Board of Directors
Roger Lubeck,
President
Sandy Baker,
Immediate Past President
Robbi Sommers Bryant,
Vice President
Marilyn Lanier,
Vice President
Elaine Rock,
Vice President
Malena Eljumaily,
Treasurer
Adele Layton,
Secretary
Judy M. Baker
, Membership Chair
Joelle Burnette
, Website Editor
Pamela Heck,
Conference Volunteers
Linda L. Reid
, Speaker Chair
Jeane Slone,
Author Launch
Chairs, Directors, & Editors
Elspeth Benton
, Registration Team
Les Bernstein
, Anthology Poetry Editor
Robbi Sommers Bryant,
Anthology Editor
Skye Blaine
, Newsletter Poetry Editor
Fran Claggett
, Anthology Poetry Editor
Pamela Fender
, Hot Summer Nights
Sher Gamard
, Salon
Marie Judson
, Critique Groups
Jeanne Jusaitis
, Author Support
Susan Littlefield
, Historican
Margarite Olmos,
PR Internal
Linda L. Reid
, Writers Circle
Deborah Taylor-French
, Author Support
Deborah Walton,
PR Director/ Newsletter Editor
Natasha Yim
, Contest Chair
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 GENERAL MEETING
SUNDAY, JUNE 10
2:00-4:30 pm
THE WOES & HOWS OF MEMOIR
with Linda Bello-Ruiz
Arrive at 2 p.m. to register and network before the general meeting, which runs from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
We ask for a small fee of $5 from members and $10 from non-members to cover costs.
NEXT MEETING
Sunday, July 8
Author Launch!
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Submitted by Roger Lubeck
There are people and events in our life that shape who we are. What we value and the lives we lead. The events and people can be big and small. Stopping for cigarettes and the car accident that followed. Taking the last United flight out of New York on September 10, 2001. Growing up in Michigan, water was a part of my life. Swimming and boating, lake cottages, and fish frys; frog legs, whitefish (pike) and perch were staples in that culture and still are. The same was true in Minnesota, except the preferred fish was Walleye caught while ice fishing.
Sometimes in telling a personal story we get lost in the wrong details and back stories. In telling a personal story we forget about plot and pace. Often, I have found myself saying, “I guess you had to be there.” meaning the point of the story was lost on the audience. This is usually a sign that I talked too long, and the audience lost interest. Note the fish story above.
The story you write for the memoir has to be interesting, even entertaining. It has to be more than the facts. Whether a tragedy or comedy, it has to paint a rich picture of the people and times during which your life changing event happened. The story should have a beginning, middle, and end. Characters and conflict. In the end, remember, in telling your story, we, an audience of strangers, have to become invested in the story, too.
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YOUR VOTE COUNTS AT REDWOOD WRITERS TOO!
After careful consideration by our election committee -- Sandy Baker,
Jeanne Jusaitis and Nancy Baum --
here is the slate of officers for the 2018-2019 year, to be voted on by the membership at the June 10 meeting:
Roger Lubeck, president
Marilyn Lanier, vice president
Robbi Bryant, vice president
Malena Eljumaily, treasurer
Adele Layton, secretary
Thank you for your active participation in the Redwood Writers.
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Monday, June 11 6-8:30 PM
Come hear 4 authors read from their newly published books. Q & A following.
The Secret Life of Mrs. London,
Historical Novel by Rebecca Rosenberg
She Was a WW II Photographer,
Historical Novel by Jeane Slone
Heed The Apocalypse,
Murder Mystery by Waights Taylor Jr.
Connections, Write Spot Anthology,
by Marlene Cullen, Editor
G
aia’s Garden International Vegetarian Buffet
1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa
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Sonoma County Fair Sign-ups Coming Soon
The “Salute to the Heroes” theme sets the stage for the Sonoma County Fair running from August 2-12 this year. Sign-up forms will be coming soon to email in-boxes for authors who wish to participate by greeting the public, selling books, and promoting Redwood Writers, plus members who want to work at the RW merchandise table or act as greeters.
The email will likely have “Sign-Up Genius” on the subject line.
You will be invited to participate up to five full days, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Parking is $9, but you will get free passes to the fair. The participation fee is being set by the committee as we go to press: Jeane Slone, Roger Lubeck, Waights Taylor, and Sandy Baker. Only authors selling books will be required to pay the fee.
We have 80 author slots during the 11-day run of the fair and 22 RW merchandise/greeter table slots. It will be a lot of fun however you decide to participate! We reach a vastly different audience and in greater numbers at the fair than we would on a normal Sunday or at other events. We meet babies to teens to nonagenarians, every profession, every culture, every gender, those able-bodied and not, plus local residents and out-of-towners.
Watch for Sign-up Genius coming to your in-boxes soon!
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Sunday, June 10
2 – 4:30 p.m.
Flamingo Hotel
The Woes and Hows of Memoir
with
Linda Bello-Ruiz
We all have a story. Not every story needs to be written. How do you know if your story should be written and if it should, how do you write it?
Award-winning author, Linda Bello-Ruiz brings her own story to life in her memoir,
From Tears to Triumph, My Journey to The House of Hope.
How did a impressionable young woman from the vineyards of Northern California end up in the Red Light District of San Jose, Costa Rica? Learn why she decided to dig deep, be honest and write her story and then, most importantly, how she went about doing so.
