Write Angles 9-10

8/7/2019 Write Angles 9-10

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September

2010

"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be yourown, instead of someone else's."

Billy Wilder

Screenwriter Billy Wilder (19062002) came to Hollywood from Germany during

WWII. He and Charles Brackett wrote many classic films we love today: Sunset

Boulevard, The Apartment, and The Seven Year Itch, starring Marilyn Monroe.


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Did you miss a Write Angles? Read back issues on Scribd.

The President's Message

Greetings for the second yearof the second hundred yearsof the California Writers Club.Young or old, black or white

or in between, famous orwannabees, we are alldedicated to the writtenword. Or spoken. The field isso wide open at the momentthat the categories of novel,short story, or biographybarely begin to cover all theways we are communicatingwith each other in the year

2010. Blogging, twittering, screen writinghumor, politics,romance, mysterybooks, radio, magazines, television,Internet. The Berkeley Branch will help you make sense ofthe bewildering array. Our plans for this year include thefollowing:

1) Monthly meetings on the third Sunday of the month withspeakers on a wide variety of topics emphasizing writingand publishing. Marketing know-how is discussed eachmonth at 1 p.m. before the featured speaker at 2 p.m.

2) Workshops to help with the craft of writing.

3) Critique groups of like-minded souls to stimulate,motivate, and improve writing skills in small settings.

4) Special events such as the picnic in Joaquin Miller Parkon July 10 to commemorate our founders.

5) Story contests for 5th graders in the spring and foradults in the fall.

You are invited to join in any activity or event, andfriendly people will answer your questions. See you soon!

Barbara Ruffner, President

September 2010

In this Issue:

The President's

Message

Changing of the Guard

September Speakers

Club News

Member News & Tidbits

Next MeetingSunday, Sept 19, 2010

1:30 to 4:00 p.m.

Upcoming Speakers

September 19:

Michael Larsen &

Elizabeth Pomada of the

Larsen-Pomada Literary

Agency

October 17:

Theresa LeYung Ryan

Build Your Name, Beat the

Game, Be Happily

Published

November 21:

Ann Seymour

The Art of the Interview,

and the writing of an

historical memoir

Upcoming Events
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About Us

The CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB, founded in 1909, is a 501(c) (3)

educational nonprofit dedicated to educating members and the public-

at-large in the craft of writing and in the marketing of their work. Ourmonthly meetings are free, open to the public, and feature a speaker,

an author even, or both!

Oakland Public Library

West Auditorium

125 14th Street

Entrance on Madison Street

between 13th and 14th Streets.

vVisit us atCWC-BERKELEY.COM
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ARE YOU IRRESISTIBLE?

September speakers: Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada

by David Baker

Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada, whose literary agency is the oldest in northern California,will be our featured speakers at the September 19 meeting. Since starting their business in 1972,Michael and Elizabeth have sold hundreds of books to more than one hundred publishers. They arealso co-founders of the San Francisco Writers Conference and the Writing for Change Conference.Well have a chance to ponder valuable lessons theyve learned during their long careers.

To make the most of this opportunity, lets prepare by going to www.larsen-pomada.com. Wellstart with Three Ways to Make Yourself Irresistible to Any Agent or Publisher. Part One,Understanding How Agents and Publishers Work, provides a detailed look at challenging realities.Did you know, for example, that the average investment a major publisher makes in a book ismore than $50,000? It follows that publishers try to protect their investments by holding down

advances and royalties, and by keeping as many subsidiary rights as possible. Enter the agent inour defense.

Part Two, Develop Your Craft, has useful how-to-write advice, including write what you love toread. In other words, improve your skills by analyzing how your favorite authors accomplish theeffects you admire. Part Three, Make a Commitment to Your Career, focuses on knowing yourselfand your goals. Among the suggestions offered: Start thinking of yourself as an entrepreneur, aself-employed professional running a small business.

