Dear Members, Participants and Supporters,

March is upon us and if you are working as diligently on your manuscript as I am, you are “marching” right through it. Ha- ha?

The move to the back of Darcie Lynn’s PaperBack Exchange has been a blessing. Several new writers have found us in our new space and have been sharing not only their wonderful projects, but also their insight into our projects. I want to personally welcome our brave new participants.

The critique groups, memoir and fiction, now both begin at 6:30 on Monday nights because of the great participation. Remember, we bring six copies of five pages of double-space 12 font to share with everyone. The feedback is incredible!

This month, Vern Bradley will present the final seminar in his series, “Reading Your Partner Like A Book” on Saturday, March 20th beginning at 10 am.

Also on Saturday, March 20th, we will be hosting Toi Moore, author of several books, most recently “Unbreakable”. Beginning at 3pm, Toi will be presenting a free lecture covering her journey to publication and the topic of her latest book, how to make your relationship last. Light refreshments will be provided and books will be for sale after the lecture.

Finally, on Thursday, March 18th from 3:30 – 5:30, Noelle Kiely will be offering the Children’s Creative Writing Class. Participation is open to children ages eight to fourteen and costs $20.

I hope to see you at one of our gatherings this month.

Keep writing… and revising,

Diane

Dear Members, Participants and Supporters,

Wow! It’s the 12th and I’m just now getting out the newsletter. I hope this isn’t how the rest of my year ends up going.

Just want to remind you of some upcoming events:

Saturday, February 13 from 10 am until 12 noon, Noelle will be conducting the Children’s Creative Writing Workshop. Cost is $20 per child. Noelle leads the participants through several writing exercises, instructs on technique and has a great time. You can sign up Saturday morning if you haven’t already.

Saturday, February 20, Vern Bradley will host the second relationship workshop, “Reading Your Partner Like a Book.” Workshop begins at 10 am. More information is available at Darcie Lynn’s Paperback Exchange.

Monday nights are busy with Memoir and Fiction groups meeting. Both groups will begin meeting at 6:30 to be sure we have time for everyone’s work. 

There is interest in a screenwriting group if anyone out there wants to join. Right now our screen writers are joining fiction, but it would be great for those of you working on screenwriting to be able to focus specifically on that genre. Shoot me an email if interested at writersgallery@yahoo.com .

Finally, I, along with two other Writers Gallery members, attended the San Diego State Universtiy Writers Conference. It wasn’t cheap, but well worth the money. The general advice when attending conferences is if you come away with one new idea, it was worth the money. I’ve attended so many conferences, workshops, classes and seminars over the years that often one thing is all I come away with. Not for this conference. The fog cleared for me regarding how the agents and editors in New York and otherwise see their work of getting books out into the world. Very enlightening, if not very overwhelming. I tell all of you this because I would highly recommend attending next year if you can. Begin putting $30 away each month starting now so you will be able to afford it. The other advice I remember clearly when I first started this writing journey: If you aren’t willing to invest in yourself, then why should anyone else be willing to invest in you?

So, invest in yourself and your writing journey this year… and keep writing.

Best, Diane