San Diego's
WriteWay is a WebZine newsletter with writing resources, calendar
and bookstore for San Diego writers, authors, editors, Books,
ebook publishers, and with information on book signings, book
discussions, writers conferences and theater reviews
– Founded 2008 by Sam Warren, publisher/editor —
The following
organizations have donated the cost of one of their membership
San Diego Writers/Editors Guild
9
San
Diego Professional Editors
Network (SD/PEN)
9
Publisher and Writers
of San Diego (PWSD) 9
Poetry Grove Poets 9
Individual
Sponsors
Barbara & Fred Crothers 9
Andrea Glass (Writers
Way) 10/9/1
1
Please make all donations to the East County Magazine,
a non-profit organization
SDWriteWay and the East County Magazine are both members of ITEX (International Trade Exchange). Contact Sam Warren (619) 674-3066 if you want to find out how you can expand your business with barter
The 26th annual Southern California Writers' Conference in San Diego takes place Presidents’ Day Weekend February 17-20. With nearly $4 million dollars worth of publishing success behind us, as always, our next event is geared to get you where you want to go with your work. Here's the latest:
1. Workshop Leaders & Advance Submission Readers
2. Darlene Quinn's "Webs of Fate" Trailer
3. NovelCram Immersion Track Returns
4. Write Click Sponsors $75 Registration Discount
5. Win A Kindle eBook Reader Contest
For additional information, go to http://www.WritersConference.com.
Attention Screenwriters
It's a new year filled with new opportunities!
Here's an update on what's been happening at the Screenwriter's Arsenal family of websites!
1. All Access Screenwriting Competition
The ninth annual All Access Screenwriting Competition is currently in its judging phase. Quarterfinalists will be announced on February 20, 2012!
Read more at: The All Access Competition Home Page!
2. Script Delivery - E-Query Service
The Script Delivery E-Query service is the service of choice for serious screenwriters looking to sell their work or gain representation. Our submission lists are the most up to date in the industry! We're reaching over 3,000 producers, executives, agents and managers! Each Script Delivery Order comes with eight months of free access to our Contact Database. The customizable contact database currently has contact information for over 3,800 industry companies! Our Script Delivery service is THE most powerful marketing tool in the industry for screenwriters! Get your work in front of Hollywood buyers and decision makers today! Visit us today at: www.ScriptDelivery.net
3. www.SellAScript.com Development Services
Make your screenplay the best it can be before it's submitted to potential buyers and/or competitions! Our industry-best Coverage Report and Development Notes services can help you work out critical problems in your work! We have dropped our prices on all Development Services. Take advantage of this great deal while it lasts! Read and learn more at:
SellAScript.com's Development Services Homepage!
4. Script Showcase Screenwriting Competition.
The 3rd Annual Script Showcase screenwriting competition is currently in its judging phase.
Quarterfinalists will be announced on February 20, 2012! Read more at: The Script Showcase Competition Home Page!
5. Script Sales:
Here are the top selling genres for 2011:
Drama: 165 Sales
Fantasy: 80 Sales
Action: 79 Sales
Thriller: 72 Sales
Comedy: 68 Sales
Sci-Fi: 52 Sales
Crime: 43 Sales
Period: 35 Sales
Supernatural: 28 Sales
Horror: 25 Sales
Take advantage of our free industry screenplay sales database. Keep up to date with what's selling and who's buying! Keep up to date on industry screenplay sales at: Our Industry-Best Script Sales Tracking Site!
6. Sponsored Competitions! Take a moment to check out the quality screenplay competitions that we sponsor! Check out our sponsored competitions at: The Screenwriter's Arsenal Sponsored Competitions Page!
