Speakers/Presenters

Morning Keynote: Elisa Southard

“The Writer’s Role: Changing the Game and Your Role In It”

Creativity. Curiosity. Confidence. What can we as writers do to keep these valuable assets at maximum effectiveness? In this keynote speech, Elisa Southard, author of the Amazon Business Bestseller, Break Through the Noise, 9 Tools to Propel Your Marketing Message, shows you how to be your own catalyst, and take the brakes off to reach new levels in your writing career and promotional platform.

Elisa Southard helps authors be their own best advocates. She is often quoted as saying, “Don’t kill a marketing moment, execute it.” Visit her website to learn more!

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Luncheon Keynote: Sheldon Siegel

“Finding an Audience in a Challenging Publishing World”

Sheldon Siegel, a New York Times best-selling author, will take the afternoon speaking spot in what will be an exciting and humorous talk about “Finding an Audience in a Challenging Publishing World.” He said, “I’ll try to give everybody a little hope!”

Sheldon is the author of six critically-acclaimed courtroom dramas featuring San Francisco criminal defense attorneys Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. Sheldon is a graduate of Boalt Law School at UC-Berkeley. He lives in Marin County with his wife, Linda, and their twin sons, Alan and Stephen. His seventh novel, Perfect Alibi, will be released in 2010. Visit his website.

Workshop Presenters

Craft of Writing Track

Book Research – “Getting It Right!”

California historian James R. Smith is the author of San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks and The California Snatch Racket: Kidnappings in the Prohibition and Depression Eras as well as a number of historical articles written for San Francisco City Guides’ magazine, Guidelines.  A well-respected authority in California history, he has spent years chronicling the stories of San Francisco and California.  Smith is a frequent lecturer and discussion leader at universities, historical societies, libraries and bookstores. Learn more. This workshop focuses on the details of historical research required to provide accurate, vibrant portrayals of both settings and people. 9:30 – 10:30 (Garden)

Dialogue  - “Talking in Voices: Writing Dialogue in Fiction”

Sheldon is the author of six critically-acclaimed courtroom dramas featuring San Francisco criminal defense attorneys Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez. Sheldon is a graduate of Boalt Law School at UC-Berkeley. He lives in Marin County with his wife, Linda, and their twin sons, Alan and Stephen. His seventh novel, Perfect Alibi, will be released in 2010. Visit his website.

A practical, nuts-and-bolts session on keeping your story moving through the use of compelling dialogue. 10:45 – 11:45 (Garden)

Character – “Method, Madness & Magic: Creating Compelling Characters”

David Corbett is the author of four critically acclaimed novels: The Devil’s Redhead, Done for a Dime, Blood of Paradise, and Do They Know I’m Running? His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories 2009. Read more.

Characters begin as emanations in the mind’s eye. We’ll discuss various strategies for fleshing out those elusive beings, so that the result is compelling, surprising and convincing. 2:00 – 3:00 (Garden)

“Descriptive Writing That Readers Can Smell, Taste, Feel, Hear and See”

Patricia V. Davis is the author of the award-winning Harlot’s Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss and Greece. She is also the editor-in-chief and founder of HS Radio e-magazine and podcast at www.harlotssauce.com. Learn more about Patricia V. Davis.

In this workshop, we will read samples of descriptive place writing that overcome the formulaic, and discuss what it is about them that creates a mind-image for the reader. Then, with some simple but effective writing exercises, participants will leave armed with new techniques for creating vivid word visuals of their own. 3:15 – 4:15 (Garden)

Genre Track

Screenwriting – “Adapting Sideways: Magic and the Story Diamond”

Jon James Miller earned a Bachelor of Science in Cinematography and worked for several years in cable documentaries for A&E, Lifetime and The History Channel while writing original feature length screenplays in LA. In 2008, Jon’s original screenplay “Garbo’s Last Stand” won Grand Prize of the AAA Screenplay Contest sponsored by Creative Screenwriting Magazine and was featured in the May/June issue and in 2009, The Golden Brad Award for Drama sponsored by the Movie Script Contest. Another original screenplay, “Agent Cynthia,” won the 2009 Best Historical Screenplay at the First Annual ThrillSpyInternational Film Festival in Washington, D.C. Discover more.

Charlotte Cook is president and story editor of KOMENAR Publishing as well as a popular presenter at writers conferences and events, and a successful teacher and workshop facilitator. She has an MFA in Creative Writing as well as practical business experience in the book industry. As an acquisition and story editor, she brought to publication far more books, articles and stories than the six award-winning novels she published for KOMENAR. As a result, Writers Digest magazine interviewed Charlotte about her career and publishing company in February 2008.

Anyone writing a novel, whether screenwriter or practiced novelist, needs strategies and concepts to develop and test the story. In this interactive workshop, Jon Miller and Charlotte Cook will begin with a group card trick that magically shifts into a basic diagram of how novels work on the page. 9:30 – 10:30 (Alexander)

Memoir – “Outside the box: Memoir, the Prose Poem, and Flash Fiction”

Terry Ehret is a teacher, writer, and co-founder of Sixteen Rivers Press, a regional poetry publishing collective. From 2004-2006 she served as poet laureate of Sonoma County where she lives and teaches. Her third collection of poems, Lucky Break. was released in 2008. Read more. Visit her personal website as well.