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Come celebrate the publication of our new poetry anthology!
DATE:
Saturday, June 16
2 – 5:30 p.m.
LOCATION:
In the lovely garden at the home of
Linda & Harry Reid
Join fellow members for an afternoon of readings, food, fun, and friends!
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What Would Dad Say?
Stories of Fathers Past and Present
SUNDAY, JUNE 17
1:00 - 4:00 in Rohnert Park
(Details will be sent after you RSVP below)
Bring your stories and poems to share.
Readings are five minutes.
The Redwood Salon offers a relaxed, supportive atmosphere to practice for your book signings, hear other writers read from their work, connect with your creative community of writing friends and enjoy a potluck buffet. It’s fun and free!
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Memoir Contest
Deadline June 24
STORIES THAT SHAPED US
The memoir genre focuses on a special moment in time that may be a life-altering experience.
First prize: $100
Second prize: $50
Third prize: $25
*In addition to the cash awards, every winner receives a certificate.
Winning stories will be published online.
The first-place story is published in winners' flier.
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Everyone's invited to
Hot
Summer Nights!
Redwood Writers authors
will read from their books
and answer questions.
AUTHOR READINGS
4 Tuesdays in July
7-8 PM
Copperfield's Books in
Montgomery Village
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JULY 10 Fiction and Mystery
JULY 17 Historical Fiction/ Creative Non-Fiction/Fiction
JULY 24 Fiction
JULY 31 Memoir/Poetry/Fiction
This annual program is presented by
Redwood Writers and Copperfield’s Books.
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Sunday, July 8, 2018
2 - 4:30 p.m.
Flamingo Hotel, Empire Room
Listen to excerpts from new books published by our members since last July,
meet local authors and pick up signed copies of their books.
Join us for this FREE EVENT as we celebrate our club's many talented writers.
Invite your friends as this is a FREE event for the public too!
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HEATHER MCCONNELL
Profiled by Jeanne Byers Spraetz
After reading this article, you are going to want to hunt down Heather McConnell at one of our monthly meetings and share with her your own excitement and challenges in writing because she is in the trenches right alongside you. She loves to visit with other Redwood Writers because, “I am a new writer and almost anyone sharing anything is interesting.”
Heather attended her first Redwood Writers meeting with Martha Peterson. She was fascinated by the possibility that she could learn to write, paint, and publish a book as a member. She heard the term "creative nonfiction" and felt an immediate connection. A Redwood Writers screenwriting group introduced her to haiku poetry and she found it to be an exciting way to express big ideas in tiny packets of succinctness. Just like a painting.
Her story about Salmon Creek, along with a couple of her paintings, were accepted into the 2017 anthology “Sonoma.” Two of her poems have been printed in the Redwood Writer newsletter. Heather explains what the group means to her: “There are the salons and now the Writer’s Circle that offer an opportunity to hear short versions of people revealing themselves in a way that influences me quite a bit. It encourages me to do the same.”
Heather is from San Rafael and went to Terra Linda High and a little school called Drew in San Francisco. She opened a pet store right out of high school, then one in Petaluma, and later helped several international pet food companies break into the west coast market. She enjoys listening to classical music while painting in her studio or writing in her “dream room” in the Rohnert Park home she shares with her husband and son.
Heather hopes you initiate a chat with her at one of our Redwood Writer gatherings!
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SKYE BLAINE,
Newsletter Poetry Editor
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Lover
By Leiah Bowden
Between my thighs a gate
Swings open
Even at the thought of your touch.
Outside the gate, silence.
Leaning on it, I feel
The sunrise birds’ songs.
I yearn towards you
For soul spirit mirroring
For flesh awake to life.
The green glade of my heart
Grows oaktrees, ferns and pines
Planted in your name.
I nestle in your ferns,
Swim in their scent,
I float on love and desire.
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Insights into Poetry, Part II
by Fran Claggett
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This is an exercise showing the relationships of
Image, Simile, Metaphor, Symbol
Development of a Symbol:
Read the poem below, then follow these directions to create your own poem moving from image to symbol:
1. Think of an abstraction (an abstraction is a word that cannot be perceived directly through the senses).
2. Choose an animal that you know well enough to work with.
3. For image, write a sentence that depicts that animal.
4. For simile, write a sentence comparing that animal to something else, using like or as.
5. For metaphor, write a sentence stating that the animal is something else.
6. For symbol, write another sentence that depicts the animal. This time
the image will carry the weight of the other sentences, but here it will exemplify the abstraction that is now the title of your poem.
Reality
Image
:
The heron stands erect,
unblinking in the early morning
sun.
Simile
:
The heron is like a
glimpse of the sun, barely visible
through the mist.
Metaphor
:
It is a shadow of
itself, emerging and fading
in the swirling cloud.
Symbol
:
The heron rises, floats above the fog,
folds its wings, then dives—
dinner!
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Submission guidelines: double-spaced, Times or Times New Roman, 12 point, sentence case: (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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Writers News from Around the Bay
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Now in its 16th year,
New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest
is accepting scripts
through July 2, 2018 (email submission date).
For Submitting Guidelines and Application Form go to:
Award:
$300 + a professional reading and Q&A valued at $1,000.
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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
Redwood Writers is a 501(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 2:30 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 © 2018 Redwood Writers. All rights reserved.
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