Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Making Metaphors and Other Stylish Things
Nina Schuyler
About the presentation:
Metaphors are like magical pleasure pills that help the reader see the world anew. The critic James Wood said metaphors float a rival reality; it’s the entire imaginative process in one move. The primary focus of the presentation will be offering a new strategy for making metaphors and for members to try it out. To augment this exploration, I'll also present three ways to grow sentences so they can contain metaphors and much more style.
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About the presenter:
Nina Schuyler teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco and Stanford Continuing Studies. Her award-winning novel, Afterword, was published in May 2023 by Clash Books and named a favorite May book by Alta Journal and a favorite June book by Towne Center Books. Her short story collection, In This Ravishing World, won the W.S. Porter Prize for Short Story Collections and the Prism Prize for Climate Literature and will be published by Regal House Publishing in July 2024. Her novel, The Translator, won the Next Generation Indie Book for General Fiction and was a finalist for the William Saroyan International Writing Prize. Her nonfiction book, How to Write Stunning Sentences, is a bestseller.
Connect with Nina at www.ninaschuyler.com.
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Life in the Flames: A Five-Year Journey Bringing 'Inflamed' to Publication
Anne E. Belden & Paul Gullixson, authors of "Inflamed"
About the presentation:
Just after midnight on October 9, 2017, as one of the nation’s deadliest and most destructive firestorms swept over California’s Wine Country, hundreds of elderly residents from two posh senior living facilities in Santa Rosa were caught in its path. The frailest were blind, in wheelchairs, or diagnosed with dementia, and their community quickly transformed from a palatial complex that pledged to care for them to one that threatened to entomb them. Co-Authors Paul Gullixson and Anne Belden will share their five-year journey to bring this story, with the help of contributing editor Lauren Spates, to publication.
About the presenter:
Anne Belden runs the journalism program and advises the newsroom at Santa Rosa Junior College. During the 2017 Wine Country fires, she drove students into devastated fire zones to report on the disaster. Their work won numerous state and national awards and saw global syndication; Anne now instructs on how to cover wildfires. Before teaching, she spent eighteen years as a journalist, working as a reporter and editor on the San Francisco Peninsula where her news, feature, and investigative articles were recognized by the California Newspaper Publishers Association, San Francisco Peninsula Press Club, and Parenting Publications of America. Anne holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from UCLA and a master’s degree in media studies from Stanford University.
Paul Gullixson is a seasoned journalist with more than 35 years of experience working for West Coast newspapers including The Press Democrat in Sonoma County, the San Francisco Chronicle and other Bay Area newspapers. As columnist and editorial writer for The Press Democrat, he played a key role in the newspaper winning the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the October 2017 fires. He also has received numerous individual awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club and is a past recipient of the New York Times Co. Chairman’s Award for editorial writing. Paul is a past president of the California First Amendment Coalition and taught journalism for five years at Sonoma State University, serving as faculty adviser for the student newspaper. He currently serves as Communications Manager for the County of Sonoma.
Learn more about their book, Inflamed at www.facebook.com/Inflamedthebook.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Author Launch 2024
Celebrate the success of Bay Area authors at the annual Redwood Writers Author Launch event. Meet local authors and listen to excerpts from new books published by our members.
This event is free, and lunch will be served. Potluck items welcome! Please register so we know how much food to supply.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Defluff Your Poems!
With Les Bernstein and Fran Claggett-Holland
Separation
Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.
— W. S. Merwin U.S. Poet Laureate
You are invited to a workshop with Les Bernstein and Fran Claggett-Holland. Together, we will explore concise poetry, a form that conveys deep emotion, vivid imagery using minimalistic language and brevity. It is surprising what can be done with so few words.
About the Facilitators:
Les Bernstein is an award-winning poet whose poems have appeared in the U.S.A. and internationally. Fran Claggett-Holland is a magician and a masterful poet.
