past On-topic special practice meetings
Past On-Topic Meetings
Emmalisa Hill
INTERPRET DREAMS
May 1, 2024
5 pm to 7 pm
Apple Valley Library
Dream Interpreter It’s not something you always talk about, but EmmaLisa Hill is sure that you’d love to know what your dreams really mean. With insight and life experiences to draw from, Hill has been interpreting her dreams as well as friends and family who gain insight from theirs for years. Comfortable in leading and sharing from a dais or pulpit, her life skills include ministry and counselling. Hill’s first book is Pray Every Day. She is a current member of High Desert branch California Writers Club and offers a light-hearted look at what goes on while you’re sleeping.
Curious about a dream you have had? Ask Emmalisa on this special night and see what she has to say about it. The public is invited to attend at no charge.
Join us at the Apple Valley Library from 5 to 7 pm on Wednesday, May 1st. This is featured as on ongoing platform for the HDCWC Speakers’ Burea called the On-Topic Speakers for You. For details, visit www.ontopicspeakers.com.
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
5:15 - 6:45 PM
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You are invited to come to the Apple Valley Library Community Room at the Newton T. Bass Apple Valley Library (14901 Dale Evans Parkway) on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, from 5:15 to 6:45 pm for a speaker practice and evaluation workshop. This week we host Dwight Norris and Mike Apodaca.
Dwight Norris' topic: “Little Known Facts about the Apostle, Paul”
Mike Apodaca's topic: “Christianity and Politics”
The public is welcome to attend at no charge.
Presented by the California Writers Club, High Desert Branch
Note: Notwithstanding the titles, this is a non-religious, non-proselytizing meeting for those interested in public speaking.
Dwight Norris' topic: “Little Known Facts about the Apostle, Paul”
Mike Apodaca's topic: “Christianity and Politics”
The public is welcome to attend at no charge.
Presented by the California Writers Club, High Desert Branch
Note: Notwithstanding the titles, this is a non-religious, non-proselytizing meeting for those interested in public speaking.
Advanced Internet Research
August 29, 2023
Geri Speiler presented a program in Advanced Internet Research for Writers-Internet Skills All Writers Should Know.
How do you start your research process? What words do you use to find information? Do you know how to gauge when a website is genuine? She introduced methods that combine the main topics of "Online Research Methods," which include several methodologies to equip you with the skills and tools to prepare you to find accurate information and discern whether it is reliable.
In this session included:
· Why should you search using more than one search engine
· How to create better keyword and word-phrase
And searches using search strings
· How to avoid “Disambiguation.”
· What is the “Deep Web,” and how can it help the research process?
· How can I search anonymously?
· List of Deep Web search engines and databases.
· What is the difference between search engines, metasearch engines, directors, and portals, and how can it help my research?
· How to avoid “Filter Bubbles.”
· What are invisible Web sites, and why can’t we use them?
· Is people-search ethical? How can we use it for our purposes?
Geri Spieler a journalist and investigative reporter. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes and as a Research Director for Gartner, a global technology advising company and currently is a regular contributor to Truthdig.com, an award-winning investigative reporting website.
Her nonfiction book, Housewife Assassin-The Woman Who Tried To Kill President Ford (Diversion Books) has won many first place awards and has been optioned for a movie.
Geri is a past president of the California Writers Club, San Francisco Peninsula Branch, member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Internet Society, and Book Critics Circle.
This meeting is presented by the HDCWC free of charge.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
Lucianne Diver, literary agent
June 27, 2023 at 6 pm (Tuesday)
zoom meeting
What are agents looking for? How can an agent help writers? What is required to become an agent? Best general advice an agent would give to writers today. If one does not have an agent, what things can he/she do to get representation?
Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years at New York City’s prestigious Spectrum Literary Agency. With her sharp eye and gift for spotting original new voices, Lucienne is one of the most well-respected agents in the industry. A lifelong book addict, she graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Potsdam with dual majors in English/writing and anthropology. She thus came well-equipped for her work as an agent.
Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years at New York City’s prestigious Spectrum Literary Agency. With her sharp eye and gift for spotting original new voices, Lucienne is one of the most well-respected agents in the industry. A lifelong book addict, she graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Potsdam with dual majors in English/writing and anthropology. She thus came well-equipped for her work as an agent.
Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold well over seven hundred titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, horror, women’s fiction, romance, mystery/suspense and young adult. Her authors have been honored with the Hugo, Nebula, Colorado Book and National Readers’ Choice Awards, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. A publishing veteran, Lucienne has superb industry knowledge, and a keen understanding of the foreign rights market.
This zoom presentation is open free of charge to all CWC members. Registration is not required. However, there will be limited seating for what we feel will be a popular event.
Topic: Act 2 Meeting HDCWC
Time: 6:00
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
This zoom presentation is open free of charge to all CWC members. Registration is not required. However, there will be limited seating for what we feel will be a popular event.
Topic: Act 2 Meeting HDCWC
Time: 6:00
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Past Zoom Meetings
Pauline Wiles
March 22, 2022 AT 6:00 PM
ZOOM MEETING
Websites that wow readers: How to create or update your online home.
Your website is the cornerstone of your writer platform, and it needs to work hard for you, 24 hours a day. Learn easy tips and insider tricks so you can spend less time battling technology, and more time writing your next book.
Key takeaways :
~ When is the ideal time to create your writer website? … and why it might be sooner than you think.
~ How technology is becoming simpler and more affordable, whether you want to build your first website, or switch your existing site to a new platform.
~ How to identify the one clear call to action your website must deliver.
~ Current trends in website design; how to avoid a site that looks dated.
~ How to stretch your website budget.
Speaker Bio:
Pauline Wiles is an indie author turned website designer who builds beautiful, custom websites for writers who mean business.
As a writer herself, she noticed others were often overwhelmed by this task. Now, she aims not only to create powerful websites for other writers, but also to dispel some of the myths around how difficult a web project should be.
British by birth, Pauline is now a contented resident of California, although she admits to an occasional yearning for afternoon tea and historic homes. Her professional resume includes teaching computing to adults on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as desktop support, entrepreneurship education, and marketing analysis.
Your website is the cornerstone of your writer platform, and it needs to work hard for you, 24 hours a day. Learn easy tips and insider tricks so you can spend less time battling technology, and more time writing your next book.
Key takeaways :
~ When is the ideal time to create your writer website? … and why it might be sooner than you think.
~ How technology is becoming simpler and more affordable, whether you want to build your first website, or switch your existing site to a new platform.
~ How to identify the one clear call to action your website must deliver.
~ Current trends in website design; how to avoid a site that looks dated.
~ How to stretch your website budget.
Speaker Bio:
Pauline Wiles is an indie author turned website designer who builds beautiful, custom websites for writers who mean business.
As a writer herself, she noticed others were often overwhelmed by this task. Now, she aims not only to create powerful websites for other writers, but also to dispel some of the myths around how difficult a web project should be.
British by birth, Pauline is now a contented resident of California, although she admits to an occasional yearning for afternoon tea and historic homes. Her professional resume includes teaching computing to adults on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as desktop support, entrepreneurship education, and marketing analysis.
Christopher Vogler
December 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Zoom meeting
Christopher Vogler, author of “The Hero’s Journey” to be Guest Speaker on FREE Zoom Meeting
The High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club (HDCWC) will host a free presentation on “The Hero’s Journey” with famed author Christopher Vogler on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm via Zoom. The public is invited to attend at no charge. Most writers have heard of the hero’s journey, and perhaps even read his book. Now you can get personal insights through this discussion with the man who wrote the book!
