Write Angles March 2011

8/7/2019 Write Angles March 2011

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March

2011

Ka te Douglas W iggin [18561923] established the first freekindergarten west of the Rocky Mountains in San Francisco in1878. She supported her lifelong devotion to the early childhoodeducation movement by writing childrens literature. The Birds'Christmas Carol (1887) was written while she lived in CaliforniaMark Twain wrote of Wiggins' most famous novel, Rebecca ofSunnybrook Farm, "Beautiful and moving and satisfying."


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Linda Brown, president

contentsPresidents Message 1

March Speaker & Book Review 2

Poetry Page 3

Survey Results 4

March Survey 4

NorCal News 5

Berkeley Board Highlights 5

February Workshop 6

Member News & Tidbits 7

Announcements 8+

upcoming

events3/13 Workshop: Seth Harwood

"Dialogue in Scene: BringingYour Characters to Life"

3/15 Deadline 5th Grade StoryContest

3/20 Speaker: Tanya Egan Gibson"Worldbuilding"

4/10Workshop: Alon Shalev"Social Change in Fiction"

Presidents MessageView from the Mountain Top

Hello, members of the California Writers Club, Berkeley Branch. I am honored toshare the branch presidency this fiscal year with Lloyd Lofthouse and BarbaraRuffner. Lloyd continues to co-chair the Marketing Group, and Barbara hasplanned the workshops through June. Since I love being in the mountains, I amcalling this column View from the Mountain Top. With this first column I willintroduce myself and invite you to introduce yourself to me by phone or e-mail.

About Me

At my recent high school reunion in a small, rural Missouri community, one of myclassmates asked: Linda did you ever write that book? I must have looked athim with surprise, because he added, Dont you remember third grade? Everyweek you would bring me something to read and critique.

While I havent yet written a book, Ive written academic papers and advocacypapers as well as media releases and stories for magazines, newspapers, andbusiness newsletters. I also published a quarterly magazine on economic devel-opment with a subscription list of 3,000 readers.

My business writing has covered a wide range of public policy issues: housing,transportation, environmental protection, safety, and emergency response.

I did not see myself as a writer in those days because I worked on teams withpeople from diverse backgrounds, (e.g. legal, scientific, operations, and the pub-lic at large.) The team relied on the communications consultant with a degree injournalism to polish the final document for release to the client or the public.

My Take on the CWC

Being a member of the CWC-BB for nearly three years has helped me improve myown skills and learn more about the craft of writing. I fully support CWCslaudable mission enshrined in the 1913 incorporation papers. The shortenedversion of the mission is to educate writers of all levels of expertise in the artand craft of writing and in the marketing of their work. During my tenure, I planto use this column to explore what that mission means today. (See below.)

About You

My goal is to get to know each of you personally. Please feel free to contact meand tell me about your writing hopes and dreams and what the CWC-BB means toyou. Right now, my e-mail inbox overflows, so best to call about 4:30 p.m.weekdays at 510-530-1261, or e-mail [email protected].

Mission Statement: The California Writers Club (CWC) shall foster professionalism inwriting, promote networking of writers with the writing community, mentor new

writers, and provide literary support for writers and the writing community as is

appropriate through education and leadership. The club supports all genres, writing

styles and related professions such as editing, publishing, photographic journalism and

agents. The branches provide an environment where members can obtain critique of

their efforts, attend workshops, and share experiences. Branches are encouraged to

mentor writers of all ages by providing educational programs for adults and fostering

youth programs.


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Write Angles 2March Speaker

Worldbuilding with Tanya Egan GibsonBy David Baker

Four heirloom beet slicesone golden, two albino, onestripednext to a Cyrillic drizzle of dressing above a

patch of bitter greens had constituted the composed

salad. The tower of veal medallions and foie gras had

taken longer to deconstruct than to eat.

