Write Angles

Page 1

October 2011

Wallace Stegner (19091993), often called The Dean of Western Writers, is remembered for his formation in 1964 of the renowned creative writing program at Stanford University, where he served on the faculty until 1971. Along with his career as a writing teacher, he wrote novels, historical nonfiction, memoirs, and essays. In 1972 he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his Angle of Repose. Committed to the preservation of the American West, he was also a dedicated environmental advocate. A writer is an organism that will go on writing even after its heart has been cut out. [Angle of Repose]

Write Angles
Presidents Message
Linda Brown

Page 2

View from the Mountain Top

October is a special month for me and for the California Writers Club. In 2003, your CWC Central Board, under the leadership of the Marin Branch president Barbara Truax, petitioned the state legislature to proclaim the third week in October as California Writers Week. The elected officials obliged us with a joint resolution recognizing that week in perpetuity. When I asked Barbara for her thoughts on that effort today, she emailed the following: The authors on the resolution represent the 14 branches of California Writers Club at that time and were chosen with great care. Each author had to stand the test of time, and the list had to show the diversity of California. It was truly an honor to be a part of California Writers Club's history that day.

October
2011

In the seven years since that Resolution, the number of CWC branches has grown to 18, a 28.6 percent increase. To me, that indicates that people recognize the benefit of being a CWC member. To learn more about California Writers Week, go to www.calwriters.org and look under the About Us Tab. Also, learn more about our newest CWC branch, Writers of the Mendocino Coast, from the link on the home page.
1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9

contents
Presidents message October Speaker Member Profile Poetry Page October Survey So Many Blogs

Report on E-book Sales

CB News & Whos Who The Last Word Speaker Flyer

Member News & Tidbit

California Writers Week South Bay Workshop

The San Francisco Examiner reported on the Yone Ngouchi exhibit by CWC Mt. Diablo member Nina Egert at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Read the story at http://www .examiner.com/poetry-in-oakland/poets-praise-poets-1. Her book, Noguchis California, 10/7-15 Litquake Poetic Visions of a 19th Century Dharma Bum, celebrates the poet who brought haiku 10/16 SpeakerTracy Seeley: The poetry to the West when he lived on Joaquin Millers land. The view on the book cover is
Reflective I in Nonfiction 10/16-22 CA Writers Week (Presidents message continued on p. 6)

upcoming events

Writ
October brings me the first smell of fall and fond memories: quail hunting with my dad; walking past the harvested pastures; gathering bittersweet, the twisted vines with dark orange and red buds, with my mom; and birthday picnics at Missouris Crowder State Park and hiking beneath the vivid red/orange sugar maple trees. Perhaps those early outings are the foundation for my affinity for Joaquin Miller Park today. October is also important to me as a Californian and longtime womens and civil rights advocate. City staffer and Oakland Tribune columnist Annalee Allen, who has mentioned the CWC favorably in several columns, reminds us that October is the 100th Anniversary of womens suffrage in California. She invites CWC members to share in the Parlors & Politics Celebration at three of Oaklands historic houses on October 1 and to join the Oakland Suffrage Parade on October 1. For details, search the web or call 510-834-7640. Other News
10 11

On a personal note, October is important to me because it is my birthday month, although Im not sure about this one. I applied for Medicare! I still think I am perfectly healthy despite having to postpone my planned trek across Northern Spain on the Camino Santiago trail.

Write Angles
October speaker

Page 3

A Pilgrimage of Reconnection
David Baker

Thats how Tracy Seeley, our featured speaker for the October 16 meeting, describes her travels in search of the world she lived in as a child. Seeleys memoir, My Ruby Slippers: the Road Back to Kansas, is a model for those of us writing works of literary nonfiction. But fiction writers, too, can learn from her as she recaptures childhood experiences molding the person she became and wonders why we tend to place in tidy boxes, and thus distort, our past encounters with reality. A professor of literature and creative nonfiction, Seeley had worked at shucking Kansas off like the skin of a cicada and was enjoying San Francisco. The discovery of a tumor needing chemotherapy and, a day later, her partners announcement that he was leaving her to live with another woman destroyed her pleasurable routine. Self-reflection followed. She thought about her caring mother, the father who abandoned her, frequent moves from town to town or from one street to another, and came to realize that her memories had no place to settle. Guided only by her mothers list of the thirteen addresses where the family had lived, Seeley set out on her pilgrimage. One of the toughest questions she faced was: How will members of my family feel when I share unpleasant truths with strangers? Based on her experience walking the family minefield, Seeley advises: be truthful, even in dangerous terrain, but keep your motives clean . . . . Writing a memoir isnt your chance to get even, avenge a wrong, blame or shame someone. Its an opportunity to focus on your responses to events and on how they shaped your inner world. Even if youre writing about Aunt Josies hi-jinks, keep your eyes on what it has to do with the main character, you. Well consider numerous memoir dos and donts at the October meeting, when Tracy Seeley examines the reflective I and helps us make our way through shadows in the past.

