Board of Directors
Roger Lubeck
,
President
Robbi Sommers Bryant
,
Vice President
Marilyn Lanier
,
Vice President
Malena Eljumaily
,
Treasurer
Adele Layton
,
Secretary
Judy M. Baker
, Membership Chair
Skye Blaine
, Newsletter Poetry Editor
Joelle Burnette
, Website Editor
Pamela Heck
,
Conference Volunteers
Marilyn Lanier
, Speaker Chair
Jeane Slone
, Author Launch/Sonoma County Fair
Deborah Walton
, PR/Newsletter Editor
Chairs and Editors
Les Bernstein
, Poetry Anthology Editor
Skye Blaine
, Newsletter Poetry Editor
Fran Claggett-Holland
, Poetry Anthology Editor
Robbi Sommers Bryant
, Hot Summer Nights
Sher Gamard
, Writers Salon
Marie Judson
, Critique Groups
Jeanne Jusaitis
, Author Support
Margarite Olmos
, PR Internal
Linda L. Reid
, Writers Circle
Deborah Taylor-French
, Author Support
Tommie Whitener
, 2019 Anthology Editor
Redwood Writers Meetings
are held the second Sunday of the month at the
2777 Fourth Street,
Santa Rosa
Board meetings take place before the general meeting, beginning at 12:30. You are welcome to join us at any time.
THIS MONTH'S MEETING
SUNDAY, MAY 19*
*(One week later because of Mother's Day)
2:00-4:30 pm
Character
Through
Action/Character As Action
Amanda McTigue
Arrive at 2:00 p.m. to register
and network
before the general meeting, which runs from 2:30-4:30.
We ask for a small fee of $5 from members and $10 from non-members to cover costs.
NEXT MONTH'S MEETING
Sunday, June 9
2:00–4:30 p.m.
Before submitting to an Agent: 50 Things to Check
Elizabeth Kratch,
Agent with Cameron
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CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!
As a member of Redwood Writers, you have a unique opportunity to meet and mingle with like-minded wordsmiths in all areas of Club activities.
As we enter the busy spring and summer months, we very much need you to step up to help out.
Here are some immediate needs:
- Speaker team
- Merchandise Chair
- RW Historian
- Table host at Sonoma County Fair in August
- Assist with workshop setup
- Greet and register members at monthly meetings or workshops
- Organize an event
- Help with publicity
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BOARD NOTES AND NEWS
Self-Promotion
by Deborah Walton, Board Member
As writers, we sometimes find ourselves stumbling over that #2 pencil-thin line between art and commercialism. Sitting alone in our make-shift garret, translating deep thoughts into grammatically correct sentences, are we hoping against hope that those words will find a grand audience keen to hear what we have to say? Or are we writing for an audience of one--ourselves?
"Look what I did! I wrote a book!"
As a "new" writer with over 30 years of experience in writing for others, I struggle with this conundrum. Not so much for myself, but for the writers around me that seem to not understand the fundamentals of salesmanship. In my former life in the commercial world, my words had power. I liked capturing people with words, then using them to move my target from apathy to ecstasy. Or at least a quick sale. I had a huge media realm in which to do that.
Now, like other writers, I have only the power of self to make the sale. I'm not Oprah or Michele Obama, so my face on the front cover won't do it. What will is getting out to meet people who might be interested in what I have to say, or who might find me an interesting person so they will give my book a try.They're buying
me
.
Redwood Writers has a number of opportunities coming up to sell yourself...and your book. Writers Circle gives you 5 minutes to try yourself out. Hot Summer Nights and the Sonoma County Fair are other sales opportunities, as are the monthly meetings.
But don't just sit slumped at the table with a pile of books in front of you! Engage with people! Ask them questions, what brings them to your particular pile of books, what have they read recently that moved them, do they want to write too? If they like you, they just might like your book.
Self-promotion. Give it a try.
As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions to make our meetings and our club more relevant to you. Just email
president@redwoodwriters.org
. See you on Sunday!
Board Meeting Agenda for May 19, 2019
12:30 p.m. Call to Order – Roger Lubeck
- Approval of minutes from prior meeting.