Are we at home, about to start dinner? No, this is not theworld most of us are used to. Its the one created byTanya Egan Gibson, our featured speaker for the March20 meeting. Gibsons debut novel, How to Buy a Love ofReading, published by Dutton in May 2009 and by Palmein paperback in July 2010, supplied the quotation above.

The contrast between the real world and the one we feel

entitled to is central to How to Buy a Love of Reading,which features Carley Wells, a high school junior at aprivate school in a wealthy community. Carleys parents,in unrelenting competition with their upscale peers,attempt to correct their daughters shortcomings, chiefamong them a lack of interest in reading. They hire alive-in writer to create a book Carley can appreciate, andthe funor should we say assault on pretentions of thewell-to-dobegins.

An alumna of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers,Gibson pays close attention to setting and description,the focus of her presentation at the March 20 meeting.

Exciting, dynamic characters are catalyzed, she

photo credit: Lisa Keating

writes, from exciting, dynamic settings. We willdiscuss how to create settings that draw in the readerhow to avoid falling into boring-but-comfortable settitraps, and how to research exotic settings withouthaving to leave your maybe-not-so-exotic home.

What does Gibson mean by setting-traps? Find out athe meeting. Join the discussion and learn techniques

for building the world your characters inhabit.

Review of Novella Carpenters Farm City

By Alon Shalev

Many books tell about peoples personal crusade to get back to nature, whether heading out tothe wilds or bringing the farm into the urban setting. Novella Carpenters Farm City stands outfor me because it is a stones throw from where I live.

I found this a cool book to read. You get a flavor for the neighborhood and the people whoshare, often with a healthy dose of skepticism, how Novellas project grows. This is not a how-to book, though a lot can be learned of what to do and what not to do. Novellas unabashed

honesty hooks you.

I was captivated for most of the book. It does seem that the emphasis of the book moved towards animal rearing,which is not something that I, in my mostly veggie lifestyle, could relate to. If you want to follow the progress of thelittle farm in the city, Ghost Town Farm is the name of Novellas blog. Check it out.

Alon Shalev is the author ofThe Accidental Activist and A Gardeners Tale. He is the Executive Director of the San Francisco Hille

Foundation, a nonprofit that provides spiritual and social justice opportunities to Jewish students in the Bay Area. More on Alon

Shalev at www.alonshalev.com.


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Write Angles 3Write Angles 3

Poetry

Page

Three Rebellious Women PoetsBy Barbara Ruffner

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) grew uppoor, but a woman admirer paid her tuition toVassar. Beautiful, red-haired, frank,independent, and scandalous, this Pulitzer Prizewinning feminist had this to say about her life:

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends

It gives a lovely light!

Collected Poems, Harper and Row, New York (1956)

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) was a poet, bookreviewer, essayist, and member of the Caf Societyin New York in the 1920s and 30s. Flapper, sexualexperimenter, drinker, and smoker, she had a neat,ironic attitude toward her many lovers and a briskoutlook on death.

By the time you swear youre his,Shivering and sighing,

And he swears his passion isInfinite, undying

Lady, make a note of this:One of you is lying.

Portable Dorothy Parker, Revised, Viking Press: New York (1973)

Born in Pennsylvania, Gertrude Stein (18741946)was a writer and thinker. She had a famous literarysalon on the Left Bank in Paris, first with herbrother, Leo, and then her secretary, friend andlover, Alice B. Toklas. She lived briefly in Oakland,California, where she said, There is no there

there.She coined the term Lost Generationforthose who lived in the 1920s after the horrible FirstWorld War. Probably most famous for Rose is arose is a rose, a line in a poem.

For us today, her quote, Everybody gets so muchinformation all day long they lose their commonsense, is the most poignant. Her poems are toolong to fit on this page. Look her up on Safari, or tryout your local library.


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Write Angles 4February Survey Results

72% Say New South Whitewashes History with Its Edition of Huckleberry Finn

By Tanya Grove

Well, most of the 18 respondents objected to the New South edition of TwainsHuckleberry Finn because it whitewashes history and ignores the very issues Twain wasexploring. Two people felt that school-age kids should have access to the New Southversion. Three purists would not condone any censorship. Nobody applauded the newedition or indicated they would prefer it. Someone commented that the first tworesponses could represent one persons view, and in fact did.

