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In this Issue
From our President
Chapter News
Member News
UN Corner
Don't Forget! 
Don't forget to RENEW your WNBA/LA Membership!
We welcome new members all year long. Dues of $45.00 cover the membership year of June 1 - May 31.
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NOT A MEMBER YET?
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Donate & Support our Chapter
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Check out our new Chapter Directory online.
www.wnba-books.org/la/

For information about the Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature
 CLICK HERE
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Julia Boehringer Facebook
Thank You to our Generous Donors
Cynthia Levin
Gerald Everett Jones
Rozanne Fischer
Alma Hudson
Suzanne Kleinbub
Sponsoring Member
Margaret Karlin
 
Become a Local Sponsoring Member

Local sponsoring membership is available to any individual, local organization, or agency that desires to make an initial or additional annual contribution to the chapter.   

Become a Sponsoring Member: CLICK HERE 
 
Dates to Remember  
Nov. 23: Book Soup Presents
Dec. 14: Holiday Potluck
Dec. 14: Strum Book Signing
BOARD MEMBERS  
WNBA/LA Executive Board
President:   
Rachelle Yousuf 
Vice President: 
Ruth Light 
Corresponding Secretary:
Cynthia Levin 
Recording Secretary: 
Ruth Garcia-Corrales 
Treasurer:
Suzanne Kleinbub 
Immediate Past President:
Ruth Light
 
 
Committee and Representatives
Membership Chairs: 
Suzanne Kleinbub and
Ruth Light 
 
Graphic Designer:
Cheyenne Yousuf 

Auditor: 
Holly Shaffer 
Judy Lopez Award Liaison: 
Meg Flanders 
 

Newsletter Editors:
Editor: 

Ruth Light 

Member News Editor: 

Jovita Jenkins 

The Bookwoman Coordinator:
Cali Gilbert
 

WNBA/LA Web Mistress: 
Terri Negron

Members at Large:

Rosalind Myatt
Joan Slottow

Jeff Slottow
Lindsay Lees 

Julia Teweles

 

Open Positions:

* Chapter News Editor
* Hospitality

* Parliamentarian

* Publicity Chair

* Social Media Chair

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Join our Mailing List!

From our President 

Dear Chapter Members,

 

I had the absolute pleasure last weekend to attend another one of our lovely WNBA/LA Literary Teas. When it was over, as I was running around trying to clean and organize and manage, I had a number of people stop me to talk about their thoughts on the WNBA, things we could do, things they wanted to make happen. And I thought, "This is what being president is supposed to be about." Not the cleaning and the managing. Not the emails. Not the meetings. It's about really connecting with the people that make the WNBA possible and whose dedication has allowed the chapter to flourish and grow in the three short years that I have been involved.

 

So with that in mind, I really want to invite everyone to connect with me about their membership, and about their thoughts and feelings about the chapter. I've made this offer before, and I want to make it again. It's important to me that we, as the board, are meeting the needs of the membership.

 

Our Holiday Potluck is coming up on December 14th, so join us for good food, to celebrate the end of another great year, and to have the opportunity to connect with us!  I hope to see you there, and I look forward to chatting!

 

Sincerely,
Rachelle Yousuf, Chapter President

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Chapter News

NATIONAL READING GROUP MONTH

 

We sponsored an author panel for National Reading Group Month in October. Our four intriguing authors for the panel at Diesel, A Bookstore, were Cynthia Bond (Ruby), Gabrielle Zevin (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry), Michelle Huneven (Off Course), and Gina B. Nahai (The Luminous Heart of Jonah S.). Chapter members hobnobbed and had dinner with the authors before the event, and at the end of the evening we raffled off two free massage certificates, which were won by long-time member and former chapter treasurer, Jeff Slottow! 
Gina B. Nahai, Michelle Huneven, Diane Leslie (moderator), Gabrielle Zevin, Cynthia Bond

 

Kristen Klein, Cheyenne Yousuf,
Rachelle Yousuf (chapter president)

 

LITERARY TEA

 

In September we enjoyed one of our three annual Literary Teas at the home of Joan Jackson, and our special guest that day was Annie Kim, community engagement fellow for the US Fund for UNICEF. Annie gave a wonderful, informative talk about WNBA's relationship to the UN and UNICEF: And we collected $200.00 in donations!