Writ
Member Profile:

Kathleen Orosco

In November 2005, I met Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada at a Literatti in Alameda, CA. A month later I submitted a one-page synopsis, and he responded within the same evening that he would love to see a proposal. I was working on my thesis for my masters in education and explained that I was not able to produce a complete manuscript at that time. Nonetheless, I immediately began the research on my manuscript.

After returning from a long visit to my home state of Texas, one day I wandered through the books in a Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Oakland, and heard great laughter. The sounds literally drew me in to seek the voices out. The California Writers Club meeting was being held, and it was love at first sight, so I joined the same month.

That love has deepened through the camaraderie, professional support of my writing, and incredible learning curve. Stephen Kings philosophy and mentoring in his book, On Writing, has provided a clear guide, with funny examples about how he manages his writing lifestyle with all the ups and downs of life and the busy routine of marriage, family

Write Angles Poetry Page

page 3 Page 4

and friends. I am currently working on a nonfiction manuscript and a magazine article to be submitted to The Texas Monthly magazine this month.

Writ
Poetry Page We write to make sense of it all. Wallace Stegner

Write Angles
What Are Sales Like for E-books?
-Lloyd Lofthouse

Page 5

The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) newsletter for September 2011 (published in paper, and many of its articles will not be available in virtual form) had a piece about e-book publishing and where the sales are going. The result of information gathering by "Sourcebooks" reveals that for paper-printed books, 42.3% of sales were adult nonfiction, 25.2% were adult fiction, 7% were juvenile/children (both fiction and nonfiction) and 25.5% were calendars/audio/journals, etc. Of the 42.3% of paper books that represented adult nonfiction, sales were broken down further into the top five largest categories: reference 15%, general nonfiction 12%, health/fitness/medicine/sports 11%, religion/Bibles 11%, and biography/autobiography/memoir 9%. However, the pie chart representing e-books reveals that about 82% of sales were adult fiction (narrative), while adult nonfiction was maybe 15%, and children/juvenile maybe 3%. This tells us that the strongest place for independent authors that are either self-published or published by a small indie press is to focus on adult narrative fiction, because the small indie author's best market is e-books. And this is because the largest and mid-sized traditional publishers have the brick-and-mortar bookstore market pretty much locked up. The average brick-and-mortar bookstore carries between 20 and 50 thousand titles and the average super-sized brick-and-mortar bookstore carries about 150,000 titles. But more than 3.3 million new titles were published in 2010 (over 3 million from indie authors and about 300,000 from the traditional publishing industry). Thus we discover there isn't enough shelf space in brick-and-mortar bookstores for indie authors.

In addition, only a limited amount of shelf space in brick-and-mortar bookstore is available for new titles. Visit a local indie brick-and-mortar bookstore or a Barnes & Noble superstore and count the new titles displayed on the new release shelves/tables. The rest of the books in that bookstore are mostly old titles that still sell well months/years after being released, and most of them are from traditional publishers.

October Survey

Do You Enter Writing Contests?

Writ
Some people love writing contests. Others have no use for them. Have you entered any writing contests? Did you have much luck? Which contests do you think are worth entering? Have you had a bad experience with a contest? Do you have a great contest story you want to share? Here is your chance to let us know what you think about writing contests. Well have the results in the November issue of Write Angles so that you can see which contests your fellow club members are entering and why. The survey is really easy to fill out. Just click on this link and answer the questions: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/65V99Q7 But do it no later than October 12!

Write Angles
Creation is a knack which is empowered by practice, and like almost any skill, it is lost if you don't practice it. Wallace Stegner

Page 6

Writ

Write Angles

Page 7

With So Many Blogs to Read, How Do I Know Where to Start?

Tanya Grove

Perusing the blog of my friend and former Berkeley branch president, Al Levenson, I came across something he called simply Blogs I Like. I trust Als suggestions in the same way that I value friends book recommendations, so I scanned his blog roll to see if anything sparked my interest, which is often how I find sites that end up on my favorites bar. In that same vein, I decided to feature several blogs that might appeal to Write Angles readers. Who knows? Maybe one of them will be the next addition to your favorites bar. Of course I follow Als blog, A Year on the Road, where he keeps us upto-date on his travels across America in the Jolly Swag. http://allevenson.wordpress.com/ Nathan Bransford writes the best all-around publishing blog. He often comes up with intriguing questions for his readers and does a great week-in-publishing wrap-up on Fridays. He has an active group of regular followers who comment, if youre interested in the interactive, social aspect of the blogging community. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/ Slush Pile Hell is a collection of crazy queries that will make you feel better about any that youve written. The description of itself is One grumpy literary agent, a sea of query fails, and other publishing nonsense. Its short and funny, with a new post every Monday. http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/ Nanoism is perfect for people who love fiction but dont have much time. Edited by Ben White, it is an online publication for stories of up to 140 characters, or as the website states: stories that fit in the cracks of your day. http://nanoism.net/

