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
Linda L. Reid
, Speaker Chair
Jeane Slone
, Author Launch
Deborah Walton
, PR/Newsletter Editor
Chairs and Editors
Elspeth Benton
, Registration Team
Les Bernstein
, Poetry Anthology Editor
Skye Blaine
, Newsletter Poetry Editor
Fran Claggett-Holland
, Poetry Anthology Editor
Pamela Fender
, Hot Summer Nights
Sher Gamard
, Salon Coordinator
Marie Judson
, Critique Groups
Jeanne Jusaitis
, Author Support
Susan Littlefield
, Historian
Margarite Olmos
, PR Internal
Linda L. Reid
, Writers Circle
Deborah Taylor-French
, Author Support
Deborah Walton
, PR/Newsletter Editor
Tommie Whitener
, 2019 Anthology 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 MEETING
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9
2:00-4:30 pm
How to Create a
Page Turner
Elizabeth Stark
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 MONTH'S MEETING
Sunday, January 13
2–4:30 p.m.
Pitch Yourself as a Guest on Radio or TV
|
|
BOARD NOTES AND NEWS
Why I Volunteer
By Pamela Heck, Board member
Members of Redwood Writers Club have one thing in common—they all hoped to gain something by joining. If you ask individual members, specifically, “Why did you join,” their answers will vary and might include things like: inspiration, encouragement, how-to-information, access to contests, and publishing opportunities. That’s all available, and more, because the club takes its motto very seriously, “Writers helping writers.”
Now, I have another question for the membership, “Why do you (or don’t you) volunteer?”
Oh, I know, you’re busy. We’re all busy. However, from my experience, the saying, “If you want to get something done, get someone busy to do it,” is a truism, not a cliché. It’s also true that writers, by and large, tend to be introverts. Volunteers have a habit of standing out, so maybe it’s a bit scary. But the truth is, the club cannot survive without volunteers. It’s as simple as that.
Here’s why I volunteer—I want to give back to an organization that has given me so much. I want to be a full participant.
When I first joined Redwood Writers, it was a matter of attending a meeting or two where I knew no one, and where I felt a bit lost. I came. I listened to the speaker. I went home. Then I went to a new member meeting and was able to really connect with a few people. I found my critique group at that meeting. Now, I knew a few more people. One of them asked me to be on the Speaker Selection Committee. I was able to help select future speakers and genres. I had a voice.
Someone must have heard my voice because I was asked to be on the Board of Directors. That led me to be the volunteer coordinator for the Club’s 2018 writers’ conference. I also serve on another committee that is looking into new ways to encourage more active participation in the Club.
“Geez,” you might say, “I don’t want to volunteer THAT much!” You don’t have to, but I urge you to do
something
. You will feel a greater connection to the Club if you do. You will get to know people on a deeper level if you do. And, you’d be surprised at the additional information you’ll acquire once you do. It’s called networking. But here’s what I’ve found to be the best reason for being a volunteer. You make friends.
When I joined the Club, I was surrounded by strangers and a few acquaintances. Now, I’m surrounded by acquaintances and many new friends. Volunteering made all the difference. Go ahead --
send me an email
about your time availability and I'll find something to fit you!
