SPEAKER: “Romance: Keeping the Sizzle in Your Story” with Melanie Denman

January 18, 2015

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Join us on Sunday, February 15th, for our next speaker!

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Melanie Denman discusses the many techniques she has used to incorporate passion, romance, and adventure into her novel, and where she found the most inspiration.

Melanie’s novel, Visiting the Sins, received the 2013 Bronze IPPY for Regional Southern Fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Visiting the Sins is a darkly funny story about mothers and daughters, naked ambition, elusive redemption, and all the torment it’s possible to inflict in the name of family.

An eighth generation Texan and former banker and cattle rancher, she currently lives with her family in the East Bay.

She is an American Red Cross disaster service worker and a member of the Mt Diablo Chapter of CWC.

Click here for information about location and time.

 

 

Tis the season for…The Snowflake Method!

December 22, 2014

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What do snowflakes have to do with writing? Come find out at our January meeting! Author Sarah Sundin will explain how she uses Randy Ingermanson’s famous Snowflake Method with her own adaptations.

When: Sunday, January 18th, 2015, 2pm

Where: Oakland Public Library, Main Branch.

Building your story from a one-sentence summary up to an intricate outline helps you work out the details of your characters and plot and pull them into a cohesive unit. Even if outlines give you hives, you’ll find techniques you can apply to the writing or editing process.

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Sarah Sundin is the author of six historical novels, including In Perfect Time (Revell, August 2014), plus a novella in Where Treetops Glisten

(WaterBrook, September 2014).

In Perfect Time :“Well-crafted novel infused with substance and light”—Publishers Weekly

Her novel On Distant Shores was a double finalist for the 2014 Golden Scroll Awards.

Sarah’s website can be found at www.sarahsundin.com.

Click here for information about location and time.

November 16, 2014—Book Marketing with Howard Allen VanEs of Letswritebooks.net

October 22, 2014

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Marketing is a major challenge for most writers. With the many changes in the publishing landscape, marketing has become an ever more bewildering experience for many of us.

Today, we have an expert in the field to provide us with the latest ideas and trends, including information about Amazon, Kindle and the digital platform. This program will be a great opportunity to find answers to your questions about how to plan your marketing.

Howard has over 25 years of writing experience in every format imaginable, including publishing 18 books of his own as well as creating numerous books, audiobooks, and information products for others. His books include such diverse titles as Stress Management and Stress Relief Workbook and Meditation, the Gift Inside. Howard is also the former owner and creative director of an award winning ad agency.

 

Find Howard Allen VanEs online at www.letswritebooks.net.

Click here for information about location and time.

 

 

 

“Bones In the Wash” with John Byrne Barry — Sunday, October 19th

September 28, 2014

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Screen Shot 2014-09-27 at 11.29.56 PMWith the midterm elections almost upon us, and more stories about politicians making it harder for people to register and vote, we thought it would be a good time to invite local author John Byrne Barry to talk about his novel — Bones in the Wash: Politics is Tough. Family is Tougher — set during the 2008 presidential campaign in New Mexico.

Albuquerque Mayor Tomas Zamara knows that politics is like playing football on a muddy field. If you don’t get dirty, you’re not giving your all. The Democrats’ Barack Obama is drawing adoring crowds with his soaring speeches, and Zamara’s GOP bosses are pressuring him to do “whatever it takes” to deliver New Mexico’s five electoral votes for John McCain.

Challenging him every step of the way is fierce young Democracy Project Director Sierra León, who calls on the mayor to listen to his better self and reject his party’s dirty tricks, echoing the voices in his conscience.

The mayor has his hands full — he’s also grappling with a volatile new woman, a demanding family, and when a flash flood unearths the skeleton of his long-disappeared wife, he becomes a suspect in his wife’s murder.

Click here for information about location and time.

www.bonesinthewash.com

8334896

Sunday, September 21st—”How to Work a Room” with Susan RoAne

August 25, 2014

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We begin our fall speaker series with Susan RoAne, author of HOW TO WORK A ROOM®, the ultimate guide to making lasting connections in person and online.

With more than one million copies sold worldwide, it has become a classic in the field and author Susan RoAne, the expert who can provide us the guidance most writers need to become skilled at marketing ourselves and our work.

Her book with 21 chapters discusses nearly every conceivable situation which you may encounter yet her talks provide an even greater benefit in that she gives the audience the focus and enthusiasm to practice what she preaches.

How to Work a Room ® is a very organized, well written book which has been updated to include the role of technology and social media in networking as well as practical hints for starting conversations and strengthening rapport with strangers.

Susan is an in-demand professional speaker and the best-selling author of seven books. She has been featured in the Wall-Street Journal, USA Today, the New York Times, and the Financial Times.

Click here for information about location and time.

Click here for more information about Susan RoAne.

“Insider Tips for Navigating the Publishing Process” with Brenda Knight — May 18th, 2014

April 29, 2014

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From the outside, book publishing can seem mysterious, but from the inside it is really quite simple.

Twenty-two-year publishing veteran Brenda Knight will teach you how to sell yourself and your book idea, who you are really selling, the importance of “comp titles,” how to craft the perfect proposal, and trend tracking. “I have acquired over one thousand books in my career, including a few New York Times best sellers. One of the great joys in my life is to help authors get their work into print and published successfully,” says Knight.

Brenda Knight started her career at HarperCollins, where she fell in love with publishing. Today she is the publisher of Cleis Press and founder and publisher of Viva Editions, an imprint of Cleis Press.

Knight is also the author of Women of the Beat Generation, which won an American Book Award, and The Grateful Table: Blessing, Prayers and Graces for the Daily Meal.

Click here for information about location and time.

APRIL SPEAKERS — “An Atomic Love Story” with Streshinsky and Klaus — Sunday, April 20, 2014

April 12, 2014

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Robert Oppenheimer was the man most responsible for the remarkable scientific development of the atomic bomb, which significantly shortened the Second World War. An Atomic Love Story is the story of the three extraordinary women in his life who helped shape the man. He loved each with a loyalty that lasted all his life, and each loved him.

Superbly researched through a rich collection of first hand accounts, this intimate portrait shares the tragedies, betrayals and romances of an alluring man and three bold women. It reveals how they pushed to the very forefront of social and cultural changes in a fascinating, volatile era.

Shirley Streshinsky is the critically acclaimed author of three works of nonfiction and four historical novels.

Patricia Klaus received her Ph.D. in Modern British History from Stanford where she specialized in women’s studies. 

Click here for details about location and time.

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