The most interesting part of analyzing the survey results was reading the very thoughtfulaccompanying comments. Room does not permit including them all, but here is asampling. Some were edited for space.

Changing the language changes the context of the ideas that are presented.

Leaving out part of the truth is a way to tell a lie.

We need to look at Huckleberry Finn both in its historical context and what it means today. It was one of themost powerful antislavery books of its timeWhile the portrait of the slave Jim was abstract and condescendinghewas an emotionally powerful depiction of the oppression of slavery. Dont mess with this classic work.

I think that having an edited/censored version available in order to increase readership is not a bad thing initself. However, (it) should be clearly labeled.

"Slave" and "Nigger" have different meanings! I think Larry Wilmore said it best: "Slave is just a job description.And in the book, Jim's not even a slave anymore; he ran away from it! You can't run away from being a nigger..."

I can't possibly make a judgment without reading both versions of the book. Any survey taken from peoplewithout knowing if they read the books for comparison can't really be valid.

"Censorship" is beside the point. The reason an alterationshould not be tolerated is simply because the authordidn't write it that way.

There should be a clear explanation at the beginning of the bookthat the edited version is specifically for thereading and study of this particular work in schools.

Judging by the number of responses, more people are inclined to respond to a survey if its done through SurveyMonkey. The people have spoken. From now on, this is how Write Angles will conduct surveys.

March Write AnglesSurvey:

What Are Your Favorite Writing Resources?

What writing resources do you find most helpful? Is

there one book on craft you swear by? Do you findgoing to a class regularly works best? What aboutwriting retreats? Conferences? Maybe your critique/support group is your greatest resource. Share withyour fellow writers your favorite writing resource onSurvey Monkey no later than Sunday, March 13. Thenwe will gather that information and get it right back toyou. Just click on this link to respond:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9WZHTK2.


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Write Angles 5

February Workshop

Radio Days: How to Thrive on the Airby Barry Boland

Every day, more than 10,200 guests appear on approximately 6,000radio talk or interview shows across America. There are 900 TVshows to consider for interview possibilities. Consider that 94percent of the guests are authors who do not have recognizablenames. Add to this the growing number of bloggers and web sitesthat may be interested in your content. That's the great need dayin and day out: Material. Content.

Your voice is your personal book-jacket cover. How you say some-thing is five times more important than content. Your voice will bejudged. The audience will form a rapid impression of you in a fewshort minutes. Barry Boland and Shereen Rahman

Like a fingerprint, every voice is unique. There are four major

elements in your voice production: pitch, quality (timbre), volume,and rate of speech.

We all have a habitual voice pitch. That is the pitch you use on a daily basis.Your habitual pitch may not be the same as optimal pitch.

I learned what most of us learned: it's

easy to read too fast on the radio!

-attendee Kristen Caven

An acoustical analysis ofthe "best" voices revealedthat Americans prefermelodious, relativelylow-pitched voices withvery little high frequencynoise. By contrast, "worstvoices" were found to behigh-pitched relative tothe norm for the gender.

David Simmons

Radio works best as an intimate conversation, one person talkingto another.

If you are asked to read a portion of your book, be prepared. Pick

an excerpt where there is action, dialogue, and a page turner atits conclusion. Choose something that will get the attention ofyour listener. The same is true for nonfiction. Make it stand foryour book.

The most retainable message and impressions come from anenthusiastic tone of voice, relaxed body language, and theconfidence you exude, the stuff we have been hitting here allalong. Your credibility is built on those characteristics.

Tips for landing radio Interviews:

It's important to maintain a list of updatedand organized radio shows. This will helpyou target radio stations that may caterto your reading audience.

Contacting hosts and producers directlywill help you establish a personalrelationship with the station and willmake a lasting impression.