Examining selected works by Sandra Cisneros, Mary Oliver, Lyn Hejinian, Billy Collins, and others. We’ll look at how prose  poem and flash-fiction techniques capture the potent memory-frames that make up our lives. 10:45 – 11:45 (Alexander)

“Taking the Mystery out of Mystery”

Terri Thayer is the author of six mysteries. The Quilting Mystery series from Midnight Ink includes Wild Goose Chase, Old Maid’s Puzzle, and Ocean Waves. Published by Berkley Prime Crime, the Stamping Sisters series consists of STAMPED OUT, INKED UP, and the latest, FALSE IMPRESSIONS was released in July 2010. Visit her website, www.territhayer.com or friend her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter. She blogs weekly at Killer Hobbies blog with five other craft mystery writers.

Find out how to craft a great genre mystery. Learn how to pace, plant clues, groom possible suspects. From formula to finished, get the tools you need for your mystery. 2:00 – 3:00 (Alexander)

“Writing for Children and Young Adults”

Pamela Pizzimenti grew up in Concord, California.  She has been a teacher for 8 years, where she has enjoyed learning from her students what kinds of stories and themes young adults enjoy reading. Prior to becoming a teacher, she was a radio personality for 8 years in California’s Central Valley under the name Kellie McCoy. She received her BA in Mass Communications from California State University, East Bay. Read an interview with the author.

Writing for young adults (YAs) gives an author the opportunity to influence young readers. The YA market has experienced an 87 percent increase in the number of titles published in the last two years – it’s one of the healthiest segments in the industry.  Focus on strategies for improving the core components of a YA book, including plot, character, subject matter, and dialogue. 3:15 – 4:15 (Alexander)

Technology and Business Track

“Building Your Name”

Teresa LeYung Ryan, a.k.a. Writing Career Coach Teresa, is the creator of Build Your Name, Beat the Game: Be Happily Published (22 minutes for 22 days workbook to build platform before and after publication). Coach Teresa says: “You are THE expert of your experiences; make your name synonymous with the subject matters of your writing.” Teresa’s novel, Love Made of Heart, sheds light on the secret agonies suffered by immigrants.

More tips on her website! Learn how to identify advocates, endorsers and fans; gain recognition through your mission statement; build your platform by reaching out, not stressing out. 9:30 – 10:30 (Oak)

Agents’ Panel – “Talking to Agents”

Katherine Cowles has been involved in publishing her entire career. For more than a decade she was at the center of New York publishing at Simon and Schuster and Doubleday, eventually leading her to a position as Associate Publisher and Vice President at Simon and Schuster. As an agent at CowlesRyan, she is most interested in serious nonfiction – history and science in particular as well as practical nonfiction such as cooking and design.

Visit Cowles-Ryan Literacy Agency online.

April Eberhardt joined Kimberley Cameron & Associates as a Literary Agent in 2008 after five years of editorial work with Zoetrope: All-Story, a literary magazine, and another agency.Her specialty is adult commercial and literary fiction, particularly contemporary urban fiction, ironic family dramas and realistic midlife tales, often with a twist, preferably involving strong female characters.

Visit Kimberly Cameron Agency online.

Andy Ross has been a literary agent since January 2008.  Prior to that, he was the owner of Cody’s Books in Berkeley, California for 30 years. Andy specializes in non-fiction, particularly narrative non-fiction, history, current events, and journalism. He is a member of the Association of Author Representatives (AAR).

Visit Andy Ross Agency online.

10:45 – 11:45 (Oak)

Online Networking – “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Networking (But Were Afraid To Ask)”

Tanya Egan Gibson is the author of How to Buy a Love of Reading (May 2009 – Dutton), a novel about nouveau riche parents who try to cure their teenage daughter’s hatred of books by commissioning a custom-written novel for her and dubbing themselves the Medicis of Long Island.  Hailed as “a fresh and funny new voice in the world of fiction” by Mark Childress (Crazy in Alabama), Tanya is an alumna of Squaw Valley Community of Writers and a founding member of the Marin Branch of California Writers Club.  She would love you to visit her website and share a story about how reading changed–or even saved–your life.

A good network of like-minded writers supports us in leading a literary life. We’ll discuss various ways of networking, including: Using online social networks and blogs. Attending writers conferences such as this one. Taking part in critique groups. Joining writers’ associations like the Redwood branch of the CWC. 2:00 – 3:00 (Oak)

Publishing – “Two Steps to Successful Publishing”

Patricia Fry is a full-time career writer. She has been writing for publication for over 35 years and is the author of 31 books, including several related to writing and publishing. Her titles include, “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book,” “The Author’s Repair Kit,” “The Successful Author’s Handbook,” and “Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book.” She is the Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). Read her Blog.

Publishing success through book promotion strategies for the bold as well as the bashful. 3:15 – 4:15 (Oak)