12:35 p.m. Board Reports
- Treasurer’s Report: Malena Eljumaily
- Membership Report: Judy Baker
12:40 p.m. Committee Report
- Website: Joelle Burnette
- Speakers committee: Marilyn Lanier
- Academy: Judy Baker
- Fair: Jeane Slone
- Poetry Anthology: Linda Reid
- Prose Anthology Cover: Tommie Whitener
- Club Historian
- Volunteer Day
1:45 p.m. Adjourn
General Meeting Agenda for May 19, 2019
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Author Support (Deborah Taylor-French)
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Writers Focus Group (Natasha Yim - Children’s books)
2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Networking
2:30 p.m. Welcome - Roger Lubeck
2:35 p.m. Chair Announcements
- Membership: Judy Baker
- Board election in June: nominations - Sandy Baker
- Writers Circle: Linda Reid
- Academy: Judy Baker
- Author Launch: Jeane Slone
- Fair: Jeane Slone
- Other chair announcements
2:50 p.m. Member announcements
3:00 p.m. Break ~ Snacks, Networking & Book Sales
3:15 p.m. Presenter: Amanda McTigue -
Character Through Action / Character As Action:
What Actors and Directors Can Teach Writers
4:30 p.m. Final announcements:
Next meeting: June 9, 2019, Before submitting to an Agent: 50 Things to Check Elizabeth Kratch - Agent with Cameron
ATTENTION:
BOARD OFFICERS VOTING JUNE 9
Nominating Committee Sandy Baker and Jan Rowley are pleased to announce the slate of officers for 2019-2020:
Roger Lubeck, president
Marilyn Lanier, VP
Robbi Bryant, VP
Shawn Langwell, VP
Adele Layton, secretary
Malena Eljumaily, treasurer
Other nominations may be made in writing to the committee
with the consent of the nominee
. The election will be held at the June 9 meeting. To nominate or for more information, contact Sandy Baker or Jan Rowley.
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IMPORTANT DATES
See more details below
Sunday, May 5
KRCB Auction Night with Redwood Writers Volunteers
We will be dressed as characters from our books
7:00-11:00 PM on Channel 22 KRCB
Friday, May 10
Deadline
for Hot Summer Nights application.
Sunday, May 19
Redwood Writers Board Meeting 12:30-2:00
Flamingo Hotel
Author Support Group - Deborah Taylor-French 1:00-1:45
Flamingo Hotel
Writers Focus Group
-
Natasha Yim 1:00-1:30
Flamingo Hotel
MONTHLY MEETING
Character
Through
Action/Character
As
Action with Amanda McTigue
2:00-4:30
Flamingo Hotel
Sunday, May 19
Flash Fiction Contest Launch
Details below and on our website.
Saturday, May 25
Writers Circle
10:00-1:00
Friday, May 31
Deadline
for Author Launch application.
Saturday, June 1
Poetry Anthology Launch Party
2:00-5:00 PM Members only
Wednesday, June 5
6:00 PM Webinar with Jim Horan
When Does the Business of Being a Professional Author Get Easy?
Tuesdays in July
Hot Summer Nights at Copperfield's in Montgomery Village
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Character THROUGH Action/ Character AS Action
What Actors and Directors Can Teach Writers
with Amanda McTigue
This is a craft talk. We will supplement received literary wisdom with some of the approaches actors and directors take to the development of character. After all, characters--with character--are why we read.
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Sunday, May 19*
NOTE ONE WEEK LATER THAN USUAL
2 - 4:30 p.m.
Flamingo Hotel, Empire Room
All are welcome. Just $5 for members; $10 for non-members. Or become a member that day and
get $5 off your membership!
PLEASE JOIN US!
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HOT
SUMMER NIGHTS APPLICATION
DEADLINE IS MAY 10
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Participate in the 7th Annual
Hot Summer Nights
at Copperfield’s Books in Montgomery Village,
Santa Rosa on four consecutive Tuesdays in July: 9, 16, 23, and 30.
HURRY -- many slots already booked.
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FLASH FICTION CONTEST
OPEN May 19 through midnight June 23
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Short, savory, punchy, sweet—you decide!
We want your stories for the Redwood Writers 2019 flash fiction/memoir contest. Here’s an opportunity to explore a form that forces you to make every word count.
In 750 words or fewer, plumb your favorite topics or dive into something new. Keyboard tales into your laptop while sipping coffee at a cafe, write via smartphone while standing in line at the post office, scribble on scrap paper while simmering soup in the kitchen. Then polish your stories, pick the best, and send ‘em in.
Limit: one story per writer. Submission period: May 19 through midnight June 23, 2019.
Flash fiction/memoir contest judges are acclaimed author of short fiction Stefanie Freele, master of poetry and prose Carly Perkins, and skilled author and popular writing instructor Skye Blaine.
Contest chair Laura McHale Holland (
lauramh@mac.com)
has prompts up her sleeve for folks who enjoy using them, as well as fun ways to help you edit and generate stories. These will be unveiled at the kickoff May 19, 2019 Redwood Writers monthly meeting at the Flamingo.
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Redwood Writers Circle
Saturday, May 25
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: TBA
The Circle's mission is to offer members a constructive and enjoyable environment in which to read their works, among the warmth and support of fellow writers, and to include brief evaluations and short talks on craft and other writing-related subjects.
Members who would like to attend should send an RSVP email to Linda Reid at
rwcircle@redwoodwriters.org
. Upon confirmation, you will receive directions to the location.
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REDWOOD WRITERS WEBINAR
No need to leave the comfort of your writing desk for this exciting workshop.