A phone call to a producer is a mini-

audition. Use your best vocal production.

Booking small stations can be an ordeal.

Prepare for these interviews as thoughyou have just met someone for the firsttime and you tell them about your book.It's a longer elevator pitch, followed bymore explanation.


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Write Angles 6NorCal News

Highlights from February Meeting

The ten NorCal branches of CWC put finishing touches on plans for the workshop, Branch Leadership Pizzazz! to beheld in Walnut Creek on May 7 from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. The goal of this workshop is to help the branches growmembership and encourage volunteers. If you are interested in attending the workshop, contact Linda Brown, 510-

530-1261.Rik Scott, president of the South Bay Branch, webmaster for Fremont Area Writers, South Bay Writers, and the CWC-Central Board, and active NorCal member, suggested these free applications for writers:

yWriter: Extraordinary Novel Processor and Management Software

Sonar: Submission Tracking Software -

Celtx: Excellent Script Processing and Management Software, useful for writing screenplays.

Berkeley Branch

Highlights from CWC Board Meeting

In attendance:

Lloyd Lofthouse

Linda Brown

Madelen Lontiong

Barbara Gilvar

Kymberlie Ingalls

The meeting began with our esteemed Treasurer, Madelen Lontiong, reporting that membership is up in the BerkeleyBranch, so a hearty thank you goes out to all new and returning members. Your dues are such an important part ofmaintaining the branch and providing great programs and workshops for all of us writers.

The raffle that benefits the 5th-Grade Writing Contest is doing well. Each ticket we purchase at the monthlymeetings is a chance to win great prizes your participation makes a difference.

Other highlights included a change in venue for future board meetings back to Berkeley, to be more centralized formembers. Also, the board is working on a document to detail job descriptions so that those looking to volunteer fora position in the club will know exactly what is expected of them. The goal is to have something for everyone, andclear job descriptions will make it easier for members to find that something.

Weve lost a member to relocationMatt Martin has moved on to the Midwest. His work on the CWC-BB website hasbeen appreciated by all.

Our monthly meetings are free and open to the public and feature a speaker, an author event, or both.

Oakland Public Library

West Auditorium125 14th Street 94612

Entrance on Madison Streetbetween 13th & 14th Streets.


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Member NewsLucille Bellucci will be at Copperfield's Books on Sunday, March 6,1-3 p.m.3900A Bel Aire Plaza, Napa, for their Meet and Greet.Tel. 707 252-8002.

Francine Howard has been invited as a visiting scholar to speakand mentor the Faculty Writing Collaborative at Meharry MedicalCollege in Nashville this March, all expenses paid. Meharry is theoldest African-American medical school in the U.S.

Tatjana Greiners short story, A Doctor in La Paz, sold toUntreed Reads, is available on Kindle and other e-readers.http://store.untreedreads.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=80&products_id=112

Kristen Caven

Kristen Caven says, This is me LITERALLY juggling all of my current literary efforts. The second edition of PerfectlyRevolting is coming out next week, and I've got a proof copy of its companion, The Reason She Left, in the other hand

David Gray is promoting his work-in-progress, How and Why AllLanguages Continuously Change. Every first Monday of the month throuApril, he will present a talk in the back room of Cafe Au Coquelet, 2000University Avenue, Berkeley. [email protected]

Al Levensons The Topcoat and Risa Nyes Wax Angel are featuredin the 23rd Flash in the Pan section of the current Tiny Lights: AJournal of Personal Narrative.

Tidbits

Tatjana Greiner is stepping down as editor-in-chief of the Write On!Story Contest, and CWC-BB is looking for someone to step up for this

wonderful literary opportunity. The editor-in-chief runs the contest,which involves finding a judge, recruiting readers, keeping track of thestories, and promoting the contest. The editor has to be someone who'spatient, organized, and passionate about writing, even the imperfectkind. If you think this could be you, please contact Tatjana [email protected].

