition,” Bob Isbill said. Malus invested hundreds of in-house development hours designing the program that the membership now uses.

Pictured left to right— Young member Kevin Morse reads presentation to the Board. Bob Isbill is Kevin’s grandfather and are both HD branch members.

Branch News continues

NorCal Volunteers Members in the Spotlight at Bay Area Book Festival The Bay Area Book Festival, now in its second year, is proving to be the premiere literary event in Northern California — and CWC members were in good company among some 300 authors who signed and sold their books. An estimated 50,000 book-lovers attended the festival in downtown Berkeley on June 4th and 5th. The event included author presentations, book signings, panel discussions, readings, music, and 10 blocks of streets closed to traffic and lined with booths.

COVER STORY SPECIAL DESERT CITY DIVA We’re trying something CWC members from left: Tim Jollyman, new! Berkeley; Marsha Dowd, North State; Your latest book cover can appear in a Joyce Krieg, Central Coast. 5x7 space like this with a short The CWC NorCal Group paid for a bio, mugshot, and a short teaser about booth to promote the club and to offer your book. our members a venue for selling their All this will fit in this 5x7 display ad books. CWC former Vice-president, for the price of only Joyce Krieg, organized and coordinated $ 90 CWC’s presence with participation by We’re calling it the 16 authors representing nine branches.

Cover Story Special. “It’s always gratifying to see something Attractive layout in color with all the de- like this come together and represent tails to let your readers know what’s our club in front of thousands of read- inside your newest title. ers and writers in such a positive man- All info must be received in Arial 11 pt ner,” Joyce said. Because we’re digital, we can offer you a hotlink directly to your website ~~ Submitted by Joyce Krieg or email address. Your choice. Your 5x7 Teaser text here: Yada splashed across a page!. Just think! $90 will yada yada Yada yada yada Yada yada yada Yada yada Captured Quotes ~~ place your book yadaYada yada yada Yada ad into the yada yada Yada yada yada At my age “getting lucky” means hands of over Yada yada yada Yada yada walking into a room and remember- 2,000 readers yada Yada yada yada Yada ing what I came in there for. and more yada yada Yada yada yada Yada yada yada Yada yada across Califor- Oh course I talk to myself, some- nia & beyond! times I need expert advice.

See Page 24 Short Author’s Bio The biggest lie I tell myself is: “I notes here to contact our don’t need to write that down I’ll re- Yada yada yada Yada Director of yada yada Yada yada Advertising member it.” yada Yada yada yada Corey Lynn Fayman

If the Shoes Fits r Figure out your best writing … times. r Watch people—notice their By Jonathan Shoemaker “NaNoMo” idiosyncrasies; the way they On a dare, a child might attempt what seems im- move; their manner of speak- possible; and succeed, due to sheer enthusiasm and de- ing; anticipate what they are termination. Or s/he may just quit if it stops being fun. about to say or do. Take notes. “The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into If they act contrary to their usu- old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.” — al manner, consider why. What Aldous Huxley caused it? Would it move your You’ll never know what you can accomplish un- plot in a different direction? r If you list personality traits of less you try. National Novel Writing Month (or NaN- Jonathan Shoemaker oWriMo) is about four months away. Thousands of au- your protagonists on a white- thors intend to write a complete 50,000 word novel in the board in plain view, you may month of November. Hmm, that’s about 2,666 words per get ideas about backstory that will help the reader day. At 20 words per minute, that’s 133.3 minutes per understand why characters act the way they do. Add day. Do you have a spare 2 1/4 hours per day in your notes as they occur to you. schedule? If this sounds tempting to you, maybe you r Jot down possible plots as they occur to you, or should prepare for it like a marathon runner. You might when an incident catches your attention. Go back consider having your meals delivered and hire a garden- and add to them when a twist in a plot strikes you. er and housecleaner for a month. I personally tend to You might have several plots in mind over the next type at 10 words per minute when composing, so I would few months. Decide which one to use by the time need to plan on 4 1/2 hours per day. November comes around. Plan now! And start your marathon training: r Semper paratus—be prepared to deal with situa- Set priorities—family/writing/sports/social life. tions that might eat up part of your two hours of writ- r Practice writing without stopping to proofread. That’s a ing. Be aware of distractions that break into your tough one. normal activities. Similar interruptions may lure you r Carry a pen and pad everywhere. Jot down ideas. If from your desk in November. Decide how you can the notes to yourself turn into paragraphs, stop! Abbrevi- deal with them. ate them. Writing whole paragraphs before November “If you are going to achieve excellence in big 1st would be cheating. Wouldn’t it? things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excel- r Use a voice recorder when you can’t write (like when lence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” driving?). Or tell your phone to send you a voice mes- —Colin Powell These practices are important to a writer sage, text message, or email. even if you’re not into that ridiculous NaNoWriMo.

