California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch

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Melissa Hart: First Paragraph Blow-Up Live!

Brush Up on Your First Paragraph! at Cattlemens Restaurant

12409 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

on Saturday June 15th, 2024 from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Following on from Melissa’s welcome presentation on personal essays, she returns on Saturday, June 15 to bring a special treat to attendees at the quarterly CWC luncheon. Come for fun and learning as author Melissa Hart gives suggestions on members’ first paragraph from a manuscript they are working on!

If you have a paragraph you would like Melissa to comment on, it will need to be submitted in advance. Note deadline below of June 8. For $15, your paragraph will be read aloud by a third party, followed by suggestions and a short discussion. Five minutes total will be devoted to each first paragraph submitted. Author will remain anonymous, so there’s no “outing” of anyone – all fun and learning.

Mark your calendar now for June 15. Brush up on a first paragraph if you’d like to submit for a live mini-critique.  Following the meeting, member Susan Dlugach will offer a short session on poetry – what writers of all genres can learn from poetry.

Members with a published book or promo materials are invited to bring for the display table.

Members with books in need of a new home are invited to bring them to place on a table of free books Plan to have a good time as we all learn together!

Book your tickets for the event here.

Melissa Hart
Melissa Hart

Please note, the deadline for critique submissions has passed, but it is still worthwhile to attend as much can be learned from other critiques.

Reminders

What: Quarterly Luncheon, First Paragraph Blow-Up Live!

When: Saturday June 15, 11:30

  • Social Hour: 11:30
  • Membership meeting: Noon
  • Melissa Hart & First Paragraph Critique: 12:45
  • Post-luncheon special: 2 p.m.
  • Susan Dlugach on poetry, what writers of all genres can learn from
  • poetry. Donations appreciated.

Where: Cattlemens Rancho Cordova

Cost: Meeting Fee: $36, includes coffee, soda, meal, speaker, book displays, post-speaker.

What attendees should bring:  A copy of your published book or promo items to put on the display table. Any books you’re ready to pass on to a new home for the giveaway table.


We also have Susan Dlugach who will instruct on,

A Poetic Touch Up
How It Can Improve All Writing Genres

What in the world can poetry teach writers of other genres, you might ask? And what could literary devices such as metaphors and alliteration possibly have to do with telling a story or giving a factual account of an event?

Let’s take a look at the ways quality fiction and non-fiction pieces use poetic techniques to create stellar writing that keeps the reader engaged. And believe it or not, no one has to be a Walt Whitman or a Maya Angelou to incorporate poetic strategies to liven up their narrative pieces.

Susan Dlugach, a retired English teacher, writes poetry, fiction and short articles and participates in local poetry groups.

Susan Dlugach
Susan Dlugach

Filed Under: Luncheon

Molly Dwyer: Narrative Authority

Molly Dwyer will be presenting at Arcade Library

2443 Marconi Ave, Sacramento, CA 95821

on Saturday May 18th, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Join the Meeting on Zoom

Meeting ID: 832 1220 0475

Passcode: 568644

Narrative Authority comes from our sense that the writer is fearless and in control of the story they’re telling. We will look at text by several authors to see what they’re doing that creates the power of voice and discuss why and how the text is working. Using visual prompts, we’ll write two short pieces and share them, attempting to identify the sound of our own voices.

What attendees will learn:

  • To understand narrative authority and voice in fiction and/or memoir writing.
  • To understand the power and uniqueness of your own authenticity.
  • To examine the text of successful writing to learn what a strong voice can do.
  • To discover more about your own voice through prompted writing and discussion.
  • To consider the precision of language, and language’s power to create.

Molly Dwyer
Molly Dwyer

Molly teaches creative writing at Mendocino College. She works as an editor, writing coach and workshop facilitator. Her debut novel, Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction and won the Independent Publishers Book of the Year Award and an Indie Book Award for Historical Fiction. She’s founding president of the Writers of the Mendocino Coast, a branch of California Writers Club.

