Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A RESOURCEFUL BLOG

Don't feel alone, like you are out on a wing with high hopes that your work will get published! This blog is a place to store all the resources found online for me, for you, for anyone who has the goal of writing, publishing, and selling their miraculous work! HOW to begin, WHERE to meet other writers, INSPIRATION, AGENTS, PUBLISHERS, and conventions that allow us to learn while we network with those wonderful wordy folks!

CHRISTIAN WRITER GROUP MEETS MONTHLY
Monthly - Thursday 9:30 am -12:30 ALL skill levels
Categories include Nonfiction
Location: Barnes & Noble
Montclair Plaza
5183 Montclair Plaza Lane
Montclair, CA 91763

The first hour we share personal news, marketing tips, and feature a topic for beginner writers. The second hour is hosted by a guest speaker talking or leading a workshop on various writing topics. The third hour we break into small groups for individual manuscript critiques.

EMAIL: Nancy I. Sanders: jeffandnancys@gmail.com
Website: http://www.chairs7.wordpress.com

JOSH WEIL

INSTRUCTOR: Josh Weil -Many great works of modern fiction have been novellas – The Old Man and the Sea; Of Mice and Men; Heart of Darkness; Brokeback Mountain – yet it’s a rarely explored form in contemporary writing. Why? What is a novella? What can it accomplish that’s different from what a short story or novel can accomplish? And, most importantly: How can we writers grab hold of this powerful form to tell our stories in fresh ways? Through lecture, discussion, and in-class exercises, this course will explore answers to these questions, leaving students equipped with a new way of telling stories. SAN ANTONIO, TX: Date: Sat Feb. 27, 9am – 2pm
Limit: 15 Participants
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, Feb. 24
CPE Credits: 4 Language Arts
Fee: $100 $90

About the instructor: Josh Weil is the author of the novella collection The New Valley (Grove, 2009), a New York Times Editors Choice selection for which he was honored with a “5 Under 35” National Book Award. His fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Granta, Glimmer Train, Poets & Writers, and Narrative, among other publications. Since earning his MFA from Columbia University, he has received a Fulbright grant, a Writer’s Center Emerging Writer Fellowship, the Dana Award in Portfolio, and fellowships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences. He is the writer-in-residence at Gilman School in Baltimore.
REGISTER: GEMINI INK (LINK on the right)

TIM TINGLE

INSTRUCTOR: TIM TINGLE - Bring story ideas and a fresh mind and body. Through writing, storytelling, and readings, students will uncover elements of light in even the darkest narrative. From dark times or memories, students will craft a story, spoken or written, and be given the opportunity to either read or perform their writing. Tingle, a storyteller-turned-writer, will offer feedback in both mediums. Poetic images and evocative word choices will strengthen an oral performance; and a ready grasp of vocal rhythms will increase a writer’s ability to reach his audience. Students will leave the workshop with a plot-candle in the darkness, and a story ready for revision. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Date: Sat May 8, 9am – 3pm
Limit: 12 Participants
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, May 5
CPE Credits: 5 Language Arts
Fee: $66 Discounted Fee: $60

Tim Tingle is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and a frequent speaker at tribal events. Author of six books, including the award-winning Crossing Bok Chitto (Cinco Puntos Press, 2006), Tingle was a featured storyteller at the Native American wing of the Smithsonian Institute in 2006 and 2007. At the 2008 American Library Association Conference in Anaheim, California, he performed on the multi-ethnic concert, “Many Voices, One Nation.” His first book, Walking the Choctaw Road (Cinco Puntos Press, 2005), is a fictional depiction of tribal history covering two centuries, and his upcoming children’s book, Saltypie (Cinco Puntos Press, 2010), is a family tale of 20th century Indian struggles and triumph.
REGISTER THROUGH: GEMINI INK (LINK on the right)