Jonathan Shoemaker is a member of the Idea Central Coast Writers and offers his column Share! on a regular basis to their newsletter. (article reprinted with permission)

Throughout these pages of The Bulletin you may have noticed these green boxes. Are you thinking out of the box? Share your ideas about making money, growing your membership, advertising your events on a Captured Quotes ~~ tight budget, finding Guest Speakers, inspiring members to take board positions … the list is end- I never get rejections. I don’t see any less. Send it to your designated Branch News rep reason to send my creations to an for submissions. industry that doesn’t appreciate perfection. And I save a stamp. Communication builds strength in organizations

Make A Splash — STATE-WIDE!! Advertise in CWC’s The Bulletin!

Want to increase your visibility? Sell your service? Promote your book? Increase speaker engagements? Pump up your web traffic? Or just send a greeting? Each issue of The Bulletin — published three times a year — reaches more than 2,000 published and aspiring writers, in 21 branches throughout the state. Now we are accepting writing-related advertising from businesses, CWC members, and individuals who wish to reach our target market at reasonable prices. Four tiers of ads are being offered:

1. Business card size (2”x3.5”) ads for $35. These will appear in the back section of The Bulletin. 2. Index card size (3” x 5”) ads for $60. To be interspersed throughout The Bulletin as appropriate. 3. 5”x7” size ads for $90 placed at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Pay by check as described below, or on PayPal at our website www.Calwriters.org 4. We will make available one and one only full page vertical ad (7”x10”) for $200. First come, first served, and for that reason, arrangement for this ad must be made by check and submitted by postal mail and by email verification as described below. Advertisers whose ads are received by mail too late to qualify will be notified of their option to buy a 5”x7” or smaller ad, reserve a full page for the following issue or have their checks returned.

All ads submitted must be self-edited, print-ready, to be published as received. We reserve the right to decline material deemed inappropriate at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. All ads must be emailed as a JPEG file to [email protected] . No exceptions. A physical copy of your ad must be enclosed with the postal mailed payment. Please include your return address, email address, and telephone contact number and the size of your ad. When using PayPal mark the payment type on the hard copy you mail to us so we know how you paid. Deadline for advertising submissions for the Autumn (mid-November) issue is Friday, October 28, 2016; and for the Winter (mid-February) issue the deadline is Friday, January 27, 2017. Capacity for advertising will be determined by the Editor-in-Chief. In case we receive more ads than can be accommodated, submit- ters will be notified of the option to reserve space in the next issue. Space is limited, and appropriate ads will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. A copy of The Bulletin will be emailed to advertisers upon publication. Please include your preferred email address along with your ad submission. Questions? Call Bob Isbill at (760)221-6367. Checks or money orders for submitted ads must be made payable to CWC Central Treasury and mailed to: HDCWC The Bulletin Marketing Department 20258 Hwy 18 STE 430 PMB 281 Apple Valley, CA 92307

Checklist. Please follow directions closely: Design your ad. Scan it to a jpeg file and send it to [email protected] . Then place a hard copy of your ad in an envelope addressed to the Marketing Department. It is okay to fold the copy if you need to do so. Enclose your check made payable to CWC Central Treasury or use PayPal online at calwriters.org. Mark the payment type & the amount if you choose PayPal, please state amount on the hard copy in your envelope! Either way you pay, we MUST have the hard copy mailed to us along with your email address and phone contact, and the confirmed size of your ad. (Size isn't always indicated on your scanned copy, but it matters!)

Our Contest Continues in this issue! SUCH A DEAL ! ! We believe that placing an advertising display ad (black and white) in glossy pages of The Literary Re- view is such a great deal that we want everyone to know. Have a book to promote? Offering great services provided to writers? Let your guest speakers promote their services.