7. Writer Resources! Our free writer's resources include a bevy of information for any screenwriter, including: Industry Screenplay Sales, Free Screenplays, Example Forms and Information, Film Industry News, Writer and Filmmaker Interviews and more! Take advantage of our Writer's Resources at:
The Screenwriter's Arsenal Writer's Resources Page! Come see what we have to offer! Check us out at www.ScreenwritersArsenal.com today! 1/26
Cause for Celegration Partners with Write Out Loud
Collaboration will develop community engagement in The Big Read;
Edgar Allan Poe is featured author of San Diego County campaign
(San Diego, CA) Cause for Celebration, a San Diego firm specializing in public relations, legislative advocacy, development, and event-planning, has been retained by Write Out Loud to cultivate community partnerships and civic engagement in The Big Read, a national campaign designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.
Write Out Loud is one of only 76 organizations in the country to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to promote The Big Read in 2011-12. The program challenges grant recipients to infuse their regional campaigns with creative, cutting-edge ideas that encourage residents to explore literary works – in Write Out Loud’s case, the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe – through traditional and non-traditional artistic mediums and community settings.
Write Out Loud is a San Diego nonprofit organization dedicated to reading literature aloud to a live audience. Founders Veronica Murphy and Walter Ritter conceived Shades of Poe as a multi-faceted literary platform, introducing San Diegans to the tales of mystery and the macabre penned by Poe, an illustrious author of the American Romantic Movement.
The project culminates in April, when Write Out Loud -- in partnership with the San Diego Public Library – unfolds a series of events showcasing the colorful spectrum of Poe’s literary works.
“With its focus on bringing together people of all ages and cultural backgrounds to celebrate the wonder of reading, The Big Read – Shades of Poe offers unlimited opportunities for creative expression and civic collaboration," Cause for Celebration co-founder Molly Bowman-Styles explained. “We look forward to working with Write Out Loud to encourage San Diegans to explore the poems and stories of Edgar Allan Poe on their own terms, a journey that promises to inspire a renewed appreciation of his signature literary voice.”
Cause for Celebration, a partnership between San Diego natives Molly Bowman-Styles, Lizbeth Persons Price and Ross Porter, brings a collective 40-years of public-relations experience to their work to strengthen and advance the respective missions of their nonprofit clients.
Along with the Write Out Loud, the firm’s 2011 client roster includes: Women’s Museum of California, Balboa Theatre Foundation, Spreckels Organ Society, Starlight Musical Theatre, Sicilian Festival, Excel Youth Zone’s Servapalooza, Theatre Organ Society of San Diego, and Vocal Artist Cristina Fontanelli’s Christmas in Italy.
In addition to their intimate knowledge of the philanthropic sector, Cause for Celebration has developed strong relationships with corporate, governmental and not-for-profit leaders who are leading the charge to improve San Diego’s collective quality of life.
New York Book Festival
The 2012 New York Book Festival has issued a call for
entries to its annual program honoring books that deserve greater
recognition from the world's publishing capital. Regular registration
deadline submissions in each category must be received by the close
of business May 25, 2012.
The 2012 New York Book Festival will consider
published, self-published and independent publisher non-fiction, fiction,
children, young adult, how-to, audio/spoken word, comics/zines/graphic
novels, poetry, wild card (anything goes!), unpublished stories, science
fiction, horror, photography/art, romance and biography/autobiography
works.
Entries can be in English, Spanish, French
or Italian and must be published on or after January 1, 2006. Our
grand prize for the 2012 New York Book Festival Author of the Year
is $1,500 and a flight to New York for our awards ceremony in June,
2012 in Manhattan.
Additional information and registration forms
are available online at http://www.newyorkbookfestival.com.
San Francisco Book Festival
The 2012 San Francisco Book Festival has issued a
call for entries to its annual competition honoring the best books
of the spring season.
The 2012 San Francisco Book Festival will
consider non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children's
books, compilations/anthologies, teenage, how-to, cookbooks, science
fiction, audio/spoken word, history, wild card, gay, photography/art,
poetry, unpublished, travel and spiritual works. There is no date
of publication deadline.
Our grand prize for the 2012 San Francisco
Book Festival is $1500 cash and a flight to San Francisco for our
gala awards ceremony and day festival. For additional information,
go to: http://www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com.
Deadline submissions in each category must be received by the close
of business on April 25, 2012. Applications must
be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee of $50.
