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December 8, 2012 - Paula Priamos - "ON PLOT, CONFLICT, AND KEEPING IT INTERESTING"

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Paula Priamos, author of The Shyster's Daughter 

Paula Priamos's writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post Magazine and an excerpt of her memoir has appeared in ZYZZYVA literary journal.

She's also contributed a piece for the anthology Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer.  Priamos teaches English and Creative Writing at California State University, San Bernardino.

The Shyster's Daughter

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The mysterious death of a high-profile defense lawyer propels his Daughter into an investigation of the shady deals and characters that led to his disbarment.  This detective L.A. noir memoir paints a vivid portrait of a Greek American family caught up in the scandal-obsessed, drug-addicted culture of Southern California.


What people are saying about this book:


"In her gripping, big-hearted, and sometimes harrowing memoir, Paula Priamos searches for meaning in the life - and mysterious death - of her beloved, larger-than-life father.  Along the way, Priamos proves herself to be notonly a keen observer of the ways we love and bear loss, but also a first-rate storyteller.  The Shyster's Daughter will be with me for a long time."           - Will Allison, New York Times bestselling author of Long Drive Home and What You Have Left


"In The Shyster's Daughter Priamos peers into the motivations of her family members with a rare and enticing frankness that distinguishes her work from that of other memoirists."        - ZYZZYVA literary journal


"Priamos's ambitious and successful effort to meld two stories happens in a book called The Shyster's Daughter where she performs the big leap over timidity and skepticism to make her own life story a bigger one indeed...a self-described noir detective memoir, something evoking Nathaneal West  or Joan Didion."      - O.C. Weekly


NOVEMBER 10, 2012  - E. VAN LOWE 

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Emmy Award nominated Writer and Producer

Ehrich Van Lowe will be speaking to us at our regular November meeting! 

As a novelist, Ehrich has written two classic 80s horror novels under the Pseudonym, Sal Conte: “Child’s Play” and “The Power.”  As E. Van Lowe, he has launched a new career writing novels for teens, employing a unique style of combining horror with humor.  His first teen novel, “Never Slow Dance With A Zombie” was published by TOR/Teen, September 2009.   The hit novel was chosen as a selection of the Scholastic Book Club.  It has also garnered an ALA Award and Cyblis Award nomination.

E’s YA paranormal novel, “Boyfriend From Hell,”(White Whisker Books) entered the Best Seller in January of 2012, and in March entered the top 10, ranking as high as #7 in Children’s and YA Ebook Bestsellers.  The sequel, “Earth Angel,” also topped the list, ranking as high as #8.

Ehrich holds an MFA in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California. In 1997 he became a proud member of the faculty where he taught various forms of writing for eleven years.

There is much to learn from Ehrich. Please join us Saturday, November 10, 2012, at the Apple Valley Library, 10 a.m. to Noon.

The public is welcome.


October 13, 2012 
Meet the Authors

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Our published authors "pitched" their books. Each author had only two minutes to tell their story. Great practice and great fun. Organized by Mary Scott.


September 8, 2012
Marilyn King
Preparation before beginning your novel

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Marilyn presented how to organize your data before beginning to write.
Character Development
Setting
Research


August 11, 2012 
Derek Rydall
Ink & Grown Rich

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How to build wealth and wisdom with your words
aka: How to not go broke while waiting for your big break!
 
http://lawofemergence.com/

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Derek Rydall's books

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July 14, 2012 Alan Watt, author of "The 90 Day Novel" presented a 2 hour workshop "Unlocking The Story Within"

July 14, 2012
Alan Watt

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visit www.amazon.com

To learn more about Alan Watt and his workshops, visit

http://lawriterslab.com/


June 9, 2012
Meet the Authors
& Branch Elections

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Participating Authors

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June 9, 2012 - Incoming, Outgoing Board

April 14, 2012

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Anne (A.B.) Fowler, author of “The Jesuit Papers”, and Mary D. Scott, author of “Spirit Driven Events” and “How To Market Your Book” presented a free two-part workshop on “How To Write A Pitch” for the High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club.

The purpose of the workshop was to help those who have completed novels, non-fiction books, or screenplays or those who intend to write such projects to pitch their work to people in position to buy and/or produce such things.  The members and guests were taught how to create a specific pitch of their own.  



March 10, 2012 - Ken Rotcop
Screenwriter, Producer, Author
"The Perfect Pitch"

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Ken Rotcop, the acknowledged Grand Master of Pitching, is the creator and owner of PitchMart— Hollywood’s biggest screenplay pitch event for writers and development executives.

His screenwriting workshop was the subject of a feature-length documentary,Talk Fast, which has won various film festival awards. STARZ network produced a two-part series on Ken Rotcop, Pitching Guru.

As a screenwriter, Rotcop’s most prestigious production (which he both wrote and produced) was For Us, the Living: The Story of Medger Evers which starred Laurence Fishburne. Among the honors the film received were the Writers Guild Award, the Neil Simon Award, and the NAACP Image Award.



February 11, 2012 - Martin Lastrapes 
author of
Inside the Outside

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Martin is the First Place Winner of the 2012 Paris Book Festival Award

His topic:

Character Development:
How To Create the
Illusion of
Flesh and Blood on the Page



January 12, 2012
Roberta Smith
Self-publishing Without the Big Bucks

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Roberta Smith, club member and author of the Mickey McCoy Paranormal Mystery Series, showed a packed house how they could self publish their projects without spending a lot of money with CreateSpace.  Find her presentation here.


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