California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch

Dedicated to Educating Writers of all Levels

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Writers Network, August 6 – Writing the Wrong

Writers Network Meeting
August 6, 2021

10 to 11 a.m.

One-hour Zoom meeting

with

Vivian Gibson

Memoirist

Chronicling a Time, People and Place Nearly Lost

Vivian Gibson grew up in segregated St. Louis, Missouri in the 1950s. Her tightknit community was razed to make way for a freeway, displacing thousands of African American residents in the name of “urban renewal.” Vivian will talk about her journey from writing for oneself, to being on a mission to chronicle a disappearing history. She reminds us that a memoire tells the complex story of a community as well as a writer’s personal journey. She mined her childhood memories for the sounds, smells, emotions and familiar faces that could prevent a way of life from slipping away forever. The Last Children of Mill Creek was published by Belt Publishing in April 2020.

Her presentation will:

  • Help writers understand the importance of documenting significant social changes as part of our personal stories.
  • Broaden your writer’s perspective on the world by examining local historical events through different cultural lenses.
  • Sharpen your skills as a memoirist by examining what is personal and what has broader social significance in your story.
  • Build confidence in your role as a chronicler of an historical event or era.

Vivian Gibson began her writing career after retirement, writing short stories about the tightknit African-American community into which her parents had settled to raise their family of seven children. Her college-educated mother and hardworking father provide the framework for telling the story of her family’s survival during a time when minority communities were destroyed in the name of “progress.”

A debut writer at the age of 70, Vivian Gibson’s memoire, The Last Children of Mill Creek, has been reviewed and praised, by the Times Literary Supplement (January 22, 2021), Poets & Writers (November/December, 2020), Missouri Life Magazine (June 1, 2021).

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

Writers Network, July 2 – Dual Track Writing

Writers Network Meeting
July 2, 2021

10 to 11 a.m.

One-hour Zoom meeting

with

Sharon Darrow

Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, Kitten Expert!

Plan For Publication As You Go

Writing is easy — publishing by yourself is like following an overgrown, potholed jungle path in the middle of a monsoon!

  • Timing is key! Start planning for publication as you write.
  • What’s in a name? Research your name and potential title early so readers will find you.
  • Understand your genre — and “a romantic semi-historical science-fiction adventure mystery thriller” is NOT a good description!
  • Who are you writing for? You can’t market without understanding your target.
  • The writing community is your best resource — take advantage of it!

Sharon S. Darrow is an entrepreneur, publisher, award winning author, public speaker, and an expert on neonatal orphan kittens. She has written five non-fiction books. From Hindsight to Insight, A Traditional to Metaphysical Memoir and Tom Flynn, Medium and Healer are inspirational. Bottlekatz, A Complete Care Guide for Orphan Kittens and Faces of Rescue, Cats, Kittens and Great Danes are about animal rescue. Navigating the Publishing Maze, Self-Publishing 101 is a training manual. She also writes historical fiction. She Survives, Strive and Protect, and Desperate Choices are the first three of a four-book series inspired by her maternal grandmother.

Sharon is thrilled to be an active part of the Sacramento area writing community. She’s V.P. of NCPA (Northern California Publishers & Authors), has served as the President, and is also Director of their Annual Book Awards Competition. Her personal website is https://www.sharonsdarrow.com, and the website for her publishing company, Samati Press, is https://www.samatipress.com.

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

Writers Network, June 4 – The Art of the Interview

 

Writers Network Meeting
June 4, 2021

10 to 11 a.m.

One-hour Zoom meeting

with

Kathy Boyd Fellure

Author and Former Television Host

Interview Tips from a Live TV Host/Author

Kathy will show us the difference between a mediocre interview and one that can electrify a career beyond the routine.

You will learn:

  • How as a TV host Kathy magnified the content for a guest by highlighting exceptional attributes.
  • When interviewing the US Coast Guard at Lake Tahoe on boating accidents, a distress call was radioed in and all went live — or from the desk to the water.
  • How to research and prepare for the interview of your lifetime.
  • How not to be intimidated when interviewing someone in a high-tech world who has more qualifications and education than you.
  • How to professionally respond to an impromptu interview from the acquisitions editor of your dreams and get a request for your book proposal.

Kathy Boyd Fellure is the published author of a series of four children’s books, and a novel trilogy. She is the former host, producer and director of the TSPN TV Show Authors, Writers, Books & Beyond. Kathy travels to teach at writer conferences, to guest speak, and for literary reads.
Kathy currently lives in the foothill gold country of California with her family and two stand-up comedian rescue dogs. She is a lifelong hula-hoopster who most always has a Nikon camera strapped across her shoulder unless she is lap swimming in a pool or in Lake Tahoe.

kathyboydfellure.com

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

Writers Network, May 7 – Track Your Submissions

Use Duotrope to Track Your Success Rate

Writers Network Meeting
May 7, 2021

10 to 11 a.m.

One-hour Zoom meeting

with

Jenifer Rowe

Author and CWC Board Member

Where Have I Sent This Story? 

When you are trying every avenue to get published, it’s easy to forget where you’ve already submitted a particular story or article.  Duotrope is a tool that will provide you with lists of possible markets, links to their submission sites, contest information, and more.   In addition, you can use your dashboard to record all of your submissions and the responses that you receive.  Join Jenifer Rowe as she explains how she has used this tool and why you might like to give it a try.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY: Meet some of the members of your Board of Directors following the Duotrope presentation. We will be available for questions and discussion about what we do for your club!

Jenifer Rowe writes short stories, essays and memoir. Her work has been published in Scarlet Leaf Review, Crack the Spine, Wildflower Muse, Liars League NYC, the Sacramento Bee, and the 2018 and 2019 issues of California Literary Review. She earned Finalist distinction in the New Millennium Writings 46th Literary Awards. She published her first novel, Unexpected Findings, in 2020.

 

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

Writers Network, April 2 – Overcoming Poetry’s Fear Factor

What Makes a Poem Speak to You?

April 2, 2021

10 to 11 a.m.

One-hour Zoom meeting

with
Bob Stanley
Professor and former Sacramento Poet Laureate

Many readers find poetry intimidating and may feel that they lack the skill to pinpoint what they like about a poem. Bob removes the anxiety about poetry by encouraging the appreciation of a poem for what it is. He will use examples from his work and invite participants to share what they find in the poetry.

Bob Stanley is a leader in the poetry community who has sought to bring the enjoyment of poetry to a diverse audience of readers, listeners, and poets. He is an educator and published poet who has thrown open the windows to allow the enjoyment of poetry to be widely shared. Bob will lead the meeting attendees through the examination of poems to identify what makes a poem speak to you. 

Poet Laureate of Sacramento from 2009 to 2012, Bob Stanley is a much-beloved figure in the poetry community. Along with teaching English at California State University, Sacramento, Bob has organized workshops, readings and conferences throughout Northern California. In 2009, Bob was chosen by the California Arts Council to edit an anthology of poems, Sometimes in the Open, by the poets laureate of California’s cities and counties. He has published two chapbooks: Eleven Blue Strings (little m press) and Walt Whitman Orders a Cheeseburger (Rattlesnake Press). His full-length poetry collection, Miracle Shine, was published in 2013 by CW Press. His poems have also appeared in many journals including California Quarterly, Suisun Valley Review, and Calaveras Station. A past President of the Sacramento Poetry Center, Bob continues to be an ambassador for poetry.

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

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