Beverly Hills Book Awards
The 1st Annual Beverly Hills Book Awards™ is now accepting submissions
for the 2012 contest year. The Beverly Hills Book Awards are open
to all independent publishers and authors worldwide, including small
press, self publishers and university presses. Print books published
in 2009 thru 2012 are welcome to
submit. The Beverly Hills Book Awards judges, experts in all phases
of book production and publishing, evaluate many factors of the overall
book; presentation, cover and interior design, title, sub title, back
cover, and about the book. We celebrate books that represent overall
excellence for each category.
The Beverly Hills Book Awards™ winners and
finalists receive extensive media coverage and publicity. Just as
the Sundance Film Festival celebrates excellence in Indie films, the
Beverly Hills Book Awards™ celebrates excellence in Indie books. We
firmly believe in the idea that when more Indie books are created
with excellence, it’s good for the entire publishing
industry. Submissions are open from October 2011 – March 31, 2012
Winners and Finalists will be announced April 15, 2012.
http://beverlyhillsbookawards.com/
Brought to you by Ellen Reid of the National
Indie Excellence Awards. http://www.indieexcellence.com/
Beach Book Festival
The 2012 Beach Book Festival has issued a call for entries
to its annual program spotlighting the hottest reads of the summer
season.
The Beach Book Festival will consider self-published
or independent publisher non-fiction, fiction, biography/ autobiography,
children's books, teenage, how-to, science fiction, romance, comics,
poetry, spiritual, compilations/ anthologies, history, business and
health-oriented books.
Our grand prize for the 2012 Beach Book Festival
is $1500 cash and a flight to our event in June at the Algonquin Hotel
in New York, one of the world's publishing landmarks.
Submitted works will be judged for general
excellence, i.e., the potential of the work to be an engaging beach
read this summer season. More information and registration available
at http://www.beachbookfestival.com.
Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest
Write a poem, thirty lines or fewer on any subject or write short
story five pages maximum, single or double line spacing, on any subject
or theme, fiction or non-fiction. Multiple entries are accepted. Postmark
deadline: December 31, 2011. Awards: Writing Contest
First Prize is $500; Second: $250; Third: $100. Poetry Contest First
Prize: $250; Second: $125; Third: $50.
All contest winners will be
published online in the Dare to Dream pages, on January 31, 2012.
Entry fees: $10 per short story/$5 per poem. Info: Include title of
poem or story, name, address, phone#, email, brief biographical info.
(Tell us a little about yourself) on the coversheet; add a self-addressed
stamped envelope for entry confirmation.
Entry fees payable to: “DREAMQUESTONE.COM”- Mail to: Dream Quest
One Poetry & Writing Contest, P.O. Box 3141, Chicago, IL 60654.
Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for details and enter!
New England Book Festival
The 2011 New England Book Festival will return on January 14, 2012
for its awards ceremony honoring the best books of the holiday season.
The competition is currently accepting entries in the following categories:
non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children's books, young
adult, how-to, cookbooks, science fiction, photography/art, poetry,
spiritual works, compilations/anthologies, gay, unpublished stories
and wild card (for books that don't neatly fit elsewhere). All entries
must be in English. There is no date of publication restriction.
Their grand prize for the 2011 New England Book Festival winner is
$1500 cash and a flight to the awards ceremony in Boston. Deadline
submissions in each category must be postmarked by midnight on November
25, 2011.
Additional information at http://www.newenglandbookfestival.com.
Green Book Festival
The 2012 Green Book Festival has issued a call for entries to its annual competition honoring books that contribute to greater understanding, respect and positive action on the changing worldwide environment.
The Festival will consider published, self-published and independent publisher works in the following categories: non-fiction, fiction, children's books, teenage, how-to, audio/spoken word, comics/graphic novels, poetry, science fiction/horror, biography/ autobiography, gardening, cookbooks, animals, photography/art, e-books, wild card (anything goes!), scientific, white paper, legal, business, mystery and spiritual.
Entries can be in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italian. Our grand prize for the 2012 Green Book Festival is $1500 and transportation to our May 19 awards and day festival in San Francisco OR an equivalent amount donated in your name to the environmental charity of your choice.