Christopher Vogler is a veteran Hollywood story consultant known the world over for his landmark bookTHE WRITER’S JOURNEY: Mythic Structure for Storytellers, now in its 25th Anniversary Edition. Vogler grew up in the St. Louis area, studied journalism at the University of Missouri, andbegan his career as a documentary filmmaker for the US Air Force’s space program. After graduate studies at the USC film school, he entered the Hollywood studio system as a story analystat 20th Century Fox. While working in the Disney story department he wrote an influential memo on the mythological Hero’s Journey pattern that became part of Hollywood story legend, influenced Disney’s THE LION KING, and formed the foundation of his book, THE WRITER’S JOURNEY.As a consultant he has influenced the stories of many productions including Disney’sALADDIN, HERCULES, FANTASIA 2000; Fox’s FIGHT CLUB, THE THIN RED LINE, COURAGE UNDER FIRE, and for other studios 10,000 BC, KARATE KID II, Darren Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER and NOAH, Will Smith’s FOCUS, HANCOCK, MEN IN BLACK III, I AM LEGEND, etc.He consults with major corporations on storytelling and branding and presents workshops globally on the power of stories to change minds and lives.
Following is the link to our Zoom meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
The High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club (HDCWC) will host a free presentation on “The Hero’s Journey” with famed author Christopher Vogler on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 6:00 pm via Zoom. The public is invited to attend at no charge. Most writers have heard of the hero’s journey, and perhaps even read his book. Now you can get personal insights through this discussion with the man who wrote the book!
Christopher Vogler is a veteran Hollywood story consultant known the world over for his landmark bookTHE WRITER’S JOURNEY: Mythic Structure for Storytellers, now in its 25th Anniversary Edition. Vogler grew up in the St. Louis area, studied journalism at the University of Missouri, andbegan his career as a documentary filmmaker for the US Air Force’s space program. After graduate studies at the USC film school, he entered the Hollywood studio system as a story analystat 20th Century Fox. While working in the Disney story department he wrote an influential memo on the mythological Hero’s Journey pattern that became part of Hollywood story legend, influenced Disney’s THE LION KING, and formed the foundation of his book, THE WRITER’S JOURNEY.As a consultant he has influenced the stories of many productions including Disney’sALADDIN, HERCULES, FANTASIA 2000; Fox’s FIGHT CLUB, THE THIN RED LINE, COURAGE UNDER FIRE, and for other studios 10,000 BC, KARATE KID II, Darren Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER and NOAH, Will Smith’s FOCUS, HANCOCK, MEN IN BLACK III, I AM LEGEND, etc.He consults with major corporations on storytelling and branding and presents workshops globally on the power of stories to change minds and lives.
Following is the link to our Zoom meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
November 23rd ZOOM MEETING fEATUREd Brian Gaps
Mastering Meetup.com and
Other Tips for Club Growth
The methods for reaching today’s socially conscious and tech-savvy audience may require different steps than what worked in the past. Does your CWC Branch have a MeetUp.com account or have you been considering one? What outreach changes have you made during the pandemic?
Whether you are a branch organizer or a writer, if you want to know more about reaching a wider audience, join us on Zoom for aninterview with a marketing professional on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 6pm. We have arranged for this expert to share his insider knowledge and guide us toward success in this format designed to increase your branch membership.
Brian Gaps is the CWC branch president and 2021 Jack London recipient for Orange County. He will share techniques used to grow club membership in a year in which most branches lost members. Equally vital to the future success of the club is that the new member’s average age is an estimated 25 years younger than the club’s traditional membership.
The OC club’s Meetup.com group exceeds 900 members and email guest list has climbed toward 200 opt-in subscribers converted from social media platforms. Average Zoom attendance consistently meets or exceeds pre-pandemic live audience sizes.
Brian is currently a senior copywriter working in the advertising and marketing industry. He is a former partner at a boutique digital agency and co-hosted a marketing radio show on KLAA AM830. He taught an 11-year-old how to build a YouTube channel that reached over 50 million views.
Statewide CWC president, Roger Lubeck, observed during the recent Jack London Awards ceremony, “This is the guy other branches should listen to.”
The High Desert CWC (HDCWC) will present this event at no charge to CWC members wishing to attend.
Visit www.hdcwc.com for more information and the link to this program. You may also sign on with this link:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86220784034#,,,,*375034# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,86220784034#,,,,*375034# US (Tacoma)
Whether you are a branch organizer or a writer, if you want to know more about reaching a wider audience, join us on Zoom for aninterview with a marketing professional on Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 6pm. We have arranged for this expert to share his insider knowledge and guide us toward success in this format designed to increase your branch membership.