No-nonsense material this. But spiced with humor. At one point Michael and Elizabeth feature anElmore Leonard character asking what kind of writing makes the most money. Another characteranswers: Ransom notes. As we confront our literary tribulations, perhaps we should adopt our

speakers motto: Life is short. Laugh first. Come and enjoy on September 19.

CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB FALL WORKSHOP: The Final Edit

CHARLOTTE COOK

Sunday, September 12, 2010, 1 p.m.

Delve into the real differences between developing a manuscript to completion and polishingthe manuscript for an audience of agents and publishers. This practical, interactive andentertaining workshop explores the differences between what peers suggest and when thatworks, and what an industry professional advises and when thats important. Charlotte givesa balanced accounting of what drives an editor to keep reading, stop reading, or ask for more

pages.

Charlotte Cook, MFA, has extensive experience as a publisher and story editor, bringing six award-winning novels to publication for KOMENAR Publishing (Writers Digest, February 2008). Shes apopular conference presenter, successful teacher, and workshop facilitator. In 2010, Charlottejudged four fiction categories for the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She will be facultyat the Willamette, Redwood, and California Central Coast Writers Conferences. She has led specialevents for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Southern Oregon Rogue River Writers, and California

Writers Club. With award-winning screenwriter Jon James Miller, shes developed AdaptingSideways, a book and workshops for screenwriters to write publishable novels. An article and
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excerpt can be found in the September-October issue of Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and thetwo will be presenting at the Fall LA EXPO and Big Bear Lake International Film Festival.

To Register:Send a check to the CWC for $9 (members) or $29 (nonmembers) to Madelen Lontiong, Treasurer,PO Box 6447, Alameda, CA 94501. Hurry, space is limited!

Bring first two pages of your novel, short story, or inquiry letter for Charlotte to critique.

Membership renewal

by Clifford Hui, Membership Chairman

The time remaining to renew your membership is diminishing. Join now and reserve your front rowseat to the all lineup of programs beginning with Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada, literaryagents, as the featured speakers at the September 19 meeting. Also in September, Charlotte Cookwill reprise her valuable workshop, "The Final Edit."

If you haven't renewed your membership, please do it today. And think about whom you know whowould benefit from membership. Invite them to apply.

Renewal Amount: $45Payable to: CWC-BBSend to Clifford Hui, Membership Chair; PO Box 6447, Alameda, CA 94501

Club PicnicA hundred-year-old CWC tradition was revived on July 10 when sixty members of several of theNorCal branches of the CWC met in the majestic setting of Joaquin Miller Park for food andfellowship. Organized by Bob Garfinkle, newly elected president of the CWC, of the FremontBranch, youngest of all CWC branches. Bob had substantial assistance from Linda Brown of thefounding Berkeley Branch.Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Annual Trade Show October 1416

Lloyd Lofthouse, co-chair of the Marketing Group, reports that plans for the Berkeley Branchexhibit at the NCIBA show are proceeding. Berkeley will have a significant presence, with threetables supported by nine authors. This commitment also entitles us to fifteen complimentary

badges. As the date draws near, members may request these passes.

Member News

CWC BERKELEY BRANCH MEMBERS: Please send Write Angles all the news about your life in theworld of art, letters, and literature, however it expresses itself. Your efforts andaccomplishments inspire courage in others. Anne Fox

Tatjana Greiner is a playwriting mentor of Each One Reach One, a Bay Area Organization dedicated

to mentoring imprisoned youth through theater arts. The program has just been selected a 2010Coming Up Taller Semifinalist by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, theNational Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.


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Kristen Caven (www.kristencaven.com) launched her unique memoir, Perfectly Revolting: MyGlamorous Cartooning Career, at a historical event at Mills College this spring. In addition to herauthor event at the May CWC meeting, Kristen did book signings at Oakland's Laurel Bookstore andMontclair's Great Good Place for Books, and was featured in an article in the June 4, 2010 issue ofthe Montclarion/Mercury News/Marin IJ. (Note errata.)