Renee Swindle, Julia Mary Gibson, Ann Hamilton,
our hostess Joan Jackson, our event organizer Julia Drake

 

LAWC (LOS ANGELES WRITERS CONFERENCE)

 

Currently we are organizing our annual spring writers' conference, and will be collaborating for the first time with Mt. St. Mary's College. (See picture below.) We expect that this collaboration will be a fruitful and productive venture, and are looking forward to expanding our outreach.

 

We have been presenting this writers conference for several years now, although this is only the second year it has been named the Los Angeles Writers Conference (LAWC). We will focus on fiction this year, and this all-day conference is scheduled for March 14. Every year it gets better, and this year is no exception. Check out the flyer below, and sign up now! Additional details will be in your inbox soon!

Click image to download flyer

 

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Donate & Support our Chapter - CLICK HERE

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Member News 

Nancy Young's debut novel Strum was recently named a Finalist - Literary Fiction in the 2014 USA Best Book Awards, and has collected a total of six book awards in 2014. Earlier in the year, the book was celebrated during the annual BookExpo America publishing convention in New York City as the winner of the Silver Medal for Best Regional Fiction (Canada-east) in the Independent Publishers Book Awards. Hailed as the "world's largest book competition," the 2014 "IPPYs" drew over 5,500 entries from all 50 U.S. states, nine Canadian provinces, and 32 countries. This year's USA Best Book contest yielded over 2,000 entries from mainstream publishers like Simon & Schuster to Yale University Press and hundreds of independent houses. Young said, "World renowned writers like John Irving have received similar awards and I am delighted that my first novel could garner such respect."

 

Nancy is having a book signing on Sunday, Dec. 14, from 3-5 pm at Gatsby Books, 5535 E. Spring St. in Long Beach. (562) 208-5862
 

Click for more info or Buy Now

 



 
Conny Hutchinson's book,  Foothold in the Mountainis alive and well! It's an exciting read, and a great holiday gift!  Barnes & Noble at The Grove displays it on first floor front.  Amazon and Author House carry "Foothold..." in all three formats. Know that I deeply appreciate your support of me...and my life story!


 


Book Soup presents an author reading of THE BELIEF IN Angels by J. Dylan Yates, 8818 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA. @3PM on November 23

 

Growing up in her parents' crazy hippie household on an island off the coast of Boston, Jules's imagination and sense of humor are the weapons she wields as a defense against the chaos of her family's household. Somewhere between routine discipline with horsewhips, gun-waving gambling debt collectors, and LSD-laced breakfast cereal adventures, tragedy strikes a blow from which Jules may never recover. Jules's story alternates with that of her grandfather, Szaja, a Jew who survives the murderous Ukranian pogroms of the 1920s and the Majdanek death camp. Please visit J. Dylan Yates's website at jdylanyates.com
 




 

Carrie Cross's second novel, Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels, releases 12/9 for Read Tuesday. Book one, Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills, has an average rating of 4.7 stars and is available now on Amazon, iTunes, Kindle and Nook.


 


 



 

Losing Touch, written by WNBA member, Sandra Hunter, came out in July this year. It follows the story of Arjun who brings his Indian family to London. His family seems to adapt easily, but he doesn't. His sense of alienation is further compounded when he begins to experience the symptoms of a muscular degenerative disease.  Losing Touch has 5 star ratings at GoodReads and amazon.com, and was adopted as a Sociology class course book at Moorpark College in Ventura, CA.  Sandra gave a reading in Chaparral Hall, Room 5125, Cal State Northridge University on November 12 at 7pm.


