Scribbles HOT DATES NOT TO BE MISSED! YOUR BOOK YOUR WAY BOOKTOBERFEST WENDY TOKUNGA. Read about these events and more in Janet s View on Page 2!

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1 Scribbles California Writers Club - Central Coast Writers Branch October 2014 October 4 HOT DATES NOT TO BE MISSED! YOUR BOOK YOUR WAY October 21 BOOKTOBERFEST November 18 WENDY TOKUNGA WHAT S INSIDE Read about these events and more in Janet s View on Page 2! Announcements... 4, 6 As the Pen Flows... 7 Contests and Conferences... 9 If the Shoe Fits Janet s View... 2 Member Profile... 8 Poetry Corner... 5 Notes From the September Speaker The Last Word Scribbles October

2 Coming Attractions By Janet Tezak Janet s View CCW President I am delighted to report that Central Coast Writers has 102 members as of October 1, I believe our healthy membership is the result of a combination of well-placed press releases, excellent monthly speakers, a lovely venue, workshops, participation in activities such as Good Old Days and Monterey s Fourth of July Parade and small writing groups that meet regularly in popular places. We are proud of our organization and all our wonderful members! Our workshop on self-publishing, Your Book Your Way, is fast approaching. I hope you ll join us on Saturday, October 4, 2014, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Monterey Peninsula College in the Sam Karas Room adjacent to the library. CCW member, Patricia Hamilton, founder of Park Publications in Pacific Grove, will speak on all the ins and outs of selfpublishing and marketing your work. If you didn t pre-register, we will accept walk-ins, as long as there is room, $25.00 for members, for non-members. At our September general meeting, Kevin Fisher-Paulson, had the audience reflecting on his nine point list for memoir writers. (See Dorothy Vriend s Page 3 column for a full write-up.) This month, on Tuesday, October 21, our very own members will have a chance to showcase their recently published works at our annual Booktoberfest. We have six readers: Jack Erickson, from his latest thriller, Thirteen Days in Milan; Joanna Fitzpatrick from her fictional work The Drummer s Widow; Lucy Jensen, from Lighting up the Luminaria, a column that was printed in South County Papers this past August following the King City Relay for Life; T.C. Smak, author of Shark, a fictional tale about vampire mythology; C Jonathan Shoemaker from his beautifully crafted poem, Just One More, and Dick Guthrie from his powerful memoir about his Vietnam experiences. Each reader has approximately five to eight minutes based on the number of people presenting. We can have as many as nine individuals, so if you have a recently published work you d like to showcase at our October meeting, please me at jrtezak@hotmail.com by October 17. Also, the readers will have a wonderful opportunity to sell their works before and after the general meeting. Looking ahead, on November 18, we ll welcome novelist Wendy Tokunga as our guest speaker. We ll wrap up the year with our annual Holiday Party (date and location soon to be announced). Hope to see many of you at our workshop on Saturday and also at our general meeting October 21, 2014! Interesting facts: Central Coast Writers and California Writers Club Your membership in Central Coast Writers includes membership in our parent organization, California Writers Club. Of the $45.00 dollars that each member pays in annual dues, $20.00 is remitted to CWC. For new members who pay $65.00, $30.00 is remitted. There are over 1600 CWC members in nineteen branches throughout California. That s an average of 84 members per branch. As Janet mentioned above, Central Coast Writers currently has 102 members. To learn more about California Writers Club, visit Scribbles October

3 Notes from the September Speaker Memoirist Shares His Rules for the Road By Dorothy Vriend At CCW s September meeting, speaker Kevin Fisher-Paulson related the nine precepts he lives by as a writer. He admits they are not the same for everybody. You might have to write your own. 1. Dare something worthy. ( I tell about the one year in my life I was noble the other 55, not so much. ) 2. Write every morning. ( Fill up three pages. One percent will be the piece of gold, the story you wanted to tell. ) 3. Leap and the net will appear. ( Embrace your peculiarity. ) 4. Keep no secrets. ( That moment with the triplets was the most painful moment of my life. ) 5. Exclude nothing. ( Tell everything, then hand it to somebody else and have them put a big X through the boring parts. ) 6. Be honest. ( Don t tell me you won the race if you came in third. ) 7. Jump right in. ( Everybody s life has a pivot point that changed everything. ) 8. Admit your flaws. ( Do not put lipstick on the book. ) 9. Practice your memoir. ( Writing is like going to church. They are telling the same story over and over again. You are trying to find meaning in it. ) In his memoir, A Song for Lost Angels, Fisher-Paulson tells about the year he and his husband, Brian, took in foster triplets with medical challenges and nursed them to health with love and whatever else it took. When it came time to adopt, the courts took them away and that was the moment he lost hope in hope itself. Practicing for his next memoir, (his #9 precept) Fisher-Paulson told an anecdote about his uncle Pat and the casket he bought to be buried in. He bought the top-of-the-line model, but left it at the mortuary s for safekeeping. Since it was their best model, they left it in the front window. Every week, Uncle Pat would go there and climb into the casket, to make sure he still fit. The evening ended with a long line of people waiting to buy Fisher-Paulson s book. When it comes to story-telling he knows how to keep his audience wanting more. September speaker Kevin Fisher-Paulson Photo by Kymberlie Ingalls Scribbles October