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When Does the Business of Being
a Professional Author Get Easy?
Date: Wednesday, June 5
Time: 6:00 PM
Getting a fiction or non-fiction book written and published is no small feat. The question is, how do you turn a book, a single book, into a successful, profitable, sustainable business with multiple streams of income... that also happens to be fun?
In this 45-minute intensive, fact-filled webinar, Jim Horan, author of
The One Page Business Plan
book series, will share the story of how his first book, led to the development of a global cottage industry around a very simple concept…one-page business plans. The key to Jim’s success is a whole series of simple marketing and business development events that you can use to turn your book into a much bigger success.
You must register in advance
on our website
. Members: $20; non-members $25. Log in details will be sent after your registration.
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Ayin Weaver
Profiled by Rebecca Smith
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Ayin Weaver’s two novels,
Bleed Through
and
Souls of Viridian (
Novelweaver Press, 2013 & 2019
),
are her first foray into the world of fiction. “I never envisioned myself as a writer—I had always been an artist, a painter and sculptor. It was a so-called accident—and a series of events that led me to become an author.”
After twenty years of making a living as an artist, a medical illustrator, a graphic artist for the book,
Our Bodies, Ourselves
, and later at UCSF medical illustration department, she decided to finish a degree in art and health. Being a parent of a soon-to-be school-age child, she decided to teach public school. In Brooklyn, there were few art or health education positions, so she was offered a choice of math or English. She took the job as a Language Arts teacher in an immigrant community. “I threw myself into it—teaching art and reading stories to my eighth graders, for whom English was a second language. I was determined to bring a new interactive way of teaching to my students. There were no computers and few books. I wrote a new curriculum, for which I received a small grant. That was the beginning. I wrote plays about history for assemblies and had my students write stories themselves. So writing became my second love.”
Years later, she stopped formal teaching and devoted her time to being an artist again. “I sculpted and taught sculpting as a healing art form—like a form of art therapy.” At one of her workshops a woman advised her to contact the International Women’s Writing Guild, to attend their artistic summer conference in upstate New York. Soon, she was invited to teach there. “In 2003, as a result of the influence of the life-long writing friends I met there, I wrote my first non-fiction book,
Artist As Healer, Stories of Transformation and Healing.”
The book is currently out of print; however, she is working on a second edition.
In 2010, Ayin moved to Sonoma County to write. Having begun
Bleed Through
a few years earlier, she began rewriting it in 2011, finally publishing it under her own Novelweaver Press in 2013.
Souls of Viridian
is her new work published in January 2019. She has been interviewed on KOWS radio and done readings through Redwood Writers, Dine With Authors, and at Many Rivers bookstore. Her two visionary novels are written with a mass audience in mind. “My intent is to make complex ideas palatable to the average reader. I was unsure I could simplify quantum physics. However, the format I use lends itself to weaving diverse and charismatic characters together in a way that subliminally complements the underlying theories and seems to capture my readers’ imagination--so they say.”
Her readers have given her work great reviews. Currently, she has begun to work collaboratively on creating a screenplay of
Bleed Through.
Ayin’s books are available on Amazon.com and at local bookstores and cafes.
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Skye Blaine, Poetry Editor
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Simple Dream
by Rod Morgan
It’s such a simple dream I have
to look into her eyes
and see
to look into her heart
and feel
to look into her life
and live
the simple dream of love
we share
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Relief
by Leiah Bowden
Brushing myself off
I quickly glance
at you,
thinking
you would never have stumbled
on that familiar stone.
A moving object
stops my smarting hand:
your hand,
restoring your disheveled locks.
Positions change
the balance recovers ourself
What a comfort
and a constant surprise
you are to me,
beloved,
and more.
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Submission guidelines:
single-spaced
, Times or Times New Roman, 12 point font, no all caps, please. Poems are reviewed by a team of poets. We will acknowledge receipt of your work, and let you know if your poem is going to be included, or if we are requesting minor edits prior to inclusion.
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Sunday, June 9
2–4:30 p.m.
FLAMINGO HOTEL
Before submitting to an Agent: 50 Things to Check
with Elizabeth Kratch, Agent with Cameron
***VOTING FOR REDWOOD WRITERS OFFICERS***
Redwood Writers is for everyone, whether you're an accomplished
author or poet, or just wondering if writing is right for you.
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Writers News from Around the Bay
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If you have news of interest to our members, please submit copy and a photo if you wish by the 15th of the month prior to
editor@redwoodwriters.org
.
Editor reserves the right to accept and/or edit. Thank you.
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Our mailing address is The Redwood Writer, P.O. Box 4687, Santa Rosa, CA 95402
a
5
01(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Redwood Writers Meetings
General membership meetings are held on the second Sunday of each month (moves one week ahead if a holiday) from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa, located at
2777 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95405.
Registration starts at 2 p.m.
Copyright © 2019 Redwood Writers. All rights reserved.
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