DIANA AND NORMA

Diane Gonzales Bertrand is a writer who grabbed inspiration from her many roles as daughter, wife, mother, and teacher. Although she has written stories and poems since childhood, it was her decision to study writing in graduate school at Our Lady of the Lake University that created an avenue for publication. As she read and studied literature from international authors, she gained confidence to write about her own Mexican-American heritage. She also discovered the editors of Arte Publico Press, who welcomed the style of her familia-friendly novels Sweet Fifteen, Lessons of the Game, and Close to the Heart. Encouraged by Texas librarians and her own two kids, Diane wrote the children’s novel Alicia’s Treasure, and two award-winning novels for middle school students Trino’s Choice, and Trino’s Time. Her published picture books Sip, Slurp, Soup, Soup/ Caldo, Caldo, Caldo, Family, Familia, The Last Doll, Uncle Chente's Picnic, and The Empanadas that Abuela Made have all earned “Best Bilingual Book” recognition from the National Latino Literary Awards. Recently, her first book with Raven Tree Press, My Pal, Victor/Mi amigo Victor earned the 2005 Schneider Family Book Award given by the American Library Association. Her collection of bilingual short fiction, Upside Down and Backwards, earned Honorable Mention in the Paterson Prize for Young Adults and was a finalist for the Writers League of Texas Teddy Book Award for children’s books. New titles include a children’s biography, Ricardo’s Race and a bilingual book for preschoolers, We are Cousins/Somos Primos. Her new novel, The Ruiz Street Kids, (2006) is both bilingual and written for readers 8-11. Diane is Writer-in-Residence at St. Mary’s University where she teaches writing, works with new authors, and continues to develop her own writing projects. She is a native of San Antonio, Texas and grew up in the Woodlawn Lake area.

Dr. Norma Cantú will conduct the workshop Telling to Live: Writing Your Life Story on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010 from 10 am – 1 pm. Dr. Cantú currently teaches at the University of Texas at San Antonio with teaching interests in Cultural Studies, Contemporary Literary Theory, Border Studies, Chicano/a and Latina/o Literature & Film, Folklore and Women’s Studies. Dr. Cantú has published articles on a number or academic subjects, as well as poetry and fiction. She has co-edited four books and edited a collection of testimonios by Chicana scientists, mathematicians and engineers. Her award winning Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera (University of New Mexico Press, 1997) chronicles her childhood experiences on the border. (LINK GEMINI INK on right)

2010 SFO Convention

February 12, 2010 The San Francisco Writers Conference will be at the fabulous Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel perched high atop Nob Hill with spectacular views of San Francisco. A special SFWC rate of $139 per night could be shared with your best buddy writer. The fee to attend for three days is $650.00. Lectures, Publishers, Authors network with them all! Get inspired, hang out with word masters!REGISTER TO ATTEND SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS CONFERENCE:
http://www.sfwriters.org

DATE TO SAVE: FRIDAY February 12, 2010


7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Registration
Sign up for Kevin Smokler consultations
Sign up for freelance editor consultations

8:45 a.m. WELCOME Michael Larsen

***UPPING YOUR PLATFORM:
Building Your Visibility Online and Off
Elisa Southard, Break Through The Noise;
Teresa LeYung Ryan, Love Made of Heart

***SOLUTIONS FOR AUTHORS:
The Print-on-Demand Option
Keith Ogorek, Author Solutions

***BOOMTOWN: Jumping on the Young Adult Bandwagon
Kristen Tracy, Lost It, and agent Regina Brooks

THE NEW FACE OF FICTION
Caitlin Alexander, Senior Editor, Random House;
Jaime Levine, Executive Editor, Grand Central Books;
Daniela Rapp, Editor, St. Martin’s Press. Moderator:
agent Rebecca Oliver

TWITTERPOWER: The 140-Character Connection
Matt Stewart, The French Revolution; Dom Sagolia,
140 Characters: A Style Guide for the Short Form

***BRANDING YOURSELF: How You Can Leverage the
Power of Hollywood, Publishing, and Publicity
Philippa Burgess, Entertainment Professional
and Partner, Creative Convergence

***NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR WRITERS
Alan Rinzler, Executive Editor,
Jossey-Bass/John Wiley & Sons; Independent Editor

***FROM YOUR LIFE TO THE PAGE:
Writing Memoirs That Sell
Adair Lara, Naked Drunk and Writing

***HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Kevin Smokler, editor, Bookmark Now!


***USING PUBLICITY & MARKETING TO LAUNCH BOOK
Publicists Lynda and Jim O’Connor

MEET THE NONFICTION AGENTS:
Regina Brooks, Verna Dreisbach,
Wendy Keller, Jill Marsal, Andy Ross,
Katharine Sands, Robert Shepard,
Ken Sherman, Ted Weinstein.

KEYNOTERS:
Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of Deep End of the Ocean
Steve Berry, author of The Charlemagne Pursuit
Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual

Hotel reservations:
click into: www.san-francisco.intercontinental.com or call 1-415-392-3434.