John Bluck’s short story, “Cold in Chicago,” was published on June 11th, in a book of short stories released by Murderous Ink Press in the United Kingdom. The book, CRIMEUCOPIA, Through the Past Darkly, includes stories by 21 authors about crime from 420 BC through to AD 1969. Here’s a link to the short story book: https://www.amazon.com/Crimeucopia-Through-Darkly-Various-Authors-ebook/dp/B0CX9HMDQQ/.
Diane Lovitt’s memoir, Butter Your Own Damn Bread: Discovering My Values and My Voice, was published on May 22, 2024 and is available on Amazon https://a.co/d/fuq2jrm .
Jim Rowson’s Uncommon Scents (written with Bruce Berls and published in 2022) was shortlisted for the prestigious Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize. The Eric Hoffer Book Award is one of the largest international book awards for small, academic, and independent presses. Fewer than five percent of nominated books are shortlisted for the grand prize. Uncommon Scents was also a finalist for the First Horizon Award, given to debut authors, and received an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category. Uncommon Scents was a finalist in the First Novel category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest International awards program for indie authors and independent publishers.
Author Mary Deal conducted an interview with John Bluck about his background and his Luke Ryder mystery/thriller novels, which are published by Rough Edges Press. To read the interview, please click here: https://writeanygenre.wordpress.com/2024/05/14/john-g-bluck/
The following TVW members have pieces published in Las Positas College’s anthology, 2024 HAVIK: Linda Dratell for her poems “adapting to my life as an expat in españa,” “Deaf and Dealing with Bêtise at the Bistro,” and “Interlude Interrupted;” James Morehead for his poems “Two hundred and ten minutes later,” Twenty ways to start a poem about being bullied,” and “memories of a bullet” (1st Place); Rose Owens for her nonfiction article, “A Nag of a Different Color;” Abbey Lynne Raysfor her poems “Minnie Foster” and “Make It a Double;” and Monique Rardin Richardson for her three poems, “Beso Perfecto,” “Stardust,” and “Trust.”
Patricia Boyle’s poem, “white,” won an Honorable Mention award in Livermore’s science poetry contest, “Poetry in a Test Tube.”
Constance Hanstedt’s poem, “Holding on for Dear Life” has been published in the May issue of The Valley Scribe, the newsletter of CWC’s San Fernando Valley Branch.
Linda Drattell has been busy. She presented in the Netherlands at the Stichting Plotz & Laat Doven Congres about writing as a tool for coping with hearing loss. Her two books, Remember This Day and Who Wants to be Friends With a Dragon? will be featured at a book signing/author showcase event at the ADARA conference this year. And she had a flash fiction story, “The Appointment” published by Loft Books and a poem, “In My Jewelry Box” published by Zoetic Press.
Tri-Valley Writers takes a brief summer hiatus during the months of July and August. The Board of Directors will be busy planning for the 2024-2025 term. Critique groups, Pull Up a Chair and Write, and the Zoom Sit Down and Write will continue during the summer, so please forge on with your writing.
Check back here for updated activities.
We look forward to seeing you soon. Write On!
Tension, pacing and suspense are essential aspects of successful storytelling. Join noted author, editor, and writing teacher Margaret Lucke at our June 15 meeting to explore these three important topics. Whether you are writing fiction, creative nonfiction, or memoir, this discussion will provide you with valuable tips, and techniques for crafting a powerful and rewarding story.
Every great story is a suspense story, no matter what its genre might be. Suspense is the artful balance you create between the readers’ hopes and doubts, between their concern for your characters and their uncertainty about what lies ahead. The flip side of suspense, and just as important, is tension—the means by which you induce your reader to make an emotional investment in your story.
Pacing, the tempo or rate of speed at which your story moves, is one of your key tools for building and controlling tension and suspense and giving your reader the kind of powerful experience that is the goal of storytelling.
In this presentation, we will look at ways you can make your readers ask, “What happens next?” and keep them turning pages in their eager quest for the answer.