California Writers Club

Central Coast (In-Person): In A Flash: The Art and Craft of the Short, Short Story
2023-06-20 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Denver) | 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.

Fremont (Zoom): Revising Your Own Work
2023-06-24 14:00 - 16:00 | CA
Jane K. Cleland
“Revising Your Own Work”
If you write, you know the process takes time. Even though you
may feel like you’re finished when you’ve completed your manu
script.you’ve only just begun. Now you have to start revisions.
This means “polishing the story, adding complexity to the charac-
ters, and burnishing the prose,” Jane Cleland explains. “This is
when you take your manuscript from draft to submission-ready.
Join FAW, a branch of the California Writers Club, on Saturday,
June 24, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm for “Revising Your Own Work”.
The presentation, by award-winning author Jane K. Cleland, should
not be missed. It’s FREE and open to everyone, whether you’re pub-
lished, have just finished your first manuscript, or have an idea you’d
like to put down on paper. Writers must revise; Jane can help!
lane Cleland is the author of the 14-book Josie Prescott Anti-
ques Mystery series, has won Agatha Awards for her how-to
books on writing, and writes articles on writing craft for the
Writer’s Digest Magazine. She teaches writing at the univer-
sity level, and offers FREE monthly webinars on writing craft.
For more about Jane K. Cleland go to: www.janecleland.com
To get your link to this event, follow the instructions to the right.
Go to cwc-fremontareawriters.org for more on FAW and to
calwriters.org for the California Writers Club.
Attention Writers and Poets
FAW Social Write-In
Social Write-In 2nd Sat. June 10th 2 to 3:30 PM on Zoom
CONTACT: Scott Davidson at scottfrombayside@yahoo.com
FAW Writers’ Salon
Writers’ Salon 4t Mondav June 26th 7 to 9 PM on Zoom
CONTACT: Tony Pino at up.dragonfly.com@gmail.com
Award-Winning Author
Jane K. Cleland
Everyone is Welcome!
FAW General Mtg
Sat. June 24th 2 to 4 PM
FREE Zoom Meeting by Invitation
Email scottfrombayside@yahoo.com
to request a link for the meeting
Guest speaker: Jane K. Cleland

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.

High Desert (Zoom): What are Agents Looking For? Act II
2023-06-27 18:00 - 20:00 | CA
ZOOM MEETINGS – ACT II
LUCIANNE DIVER, LITERARY AGENT
JUNE 27, 2023 AT 6 PM (TUESDAY)
ZOOM MEETING

What are agents looking for? How can an agent help writers? What is required to become an agent? Best general advice an agent would give to writers today. If one does not have an agent, what things can he/she do to get representation? ​
​
Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years at New York City’s prestigious Spectrum Literary Agency. With her sharp eye and gift for spotting original new voices, Lucienne is one of the most well-respected agents in the industry. A lifelong book addict, she graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Potsdam with dual majors in English/writing and anthropology. She thus came well-equipped for her work as an agent.

Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold well over seven hundred titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, horror, women’s fiction, romance, mystery/suspense and young adult. Her authors have been honored with the Hugo, Nebula, Colorado Book and National Readers’ Choice Awards, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. A publishing veteran, Lucienne has superb industry knowledge, and a keen understanding of the foreign rights market.
This zoom presentation is open free of charge to all CWC members. Registration is not required. However, there will be limited seating for what we feel will be a popular event.
​Topic: Act 2 Meeting HDCWC
Time: 6:00
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

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.