Interested in science fiction/fantasy writing? A group is being formed toshare and critique short stories, screenplays, and novels-in-process in thscience fiction and fantasy genres, broadly conceived. If you are writingin this genre, or just enjoy the genre enough to commit to reading andconstructively critiquing new work, please contact Jennifer Snow at

[email protected]. With luck and interest, we may have our firstmeeting in March.

Write Angles welcomes letters to the editor, book reviews, and articles of interest to the wri

community. Submit to [email protected]. If you are a member and want to share news, plea

write Member News in the subject line. The deadline is on the 15th of the month.

About UsThe 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.

contacts

CLUB OFFICERS

President: Lloyd Lofthouse

Vice President: Linda Brown

Past President:Barbara Ruffner

Secretary: Kymberlie Ingalls

Treasurer: Madelen Lontiong

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Marketing: Lloyd Lofthouse

Publicity Chair: Linda Brown

Membership: Clifford Hui

New Member Orientation: Barbara Gilvar

Speaker Chair: Jane Glendinning

Workshop Chair: Barbara Ruffner

Write AnglesEditor: Tanya Grove

Copyeditor: Anne Fox

Delegate Central Board: Lloyd Lofthouse

Delegate CWC-Norcal: Linda Brown

Web Manager: PositionOpen

Write On! Story Contest: Position Open

5th-Grade Story Contest: Debby Frisch


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Redwood Writers Presents:

Poetry Workshop with Gwynn O'Gara and Arthur Dawson - March 12th

Create and Polish your PoetryWrite new poems with veteran poetry teachers Gwynn OGara and Arthur Dawson.

Contact: Osha Hayden, Publicity Director / Redwood Writers branch of the CWC707-570-9969, [email protected]

Saturday, March 12th, 1-5 pm at the Flamingo Hotel Garden Room, 2777 Fourth St. Santa Rosa, Ca. 95405(707-523-4745).Cost: $20 RW Member, $25 non-member. Refreshments will be available.For details: http://redwoodwriters.org/series-workshop/workshops/To register: Send a check payable to: Redwood Writers, PO Box 4687, Santa Rosa, Ca. 95402. Include yourname and Poetry Workshop.

Redwood Writers Presents: Spring into Publication Workshop - April 2

Spring into Publication Workshop

Experts on editing, book designing, publishing and pitching will present strategies for writers who want topublish their work.

Contact: Osha Hayden, Publicity Director / Redwood Writers branch of the CWC707-570-9969, [email protected]

Spring into Publication Workshop, Saturday, April 2nd, 9 am-3:30 pm at the Flamingo Hotel

2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa, 95405, (707-523-4745)

$20 Redwood Writers and CWC members / $30 non-members.REGISTER: BY MAIL: Send name, email, phone number, Pre-Pub Workshop, and check to:Redwood Writers, PO Box 4687, Santa Rosa, 95402.For details: http://redwoodwriters.org/series-workshop/workshops/

Charlotte Cook and Jon James Miller will present comprehensive strategies that will take your work to apublishable standard. They will also address pitching and selling your book. Participants will have a chance topitch their book for critique. Authors - bring your pitches.

Marlene Cullen will discuss editing and revision groups, (the upside and downside).

Persia Woolley, author of numerous books, will tell us how she got her manuscripts ready to becometraditionally published books.

Redwood Writers Authors Panel will share their experiences in the world of self-publishing picture books,novels and non-fiction.


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Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Parkin conjunction with The Vinapa Foundation

present

YONE NOGUCHI IN CALIFORNIA

A Japanese Poet Among Oaklands Famed Writers

An exhibit based upon Nina Egerts photographic essayNoguchis California: Poetic Visions of a 19th Century Dharma Bum

February June 2011

Book signing event featuring tea ceremony and flower arranging

by students of Yoshie Akiba of Kojin-an Zendo.

2465 34th Ave. at HydeOakland, CA510-532-9142www.peraltahacienda.org

Write Angles March 2011

Documents

Transcript of Write Angles March 2011