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 December 9, 2018
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
12:50 p.m. Committee Reports
- Website: Joelle Burnette·
- Speakers committee: Linda Reid
- NorCal update: Roger Lubeck
1:15 p.m. New Business
1:30 p.m. Adjourn
General Meeting Agenda for December 9, 2018 -
Holiday Potluck
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Author Support
1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Screenwriting Support Table
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
- Salon: Sher Gamard
- Prose Anthology 2019 & workshop: Tommie Whitener
- Other chair announcements
2:55 p.m. Member announcements
3:00 p.m. Break ~ Snacks, Networking & Book Sales
3:15 p.m. Elizabeth Stark -
How to Create a Page Turner
4:30 p.m. Final announcements:
- Meeting January 13, 2019
- Presenter: Joey Garcia -
Pitch Yourself as a Guest on Radio or TV
|
|
IMPORTANT DATES
See more details below
Sunday, Dec 9
Redwood Writers Board Meeting 12:30-2:00
Flamingo Hotel
Redwood Writers Author Support 1:00-2:00
Flamingo Hotel
MONTHLY MEETING
How to Create a Page Turner
2:00-4:30
Flamingo Hotel
Friday, Dec 14
Salon
6:30-9:30 PM
Sunday, Jan 13
Redwood Writers Board Meeting 12:30-2:00
Flamingo Hotel
Redwood Writers Author Support 1:00-2:00
Flamingo Hotel
MONTHLY MEETING
Pitch Yourself as a Guest on Radio or TV
2:00-4:30
Flamingo Hotel
Saturday, Jan 19
Redwood Writers 2019 Anthology Workshop 10:00-12:00
Flamingo Hotel
(see website for information)
|
|
Sunday, December 9
2 - 4:30 p.m.
Flamingo Hotel, Empire Room
|
|
|
|
HOW TO CREATE
A PAGE TURNER
What hooks your readers and won't let them go? Some people say plot, some say character, but it is where these elements are inextricably linked that we find the secrets to the most powerful of stories.
Discover the authentic internal and external struggles—and the necessary relationship between them--that drive your character, your tale and your reader inexorably toward a conclusion no one can foretell and everyone has to reach.
|
|
REDWOOD WRITERS HOLIDAY SALON
“Making Spirits Bright”
Stories of Inspiration and Celebration!
FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 14
6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
in Santa Rosa
Join in our annual holiday celebration!
Bring your stories and poems to share.
Readings are five minutes each.
RSVP to Sher Gamard
at
gmard@redshift.com
to register, get directions, and sign up for our convivial potluck dinner
.
|
|
Tommie W. Whitener
Profiled by Belinda Riehl
Tommie Whitener has stepped up to be the editor in chief of Redwood Writers 2019 anthology he is calling
Endeavor: Stories of Struggle and Perseverance
, a formidable endeavor as a new member of Redwood Writers. He writes, “I am impressed with the club and all its activities and thought this would be an excellent way to meet the membership and establish relationships while working together on a common goal.”
For the last forty-five years, Tommie has lived in Marin and practiced law in both Marin and Sonoma counties. After graduating UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, he began working on the defense of Luis Talamantez, a defendant in the San Quentin Six case in 1971, an escape attempt that left six people dead, including George Jackson, a co-founder of the
Black Guerrilla Family
. A few years later, choosing to stay in the north bay and permanently leaving behind his beloved City of Angels—Los Angeles, he began a civil practice and became a Certified Family Law Specialist in Marin. With only a couple cases left and not taking any new ones, he likes to say he is “lawyering less and less and writing more and more.”
Tommie’s lifelong passion for International Relations inspired him in 2010 to earn his master’s degree from Tufts University in Boston. He was hoping to parlay his degree into a job somewhere in the world where he could use his Russian language skills. Though he didn’t end up with that job, he writes, “I loved getting the degree and hanging out with smart people, sharing such an interest. I continue to be active in the Marin branch of the World Affairs Council and I’m on their steering committee.”
Educated in his home town of Los Angeles at UCLA, he went on to serve in the Air Force in Texas, Indiana, New York, and Guam where he was editor of the weekly base newspaper, “Tropic Topics.” This “house organ” contained news and information of interest to 3,000 to 5,000 military and civilian readers on base. He practiced the basic principles of journalism—who, what, why, when, and how in the lead paragraph, but it sparked an interest in writing literary fiction. Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward, William Faulkner, and Franz Kafka represent just a few of the great writers he admires for their creative ambiguity in books and short stories. Journalism, law, and literature influence him as he continues to grow as a writer.