Here’s the deal. Any branch who generates the most advertising revenue in the next issue of Literary Review will win a 5”x7” ad to use as they wish in The Bulletin for the November 2016 issue. ¥Give it away as a gift ¥Make an “Opportunity Drawing” of it ¥Award the ad space as a writing prize ¥Other ideas? Your branch decides. WIN The winning branch must list their name with the ad’s cover email or call our Advertising Director Bob Isbill at (760) 221-4148 to claim the credit for the display ad. All ads are considered “placed” once payment is received.

LitCakes Show “Talented?” Attempts at Humor & Literary Spoofs

Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s winning entry was "Scenes from Gone With the Wheat." She’s a CWC dual member of San Francisco Peninsula (a past president) and Red- wood Branches.

New Tool for Branch Networking & Brainstorming

Who wouldn’t want to do a bit of brainstorm- I'm a believer! Did you know there's a web-based ver- ing across California? After testing it for a few ses- sion? You don't have to download or install anything if sions, the CWC State Central Board has approved you don't want to, or can't. I'm excited about the possi- and instituted GoToMeeting as an adjunctive method bilities for using GoToMeeting for committee work and of hosting meetings within the CWC, NorCal, and other small group confabs. Though I still think there's CWC South Boards for organizational business. no substitute for an in-person, face-to-face meeting, GoToMeeting (GTM) is an internet-based vir- this is a reasonable, low-cost substitute -- and you can tual meeting room where participants interact face-to do it in your “jammies!” -face in real time on a scheduled basis from their Joyce Krieg computer. The technology allows participation by phone-only as well by calling a designated phone “It's a great tool. I'm very enthused about its use. number and entering an access code. Meetings can My branch would like to have access to communi- be recorded as an MP4 file and shared or stored. cate with other selected branches, and I have heard other branches want that also. It doesn't Any CWC Central Board Rep, CWC NorCal cost anything more, and would be something else Group Member or CWC-South Representative may the CB could offer its branches.” request a meeting using our CWC GoToMeeting online discussion forum. A CWC branch board mem- Bob Isbill ber can request a GTM meeting through one of the “We really need all the officers and board members to Representatives from the above groups. That repre- use the technology or its purpose is not served.” sentative would assume the role of host. This Sharon Svitak GoToMeeting account allows unlimited duration meetings of up to 25 members. “In the July 2015 Central Board meeting, CB Reps requested that a videoconferencing alterna- Early meetings have exposed some glitches tive to our text-based CB Forum for discussing in the process of hosting and signing on which has important Club-related topics. I formed a team, enabled me to develop a protocol that should work led by our Technology Chair, Ray Malus to inves- for everyone. If you experience difficulty signing on tigate. Ray, committee members Bob Isbill, Sue to a meeting, GoToMeeting technical support is Kesler, and Joyce Krieg chose the GoToMeeting available by a toll-free number. They have proven to software over other alternatives because, among be responsive. other advantages, CWC members could partici- Whether you use a Mac or PC, you will be pate through their web browsers instead of in- able to use your computer’s web browser to partici- stalling special software on their various computer pate in both video and audio, provided you have a systems. This greatly reduces our need to sup- microphone and webcam. You can even participate port multiple computer systems. The real test via mobile phone or if your computer lacks a camera, now is to see how willing our reps and members but you will not be able to have video. If you are ex- are to embrace cool new technology. It’s up to all periencing a bad hair day or feeling shy, you don’t y’all to make the new GoToMeeting capabilities a have to share your webcam. success!” My participation in beta sessions with Bob David George, Isbill and others spurred me on to become the initia- CWC President - Outgoing tor of Napa Valley Writers’ first anthology. In the near If you wish to schedule a meeting or have ques- future, I plan to schedule a meeting of NorCal Pro- tions about this technology, please email cwcgotomeet- gram Directors to share protocols and ideas about [email protected]. Doug Brozell is our CWC GoToMeeting speakers and workshops. This tool allows us to Coordinator. share ideas and work collaboratively across the geo- graphical barriers that exist in our organization. Some comments from participants: "I went into this experiment full of fear and apprehension, but now that I've figured out how to make GoToMeeting work on my ancient computer,

24 ENCOURAGING THE NEXT GENERATION OF WRITERS Idea Placing Funds Into a Contest Proves Rewarding Share!

The Central Coast branch achieved a long-held goal of encouraging the next generation of writers with its first annual short story contest for Monterey County high school seniors this spring.