4 CONFESSIONS OF A CHECK-IN TABLE Hi! I m your friendly CCW monthly meeting check-in table. Bet you didn t know a table could talk, did you? Oh, yes, we inanimate objects can communicate if only you will listen and pay attention. We have feelings. Lots of feelings. I m happiest when I m clean, sleek, and organized. When I m cluttered and chaotic, I get downright grouchy. When you think about it, I m the perfect size to serve as the check-in table for your monthly meetings at the Point Pinos Grill. My top has just enough space for the accordion file with the name badges, the roster, the guest sign-in sheet, the stick-on badges for guests, the new member brochures, copies of Scribbles, and a few pens. I look welcoming and professional. The volunteers staffing the table, Richard Guthrie and Judi Marquart, can get you checked in quickly and usually without confusion, off to chat with your friends, mingle with guests, and order dinner. But add a bunch of other brochures and flyers and bookmarks and postcards, and I don t look pretty anymore. Of course, we want you to bring your promotional materials. That s one of the reasons you joined a writers club, correct? To network and spread the word about your book, or workshop, or editing services, am I right? My cousin, the raffle prize table, is here to help. Please put your flyers, etc., there instead of on me. There s plenty of room for both the door prizes and your stuff. One more thing... both of us tables get very, very sad when you leave your flyers, etc., behind at the end of the meeting. Either they end up getting stuffed into my good friend, the accordion file who hates that bloated feeling, trust me or they sit there for the restaurant staff to dispose of. That s not really fair now, is it? Thank you for listening and considering the feelings of an honest, hard-working table at our next meeting. CALLING ALL COLLEAGUES By Laurie Gibson CCW Members and Friends: Do you know of any under-the-radar writing classes and organizations, book clubs, or ongoing author events (such as poetry readings or spoken word presentations) in Monterey County? Would you like to share your insider intelligence with other members of our local community to help create a stronger, more connected, and vibrant local literary culture? If so, please contact CCW member Laurie Gibson, who will be collecting and compiling this information during the upcoming months to create a new resource guide focusing on Monterey s current writing scene. This guide aims to be the one-stop-shop publication that will provide both an overview and a micro view of how writers in this region are continuing and contributing to the legacy and tradition of local storytellers from the recent and the long-ago past. If you have ideas and info you d like to see included, contact Laurie: (831) or wordworker1@earthlink.net. Scribbles October

5 The Poetry Corner Langston Hughes The Jazz Poet The Weary Blues By Nancy Jacobs In his own words: "I tried to write poems like the songs they sang on Seventh Street... (these songs) had the pulse beat of the people who keep on going." Langston Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He loved to write, but his father did not think his son would be able to earn a living as a writer. So, he sent Langston to Columbia University to study engineering. Langston eventually dropped out of college. He loved artsy things and spent most of his time in jazz clubs where the nuances of the music found their way into his poetry. This was the 1920's and everything seemed to roar, especially in Harlem. Langston was in the midst of the bustling theaters, the smoky jazz joints, and hope for a future. Discrimination and segregation were a part of his life, but his love of writing was so deep that he was able to overcome whatever stood in his way. He became an idol for young black writers. None of the discrimination stopped him from writing or travelling to such cities as Venice, Paris and Genoa. He finally settled down to live in New York because he loved Harlem. It was there that he fell in love with the new Negro Renaissance. Writers included Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Wallace Thurman. Langston wrote like an artist, painting what he saw. Harlem loved him, even naming the block where he lived on 127th Street Langston Hughes Place as a memorial to him. He died in Here is his 1926 poem, The Weary Blues. Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light He did a lazy sway He did a lazy sway To the tune o those Weary Blues. With his ebony hands on each ivory key He made that poor piano moan with melody. O Blues! Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. Sweet Blues! Coming from a black man s soul. O Blues! In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan Ain t got nobody in all this world, Ain t got nobody but ma self. I s gwine to quit ma frownin And put ma troubles on the shelf. Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then he sang some more I got the Weary Blues And I can t be satisfied. Got the Weary Blues And can t be satisfied I ain t happy no mo And I wish that I had died. And far into the night he crooned that tune. The stars went out and so did the moon. The singer stopped playing and went to bed While the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that s dead. Scribbles October

