Greetings!

Our next board meeting is on Tuesday, December 14, 6-7:30 p.m. via Zoom. Board meetings are held 6-7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month unless otherwise noted, and are open to any member in good standing. If you would like to attend a board meeting, contact: president@redwoodwriters.org to receive an invitation.

NOTE: If you are reading this newsletter through your email, it may be clipped at the end. If you don't reach the editor's note, be sure to click "view entire message" at the bottom of this newsletter.

Please submit poems to: poetrynewseditor@redwoodwriters.org. 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.

Splitting Hairs  

By Robin Gabbert         

Robin Gabbert returned to writing poetry after retiring from work as an attorney. Robin has published in Redwood Writers Poetry anthologies And Yet... and Beyond Distance, and in the California Writers Club 2020 Literary Review. Her first book, Diary of a Mad Poet, Poems is available on Amazon. She is currently hosts the Redwood Writers Salon and is working on her second book of poetry.

Each month, the Redwood Writer will feature an exercise to help inspire your writing. This can be an exercise you do on your own, or you can send your 300-word (or less) piece to editor@redwoodwriters.org for possible publication in the newsletter.

The Rashomon Effect is named after Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film Rashomon, in which a murder is described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses. The movies Outrage and the Usual Suspects are among the dozen examples of stories and movies that focus on the unreliable witness. In novel writing the same story is often told from several points of view (POV).

The 2022 California Writers Club Literary Review is now accepting submissions.

The Literary Review is the CWC’s annual collection of the best poetry and prose submitted by our members. It is meant to represent our best writing as a club.

The Literary Review is the published face of the club. Every year there are suggestions on how to improve the Literary Review: the cover, the diversity of content, the quality, the process, what was accepted, what was rejected, and the feedback. This year, the editors and the CWC board are taking positive steps to address these suggestions and make the process fair and transparent. The result will depend on our authors.

Having a poem, story, or essay appear in the Literary Review is exciting. However, having had more stories rejected than accepted, I understand why authors stop submitting and find other ways to publish, e.g., a branch anthology. All I can ask is that our authors try or try again.

This year, submissions are limited to two poems or one short piece of prose (fiction or non-fiction.) The work must be original and unpublished. To be considered for judging, the piece has to be free of spelling and grammar errors and in the prescribed format. In some years, more than half of the submissions did not meet this requirement. Historically, as few as 10% of the submissions were published.

Our goal is to publish as many excellent pieces as possible, but that depends on you. Write a great first draft, edit and revise it, have others review it, finalize, format, and proof. When the piece is ready, send us what you know to be your best work. The only limit for this year’s publication is the quality of the pieces submitted by our members. 

For more information about guidelines or how to submit, click the button below.

To take part in Author Launch, reserve your spot by contacting Jeane at info@jeaneslone.com

First 12 to register will be invited to read, 5-minute limit per reader. Salon is a wonderful place to practice your reading skills, try out the sound of a new piece, or just enjoy the company and talents of your fellow writers. 

Over the next several months, we will feature the books of recently published Redwood Writers. We encourage you to read and review your fellow members' books! If your book was published in 2021 and you would like your book to be featured, send a 100-word (or less) synopsis and a JPG file of the front cover of your book to editor@redwoodwriters.org.

A Year of Meditations, by Tina Riddle Deason

I lead a Priestess Apprenticeship Program and host full moon circles. This is our collection of meditations from our full moon "zooms." The author of A Year of Meditation is The Priestesses of La Bona Dea, which is me, as I am High Priestess and Executive Director of the Program. These books are sold for funding and marketing the Program. Let me know if you have any questions if it's all too tricky. 

We are currently putting our A Year of Rituals and A Year of Magical Recipes together.

Must Like Dogs, by Skye Blaine

Must Like Dogs is a story of obstacles, anguish, and love. Readers of Blaine’s Unleashed will be reconnected with the Westbury clan, now struggling to find their way through a complicated time without being torn apart. 

People of the Water, by Kathleen Scavone

If you have news to share about your writing, an award, an appearance, or other writing-related news, send a 100-word or less announcement to editor@redwoodwriters.org. Photos encouraged. Deadline for consideration in next month’s newsletter is the 15th of this month.