A panel of judges will determine the winners based on the following criteria:
1) The overall writing style and presentation of the work;
2) The potential of the work to enhance understanding of the environment and its issues; TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online at http://www.greenbookfestival.com or may be sent to you by emailing GreenBookFestival@sbcglobal.net.
Antelope Valley Christian Writer's Conference
The seventh annual Antelope Valley Christian Writers’ Conference, May 4-5, is quickly approaching. If you enjoy writing, and you’d like to sharpen your skills and learn how the publishing business works, you are welcome to join us. Registration is now open.
Our keynote speaker will be author and mentor Cecil Murphey. (You might know him as the author of Ninety Minutes in Heaven.) Meet agent Bill Jensen, grammar expert Kathy Ide, magazine columnist B.J. Taylor, novelist Kathi Macias, and more. Between them they have over a century of experience in training writers for today’s competitive market.
You can attend workshops in a wide array of creative categories. A special program (with a discounted price) is offered for teen writers, age 12-17. Fellowship with other writers who share your calling. Receive a free critique for your latest writing project. Pitch your book idea directly to our publishers and agents. Together, we can help you take your writing to the next level.
They are located in the High Desert of Southern California, within easy driving distance from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, or Ventura County. Or you can also get here via the Metrolink commuter train from Downtown LA or Burbank Airport.
Complimentary refreshments, a continental breakfast, and a catered lunch will be served. A special deal is available for any church or school sending five people or more. Please have a look at our website, at http://www.avwriters.com. Or write to us at GreenBookFestival@sbcglobal.net.
Passion and Prose Conference
For romance readers and the writers who love them: announcing the first annual conference that brings together hundreds of romance readers and 50 beloved romance writers for a fabulous day of conversation and fun! Keynote speakers are New York Times bestselling authors Meg Cabot, Christina Dodd, Gail Carriger. Also featuring The Penguin Breathless Reads Tour, featuring young adult authors: Marie Lu, Beth Revis, Andrea Cremer, Jessica Spotswood, Sara Wilson Etienne Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, together with Adventures by the Book, presents the first ever Passion & Prose one-day conference on Saturday, February 25, 2012, from 9:00am to 3:30pm at the Westin Long Beach, 333 East Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802. Attendance is limited to the first 450 readers who register. About the Event: This is a ticketed event ($125) that includes a breakfast buffet meet and greet with the authors, speed dating (an interactive author activity), and lunch with one author at each table. The day also features a Young Adult author panel, three keynote speakers, multiple book buying and signing opportunities, free goodie bags to all participants, and an opportunity drawing to benefit WriteGirl, a non-profit organization that promotes creativity and self-expression through writing to empower girls. Special Promotion: From January 1-February 14, Passion & Prose is offering a special discounted Mother-Daughter registration promotion ($200 per couple).
For more information regarding the event, or for author media requests or interviews, please contact Susan McBeth at (619) 300-2532 or at susan@passionandprose.org. http://www.passionandprose.org/
New Contest
Our friends at Deep River Books are looking for the next bestselling Christian book to publish and it could be you! A Grand Prize winner will be chosen from each category of Fiction and Non-Fiction and will be awarded a royalty-based publishing contract through Carmichael Publishing (a division of Deep River Books). One Second Place prize winner (chosen from either category) will be given a $1000 certificate to use toward a publishing contract with Deep River Books, and one Third Place prize winner will receive a $750 certificate to use toward a publishing contract with Deep River Books.
Winners whose manuscripts do not win but are worthy of mention will be awarded a "Certificate of Merit." The contest deadline has been extended due to popular demand; all entries must be received no later than Tuesday January 31, 2012 at 11:59pm PST. To learn more visit www.deepriverbooks.com/contest.html
Global eBook Awards
Imagine Your Ebook winning an award and: &? Putting an official “sticker” on your Ebook cover, website, Amazon page, and promotion materials.