6 CCW regrets the passing ANNOUNCEMENTS Former CCW member Dan Henke passed away on August 23, Congratulations CCW member T.C. Zmak s first novel, Dark Surf, is now available as a paperback and e-book on Amazon.com. Dark Surf has also been optioned for a movie! For more information, visit Networking Aloud: A Writer s Open Mike A free event open to the public takes place on the second Tuesday of each month, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Old Capitol Books, 559 Tyler Street, Monterey. Come early and sign up to read for five to seven minute from any genre, followed by a fifteen to twenty minute reading from a featured local published writer. Contact CCW member Pat Hanson for more information at phanson@csumb.edu or (831) Looking for a critique group? Poetry: Saturday before the regular CCW meeting, 9:30 a.m. to 11 ish Juice & Java Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove Prose: Saturday after the regular CCW meeting, 9:30 a.m. to 11 ish Juice & Java Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove (To confirm meeting dates, contact Harold Grice at or oookaayy@sbcglobal.net.) a poetry reading group? PGPGPG meets the fourth Thursday of month, 2:00-3:30, Sally Griffin Center, 700 Jewel Avenue, Pacific Grove. Let Your Fellow CCW Members Read Your Writing Do you have a new publication to announce in Scribbles? Would you like to submit a guest piece for As the Pen Flows? (See page 7 for this month s piece.) Contact Scribbles editor Leslie Patiño at lnpatino@comcast.net for more information or submissions. A Few Paraprosdokians (with thanks to Wanda Sue Parrott for passing them along) Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak. Scribbles October

7 As the Pen Flows Writings from CCW Members The Middle of Nowhere By Stefanie Krantz I grew up in a dusty spit of a town along Frost Road in New Mexico. We lived in the high desert sagebrush, juniper/pinyon pine shrub steppe. The Sandia Mountains were like our Himalaya not so much in stature, but in that they were a beacon that we looked up to, a talisman of weather to come; they created our snowfall, and our rainfall. They rose to 10,700 feet, and loomed large in our minds. We watched their slopes for wildfires during the long dry season, and marveled at lightning storms that rose over them during the monsoons of July and August. Since we were too poor to go anywhere, we would wait for things to come to us. Our house was a decrepit old shack with failing wiring that was once an army barracks, then a parish, then our house. It had army green geometric carpet and ragged brown and white shag carpet that was worn thread bare by the time we were in high school, and a tin roof that made music during the rains and stored snow and icicles during the winter. When we opened the pantry door, the field mice that entered through the various crevices in its weak foundation would scamper for cover; their toenails scratching the metal utility shelves that held our stores for the winter storms that would snow us in. My three siblings and our friends would roam free about the neighborhood with wild abandon exploring forests, caves, and the large desert washes that locals called arroyos. The only rule we had was be back by dark. The freedom of growing up with wilderness was lost on me. I dreamed of sidewalks and basketball courts, ice cream shops, and movie theatres. But more than anything, I dreamed of traveling to all of the wild places I saw on the television, and of being a biologist, and of protecting nature. We watched every episode of Mutual of Omaha s Wild Kingdom with my mom, and I longed to go to all of those places and see everything. My mom dreamed with us about how amazing it would be to visit those places too, but we were so dirt poor it was beyond consideration. When I was five I told my mom I wanted to be a biologist. She said flatly, you will never get a job. This was not enough to douse my passion for nature, but it did crush a part of my spirit. I loved nature. The only place I really felt safe was in the woods, or in the fields near our house listening to birds and watching the clouds pass over. The minutiae of everyday life produced only anxiety, and my room was always a disaster. My mom would ask me if I was raised in a barn. The irony of a mother asking her own child if she was raised in a barn did not set in until I was much older. CCW member Stefanie Krantz is a wildlife biologist and ecologist from Sandia Park, New Mexico. She is writing a memoir about overcoming chronic pain. Scribbles October

