May 19th: Barnes & Noble Author Day
CWC SF-Peninsula branch Workshop
Find Your Characters & Follow Them Into Danger!
Saturday, March 2, 2019
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM PST
Twin Pines Lodge
40 Twin Pines Lane Belmont, CA 94002
This is a hands-on workshop: you’ll have time to practice what you learn and share with others. And it’s suitable for writers of memoir and creative non-fiction as well as fiction … any storyteller interested in creating a compelling narrative will find value in this day!
Lunch will be provided.
This is a limited capacity event, so sign up now to reserve your seat.
Cost $125 – Pay by Credit Card when you sign up.
TO SIGN UP, VISIT CWC SF-Peninsula branch Workshop
LET TECHNIQUE TORQUE YOUR POETRY
USING POETIC TECHNIQUE TO AMPLIFY EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m.
San Carlos Public Library, 610 Elm Street.
This workshop will explore how famous poets use different techniques to make their works more powerful. We’ll talk about the importance of form in poetry. We’ll look at rhyme, stanza. meter, metaphor, euphony and repetition and how their use has changed.
Participants will practice reading poetry aloud and analyzing the use of various poetic tools. They’ll also try their hand at using some of these techniques.
Bill Baynes will lead the discussion. He has been writing poetry for more than 50 years. His work has been published in the Fault Zone, the CWC State Literary Review and other literary magazines. His newly published novella, The Occupation of Joe, is a powerful page-turner about an American naval officer who befriends a local boy at the beginning of the American Occupation of Japan in 1945.
Sponsored by the California Writers Club, SF Peninsula branch.
San Carlos Library Workshops
From Carole Bumpus, Volunteer Coordinator
As of this January 2018, our California Writers Club, San Francisco Peninsula Branch, will be starting a series of events with one of our local libraries, the San Carlos Library, located at 610 Elm St, San Carlos, CA 94070.
We have been asked to help them form a monthly writers group, wherein we will take turns teaching other writers some of the necessary skills of writing. Held on the 3rd Wednesday night of the month, from 7-9 p.m., the first of the series will be led by member teacher Laurel Anne Hill who has stepped up to the plate to teach: “Breathing Life Into Your Writing: Story-Writing Basics.”
For the month of February, Pratibha Kelapure will be teaching on the basics of poetry called: “But I Can’t Write a Poem.”
If you have a subject or a scintillating idea that you would like to present to the San Carlos Writers Group, please get in touch with me to see if it would be a good fit. We are organizing a total of twelve classes per year.
Because we have offered to help the San Carlos Library with this project, they have reciprocated by offering rooms in which we can hold several gatherings, including panel discussions, Fault Zone readings, and special speaker events. All of these events will be free and open to the public, and we will be able to sell our books and connect with the local community in a fuller measure. Again, if you have ideas you would like to pursue, contact me. This is our year to extend our talents out and beyond our general meetings. Think big!
2018 SAN MATEO COUNTY FAIR: JUNE 9–17.
On January 16, Laurel Anne Hill attended the monthly San Mateo County Fair Staff Meeting.
Important Points Regarding Literary Arts
- There will be no SMCF “Carry the Light Anthology” in 2018. As a result, there will be more emphasis on contest-winner readings on the opening day of the fair.
- Literary contest submissions deadline to be in the usual April 1-3 time frame.
- Those interested in presenting/volunteering on the Literary Stage should contact Laurel Anne Hill at laurelannehill@gmail.com. Fair volunteers will receive free entry and parking passes.
SMCF Contest Book
The contest book will be going online in stages. As of January 23, entry information for The Literary Arts Department hadn’t been posted, but should be soon. Go to: https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/ to check on the contest book status. The release of the hard-copy contest book should occur in the late January or early-to-mid February time frame. Reminder postcards (to former exhibitors, libraries and community centers) to go out in March.
Exhibitor Outreach School Outreach:
Notices are going out soon to school superintendents in San Mateo County about ticket and exhibit programs. Laurel requested that information about adult writing contests (those taking entrants as young as sixteen years of age) be sent to local high schools.
CWC member Steve Latner has published a book on Amazon KDP, 
Martha Clark Scala’s memoir, 
Tens of thousands of book lovers meet hundreds of acclaimed authors over an exciting weekend in downtown Berkeley, California. One of the premier literary events in the nation!
Our branch once again showed great form by representing not only our branch, but also the entire Club. We collected a total of 68 signatures for the Bay Area branches, as we spoke with hundreds of interested writers. The volunteers from the San Francisco Peninsula branch were: Laurel Anne Hill, Megan McDonald, Lisa Meltzer Penn, Elise Miller, Cheryl Ray, Audrey Kalman, Darlene Frank, Mike Verant and Carole Bumpus. A great showing!! Plus, our own Mindy Yang was the creator of the tri-fold book covers display. Again, thank you all for participating in one of the most important literary events of the Bay Area.