Nonnie Thompson, currently a Montana resident, reports that an agent asked to represent herafter the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) conference in April. Nonnie is nowunder contract for her memoir, Time It Was: Memoir of a Modern Pioneer. Learn about aremarkable life and help Nonnie to develop her platform by going to her blog, www.timeitwas-nonniethompson.blogspot.com/ (And What a Time It WasAlternative Living Today) and to her Website www.nonnie-thompson.com/

Charlotte Cook and Jon James Miller are showcased in Creative Screenwriting Magazine'sSeptember/October issue with an interview and excerpt fromAdapting Sideways: How to Turn YourScreenplay into a Publishable Novel. The book, their methodology and information on how to makea novel appeal to an agent and publisher, debuts September 8 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon

now. Primary audience is screenwriters and intermediate and advanced novelists. (A proposal for alonger book is with their agent.) Creative Screenwriting has invited Charlotte and Jon to bepresenters at the annual LA EXPO. For Charlottes workshop, The Final Edit, on September 12,see Events/Workshops at www.cwc-berkeley.com/. See animation on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=86smAU4YY-U.

W. E. Reinka, Berkeley Branch member living in Oregon, has had his nonfiction piece, "Landfalls,"accepted for the statewide CWC anthology, West Winds, expected to be published this fall.

Anne Foxs story, It Comes to This, has also been accepted for West Winds.

Amos White, CWC-BB member and member of Alameda Island Poets, emceed in July Alamedasfirst Summer Site Write literary series, with Webster Street as the subject.

Poet Alysa Chadow, her guide dog Ellen at her side, read about people of the West End, seen andunseen. Her poem, along with the other works and photos, were on display at the AlamedaMulticultural Center on Lincoln Avenue during August.

Therese Pipe, who coordinates the oral history collection for the Berkeley Historical Society,reviewed and discussed the contents of the Berkeley Co-op oral histories with Greg Patmore,Research Professor from the University of Sidney, Australia, in August 2010. Currently, Theresecontinues her involvement with oral histories, awaiting publication, of such noteworthy Berkeleyfigures as Ying Lee, Berkeleys first and only Asian city council member, and the late ProfessorKenneth H. Cardwell, of UC Berkeley. A current photo exhibit sponsored by the Berkeley CameraClub, with a reception on September 10 at Red Oak Realty Co on Solano Avenue, includes Thereses

work. More information is available at [email protected].

Tidbits

Submit announcements to Write Angles with "Tidbits" in the subject line.

Tanya Grove has written a charming children's story/poem. Watch a less than two minute video ofthe story read by an engaging child.http://www.smories.com/watch/blue/

Amos White has taken on the task of expanding our public outreach to include Internet postings.

Barry Boland, himself a former talk show host, is reaching out to radio and television stations.
http://www.kristencaven.com/http://www.timeitwas-nonniethompson.blogspot.com/http://www.timeitwas-nonniethompson.blogspot.com/http://www.nonnie-thompson.com/http://www.cwc-berkeley.com/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86smAU4YY-Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86smAU4YY-Umailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86smAU4YY-Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86smAU4YY-Uhttp://www.cwc-berkeley.com/http://www.nonnie-thompson.com/http://www.timeitwas-nonniethompson.blogspot.com/http://www.timeitwas-nonniethompson.blogspot.com/http://www.kristencaven.com/


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The CWC-BB bought an 89-page Bay Area Media List with contact information for over 1,100 MediaOutlets that Publicity Chair Linda Brown and Barry are reviewing now.

Linda Brown, Publicity chair, would like to hear from members interested in contributing skills andknowledge or learning more about media.

Kristen Caven would like to invite members of the club to a write-in about climate change as partof a Global Work Party on 10/10/10. The CO2 in the atmosphere is currently 390 parts per million,far beyond the maximum sustainable number of 350ppm. (Throughout human history it has been272.) As writers can help spread understanding about this fact wherever and however we write.Visit Write-350 on FaceBook, Redroom, or 350.org to learn more. Please pass the word on.

"Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles isn't a realist."

Billy Wilder

Write Angles 9-10

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