Brian Gaps is the CWC branch president and 2021 Jack London recipient for Orange County. He will share techniques used to grow club membership in a year in which most branches lost members. Equally vital to the future success of the club is that the new member’s average age is an estimated 25 years younger than the club’s traditional membership.
The OC club’s Meetup.com group exceeds 900 members and email guest list has climbed toward 200 opt-in subscribers converted from social media platforms. Average Zoom attendance consistently meets or exceeds pre-pandemic live audience sizes.
Brian is currently a senior copywriter working in the advertising and marketing industry. He is a former partner at a boutique digital agency and co-hosted a marketing radio show on KLAA AM830. He taught an 11-year-old how to build a YouTube channel that reached over 50 million views.
Statewide CWC president, Roger Lubeck, observed during the recent Jack London Awards ceremony, “This is the guy other branches should listen to.”
The High Desert CWC (HDCWC) will present this event at no charge to CWC members wishing to attend.
Visit www.hdcwc.com for more information and the link to this program. You may also sign on with this link:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86220784034#,,,,*375034# US (San Jose)
+12532158782,,86220784034#,,,,*375034# US (Tacoma)
October 19th Zoom Meeting Featured Judith Favor
Got enough money? Enough love?
Facing an uncertain future?
Sabbath Economics is the spiritual guide for you.
Loving and being loved makes everyone happier.
Looking at money matters from a spiritual perspective makes everything better.
Author Judith Favor helps each of us explore how much is enough as we move forward, individually and collectively, into an uncertain future.
Inland Empire member and author Judith Favor will be the guest speaker for the High Desert Branch’s Act 2 Zoom meeting to be aired on Tuesday, October 19th at 6 pm. The public is invited to attend this free presentation. Invitation and link may be found by visiting www.hdcwc.com.
Judith Wright Favor loves conversing with people who are interested in finding sacred possibilities in the very human tangle of personal finances and relational challenges.
She just published The Companion Journal: 52 Weeks with Love and Money for Sabbath Economics. This book is loaded with insightful questions for every day of the year, plus lively quotes to get you thinking about money and love in fresh ways. Each page has space to record your own desires, curiosities and imaginative ideas.
The Companion Journal will be there for you day and night, but money troubles can be hard to talk about. Because we are social beings and spiritual beings, it is better to explore the complexities of money and love in the company of a few good people. Who else do you want in this conversation?
Don’t miss this provocative and unusual presentation.
Contact www.JudithFavor.com to arrange discounts so everyone in your book group, church group, or family circle can have a copy.
Buy at Powells, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Readers Magnet.
Judith Wright Favor is the author of six nonfiction books and one novel:
Spirit Awakening (1988, out of print)
The Edgefielders: Poor Farm Tales of a Great-Grandmother, 2013
Silent Voices, 2014
The Beacons of Larkin Street (2017), first in a trilogy honoring female church leaders in 1970s San Francisco.
Sabbath Economics: A Spiritual Guide to Linking Love with Money, 2020
52 Weeks with Love and Money, A Companion Journal, 2021
Friending Rosie: Respect on Death Row, 2021
Judith likes to quote poet Mary Oliver, who wrote:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell someone.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86220784034#,,,,*375034# US (San Jose)
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Judith is a member of the High Desert CWC’s On Topic Speakers for You presentation project
Facing an uncertain future?
Sabbath Economics is the spiritual guide for you.
Loving and being loved makes everyone happier.
Looking at money matters from a spiritual perspective makes everything better.
Author Judith Favor helps each of us explore how much is enough as we move forward, individually and collectively, into an uncertain future.
Inland Empire member and author Judith Favor will be the guest speaker for the High Desert Branch’s Act 2 Zoom meeting to be aired on Tuesday, October 19th at 6 pm. The public is invited to attend this free presentation. Invitation and link may be found by visiting www.hdcwc.com.
Judith Wright Favor loves conversing with people who are interested in finding sacred possibilities in the very human tangle of personal finances and relational challenges.
