by Nate Hoffelder | Feb 18, 2024 | Events
The Secret to Writing a Good Novel:
Take Off Your Writer’s Hat
Wed. April 10th, 7 – 8:30 pm PT
Online Only (Zoom)
$5 for CWC Members, $10 for Non-Members
Whether you’re struggling to start a novel, stuck in the middle, or overwhelmed by a revision, the natural tendency for writers is to write their way out of their story problems. But writing forward is not always the best thing to do. It often pays to take off your writer’s hat and define the foundational elements of your story before you keep writing — which means understanding your motivation, considering your reader’s expectations, and making sure your story has a solid structure that will hold up inside and out from beginning to end.
In this interactive presentation, top book coach Jennie Nash will walk us through the foundational elements of story in her 14-step Blueprint process. Participants will receive a digital copy of Jennie’s Blueprint for a Book and the confidence and clarity to put it to use.
Jennie Nash is the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator, a company on a mission to lead the emerging book coaching industry with rigorous training, high standards for certification, and ongoing support for coaches while they build their businesses. Her own coaching clients have landed top New York agents and six-figure book deals with traditional publishing houses such as Penguin, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette, and won dozens of national indie book awards. Jennie is the author of 12 books in 3 genres, including her Blueprint for a Book, Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book and Blueprint for a Memoir. Visit her at authoraccelerator.com and jennienash.com.
Reserve Your Seat:
by Nate Hoffelder | Jan 18, 2024 | Events
How to Succeed at Anything with Dierdre Wolownick
Sat. March 16th, 10-11:30 am
Book Passage Corte Madera
$5 for CWC Members, $10 for Non-Members
Reserve Your Seat:
Raising Alex Honnold, the first person to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan without safety ropes, is only one of Dierdre Wolownick’s accomplishments. She struggled to raise two kids as a single mother, and overcame her situation to become a marathoner in her fifties, an independent publisher, an orchestra conductor, and at 66, the oldest woman to climb El Capitan.
In her book The Sharp End of Life: A Mother’s Story, she reveals how her climbing achievement reflects an inspiring story of courage and persistence.
Dierdre will talk about her method to get you anywhere you want to go in life, even help you get your book out there!!
by Nate Hoffelder | Dec 22, 2023 | Events
Topic: Perfect Pitch
Co-hosted by CWC Marin and the Mill Valley Public Library
Both sessions will take place in-person in the Library’s Creekside Room.
RSVP at the Library website: https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/11602407
FREE
You may not be ready to make a formal pitch to agents and publishers, but you should always be ready to talk about your book with clarity and confidence. You never know who you will meet. The time to practice your pitch is before you find yourself sitting on the plane next to a publisher. This special two-part event will get you ready!
Session A: Create Your Elevator Pitch. Thurs, Feb 8, 6 – 7:30 pm. Pitch-O-Rama and veteran publisher Brenda Knight will coach us through the basics of a great elevator pitch: what do publishers and agents need to hear? What will turn them off, and what will pull them in? RSVP here: https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/11602407
Session B: Now, Practice It! Thurs, Feb 15, 6 – 7:30 pm. Stand up before a friendly, informal audience and deliver your 3-minute pitch. If you wish, the audience can provide feedback. CWC Marin President Daniel Bacon will moderate. RSVP here: https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/11602408
About the Coach
Brenda Knight is a twenty-year publishing veteran, starting at HarperCollins. She authored American Book Award-winning Women of the Beat Generation, Rituals for Life and Wild Women and Books. She is the President of the Women’s National Book Association, which hosts the annual Pitch-O-Rama. Knight has worked with many bestselling authors including Mark Nepo, Phil Cousineau, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, and Paolo Coehlo. She is founding editor of Viva Editions, a division of Cleis Press. https://wnba-sfchapter.org/participant/brenda-knight/
by Nate Hoffelder | Dec 5, 2023 | Events
Topic: Creating Characters that Resonate with Emotional Truth
Wednesday, Jan 17th
6:30 – 8:00 pm PT
Online (Zoom) Only
$5 for CWC Members, $10 for Non-Members
If agents or readers can’t connect with your characters, your book will not sell. You need to know how your characters should dress, decode the nuance of body language, determine what they should say (and avoid saying), and have a clear understanding of how they should act so they connect with readers (and agents) on a deep, meaningful, emotional basis. We’ll explore these crucial concepts while providing tips and tricks to create relatable characters every time.
About the Speaker
Jane K. Cleland writes both fiction and nonfiction, including the award-winning and long-running Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries [St. Martin’s & Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine] and the Agatha-award winning bestsellers, Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot and Mastering Plot Twists [Writer’s Digest Books]. She is a member of the faculty at Lehman College, part of the City University of New York, a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest Magazine, and the chair of the Wolfe Pack’s Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA) in partnership with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. She is a frequent workshop leader and guest author at writing conferences, association meetings, and MFA Residencies. Jane offers free monthly virtual workshops on the craft and business of writing, and Mystery Masterminds, a series of small group virtual workshops. See her website for details: www.janecleland.com
by Nate Hoffelder | Nov 8, 2023 | Events
Topic: Sharpen Your Writing with a Poetry Game
Saturday Dec 9, 2023
12:30 – 2 pm
Free
In-Person at Mill Valley Public Library
Anyone who aspires to be a better writer knows the importance of thoughtful word choice and editing. The best writers exercise these muscles every day—but sometimes we forget how much fun writing can be, especially when we do it with friends.
The game is a riff on the Japanese linked verse game known as renga, played by Japanese aristocrats a thousand years ago. In it, each person composes a haiku then passes it to a neighbor, who completes it with a 14-syllable couplet. This simple, limited poetry form encourages participants to choose words and metaphors with care. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a poet, you just have to be ready to play with words.
Back by popular demand! If you missed the first running of this workshop, here’s your chance.
About the facilitator: Jean has been a student of the Japanese language since she first went to Japan as an exchange student in the 1980s. After a career in the US intelligence community and in Silicon Valley as a strategic geopolitical analyst, Jean retired to focus on writing a book about Japanese feminist poet Yosano Akiko (1878-1942). She has translated hundreds of Akiko’s poems and posted them online. She also writes her own haiku, two of which were recently selected for publication by the Japan Foundation of the UK. Jean is a Board member of the California Writers Club of Marin and a member of the Marin Poetry Center, the Tanka Society of America, Left Coast Writers, and the Japan Foundation. www.accidentalfeminist.net
This program is brought to you in partnership with the Mill Valley Public Library.
Reserve your seat at https://millvalleylibrary.libcal.com/event/11416176?hs=a
by Nate Hoffelder | Aug 15, 2023 | Events
Topic: Ask Book Agent Andy Ross
Sunday, October 29, 2023
3:30 – 5:30 pm (talk begins at 4 pm)
In-Person at Book Passage, Corte Madera
“I can learn a lot about a writer’s style and voice by reading the first paragraph of the manuscript. But I’m looking for the book, the one that has me up at 3 in the morning, reading the last 6 letters: T-H-EE-N-D, and crying like a baby.”
Andy Ross is a literary agent representing authors in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction categories. His clients’ books have won international awards. Among the authors he represents are Susan Griffin, Fritjof Capra, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Daniel Ellsberg, and Linda Watanabe McFerrin. Before becoming a literary agent in 2008, Andy was the owner of the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley. He is the author of The Literary Agent’s Guide to Writing a Non-Fiction Book Proposal.
Andy welcomes your questions about the changing publishing landscape and what agents are really looking for.
Meetings: $5 for CWC Members (any branch), $10 Non-Members