Saturday, May 18, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Libraries are for Everyone
With Simone Yingst & Barbara Mackenzie
Simone Yingst, librarian, and Barbara McKenzie, library commissioner, will share about all of the wonderful services Sonoma County Library has to offer, including lendable books and media, connectivity equipment, and informative digital resources that your library card provides access to for free, plus literacy programs for adults and children. Simone and Barbara will also cover how the library can support local writers and how to get your published work into the library. There will be time for questions and answers.
About the Facilitators:
Barbara Mackenzie: Barbara Mackenzie, Library Commissioner, is a native of Indiana, graduate of the University of California Irvine, and 40-year-plus resident of Rohnert Park. She enjoyed a three-decade career in medical management and administration, primarily at Santa Rosa OB/GYN Medical Group, and the Sonoma County Medical Association. She has represented the City of Rohnert Park on the Library Commission since 2014.
Simone Yingst: Simone Yingst is an Adult Services Librarian at the Central Santa Rosa Library. She studied English Literature at Sonoma State, and received her Masters in Library and Information Science from San Jose State. Simone loves gardening, going on adventures with her partner and dog, and reading, of course.
Saturday, June 15, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Top 3 Aspects to Harness the Power of PR for Authors
With Lilian Sue
Authors will understand the power of PR, and how to harness it to confidently share their stories on international platforms, virtually and beyond, with readers, how to meet and find the right media personalities and writers and build relationships with (in order to get in front of audiences) and how to stay consistently top of mind with their readers and media alike.
About the Facilitator:
As a PR coach and publicist, Lilian Sue is in the storytelling and relationship building business.
She empowers authors to learn how to gain the confidence to make public relations work for them to achieve their goals by giving them personalized guidance and support to gain the confidence to push past limiting beliefs and mindset blocks to develop and launch successful PR campaigns.
Why? Because she believes that every author has a compelling brand story that deserves to be heard and celebrated by audiences all over the world. Audiences learn to trust them and support their projects because they resonate with their stories.
Find her at www.inretrospectwritingservices.com
Saturday, July 20, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
How to Conquer Writer’s Block, Ego Need, Envy and the Other Evil Voices Inside You
With Steve Almond
Steve Almond, author of Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow, will discuss the emotional struggles that we bring to our writing, everything from the anxiety of exposure to the crippling doubts that drive us into writer’s block—without judgment or platitudes. We will consider this radical question: Is it possible to view moments, and even eras, of creative doubt as necessary and even essential to our artistic growth? How can we move from anxiety and self-loathing to a posture of forgiveness and curiosity.
About the Facilitator:
Steve Almond is the author of twelve books of fiction and non-fiction, including the New York Times Bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His first novel, Which Brings Me to You, was made into a movie that is streaming on Amazon and Hulu. His second novel, All the Secrets of the World, is being developed for television by 20th Century Fox. His new book, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow is about the craft of writing, the meaning of stories, and the emotional and psychological struggles we face in telling our stories.
Find him at stevealmondjoy.org.
Saturday, August 17, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Author Tell All: 3 Authors Share How They Talk About Their Books
Presented by Crissi Langwell, Mara Lynn Johnstone, and Shawn Langwell
So, you’ve written a book. The hard part is over, right?
Not exactly. Now you need to get it in front of an audience, draw them in, and leave them wanting more.
At the August Redwood Writers meeting, enjoy a panel discussion with speculative fiction author Mara Lynn Johnstone, non-fiction author Shawn Langwell, and romance author Crissi Langwell as they offer a peek behind the curtains of their marketing strategies and creative process. These three vastly different authors will share the ways they’ve kept their audience in mind from the very first page, how they remain enthusiastic about their writing, and the things they do to draw attention to their books. There will be plenty of time for Q&A, as well.
Saturday, September 21, 2024
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Redwood Writers Town Hall
With RW Board Members and Volunteers
At our September general meeting, learn the results of our members-only survey that will help guide the future of our club. This meeting will also serve as a Redwood Writers 101 as the board and our volunteers share the many things our branch offers to members, and how you can make the most of your membership.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sonoma County Writers Conference
We hope you will join us for our biennial conference for a day of writing, inspiration, and so much more.