A conversation about Tommie would be incomplete without including his wife of twenty years, with whom he is still very much in love—Svetlana Whitener, an emotional intelligence coach. Although he says that since reading
The Brothers Karamazov
as a freshman in college he has had a special interest in things Russian, it was only after meeting Svetlana that he became fluent in the language. Tommie and Svetlana met in 1998 when she came here from Russia on a business trip sponsored by Tommie’s Rotary Club in Novato.
Never short on humor, Tommie says he has several children scattered around the U.S., some of whom even speak to him, in addition to three grandkids in L.A, and two in Seattle with one-on-the-way.
Finally closing his law practice will create opportunities for him to pursue his interests in genealogy, reading literary fiction (novels and short stories), gardening, fishing, golf, and travel. In the last few years he has been to Russia several times, as well as Italy, England, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates. His already-scheduled trips include several to Seattle to visit his pregnant daughter and her family, and a trip to New Orleans for the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival.
Tommie just returned from a trip to Arkansas where he spent two days in Little Rock and Batesville continuing his research on his historical novel about his grandparents, entitled
Tom and Leona: Star-Crossed Lovers
. While in Batesville, he visited the gravestone he recently arranged to be placed at his grandmother’s and grandfather’s side-by-side graves. Future trips yet to be planned will be to Mexico City, Ireland, and Japan.
When he’s not traveling, in addition to
Tom and Leona
, Tommie is working on
Pavel and Natalia
set in 19
th
century Russia about a dashing young cavalry officer who pursues a married woman. The book has its genesis in an Anton Chekhov short story, “The Pharmacist’s Wife.”
Tommie’s published books available on Amazon are:
Mother Earth: Three Couples
, about marital relations and personal development; and,
Wanda and the Watch
, a collection of short stories with subjects and characters ranging from a man being swindled by gangsters in Russia while there seeking evidence of his ancestors, to a would-be starlet in Hollywood looking for her first break.
An enthusiastic Redwood Writer, he says he submitted a “dynamite” short story to our YA and Middle Grade Fiction Contest and has high hopes it will be a winner.
|
|
Thoughts on Aging, on the eve of turning 62
by Kate Magdalena Willens
I feel myself aging like a wine deepening,
Like a petal crinkling by,
Like a dimming star.
The sweetness is rising to the surface,
But so's the detritus, the pain now old
And lived with long,
I know it now better than before.
The old faults are still with me,
But I see them more clearly as I fade,
Their contours are emboldened, saying
This is part of what I am.
The time of night is nearer, and I contemplate
The vastness of its space, as I smile past
A neighboring star.
And I know really that age is only an illusion of this world
And in the next, we get to choose the age we truly are.
|
|
Scream
by Karen Hayes
A glimpse of screaming
Did you recognize…
listen
listen
Rage plain as welts
rises up
through a wailing wind
strains to break free
subtle simmer
seethes to a lathery boil
whispering in treetops
shrieking through the dark
|
|
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.
|
|
Sunday, January 13
2–4:30 p.m.
FLAMINGO HOTEL
Pitch Yourself as a Guest on Radio or TV
Joey Garcia
Redwood Writers is for everyone, whether you're an accomplished author or poet, or just wondering if writing is right for you.
|
|
Writers News from Around the Bay
|
|
Dine With Local Authors
Please join five local authors who will read from their latest published books. Audience participation encouraged. Great gift for the holidays.
Susanna Solomon:
Montana Rhapsody, Fiction
Alissa Hirshfeld-Flores:
Living Waters, Fiction
John Joseph O'Brien Sr.:
RiverHead Parental Child Abduction and Recovery, Non-fiction
Kitty Wells:
I Love you, Clowns Are Scary, Psychology-spirituality
John Sheehy & Scott Hess:
On a River Winding Home,
Stories of the Petaluma Watershed, Non-fiction History
All five authors are members of Redwood Writers Club!
Monday, December 10
6-8:30 PM
Gaia's Garden
1899 Mendocino Ave.
Santa Rosa
|
|
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.
|
|
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 © 2018 Redwood Writers. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