Victoria Mazariegos, a senior at Millennium Charter High School in Salinas, was the grand prize winner, earning $500 for her story, “The Boy Who Found His Ears,” the tale of a deaf boy who discovers refuge, solace, and hope in a graffiti- covered freeway underpass.

The writing contest grew out of a desire to do some good with the funds raised by a door prize drawing at the monthly meeting. After kicking around the idea of a scholarship, the CCW board designed a short story contest to encourage and inspire the next generation of creative writers, as well as to carry out our mission of educating writers of all ages and interests. Open to all Monterey County high school seniors, the contest award- ed over $1,000 in prizes and was themed around a photograph of a graffiti-covered tunnel taken by member Ken Jones.

Judging was conducted by members of Central Coast Writers Leslie Patiño (left) congratulates Victoria with backgrounds in either education or publishing, and was Mazariegos for winning the grand prize in based on the overall quality of the writing, the development of short story contest. the story, and the mechanics of writing. Retired educator and ~~ Joyce Krieg College Board consultant Leslie Patiño was the contest chair.

High Desert Opens “Howl At The Moon” Writing Conference 2016 Create a Strong Foundation for Your Writing Life Here’s the secret about writing: survival (and also success) has little to do with talent or technique; it’s all about mindset and attitude. This is true whether you are just starting out or have been writing for decades, and the most effective way to up your game is to understand yourself more fully, both as a writer and as a human being. That’s where this Howl at the Moon conference comes in. During this full-day event, in Apple Valley, author and writing teacher Gabriela Pereira will show you how to re- frame your mindset so you can improve your skills as a writer and conquer your professional goals. In the morning, she’ll walk you through a technique often used by tech innovators, and she’ll show you how to apply it to make your creative process more efficient and effective. Next, she will teach her “secret sauce” outline formula, so you can create a strong foundation for your story. In the afternoon, Gabriela will shift gears and show you how to build your author platform. It’s hard enough to write a book, but when you finally type those words “THE END” the work of marketing your book and building an audience has only just begun. You’ll learn concrete steps for building your brand and establishing an effective online “hub” for your creative work. You’ll also learn how to find those ideal readers who will love your book, and how to connect with them in a meaningful, authentic way. This Howl at the Moon (HATM) conference is October 29th at 9 a.m. and designed to help you grow both the craft and career aspects of your writing life. By the end of this full-day intensive, you will have tools and techniques at the ready so you can write the best book possible and get it in the hands of your readers. Got to: www.hdcwc.com for cost and details. Gabriela Pereira is a writer, teacher, and self-proclaimed word nerd and the founder and instigator of DIYM- FA.com. She earned her MFA in creative writing from The New School and teaches at national conferences, local workshops, and online. She is also the host of DIY MFA Radio, a popular podcast. Her book DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community is out now from Writer’s Digest Books. go to: DIYMFA.com/join. 25

THE BULLETIN BOARD- Need Extra Copies Raise Money for Our Branch with Barnes & of Noble BookFair Discount Voucher card. Literary Review? And we can support your BookFair, too! One week only — Sept. 17 – Sept. 22 ~~ We Know You Want Them ~~

2016 Literary Review Extra Copies Available

A limited number of printed copies are available upon request. We are asking that Branch Presidents let their members know and coordinate any extra copy orders through their branch to minimize shipping costs. So members who would like to order extra copies, please go through your branch president to make it known. Each participating branch will be charged the publication price plus taxes and shipping. Extra copy orders may be referred to CWC Ad- vertising & Promotions Director Bob Isbill at Adver- [email protected].

To All Authors: When submitting ideas, articles, and news releas- es, each item must go through your designated OUR DISCLAIMER branch rep. Please find out who they are and ask about submitting. We are unable to accept submis- While we believe products offered for sale in this sions directly to The Bulletin. Events, conference & newsletter are done so in good faith, publication of flyers created by branches will take a priority posi- any advertising in The California Writers Club Bulle- tion. tin does not constitute endorsement, recommendation To All Advertisers: or representation that the CWC has vetted any adver- The Bulletin focuses on sharing news and infor- tisers. Readers are encouraged to investigate to verify mation pertinent to writers’ interests. Ads are ac- items or services offered for sale, and to use their own cepted based on services our membership will find judgment in making any purchases. useful. ~~ the editor