most recent posts
Friday, June 23, 2006
An Afternoon of Words and Music
An Afternoon of Words & Music
2 - 5 pm, Sunday, June 25
at My Back Yard Nursery Art & Garden Center, 4017 Swift Avenue (at University), San Diego (North Park)
All are welcome to enjoy this free Sunday Afternoon Repast at My Back Yard in the gardens.
Reading presented by San Diego Writers, Ink
Poetry with Jihmye Collins, Olga Garcia, Victoria Melekian, Megan Webster
Prose with Candace Toft, Sue Diaz, Rich Baiocco **
Musical interludes by Irish Review, weaving sounds and tales of the Emerald Isles.**
"The Handwasher" and the "Dollar-a-Minute Masseur" will be on hand to soothe your aching hands and to knead those tired muscles.
Guests will be treated to coffee, teas, and tasty treats.
Oh, and this is a fundraiser for Water for Children of Africa, an organization that provides fresh drinking water to the children of Ethiopia and distributes HIV/AIDS health kits throughout Africa. So you'll be hit up for a donation, but it is a worthy cause.
**note, I looked for bios or websites on the other authors listed, but to no avail. I can tell you that Rich Baiocco is talented ... I read his work regularly in my Read & Critique group... his use of language astounds me. Megan Webster a well known local poet and long-time supporter of the San Diego writing community in its various incarnations is publishing a book of poetry about dealing with manic depression. I've never met Olga, but Calaca Press calls her "one of the most accomplished young poets in the United States today." Victoria Melekian is a good sushi pal... and her chapbook "Fractured Blue" received first place in the 2003 San Diego Book Awards.
Bottom line is there's some talent in this group, and this event should be really good. Hope to see some of you there... that's where I'll be!
2 - 5 pm, Sunday, June 25
at My Back Yard Nursery Art & Garden Center, 4017 Swift Avenue (at University), San Diego (North Park)
All are welcome to enjoy this free Sunday Afternoon Repast at My Back Yard in the gardens.
Reading presented by San Diego Writers, Ink
Poetry with Jihmye Collins, Olga Garcia, Victoria Melekian, Megan Webster
Prose with Candace Toft, Sue Diaz, Rich Baiocco **
Musical interludes by Irish Review, weaving sounds and tales of the Emerald Isles.**
"The Handwasher" and the "Dollar-a-Minute Masseur" will be on hand to soothe your aching hands and to knead those tired muscles.
Guests will be treated to coffee, teas, and tasty treats.
Oh, and this is a fundraiser for Water for Children of Africa, an organization that provides fresh drinking water to the children of Ethiopia and distributes HIV/AIDS health kits throughout Africa. So you'll be hit up for a donation, but it is a worthy cause.
**note, I looked for bios or websites on the other authors listed, but to no avail. I can tell you that Rich Baiocco is talented ... I read his work regularly in my Read & Critique group... his use of language astounds me. Megan Webster a well known local poet and long-time supporter of the San Diego writing community in its various incarnations is publishing a book of poetry about dealing with manic depression. I've never met Olga, but Calaca Press calls her "one of the most accomplished young poets in the United States today." Victoria Melekian is a good sushi pal... and her chapbook "Fractured Blue" received first place in the 2003 San Diego Book Awards.
Bottom line is there's some talent in this group, and this event should be really good. Hope to see some of you there... that's where I'll be!
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
3 Women, 23 Novels
When 3 women authors get together for an afternoon panel discussion, you know an aspiring author is bound to get some good advice, and maybe a little inspiration too, and that's exactly what happened on Sunday June 11,2006. The Masters of the Craft event hosted by San Diego Writers Ink featured three San Diego authors offering advice on writing, on writing well and on publishing.
The authors included Drusilla Campbell, Sara Lewis and Abigail Padgett. Each author read about 10 minutes of their published works before the discussion turned into "lively dialogue, passionate opinions" as promised.
The first question, "What makes good writing?" elicited sage advice for the audience of writers.
Campbell said that good writing "lifts you into a story and takes you into the world of the author," and that a good story keeps you reading. While good characters need to have some interesting traits, they should seem real, that the reader needs to be able to see "behind the blue hair, behind the irritating twitch."
Padgett, a mystery writer, added to the discussion of character, saying that setting as a character is actually a good tool for mystery writers. In her books, the desert, which she loves, plays the role of a character but a character can be "a car, a pet, or a kitchen drawer." Padgett admitted that mysteries are somewhat formulaic, but defining a character in these terms can be a good way for your mystery to stand out.
The next question was "How do you start, how do you finish and what about the middle?"
Lewis said she starts with her character, with a quirk, then journals that character, rambling around for a while before a voice comes through. "It sounds kind of mystical, and it is," she said, adding that her approach is more organic as she lets her characters tell the story.
Padgett said mysteries are more structured, and you know you're at the end when the crime is solved.
For Campbell, she starts with a "cosmic, big idea" then searches for a character and that "the answer about how to end it will come."
When asked how you get the complete story that comes so fast and so full of detail from your head to your pen before you lose it, Lewis said she "quick writes through the first draft then goes back for draft one, draft two, three, four," and admitted she will go through dozens of drafts before she gets to the end.
Padgett has a different approach, more methodical, "I delve deeply from the get-go," she said.
Campbell advised, "Don't worry about it, just keep going. The scene will stay in your head and just get richer."
I look forward to more presentations from the San Diego Writers, and admit, I hope one day to be on the other side of the table. I left feeling like it was possible.
From Lewis, "The best writing comes from your heart and your soul. That will take you where you want to go."
