Sacramento (In-Person): Tell Me Why: Creating Realistic & Believable Motivation For (All) Your Characters
2023-06-17 11:30 - 15:00 (America/Denver) | Cattlemens, 12409 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA, 95742, United States
TELL ME WHY: CREATING REALISTIC & BELIEVABLE MOTIVATION FOR (ALL) YOUR CHARACTERS
Featured speaker: Anna J. Stewart, USA Today Bestselling Romance Novelist
What you will learn:

What is motivation and how does it apply to character.
Why motivation is important to your characters and your story as a whole.
Film and TV examples of strong (and not so strong) character motivation.
The difference in creating motivation for villains versus heroes.
Motivation examined in relation to goals and conflict.

Networking & Coffee: 11:30 am.
Book display – Bring a copy of your book to display and SELL!
Book giveaway – Bring a used book you think others might enjoy.
Meal: Plated, with vegetarian option
Meeting cost: $32, advance purchase; walk-in, $37. Required of all attendees, receipt available which can be tax deductible.
Sadly, our prices have gone up to cover bank charges.
Purchase Tickets
Native Californian Anna J Stewart is the author of more than 50 romance novels and novellas. Currently under contract with Harlequin and ArcManor, she writes sweet to spicy happily ever afters across the romance genre. A former Holt Medallion winner, a Daphne, and National Readers’ Choice finalist, she’s also been lucky enough to have one of her books optioned for a TV movie.
Special post-meeting club fundraiser: “Public Speaking Tips for Writers,” by member Linda Champion, Toastmasters District Champion, Speech Evaluation, a 30-minutes verbal presentation, written tips, and plenty of time for questions! (Attendees who stay to hear Linda are invited to give a donation to the club!)
Purchase Tickets

Redwood (In-Person): The Card Deck Connection: How a card deck connects to business, client and revenue growth
2023-06-17 13:00 - 15:00 | Finley Communiy Center, 2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa, CA, United States
June 17, 2023
1 – 2:30 p.m.
ROSIE BATTISTA
The Card Deck Connection: How a card deck connects to business, client and revenue growth
About the presentation:
DOWNLOAD HANDOUT
In this presentation, Rosie Battista will show you:

what a card deck is
why you would want one to go along with your book
how a card deck is the perfect combo to your book – the jelly (your card deck) to your peanut butter (your book)
the 3 questions every card deck creator must ask
ten ways you can use a card deck to grow your business, community and bank account.

About Rosie Battista:
Rosie helps heart-centered authors & coaches envision & execute beautiful distinguished card decks that express their message, teach their knowledge, and enhance their clients transformational journey.
Her card deck creation experience helps participants gain the confidence to show up as the woman they were intended to be. They embrace their unique area of expertise, understand their value and use their God-given voice and Card Deck as a transformational tool to help others.
With over 15 years of helping entrepreneurs create products, Rosie has seen that a Card Deck is the gift that keeps on giving for your business, your clients and your own personal growth.
Learn more about Rosie at rosiebattista.com.
Meeting Agenda and Logistics
Cypress Room, Finley Center

Meeting starts at 1 p.m.
Speaker presentation
Board and Chair announcements
Member announcements
Adjourn at 2:30 p.m.

This is an in-person meeting. The meeting will be recorded and made available to registrants.
Admission: $5 CWC members, $10 non-members

REGISTER TODAY

Tri-Valley (In-Person): Storytelling: An Interactive Workshop for Authors
2023-06-17 14:00 - 16:00 | Las Positas College, 3000 Campus Hill Dr., Livermore, CA, United States
Kate Farrell, Author and Storyteller, June 17, 2023
May 17, 2023

Kate Farrell will present “Storytelling: An Interactive Workshop for Authors” at the Tri-Valley Writers June 17, 2023 meeting. Take your storytelling from the page to the spoken word and enliven your talks, enhance your events, and create a shared experience with your listeners. The power of story immediately engages audiences through simple, traditional techniques.

Read More »

Join us on the third Saturday of the month at 2:00 p.m. at Tri-Valley Writers’ newmeeting location: Las Positas College, in Room 2470. (Directions: From Campus Hill Dr. in Livermore, park in Lot E and enter Building 2400) Check-in begins at 1:30 p.m. There is a two-step RSVP & Payment process:

Email RSVP is REQUIRED at treasurer@trivalleywriters.org by the Thursday before the meeting
Payment is REQUIRED (details appear when you click button, below)

Register Here

Attendance Fees
CWC adult members, $10; nonmembers, $12. CWC student members (ages 14-22), $5; student nonmembers, $8
Consent to be recorded
By registering for this meeting, you acknowledge that the meeting may be recorded. Your consent to be recorded is implied in your registration. See meeting information for full details.