Writ

Write Angles

Page 8

The Berkeley branch is full of bloggers, including Alon Shalev. Alons Left Coast Voices is all about social justice and activism. http://leftcoastvoices.wordpress.com Another former CWC president, Dave Sawle, writes about human nature, improving processes that help in planning for the future, and psychological studies in a way that grabs your attention. His posts have great titles, like Sailboats, Donkeys and Household Duties in the First Week of Marriage. http://foresightimprovement.com/ Write Angles staffer Thomas Burchfield describes his blog A Curious Man as an eclectic collection of essays, reviews and other ephemera, mostly relating to writing, publishing, literature, film, humor, and travel. http://tbdeluxe.blogspot.com/. Kymberlie Ingalls writes about her blog, Writer of the Storm: The storms of life that we all weather are what define us. She has been writing online since 1997 and warns that readers may be subject to falling opinions. http://www.writerofthestorm.com/ And since writers are supposed to take advantage of every opportunity to promote themselves, I may as well offer up my own online ponderings, For Words, which usually touches on writing or words in all their varied forms, and often points out beauty found in unusual places; though I freely admit that I will write about almost anything that intrigues me, which, it turns out, is a lot. http://tanyagrove.wordpress.com/ If you have a favorite blog you want to share (including your own), send the link to writeangles@gmail.com with a brief description of the blog itself and reasons why you like it or why other members might want to read it. Write Angles will publish readers suggestions in the November issue, subject to space, of course.

Writ

Write Angles
Presidents message continued from page 1

Page 9

at moonrise from the California Writers Memorial Grove in Joaquin Miller Park. Nina has donated a number of these books to the CWC and other nonprofits for fundraising purposes. For more information on the exhibit, which lasts through the lunar New Year in January, 2012, go to: http://web.mac.com/ninaephd/Site/Nina_Egert.html and www.oacc.cc. Consider, too, that the CWC would like to help our published authors get story placements like this one in magazines and newspapers. Lead time is important, so plan months in advance by sharing your ideas with the CWCs Marketing Group and Communications/ PR volunteers. CWC Central Board (CB) News When the CB learned that the state planned to shut the Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen next year, it joined the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association. With our dues, CB president Bob Garfinkle, Fremont Branch, wrote I am enclosing a donationwith the desire that these funds be used in your efforts to keep thePark open to the public. Garfinkle goes on to write about the CWCs close relationship with another park, Oaklands Joaquin Miller Park. Members from the CWC Redwood Branch will be the main contact. Joyce Krieg, Central Coast, will provide support as she does for the CWCs work at Joaquin Miller Park. If you can write a story, direct attention to this effort, or help in other ways, contact Joyce Krieg (Central Coast) joycek@redshift.com or Abby Bogomolny (Redwood Branch) bogomo@earthlink.net. The CB is planning for year 2013the year the CWC incorporated and the 10th anniversary of California Writers Week. We are looking for a CWC-BB member who likes to write about history for magazines to represent our Club in the publicity planning on this effort. If that person is you, contact Linda Brown, berkeley.cwc@gmail.com. Purely Social Events

At the summer planning retreat, we had suggestions for more social events. To celebrate California Writers Week, Mary Luersen volunteered to plan a get-together at Jack London and Joaquin Millers hangout, Heinolds First and Last Chance Saloon, in Jack London Square on Thursday, October 20, 5:30-7:30 pm. Just drop by for this informal get-together and watch for more details in the prezs blast e-mail. Enjoy the month and see you soon.

Whos Who in CWC-BB

Board Members President: Linda Brown VP Administration: Al Levenson VP Membership: Cliff Hui VP Communications: Open VP Programs: Barbara Ruffner VP Marketing Writers: Francine Howard VP Writing Groups: Barbara Gilvar Secretary: Open Treasurer: Madelen Lontiong Delegates Central Board: Open NorCal: Jeff Kingman & Kathleen Orosco

Writ
Key Chairs (alpha order) New Member Orientation: Barbara Gilvar Speakers: Jane Glendinning Technology Team: Kristen Caven Workshops: Open Fifth-Grade Story Contest: Debby Frisch Write On! Story Contest: Open Write Angles Editor: Tanya Grove To volunteer, pose a question or express interest, contact the leaders or e-mail cwc.berkeley@gmail.com

Write Angles
z

Page 10
Oakland Public Library West Auditorium 125 14th Street 94612

Our monthly meetings are free and open to the public and feature a speaker, an author event, or both.

