2025 Meetings/Speakers
december 2025
Herbie Pila
Herbie Pila shared his Christmas books.
After Herbie, we went to Byron and Marie Ward’s home in Spring Valley Lake where we ate food from El Pollo Loco and enjoyed each other's company. There was a gift exchange.
After Herbie, we went to Byron and Marie Ward’s home in Spring Valley Lake where we ate food from El Pollo Loco and enjoyed each other's company. There was a gift exchange.
november 2025
Honoring Our Veterans and
Launching Our New Anthology
Talked with our Veterans and listened to their stories. Launched our new anthology, Anything Goes! Gave out the awards for first, second, and third place for poetry and prose.
october 2025
michael raff
Tension in Writing
Michael Raff is a prolific writer who gets your attention. His stories are immersive and slowly build until they reach a frantic, explosive climax. Putting tension in our stories is an art. But every story and poem needs it. Mike will explain to us how it is done and will give us a chance to practice. Mike has published ten books. Some of them are in the horror genre while others are memoir. His latest book, Surviving, tracks his career as a psyche technician. He is currently working on a sequel to his amazing horror novel, Skelton Man.
sEPTEMBER 2025
S. Kay Murphy
S. Kay Murphy is the author of two memoirs, one Young Adult novel, and the Middle-Grade Dragon Singer series of fantasy novels. She holds a Master's degree in literature and has published poetry in addition to short memoir pieces for newspapers and magazines. She is happiest when hiking with her blue heeler, Miss Maudie Atkinson Murphy.
august 2025
poetry workshop
Seven tables were set up, each manned by an accomplished poet. The poets presented:
Metaphors: Meera Mahaswaran Subramaniam
Erasure Poetry: Mary Langer Thompson Lujan
Reverse Poetry: Rusty LaGrange
Poems from Freewrite: Bob Young
Making Metaphors: Frank Valdez
Haiku: Anita Holmes
Ekphrastic Poetry: Linda Boruff
Each Presenter shared how to write poetry in a very creative way. Then time was given to write some poems.
Metaphors: Meera Mahaswaran Subramaniam
Erasure Poetry: Mary Langer Thompson Lujan
Reverse Poetry: Rusty LaGrange
Poems from Freewrite: Bob Young
Making Metaphors: Frank Valdez
Haiku: Anita Holmes
Ekphrastic Poetry: Linda Boruff
Each Presenter shared how to write poetry in a very creative way. Then time was given to write some poems.
july 2025
Terry Saenz
Terry Saenz spoke on how to put together an excellent speech.
june 2025
Book Fair!
The club held a very successful book fair. The community showed up and our authors sold lots of books. Congratulations to all participants!
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may 2025
william kenower
Fearless Writing
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april 2025
Jeremy Apodaca
Jeremy started his drama career playing Hamlet in junior high (he played Hamlet again in college). He showed how to use acting to improve writing.
Godsend, a YA series of books, was first conceived of by Jeremy.
Godsend, a YA series of books, was first conceived of by Jeremy.
march 2025
Richard Spencer on Character development
Dive deep into the art of character creation with our a presentation Richard Spencer, “Character Development for Authors.” Part One of the presentation guided writers through the process of crafting memorable, dynamic characters that resonate with readers and drive narratives forward. We explored the fundamental aspects of character development, starting from the core traits that make characters come alive on the page. We learned the basic elements needed to construct compelling protagonists who captivate your audience and design antagonists with depth and motivations that go beyond mere villainy.
Part Two gave the unique opportunity to put theory into practice in a hands-on workshop. This interactive session empowered us to apply the principles learned in Part One to a character who was created specifically for this exercise—enter Jonas Mercer, a man with a mysterious past and uncertain future. We worked groups to flesh out Jonas's backstory, motivations, and potential growth arcs using the techniques discussed earlier. We explored different dimensions of his personality, craft pivotal life events that shape his journey, and decide his ultimate path.
Part Two gave the unique opportunity to put theory into practice in a hands-on workshop. This interactive session empowered us to apply the principles learned in Part One to a character who was created specifically for this exercise—enter Jonas Mercer, a man with a mysterious past and uncertain future. We worked groups to flesh out Jonas's backstory, motivations, and potential growth arcs using the techniques discussed earlier. We explored different dimensions of his personality, craft pivotal life events that shape his journey, and decide his ultimate path.
february 2025
sheryl perkins
Sheryl Perkins shared her poetry and encouraged us to write about love (less than a week before Valentine's Day). After the break, we were led through an exercise that helped make our writing far more powerful.
january 2025
K. Andrew Turner
Author, Editor, and Creative Mentor, and Writing Coach K. Andrew Turner K. Andrew Turner writes queer, literary, and speculative prose and poetry. In 2013, he founded East Jasmine Review—an electronic literary journal. He was a semifinalist for the 2016 Luminaire Award in poetry. His works include Heart, Mind, Blood, Skin (Finishing Line Press) and Gymlationship (Arroyo Seco Press).
Discover more at: www.kandrewturner.com
Mr. Turner spoke on Crafting Bite-Sized Narratives. He says of this class: Unlock the art of short-form storytelling, and learn how to distill complex ideas, vivid characters, and rich worlds into a few short paragraphs that linger in the reader's mind long after the last word. This generative workshop guides through the techniques and strategies to create powerful, bite-sized stories that pack a punch. Students are encouraged, but not required, to share their work.
We are often asked to submit flash fiction or short stories for magazines, contests, or anthologies. Mr. Turner gave us the tips we need to do it right.
Discover more at: www.kandrewturner.com
Mr. Turner spoke on Crafting Bite-Sized Narratives. He says of this class: Unlock the art of short-form storytelling, and learn how to distill complex ideas, vivid characters, and rich worlds into a few short paragraphs that linger in the reader's mind long after the last word. This generative workshop guides through the techniques and strategies to create powerful, bite-sized stories that pack a punch. Students are encouraged, but not required, to share their work.
We are often asked to submit flash fiction or short stories for magazines, contests, or anthologies. Mr. Turner gave us the tips we need to do it right.