Berkeley (In-Person): CWC Annual Showcase LIVE
2023-06-17 17:00 - 19:00 | Clio’s Books, 353 Grand Avenue, Berkeley, CA, United States
CWC Annual Showcase LIVE @ CLIOS BOOKS June 17, 2023

This June, we’re doubly excited to be doing a LIVE author showcase this year, and to be doing it at a soon-to-launch bookstore in the heart of Oakland! This annual event gives us the opportunity to celebrate our members who have published books in the past 2 years. We all work hard to get our writing out in the world and having a new book is a tremendous accomplishment!
The Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club is proud to recognize and celebrate its eleven members who have published new books in 2022 & 2023. Congratulations to:

Beth Barany, Red Running Deep (Firewolf Books, 2022)
Kristen Caven, The Winning Family: Where No One Has to Lose (Uplift Press, 2022)
Paul Corman-Roberts, The Sincere (Libran Apocalypse Press, 2022)
Gary Durbin, Sentient (Spark Press, 2022)
Jasper Ezekiel, Good, Clean Mania: Collected Poems 2020-2022 (Draft2Digital, 2023)
Keith Mark Gaboury, The Boy Born With A Pinhole Heart (Finishing Line Press, 2022)
Lin Gentry, Episodes in a Cultural Revolution (Fulton Books, 2022)
Jay Hartlove, The Insane God (Water Dragon Publishing, 2022)
Jessi Honard, Unrelenting (Not a Pipe Publishing, 2022)
Lily Iona MacKenzie, California Dreaming (Shanti Arts Press, 2023)
A. L. Kucherenko, Knight’s Pawn (Cuidono Press, 2022)
Terry Tierney, The Bridge on Beer River (Unsolicited Press, 2023)

Club members will also be reading from Francine Thomas Howard’s 2022 release, Scattered Seed (Lake Union Publishing). Francine, a longtime member and guiding light, passed away this January.
The event will be co-hosted by Clio’s Books, a new bookstore that will be opening in September near Oakland’s Lake Merritt. Clio’s values the history of ideas and will feature a reading room, literary events, and a café.
The California Writers Club (www.calwriters.org) is a thriving association of emerging and professional writers, with 20+ branches across the state. Each branch features monthly speakers on the art, craft, and business of writing in all genres, for all ages and abilities. The Club was formed in 1909 by Bay Area writers who had gathered for decades in Joaquin Miller Park. They were instrumental in building the WPA Woodminster Cascade, which is home to the California Writers Memorial Grove.

CWC BB Author Showcase
Clio’s Books (opens in September; this is a special sneak peek event!)
353 Grand Avenue
Saturday, June 17th 2023
5-7pm
Doors open 4pm
Free to the public – Get your tickets NOW – limit is 60 guests
Zoom tickets – Register here
Say You’re Coming on Facebook!

Mendocino (In-Person): Spotlight On Short Fiction
2023-06-18 14:30 - 15:30 | Mendocino Community Center, 998 School St., Mendocino, CA, United States
Sunday, June 18, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Mendocino Community Center, activities room, 998 School St.
Spotlight On Short Fiction
Each year, WMC highlights a genre and features three outstanding members practicing it. This year, the genre is SHORT FICTION, and our writers are Earlene Gleisner, Steve Sapontzis , and Philip Zwerling. They will be interviewed by Rob Hawthorn.

Earlene Gleisner

Steve Sapontzis

Philip Zwerling

Central Coast (In-Person): In A Flash: The Art and Craft of the Short, Short Story
2023-06-20 17:30 - 19:30 | Center for Spiritual Awareness, 522 Central Ave., Pacific Grove
June 20, 2023
Andrea Firth
In A Flash: The Art and Craft of the Short, Short Story
In this presentation, learn what flash fiction (and flash nonfiction) writing is and isn’t, how it breaks the rules, and why and how flash shorts are “hot” from the first sentence. Discover the keys to the flash form–urgency, conflict, and a twist–and debunk myths about flash, such as it’s easier to write and readers have short attention spans. You’ll also learn how to approach writing and revising flash to leave only what’s most essential on the page.
Andrea A. Firth is a writer, journalist, editor, and educator living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is an Editor at Brevity Blog and the co-founder of Diablo Writers’ Workshop where she teaches and provides editorial consulting. Andrea was a finalist for The Missouri Review‘s 2021 Perkoff Prize in nonfiction, and her essays are published in Dorothy Parkers’ Ashes, The Coachella Review, Motherwell, Please See Me and elsewhere. Read her work at her website and find her on Instagram.