Entrance on Madison Street

Member News
Nina Egerts exhibit Yone Noguchi in California: A Japanese Poet Among Oakland's Famous Writers is opening at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th St, from September 8 to January 2012. There will be two new display cases about ikebana and the evolution of Japanese poetry to haiku written in English. Book signing on September 8. For more information on the exhibit, go to: www.oacc.cc. Risa Nye was guest blogger in It Builds Character . . . And Other Parenting Clichs, Sept. 13, 2011, with her piece, The Rise and Fall of Ms. Fixit. http://www.itbuildscharacter.com/parenting/been-theredone-that/do-it-yourself-home-repair Sarah Clark read her original piece, "Aging with Delilah," on September 23 and 25, in an event sponsored and hosted by Montclair Presbyterian Church, Oakland, where she was one of ten writers offering stories and poetry related to the theme of aging.

Thomas Burchfield's Dracula novel, Dragon's Ark, now in paperback from Ambler House, is available at local independent bookstores and online retailers (including e-book editions). His comic screenplay, Whackers (also from Ambler House), is now available as an e-book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the i-Bookstore and the Sony Bookstore. His essay, "You Never Give Me Your Money," was a prize winner at a recent Red Room blog competition. http://tbdeluxe.blogspot.com/.

Writ
Jeffrey Kingman will have two flash fiction stories published in October in Grey Sparrow and decomP magazinE. A poem of Jeffreys will be published later this year in lo-ball magazine. Therese Pipe will show some of her photographs in the El Cerrito Art Association Annual Art Show at the El Cerrito Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane. Opening on September 30, 7:00-9:00 pm, the show runs through the weekend. tpipeln@jps.net.

Write Angles welcomes letters to the editor, book reviews, and articles of interest to writers. Submit to writeangles@gmail.com. If you are a member and want to share news, please write Member News in the subject line. Deadline is the 15th of the month.

Write Angles
Tidbit
The newest batch of Macarthur Fellows has a familiar face. Poet Kay Ryan was recently awarded one of the prestigious Genius grants. This former poet laureate of the United States also received a Pulitzer Prize this year and was featured last month on the Poetry Page of Write Angles. She grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and has lived in Marin County since 1971. Write Angles applauds this distinguished California writer.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Loring

Page 11

Visit our web site @calwritersclub.wordpress.com

Writ

Write Angles
The Last Word
Tanya Grove

Page 8

It takes a lot of people to put out a monthly newsletter, so Im taking a few moments to thank them. Karren Elsbernd is in charge of the cover, which features a distinguished California writer. She finds photos, writes a short bio, and comes up with a few choice quotes that wonderfully exemplify that writer. Linda Brown delivers From the Mountain Top, her message from the president that always keeps us informed of goings-on in CWC as well as in the writing community at large. David Baker gives us the lowdown on upcoming speakers in articles that are both informative and fun to read. Barbara Ruffner selects a poet (or poets) for each issue, finds their photos, writes about them, and gives us a sample of their verse on the Poetry Page. And despite her attempts to find someone to take over for her, she stalwartly continues to shoulder the responsibility rather than rob our readers of their monthly dose of poetry. Thomas Burchfield finds Berkeley Branch club members to profile so we can all get to know each other a little bit better. April Kutger is in charge of reading all of your answers to our surveys, compiling and analyzing the data, and writing it up in an interesting way so that we learn from and about each other. Our representatives to NorCal, Jeff Kingman and Kathleen Orosco, send us highlights from NorCal meetings. Anne Fox is our eagle-eye copyeditor, which means she has to read everything that goes in the newsletter and correct mistakes. And if that werent enough, shes also in charge of Member News and Tidbits. And I am your humble editor who slaps it all together with chewing gum and masking tape. Together we make up the backbone of Write Angles, but we are not alone in creating the content you read. We are also lucky enough to be the beneficiary of reader submissions. Sometimes those take the form of book reviews, which we are always happy to receive. Shereen Rahman has covered workshops that shes attended. Last month we got to see behind the scenes at the Book Expo America through the lens of our own Francine Howard. In this issue we have a timely article on the state of e-books by Lloyd Lofthouse. The wonderful thing about producing this newsletter is that our readership is made up of writers! Who better to submit articles? If you wish you could read a piece about something in the field of writing that is near and dear to you, and it isnt being covered in Write Angles, maybe you should be the one to write it. You may just have one article to submit, or you might have a great idea for a regular feature. You can submit a finished article (Word doc, no fancy formatting) by the fifteenth of the month, or query me with an idea any time. My e-mail: writeangles@gmail.com

Write Angles
Editor Copyeditor/Member News/Tidbits Cover Author Contributor Presidents Message Speaker Profile Poetry Page Editor Member Profiles Tanya Grove Anne Fox Karren Elsbernd Linda Brown David Baker Barbara Ruffner Thomas Burchfield

Survey Analyst/Reporter

April Kutger