From Padgett,"If you're writing, you're a writer and you have something to say."
From Campbell, "I don't like being a novelist... I just can't NOT do it."
From me, "Surround yourself with successful people who encourage and inspire you."
The authors included Drusilla Campbell, Sara Lewis and Abigail Padgett. Each author read about 10 minutes of their published works before the discussion turned into "lively dialogue, passionate opinions" as promised.
The first question, "What makes good writing?" elicited sage advice for the audience of writers.
Campbell said that good writing "lifts you into a story and takes you into the world of the author," and that a good story keeps you reading. While good characters need to have some interesting traits, they should seem real, that the reader needs to be able to see "behind the blue hair, behind the irritating twitch."
Padgett, a mystery writer, added to the discussion of character, saying that setting as a character is actually a good tool for mystery writers. In her books, the desert, which she loves, plays the role of a character but a character can be "a car, a pet, or a kitchen drawer." Padgett admitted that mysteries are somewhat formulaic, but defining a character in these terms can be a good way for your mystery to stand out.
The next question was "How do you start, how do you finish and what about the middle?"
Lewis said she starts with her character, with a quirk, then journals that character, rambling around for a while before a voice comes through. "It sounds kind of mystical, and it is," she said, adding that her approach is more organic as she lets her characters tell the story.
Padgett said mysteries are more structured, and you know you're at the end when the crime is solved.
For Campbell, she starts with a "cosmic, big idea" then searches for a character and that "the answer about how to end it will come."
When asked how you get the complete story that comes so fast and so full of detail from your head to your pen before you lose it, Lewis said she "quick writes through the first draft then goes back for draft one, draft two, three, four," and admitted she will go through dozens of drafts before she gets to the end.
Padgett has a different approach, more methodical, "I delve deeply from the get-go," she said.
Campbell advised, "Don't worry about it, just keep going. The scene will stay in your head and just get richer."
I look forward to more presentations from the San Diego Writers, and admit, I hope one day to be on the other side of the table. I left feeling like it was possible.
From Lewis, "The best writing comes from your heart and your soul. That will take you where you want to go."
From Padgett,"If you're writing, you're a writer and you have something to say."
From Campbell, "I don't like being a novelist... I just can't NOT do it."
From me, "Surround yourself with successful people who encourage and inspire you."
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Third Thursday
Join Jill Badonsky (The Muse Is In) and a wacky crew of creatives as they play with words at the monthly Third Thursday event in Del Mar, Calif.
When: 7-9 pm, Thursday, June 15, 2006
Where: Bookworks bookstore, Flower Hill Mall on Via De La Valle Del Mar Calif
Cost: $15
Well worth the price, you'll leave with words you never thought you could write, the start of a novel, short story or poem, or maybe the piece of prose that you've been struggling with . Jill has a way of pulling those words right out of your head, down your arm, to your pen and paper.
When: 7-9 pm, Thursday, June 15, 2006
Where: Bookworks bookstore, Flower Hill Mall on Via De La Valle Del Mar Calif
Cost: $15
Well worth the price, you'll leave with words you never thought you could write, the start of a novel, short story or poem, or maybe the piece of prose that you've been struggling with . Jill has a way of pulling those words right out of your head, down your arm, to your pen and paper.
Once Upon a Day
I just finished reading a book by Lisa Tucker, Once Upon a Day. I actually had the opportunity to meet the author at the launch of her book tour. She said her original editor, the editor she had worked with on her previous books wasn't excited about this book at all.. called it "too literary" which is apparently code for "boring." Fortunately, Lisa found another editor who loved it, and with good reason. This book was one of those can't-put-it-down stories. The main character is a cab driver who used to be a doctor with a promising career but had lost his wife and daughter in a car crash. He meets a young woman who had been brought up in an extremely sheltered environment... extemely sheltered, she'd never been outside the family compound until the day she decided she needed to go find her brother. this is the story of when these two characters come together, and how they change each other's life.I think I need to read it again, to relish the language, the words, let them simmer in my brain a bit and look at how Tucker so successfully structered a complex story into a good read.
3 Women, 23 Novels
An afternoon with Drusilla Campbell, Sara Lewis, and Abigail Padgett.
4-7 pm, Sunday, June 11, 4:00 – 7:00 pm.
YMCA Youth and Family Services Building, 2927 Meade Avenue at 30th.
$10 suggested donation.
The third Masters of the Craft event coordinated by San Diego Writers Ink features three women fiction writers with more than a score of published novels among them. From tangled human relationships to sly wit and gentle charm to murder, mystery and suspense – each of these writers tells her stories with a unique style and voice that has garnered both critical acclaim and devoted readers. And they do it again and again and again.
Join a panel discussion that promises lively dialogue, passionate opinions and enough writing savvy and literary experience to fill the main floor of any mega-store. Opportunities to win one-on-one sessions with the authors, and other great prizes.
DETAILS....
4-7 pm, Sunday, June 11, 4:00 – 7:00 pm.
YMCA Youth and Family Services Building, 2927 Meade Avenue at 30th.
$10 suggested donation.
The third Masters of the Craft event coordinated by San Diego Writers Ink features three women fiction writers with more than a score of published novels among them. From tangled human relationships to sly wit and gentle charm to murder, mystery and suspense – each of these writers tells her stories with a unique style and voice that has garnered both critical acclaim and devoted readers. And they do it again and again and again.
Join a panel discussion that promises lively dialogue, passionate opinions and enough writing savvy and literary experience to fill the main floor of any mega-store. Opportunities to win one-on-one sessions with the authors, and other great prizes.
DETAILS....
news you can use
