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 …
The old adage practice, practice, practice are words a writer needs to live by. To be a writer who produces quality work means the constant development of your technique. Hone your craft by attending writing classes, lectures, seminars, or workshops.
Martha Engber, a professional journalist is the author of Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for the Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction. She received a 5-star “original-and-highly-recommended” rating from the Midwest Book Review for her literary novel, The Wind Thief. She has an article in Women Writing on Family: Tips on …
October 2012 Martha Engber Writing Workshop: Enough with Show, Don’t Tell Already! Read More »
I didn’t realize how strong my commitment to critique group was until this past January. I had minor surgery on a Wednesday and figured I’d be at the meeting the next day. My doctor called me Thursday morning and asked me how I felt. I described the pain I had during the night but said …
Our first meeting of the 2012-2013 term is Saturday, September 15th. See you there. President Paula Chinick
“Writing is not like painting where you add. It is not what you put on the canvas that the reader sees. Writing is more like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain.” (Eliezer Wiese, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1986) So what …
If I had to pick the most exciting half hour of my summer, I’d choose the thirty minutes I spent with Kyle Pressley, a man not my husband. We connected. He understood me. I was head over heels in love with his machine. That would be the Espresso Book Machine (EBM), one of the newest …
EBM, the most awesome, coolest writer’s tool ever by Julie Royce Read More »
The ocean tide pushes a wave toward the shoreline, crashing onto the rocks and bowing a hasty retreat. Another wave follows, drenching the wet sand, obliterating all but the memory of the previous wave. A photographer captures the scene and enhances it through digital format. A painter dabs at canvas with brushes and watercolors. A …
