I bragged about writing in the dark-waking up at night and scribbling a few notes without turning on the light. Then I thought about other images that phrase conjures. Pushing myself through the writers block of the late afternoon, I struggle for the perfect ending to my story. The final paragraphs shimmer in my imagination, …
NaNoWriMo begins on November 1st (one minute after midnight on Halloween). It’s a great personal challenge to write a 50,000-word novel by November 30. Last year, I wrote the second in a trilogy and found an ending to my first storyline. It’s easy to sign up and you can connect with others and watch their progress …
November 2012 President’s Message from Paula Chinick Read More »
Geri Spieler is an internet research guru. She is the author of Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman who Shot Gerald Ford. This book has won four awards including the Smart-Writ Best Non-fiction award at the 2010 Mensa Annual Conference. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los …
Beyond Google: Better Fact Finding for Fiction Writers Read More »
I flip open my computer and touch the home row keys confident that words will flow. Writer’s block, my adversary, assaults me like a wave of desert heat. I glance at my abbreviated notes. Blog, blogosphere and bloke stare back at me. Blog, the first word, is my scribbled reminder that I must write today. …
I’ve sat in the glow of published authors-as much glow as fluorescent lights can cast in a meeting room. From first major breakthrough to New York Times (NYT) bestsellers, “What is your writing regime like?” is the most frequent question from the audience. Kathryn Coulter, NYT bestselling author of the Savage and Sherlock mystery thrillers, …
I read an article that said to be a successful writer I should never let anything interfere with my writing time, not even a simple load of laundry. My first reaction was that my family would head off to work in their birthday suits if I followed that advice. After some reflection (and a load …
Fred Norman, CWC Tri-Valley member,
I reconnected with a childhood friend awhile back. We had lost touch after junior high. The high school in our district had been plagued with vandalism and violence throughout the mid-60’s as the Civil Rights movement escalated. My parents, their minds made up that it was not a safe environment for a mousy white girl, …
So far this year there have been three contests that I almost qualified to enter. My novel is really a novella and didn’t make the word count for one; my dream-come-true story didn’t involve sky-diving or some other near-death experience for the second; my first page start was intriguing and quirky, but not exactly scintillating …
Kathy Urban was honored for seven years of service to California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch at the September 15, 2012 meeting. Kathy, a founding member, was instrumental in the branch organizational and has served on the Board of Directors since the 2006 charter. She has resigned from the board to pursue her writing career but …