Inland Empire (In-Person): Becoming a writer with Randy Jurado Ertll
2023-06-24 10:00 - 12:00 | Ovitt Family Community Library, 215 E. C Street, Ontario, CA, 91764, United States
What to Expect at Our Next Meeting
Saturday, June 24, 2023 – Randy Jurado Ertll
Randy Jurado Ertll will speak about his journey of becoming a writer, experience in finding a reputable book publisher, and the struggles/sacrifices of being an author.
Randy Jurado Ertll is an award winning published author, credentialed teacher, and newspaper columnist. He has also served as executive director for well-established, prominent, non-profit organizations.
Ertll served as a communications director for a Congressional member (Hilda Solis) on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He has published numerous opinion columns in newspapers and magazines such as the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, La Opinión, Daily News, La Prensa Grafica, San Diego Union-Tribune, Orange County Register, Sacramento Bee, Chicago Tribune, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Houston Chronicle, The Progressive and The American Interest magazines. He has been interviewed by networks such as NPR, CNN, PBS, Univisión, and Telemundo. He is an alumnus of Occidental College where he obtained the prestigious 2015 Alumni Seal Award for Service to the Community and obtained his master’s degree from Azusa Pacific University. He has published the following books: Hope in Times of Darkness: A Salvadoran American Experience, Esperanza en Tiempos de Oscuridad: La Experiencia de un Salvadoreño Americano, The Life of an Activist: In the Frontlines 24/7, The Lives and Times of El Cipitío, La Vida Y Los Tiempos Del Cipitío, In The Struggle: Chronicles, The Adventures of El Cipitío: Las aventuras del Cipitio, La Siguanaba and the Magical Loroco, La Siguanaba y el Loroco Magico, Race Wars: El Cadejo, El Cadejo: Entre El Bien y el Mal. Please visit his web site at WWW.RANDYJURADOERTLL.COM.

Marin (In-Person): Tighten Your Writing with a Poetry Game
2023-06-26 18:30 - 19:30 | Mill Valley Public Library
Topic: Tighten Your Writing with a Poetry Game
Monday June 26 6:30-7:30PM
Live/Limited seating Free for all Participants
Co-presented by CWCM and Mill Valley Public Library
RSVP here: Mill Valley Public Library Events/Poetry Writing Game

Anyone who aspires to be a better writer knows the importance of thoughtful word choice and editing. The best writers exercise these muscles every day—but sometimes we forget how much fun writing can be, especially when we do it with friends. Bring your pencil to this one-hour interactive poetry workshop cohosted by CWC Marin and the Mill Valley Public Library. The game is a riff on the Japanese linked verse game known as renga, played by Japanese aristocrats a thousand years ago. In it, each person composes a haiku, then passes it to a neighbor, who completes it with a 14-syllable couplet. This simple, limited poetry form encourages participants to choose words and metaphors with care. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a great poet, you just have to be ready to play with words.
About the Speaker:
Jean has been a student of the Japanese language since she first went to Japan as an exchange student in the 1980s. She is currently writing a book about Japanese feminist poet Yosano Akiko (1878-1942). She has translated hundreds of Akiko’s poems and posted them online. Jean is a Board member of the California Writers Club of Marin and a member of the Marin Poetry Center, the Tanka Society of America, Left Coast Writers, and the Japan Foundation.

Central Coast (In-Person): Writing Active Hooks--or How Many Hooks Are Enough?
2023-07-18 17:30 - 19:30 | Center for Spiritual Awareness, 522 Central Ave., Pacific Grove
July 18, 2023
Mary Buckham
Writing Active Hooks–or How Many Hooks Are Enough?
Ready to learn what exactly a hook is, and what a hook isn’t? The simplest way to avoid a sagging middle, and to keep a reader reading, is to understand how to continually build hooks into your writing. In this presentation, explore what hooks are and how they work, discover the 10 most common (universal) hooks and why they’re so widely used, find where to place hooks to make them effective for both your genre and your audience, and unlock the difference between a compelling story and one that drags.
USA Today bestselling author Mary Buckham learned to get into and out of trouble at a very early age. Time has added to her opportunities—detained by Israeli intelligence; strip-searched by a Greek border patrol while traveling with a priest, sneaking into Laos. When not personally avoiding nuisances caused by her insatiable curiosity she creates lots of disorder in her two Urban Fantasy series—Alex Noziak and Kelly McAllister—as well as her co-authored young adult sci fi action-adventure series under the name Micah Caida. In her spare time, Mary writes writing craft books including, A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting, Writing Active Hooks, and Break Into Fiction® co-authored with Dianna Love.