8 Please See Me During the Break Member Profile By Michelle Smith Laura Emerson Laura Emerson was forty-four and taking a course in early American authors at a local community college when she decided to try her hand at writing. When the teacher handed back our first writing assignment, mine had no grade just a note that said, Please see me during the break. I was convinced he was going to lecture me like my teachers in high school, [saying] if only I applied myself, I could do well. Instead, he told me I had a talent for writing and encouraged me to pursue it through college, that my writing was good enough to earn a living I took his advice, and when I graduated, I had the confidence in my ability as a writer and wanted to do nothing else but write. Upon earning her B.A. in psychology/creative writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Laura finally considered herself a legitimate writer at age fifty-one. After college, I returned to California and took the bold leap of becoming a freelance writer, she says. Laura accepted a position as an assignment writer for a national weekly magazine and eventually became a charter member of CCW. I have fond memories of CCW s early days when we met at The Barnyard and planned our future, she recalls. What would we call ourselves and our newsletter? Retired in June 2013 after working in administrative positions for nearly forty years, Laura has happily discovered historical fiction and now writes short stories. The writing I do these days is for my personal enjoyment rather than any commercial gain, she says. Writing provides me with intellectual and spiritual fulfillment. Laura, who does her best work early in the day, has a unique take on the refinement of her writing skills. Right now, I m experimenting with simultaneously writing two stories. That way, focusing on one story creates a distraction from the other in much the same way that putting the story away for a while provides a fresh perspective. Rather than follow guidelines found in Writers Digest s how-to books, Laura prefers to polish her craft by actually sitting down and doing it. In my opinion, writing isn t something that can be coached, she says. It s having the patience through trial and error to discover the best time and place when the muse reveals herself. Laura also created a Book of Characters comprised of photographs of faces to which she refers for specific facial details and expressions as well as inspiration. I ll blindly choose a photo, meditate on it for several minutes and watch in amazement as a personality forms in my mind. Then I start writing, and the story appears. Michelle Smith s articles have been published in a variety of magazines. Her website is Scribbles October

9 Contests And Conferences By Diana Paul Best of luck! Be sure to share your contest experiences with Scribbles. CONTESTS Ruminate: William Van Dyke Short Story Prize Deadline: October 15, 2014 Entry Fee: $20 Website: A prize of $1,500 and publication in Ruminate is given annually for a short story. Submit a story of up to 5,500 words. Visit the website for complete guidelines. Diplomat Senior Poet Laureate Contest To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I you need not be in the military or have served in the armed forces. Feel free to share this info with other writers who might be interested in submitting prose and/or poetry. See Wanda Sue Parrott, CCW member, for complete details. Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Deadline: October 18, 2014 Entry Fee: $20 Website: address: masters@tucsonfestivalofbooks.org Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for a group of five poems, a short story, an essay, or an excerpt from a novel or memoir. Each winner will also be invited to take part in a panel discussion at the Tucson Festival of Books, and attend a workshop at the University of Arizona campus in March Using the online submission system, submit five poems of any length or up to 5,000 words of prose. Visit the website for complete guidelines. WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES Algonkian Writer Conference Write to Market NOVEMBER 6-9,2014 Location: Corte Madera, California Conference Fee: $395 Website: algonkianconferences.com address: algonkian@webdelsol.com The Algonkian Writer Conference Write to Market for fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers will be held at the Corte Madera Best Western Hotel, approximately 25 miles north of San Francisco. The conference offers lectures and discussions on writing and selling a novel, as well as an agent pitch session. Visit the website for more information. Big Sur Writing Workshop for Children and YA Fiction--DECEMBER 5-7, 2014 Location: Big Sur Lodge Deadline: November 4, 2014 Conference Fee: $770 (including lodging) Website: You may land a publishing deal. Small-group and one-on-one feedback from prominent authors. See website for complete details. Scribbles October