Filed Under: Luncheon

Melissa Hart: First Paragraph Blow-Up Live!

Brush Up on Your First Paragraph! at Cattlemens Restaurant

12409 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

on Saturday June 15th, 2024 from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Following on from Melissa’s welcome presentation on personal essays, she returns on Saturday, June 15 to bring a special treat to attendees at the quarterly CWC luncheon. Come for fun and learning as author Melissa Hart gives suggestions on members’ first paragraph from a manuscript they are working on!

If you have a paragraph you would like Melissa to comment on, it will need to be submitted in advance. Note deadline below of June 8. For $15, your paragraph will be read aloud by a third party, followed by suggestions and a short discussion. Five minutes total will be devoted to each first paragraph submitted. Author will remain anonymous, so there’s no “outing” of anyone – all fun and learning.

Mark your calendar now for June 15. Brush up on a first paragraph if you’d like to submit for a live mini-critique.  Following the meeting, member Susan Dlugach will offer a short session on poetry – what writers of all genres can learn from poetry.

Members with a published book or promo materials are invited to bring for the display table.

Members with books in need of a new home are invited to bring them to place on a table of free books Plan to have a good time as we all learn together!

Book your tickets for the event here.

Melissa Hart
Melissa Hart

If you want your work to be critiqued, you will need to register if here, and pay the critique fee of $15.

Reminders

What: Quarterly Luncheon, First Paragraph Blow-Up Live!

When: Saturday June 15, 11:30

  • Social Hour: 11:30
  • Membership meeting: Noon
  • Melissa Hart & First Paragraph Critique: 12:45
  • Post-luncheon special: 2 p.m.
  • Susan Dlugach on poetry, what writers of all genres can learn from
  • poetry. Donations appreciated.

Where: Cattlemens Rancho Cordova

Cost: Meeting Fee: $36, includes coffee, soda, meal, speaker, book displays, post-speaker.

What attendees should bring:  A copy of your published book or promo items to put on the display table. Any books you’re ready to pass on to a new home for the giveaway table.


Filed Under: Luncheon

Sumner Blanchard

Sumner Blanchard
Sumner Blanchard

Sumner Blanchard is a retired speech/language pathologist whose professional career has involved both hospital practice and university teaching. To date, he has only published research in communication disorders, but now wants to write fiction somehow drawing upon his interests and experiences in military aviation, sculling, travel, communication issues, and music. His recent membership in CWC has encouraged the hope that new writing skills can be learned to begin a new chapter.

Filed Under: Member Bio

Lisa Montanaro – Ready, Set, Launch! Developing a Successful Book Launch Plan

CWC-Sacramento Network Meeting

Friday, May 3rd from 9 am to 11 am at

CH Cafe & Grill 6215 Sunrise Blvd (just off Greenback)

Lisa Montanaro
Lisa Montanaro

Are you ready to get out there as an author and launch your book? Discover tips and strategies for a targeted, successful, and sustainable book launch!

The months (or years!) after landing a book deal are an exhilarating, yet stressful, time. Whether you’re traditionally or indie-published, launching and marketing your book is time consuming, but a necessary part of the author journey. Smart authors recognize that a book launch is a marathon, not a sprint, and spread activities over three phases: pre-launch, launch, and post-launch. Launch activities and possibilities are abundant, both online and offline, including book clubs, bookstores, libraries, podcasts, webinars, radio and TV, social

Lisa Montanaro is the author of the book The Ultimate Life Organizer, and the chapter, “The Brand Called You! Personal & Professional Branding for Authors,” featured in Launch Pad: The Countdown to Marketing Your Book. Her debut novel will be published by Red Adept Publishing in fall 2024. Lisa serves as Webinar Host for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 854 8155 1153
Passcode: 227171

Filed Under: Writers NetworkTagged With: california writers club, cwc sacramento, sacramento writers

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