 



 

Sharmagne Leland-St. John, Editor-in-Chief of Quill and Parchment Press is proud to announce our newest book, Words May Go, by t. wagner. Words May Go has been chosen as an Award-Winning Finalist in the "Poetry: General" category of the 2014 USA Best Book Awards.  t.wagner lives and works in the American Midwest, where he writes fiction and poetry. His work can be found on several online writing sites - including everything2 (where he writes under the pen name etouffee) and  Quill and Parchment. He has previously contributed to several poetry anthologies. This is his first collection of poetry. Copies can be purchased  through our ETSY store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HechoEnEcho?ref=search_shop_redirect


 



 

Lynn Brown Rosenberg's steamy memoir, "My Sexual Awakening at 70" has been published and is available on Amazon.  It depicts Lynn's lively and uncensored triumph over sexual repression. A book signing with wine and talk is scheduled for December 9th at 7:00 p.m. at Gatsby Books, 5535 E. Spring Street, Long Beach, CA 90808, (562) 208-5862, www.gatsbybooks.com.  

 

Please visit Lynn's website at www.lynnbrownrosenberg.com.

 



Lisa-Catherine Cohen is rewriting her book, KUKA-The Miracle Child in the Red Coat, A Story of Courage, Love, and Survival, per bestselling author, and founder of NYU's prestigious Tisch School of Dramatic Writing, Jaqueline Park's advice. To write its foreword, she has nabbed multi-Oscar- and Emmy-winning Michael Berenbaum, Phd.  On Oct.19, 2014, at Barnes & Noble, Santa Monica Promenade, she was one of the readers for IWOSC Reads Its Own, and was featured prominently on Nov. 1st at the Ventura County Writers' Weekend's all-day master class taught by literary agent, Toni Lopopolo, and professor Shelly Lowenkopf.
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National News

YOU'LL BE GETTING A SURVEY...AND IT'S AN IMPORTANT ONE!

I admit...I delete almost every survey request I get. So I understand. We are all reluctant to fill out surveys!


But let me tell you why this one is very important.


WNBA is an all-volunteer non-profit organization whose mission is to support and encourage literacy and charity. Lofty goals. Hard to achieve. So our national board reaches out for support from many areas, and one of them is corporate America. In doing that, our national board will be asked to give evidence, to convince people, and to produce demographics to visibly show...what we do, who does it, how much we do, and how we do it.


 

That's where YOU come in! Please fill out the survey when it arrives in your inbox. The national board needs statistics to show what we do, and why corporations should support us with their money and sponsorship.


So that's it. We ask you to fill out the survey. You will help the Women's National Book Association to be bigger and better, and to serve YOU, its members. 

Our WNBA National Executive Board
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WNBA WRITING CONTEST! 
Lower submission cost for WNBA members! 
Check out the flyer...and send in your writing!


 

U.N Corner

Nearly one year ago, Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, tore through the Philippines at speeds of up to 195 miles-per-hour. The storm leveled villages and killed thousands - leaving millions of devastated survivors without shelter, clean water or food.

 

Thanks to your generous support, UNICEF was able deliver lifesaving aid to children and families in the deadly storm's immediate aftermath - and beyond. And even after the stories of Typhoon Haiyan's destruction faded from international headlines, UNICEF teams remained on the ground, helping children recover from trauma, return to school and rebuild their lives.

 

For this I am deeply grateful, as are the nearly 6 million children who were directly affected by the disaster.

 


 

I'm struck by how often I hear stories of Filipino people thanking UNICEF workers on the ground for their aid. That thank you belongs to you as well, those who supported UNICEF's efforts to restore shattered childhoods and rebuild communities. I wanted to share their gratitude with you - and show you the impact UNICEF has made in just one year.

 

Please take a minute to meet children like Gerald, Gale and Edegario in our One Year Afterphoto gallery.


 

Look for us in your inbox in mid-January 2015...

 
Do you know these EASILY CONFUSED WORDS?
* accede--to agree, exceed--to go beyond the limit
* affect--to act upon, effect--a result
* born--to have been brought forth, borne--carried
* capital--investment money, capitol--building in which government meets
* complement--something that completes another thing, compliment--a flattering comment
* straight--passing from one point directly to another, strait--a  narrow channel of water joining two bodies of water
* veracious--truthful, voracious--extremely hungry
HAPPY WRITING!!