10 Plan Ahead If the Shoes Fits By Jonathan Shoemaker There are many factors that may come into play at crucial moments in our plot, be it a novel or a short story. When developing a plot we need to reveal character development to our readers; and of course make sure that everyone stays in character. There are certain circumstances in people s lives that affect each of them deeply but in different ways. It might have been harsh treatment as a child or in school, or perhaps an unfortunate turn of events in a friendship or relationship. The death or departure of someone very close to us may cause a drastic change in attitude or behavior toward others. There are those whose personalities are immediately affected and others who take it in stride at the time but feel a subtle hatred or anger lying beneath the surface. Guilt or resentment may be smoldering within them, which may erupt unexpectedly at a future time. This may be a curse or a blessing, depending upon how the person deals with it. A hero or a villain living in denial can experience a moment of truth leading to the closure that readers hunger for. Issues like these are subtly, or openly, revealed while we progress through the storyline, as the hero learns more about the others (or about himself or herself). Poignant details may be withheld by the author so that only the most discerning reader would suspect an O. Henry twist of events at the end. We might even wish to reveal information to the reader that our protagonist is not aware of until the climax. In order to effectively handle these situations in a way so that the reader will expect (or at least understand) such behavior, we need to reveal tidbits of information in backstory. Or we can reveal a pattern of behavior as the plot develops. If the readers are aware of these traits, they might readily recognize indications of regret or of stubborn determination on the part of the villain and indications of revelation on the part of the protagonist. So it behooves us to have a clear mental picture of each character right from the start. We might use the personalities of people we know well; or even our own. We mentally picture each individual and jot down reminders in a separate file for each character. As the plot progresses, situations occur to cause the characters to take on their own personalities. Their reactions no longer fit the mental picture that we have of them. We see them differently now; so we need to go through the plot to make sure that each action or reaction fits this new personality in our established character. Our readers should have a feeling of personally knowing the protagonist well enough to anticipate what s/he will do next and recognize when s/he behaves out of character. Don t forget: hard writing makes easy reading. Plan ahead then have fun with it. Be well, and do good work. Jonathan Scribbles October

11 The Last Word By Leslie Patiño True Love Last week, on my first-ever visit to Portland, Oregon, the entire blocks of food trucks made lunchtime an adventure. I savored exceptional craft beer and dallied in the breathtaking Rose Garden. The Vietnam War Memorial was inspiring and sobering. I hiked miles of trails in the arboretum and along green belts. Without a doubt, though, the highlight of the trip was the moment I walked into Powell s. If you ve been to Powell s City of Books, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven t been, well, begin by imaging a multi-storied bookstore that covers an entire city block. With all due respect to San Francisco s City Lights and Berkeley s Pegasus, Powell s is on a whole other scale. Even Denver s Tattered Cover can t compete in size. At 68,000 square feet, Powell s is akin to Strand Bookstore in New York whose slogan is 18 miles of books. But a funny thing happened as I wandered from the rose room through the green and purple and orange rooms, up and down staircases, around displays and people. I got the feeling I ve had for some years now when I go in a Barnes & Noble. Few things compare with the pleasure of a large, nice bookstore but, increasingly, they feel like a part of my past. Recently, while my husband drove us home from Santa Cruz, within minutes, I browsed Amazon on my iphone and, with one click, bought a new-release novel in Spanish that I probably couldn t have found at any brick and mortar Barnes & Nobel. By the time we got home, I d finished the first chapter. I happily meandered through Powell s for a couple of hours. I stopped at the café, bought a Powell s mug, even bought a book. (Sudokus because I still prefer the paper version.) I love e-readers like good friends, but a great bookstore, now that s love in the deep, romantic sense. CCW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President... Janet Tezak Vice President... Laurie Sheehan Secretary... Cheri Love Treasurer... Lilian Surkova Programs Chair... Dorothy Vriend Workshops... Janet Tezak Membership... (vacant) Publicity... Laurie Sheehan Hospitality... Judi Marquart Newsletter... Leslie Patiño Webmaster... Ken Jones Assistant Webmaster... Kemberlee Shortland Central Board Representative... Joyce Krieg Scribbles is the official monthly publication for members of Central Coast Writers, a branch of California Writers Club, a registered non-profit corporation. All material is copyrighted 2014 by California Writers Club and may not be reproduced without permission. Opinions expressed under individual bylines do not necessarily represent an official position of, or endorsement by, Central Coast Writers or California Writers Club. Scribbles is published by Central Coast Writers Post Office Box 997 Pacific Grove, CA Editorial Staff Leslie Patiño... Editor Nancy Jacobs... Poet s Corner Diana Paul... Contests and Workshops C. Jonathan Shoemaker... If the Shoe Fits Michelle Smith... Member Profiles Dorothy Vriend...Monthly Speaker CCW Website For anything Scribbles related: Contact Scribbles editor Leslie Patiño: lnpatino@comcast.net Not yet a member of CCW? You can join at a monthly meeting or online at: centralcoastwriters.org Scribbles October

12 California Writers Club Central Coast Writers Branch Post Office Box 997 Pacific Grove, CA BOOKTOBERFEST! October 21 5:30 p.m. - DINNER 6:30 p.m. - MEETING Point Pinos Grill 79 Asilomar Boulevard Pacific Grove Scribbles October