She just published The Companion Journal: 52 Weeks with Love and Money for Sabbath Economics. This book is loaded with insightful questions for every day of the year, plus lively quotes to get you thinking about money and love in fresh ways. Each page has space to record your own desires, curiosities and imaginative ideas.
The Companion Journal will be there for you day and night, but money troubles can be hard to talk about. Because we are social beings and spiritual beings, it is better to explore the complexities of money and love in the company of a few good people. Who else do you want in this conversation?
Don’t miss this provocative and unusual presentation.
Contact www.JudithFavor.com to arrange discounts so everyone in your book group, church group, or family circle can have a copy.
Buy at Powells, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or Readers Magnet.
Judith Wright Favor is the author of six nonfiction books and one novel:
Spirit Awakening (1988, out of print)
The Edgefielders: Poor Farm Tales of a Great-Grandmother, 2013
Silent Voices, 2014
The Beacons of Larkin Street (2017), first in a trilogy honoring female church leaders in 1970s San Francisco.
Sabbath Economics: A Spiritual Guide to Linking Love with Money, 2020
52 Weeks with Love and Money, A Companion Journal, 2021
Friending Rosie: Respect on Death Row, 2021
Judith likes to quote poet Mary Oliver, who wrote:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell someone.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86220784034#,,,,*375034# US (San Jose)
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Judith is a member of the High Desert CWC’s On Topic Speakers for You presentation project
STORY DEVELOPMENT
INSIDE STORY with Dara Marks
September 21, 2021
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Every writer has a wealth of creative potential but gaining access to those interior places where the true power of story is waiting to be unleashed can be a daunting task. Dara Marks, the author of Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc, has developed an innovative method for structuring story that is designed to help writers stay focused on the heart and soul of their work while also unifying plot, character, and theme. Inside Story teaches writers how to develop a natural story structure that reflects the true human experience, thus illuminating the inner journey or arc of the character. This presentation is designed to take you into the depths of your own narrative, making your stories more powerful, meaningful and, of course, marketable.
Join the High Desert Branch for this Act 2 Zoom meeting free of charge to CWC members.
Time 6 pm, Tuesday September 21, 2021.
Dara Marks, Ph.D., is a writer and leading international script consultant, who has devoted the last thirty years to the development of a groundbreaking approach to the theory of the transformational arc and screenplay structure. Her unique method of story analysis has earned her top ratings by Creative Screenwriting Magazine as the best consultant in the business. She has worked with most major Hollywood studios and many independent filmmakers and has a doctorate degree in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Dara is a highly sought-after speaker whose work is committed to the idea that a culture speaks through its stories. She offers workshops, seminars, and script development services. Dara lives in Ojai, California, with her husband.
Join Zoom Meeting on Tuesday, September 21 at 6 pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
Join the High Desert Branch for this Act 2 Zoom meeting free of charge to CWC members.
Time 6 pm, Tuesday September 21, 2021.
Dara Marks, Ph.D., is a writer and leading international script consultant, who has devoted the last thirty years to the development of a groundbreaking approach to the theory of the transformational arc and screenplay structure. Her unique method of story analysis has earned her top ratings by Creative Screenwriting Magazine as the best consultant in the business. She has worked with most major Hollywood studios and many independent filmmakers and has a doctorate degree in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Dara is a highly sought-after speaker whose work is committed to the idea that a culture speaks through its stories. She offers workshops, seminars, and script development services. Dara lives in Ojai, California, with her husband.
Join Zoom Meeting on Tuesday, September 21 at 6 pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86220784034?pwd=TThCMWhyc0FYbjRid1JmUnZiWit6Zz09
Meeting ID: 862 2078 4034
Passcode: 375034
Movie Making History
High Desert
· Tenet (2020)
· The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) · Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) · Space Cowboys (2000) · Ocean's Eleven (2001) · Contact (1997) ... · Hulk (2003) What do all these movies have in common? They were shot in our back yard! Matt Cabe, editor of the Daily Press, was the featured guest speaker on August 24 for our Act 2 Zoom presentation. He talked on a topic favorite and familiar to him, “Movie Making History in the High Desert.” Mr. Cabe has written nearly 200 entries of “This Desert Life” for the Daily Press. |