Molly Dwyer will be presenting at Arcade Library

2443 Marconi Ave, Sacramento, CA 95821

on Saturday May 18th, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Join the Meeting on Zoom

Meeting ID: 832 1220 0475

Passcode: 568644

Narrative Authority comes from our sense that the writer is fearless and in control of the story they’re telling. We will look at text by several authors to see what they’re doing that creates the power of voice and discuss why and how the text is working. Using visual prompts, we’ll write two short pieces and share them, attempting to identify the sound of our own voices.

What attendees will learn:

• To understand narrative authority and voice in fiction and/or memoir writing.
• To understand the power and uniqueness of your own authenticity.
• To examine the text of successful writing to learn what a strong voice can do.
• To discover more about your own voice through prompted writing and discussion.
• To consider the precision of language, and language’s power to create.

Molly teaches creative writing at Mendocino College. She works as an editor, writing coach and workshop facilitator. Her debut novel, Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction and won the Independent Publishers Book of the Year Award and an Indie Book Award for Historical Fiction. She’s founding president of the Writers of the Mendocino Coast, a branch of California Writers Club.

Brush Up on Your First Paragraph! at Cattlemens Restaurant

12409 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

on Saturday June 15th, 2024 from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Following on from Melissa’s welcome presentation on personal essays, she returns on Saturday, June 15 to bring a special treat to attendees at the quarterly CWC luncheon. Come for fun and learning as author Melissa Hart gives suggestions on members’ first paragraph from a manuscript they are working on!

If you have a paragraph you would like Melissa to comment on, it will need to be submitted in advance. Note deadline below of June 8. For $15, your paragraph will be read aloud by a third party, followed by suggestions and a short discussion. Five minutes total will be devoted to each first paragraph submitted. Author will remain anonymous, so there’s no “outing” of anyone – all fun and learning.

Mark your calendar now for June 15. Brush up on a first paragraph if you’d like to submit for a live mini-critique.  Following the meeting, member Susan Dlugach will offer a short session on poetry – what writers of all genres can learn from poetry.

Members with a published book or promo materials are invited to bring for the display table.

Members with books in need of a new home are invited to bring them to place on a table of free books Plan to have a good time as we all learn together!

Book your tickets for the event here.

If you want your work to be critiqued, you will need to register if here, and pay the critique fee of $15.

Reminders

What: Quarterly Luncheon, First Paragraph Blow-Up Live!

When: Saturday June 15, 11:30

• Social Hour: 11:30
• Membership meeting: Noon
• Melissa Hart & First Paragraph Critique: 12:45
• Post-luncheon special: 2 p.m.
• Susan Dlugach on poetry, what writers of all genres can learn from
• poetry. Donations appreciated.

Where: Cattlemens Rancho Cordova

Cost: Meeting Fee: $36, includes coffee, soda, meal, speaker, book displays, post-speaker.

What attendees should bring:  A copy of your published book or promo items to put on the display table. Any books you’re ready to pass on to a new home for the giveaway table.

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Jordan Rosenfeld will be presenting at Arcade Library

2443 Marconi Ave, Sacramento, CA 95821

on Saturday April 20th, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

To keep a story taut, and to hold readers’ attention, you must learn to write with tension. Tension in novels, stories, and even memoirs is like the connective tissue that allows muscles to attach to bones, and thus flex their might. It’s the heart of conflict, the backbone of uncertainty, the hallmark of danger. It requires opposing forces, danger, conflict and a whole lot more at the scene level, and at the plot level. Learn to understand essential kinds of tension to write page turning stories.

What attendees will learn:

• Four key “elements” of tension.
• How to work with character goals and flaws to create inner tension.
• How to insure you’ve got a tense inciting incident.
• How to tighten the tension of your plot’s energetic markers.
• Ways to balance scene elements for maximum tension…and much more.

Jordan Rosenfeld is author of the forthcoming novel Fallout (Running Wild Press), as well as the novels Women in Red and Forged in Grace and six books on writing craft, most recently How to Write a Page-Turner. Her freelance articles and essays have appeared in hundreds of national publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Scientific American and more. She is a freelance manuscript editor and writing teacher. Jordanrosenfeld.net.

Brooke Warner will be presenting at Cattlemens Restaurant

12409 Folsom Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

on Sunday March 17th, 2024 from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Memoir is a much-beloved genre, but it’s notably hard to sell to publishers. One of the reasons for that is because too many memoirs fall into the trap of being a story about what happened rather than the meaning that the memoirist infuses into events that shaped or changed their lives. In this session, Brooke Warner will cover three qualities of memoir that you’ll want to consider and understand if you want to write a story that will impact your readers’ lives. Covered in this session will be:

• Your story’s universal relevance or resonance.
• Storytelling (ie, “showing”) and scene-building.
• Writing a book that holds deep meaning for your reader.

What attendees will learn:

• How to write a meaningful memoir.
• What publishers are looking for in a memoir.
• Common mistakes memoirists make when they’re first starting out.
• How to write in “scene” and be a good guide to your reader.
• How to think about “why it matters” over “what happened” as you tell your story.

You can reserve your tickets here

Brooke Warner is publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, president of Warner Coaching Inc., and author  of Write On, Sisters!, Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book?, and three books on memoir. Brooke is a TEDx speaker, weekly podcaster (of “Write-minded” with co-host Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo), and publishes a weekly newsletter, Writerly Things, on Substack at brookewarner.substack.com. Brooke is the former Executive Editor of Seal Press and writes a regular column for Publishers Weekly.

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In addition, our very own Gloria Perrot-Dyer, will be holding an additional fundraising talk.

Historical Fiction:  The Marriage of Fact and Fancy

Gloria is a 2023 awardee of the Jack London Award, for her contributions to the California Writers Club, Sacramento Branch.

Gloria has published her first book in 2020 entitled Allensworth: Two Tales of Triumph. She will be sharing elements of the process that she used in conducting the extensive research necessary for writing this book.

Some of the areas she will cover are the following:

• choosing a time period in history
• authenticity in setting, plot, characters, dialogue and historical issues
• how to conduct the needed research
• authentic language of the time period
• authentic clothing, transportation and necessities for daily living.
• building a world in the historical context of the time period.

A discretionary club fundraising donation is requested and very much appreciated, $10 suggested.