Contact instructor Stacey Dennick for more information: sdennick@santarosa.edu, sdennick.com

Event is pay what you can to Diane by Paypal: to dd828groove@gmail.com

In-person Event in Sonoma County – Da Salon 2

All events can be found at The Write Spot

Because of social distancing, most events are now held virtually. This presents a unique opportunity to attend events, workshops, and meetings held by other CWC branches that would have been difficult to attend in person. To keep up to date with upcoming events, be sure to check the CWC NorCal calendar at the button below.

Christopher Vogler, author of The Hero’s Journey

The High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club (HDCWC) will host a free presentation on The Hero’s Journey with famed author Christopher Vogler on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 6 p.m. via Zoom. Further details and the link may be found on www.hdcwc.com. The public is invited to attend at no charge. Most writers have heard of the hero’s journey, and perhaps even read his book. Now you can get personal insights through this discussion with the man who wrote the book!

Christopher Vogler is a veteran Hollywood story consultant known the world over for his landmark book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers, now in its 25^th Anniversary Edition. Vogler grew up in the St. Louis area, studied journalism at the University of Missouri, and began his career as a documentary filmmaker for the US Air Force’s space program. After graduate studies at the USC film school, he entered the Hollywood studio system as a story analyst at 20^th Century Fox. While working in the Disney story department he wrote an influential memo on the mythological Hero’s Journey pattern that became part of Hollywood story legend, influenced Disney’s The Lion King, and formed the foundation of his book, The Writer’s Journey. As a consultant he has influenced the stories of many productions including Disney’s Aladdin, Hercules, Fantasia 2000; Fox’s Fight Club, The Thin Red Line, Courage Under Fire, and for other studios 10,000 BC, Karate Kid II, Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler and Noah, Will Smith’s Focus, Hancock, Men in Black III, I Am Legend, etc. He consults with major corporations on storytelling and branding and presents workshops globally on the power of stories to change minds and lives.

Marie Judson keeps an ongoing list of RW members interested in joining or creating a writing group. If you would like to find a critique group, or add more members to an existing group, send your genre(s) and contact information to mariejudson@gmail.com. You'll receive an email with the subject line, "Writers seeking writing groups." You can then either reply to all or select specific writers to contact. This has been an ongoing free service for Redwood Writers members for nine years.

A huge welcome to our new member, Cynthia Gregory! Here's a little more about her. If you see Cynthia at the general meeting, either on Zoom or at the Finley Center, be sure to say hello.

Cynthia Gregory, MFA, is an award-winning author of short stories. Her work has appeared in a range of publications, including The Sun, Glimmer Train, the Briar Cliff Review, Santa Barbara Review, The Ear, and Central PA. She took second place in Writers Digest annual fiction contest, first place in the Glimmer Train Family Matters short story competition, and first place in the Mark Twain Short Fiction Prize. 

Her books, Journaling as Sacred Practice, and What is Possible from Here are available on Amazon.

Dear friends,

If you're like me, your writing rituals may have experienced a shift in 2021. We have all faced a plethora of changes in our everyday lives, which can deplete the creative energy you have for the things you're passionate about - like writing.

This is why being a part of a community of writers is so important. When I experienced moments of fatigue in my writing, it helped to be around other writers who understood the struggle, or who had managed to conquer these pandemic-fueled feelings of defeat. I owe a lot to Redwood Writers, as well as my personal writing critique group, for helping me to create my new normal around writing in these unprecedented times.

My hope for you as we close out 2021 and bring in a new year is that you'll find renewed inspiration through our community of writers. Have you included your writing plans in your goals for 2022? Here are a few to consider:

Whatever your goals are, I wish you loads of inspiration and creativity on your writing journey. I'm glad we get to do this together!

This month in the newsletter, don't miss news about our holiday celebration and member recognition event at the December general meeting. There's even a chance for members to share about themselves and their writing journeys. If you missed it, scroll up and check the information about this month's meeting.

Happy reading, and happy writing!

Want to be a part of the newsletter? Here's the cheat sheet to the different sections of this newsletter and the word count requirements:

Please do your best to adhere to word count limits! Send your articles and news by the 15th of the month to the newsletter editor at editor@redwoodwriters.org. Send your poems by the 10th of the month to the poetry editor at poetrynewseditor@redwoodwriters.org. Submission guidelines may apply, read section for requirements.

If you're interested in advertising in the Redwood Writer newsletter, contact the editor at editor@redwoodwriters.org for submission requirements and guidelines.