Eligibility: eBook released anytime on or before March 11, 2012. Application deadline: March 12, 2012 (midnight Pacific Time). Award ceremony in beautiful Santa Barbara: Saturday, August 18, 2012. http://globalebookawards.com/ .
Video explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yNa85sdA-A
READ YOUR FAVORITE EBOOKS FREE
Dan Poynter’s Global Ebook awards needs more judges. They are overwhelmed with entrants in the 73 categories. Just select your favorite category and you will get ebooks to read and evaluate. Contests are more successful when there are several judges per category. Judges aren’t rushed to read when they sign up early. We welcome book bloggers, librarians, book club, and reading circle members, and we also welcome professional critics and subject matter experts in the category they prefer.
After we receive your application, we will use your information to publicize you as one of our judges (unless you prefer to be anonymous). We will not reveal to the authors or publishers that you judged their book.
You will be asked to evaluate all the submitted ebooks in the category of your choice. You can click on the link for their ebook and see their book’s website or Amazon page to get an idea of what others thought as well.
While your subjective evaluation is most important, we will supply you with a score sheet to aid you in your objective evaluation. One way we can show our appreciation of you is to promote you and your blog, or your service, or your book club, or whatever it is that makes you more than just a reader of ebooks – and someone who wants an active stake in promoting great writing. We do this through featuring you as a judge on our site with links to your blog or website of your choice.
We also have a Judge logo that you can use for your blog, website, ezine, etc.
While we welcome publishers of all sizes, we want this contest to be a place where self-publishers can stand alongside other authors on an equal footing with an equal shot at exposure and recognition.
Send your request to Barbara Gaughen (“gone”), Gaughen Global Public Relations, Barbara@rain.org, +1-805-968-8567, Supply your contact information and the category of your choice. You may choose more than one category. Details at http://globalebookawards.com/judging/
Children Prefer eBooks
According to a new report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, kids prefer to eBooks to print books. The Center observed 24 families with children ages 3-6for this "QuickStudy" in the summer and fall of 2011. The kids were given both print and eBooks to read and according to the research children preferred reading an eBook to a print book though comprehension was equal. Digital Book World has more: "Enhanced... read more>>
New Group
The Vista Village Idiots Literary Society, with chairperson Jeannie Ortiz, meets on the 3rd Friday of every month at 7 pm in Gallery 204, an art gallery located at 204 Broadway in Vista. There is usually a featured speaker, followed by an open mike. All genres are welcome. Features have included a singer/songwriter as well as the usual mix of short stories, essays, and poetry. For additional information, contact Bob Lundy at rtlundy@roadrunner.com.
Sigma Delta Chi Awards
The Society of Professional Journalists is excited to announce that the 2011 Sigma Delta Chi Awards are open for entry until Feb. 9. Among the premiere prizes awarded to professional journalists, the SDX Awards recognize the best in U.S. professional journalism from print, online, art/graphics, newsletters, television, radio and journalism research. See last year's winning entries. Submit entires online at awards.spj.org.
The fee per entry for SPJ members is $60; non-members may enter for $100. Read the contest rules. Winners will be honored at a banquet in July. Please contact Lauren Rochester with questions at 317-927-8000 ext. 210 or lrochester@spj.org.
New America Award Contest
The New America Award contest is also accepting entries through Feb. 9. The award honors public service journalism that explores and exposes an issue of importance to immigrant or ethnic communities living in the United States. Read about last year's winners at Minnesota Public Radio News. Each entry must include a cover letter explaining the significance of the issue, any obstacles encountered and benefits gained.
The letter can also provide background about the nominees and talk about the effects of the journalism produced. Entries may be in any language, but English translations must be supplied for entries that are not in English. There is no fee to enter the New America contest. For full rules and a mail-in entry form, visit http://www.spj.org/a-newamerica.asp.
The Writer’s Symposium at PLNU
San Diego Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists members are invited to join with other journalists for a special dinner and interview event with Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges at the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University on Tuesday, February 28.
The San Diego SPJ chapter is co-sponsoring the event so the first 40 SPJ members who purchase a ticket to the evening interview (available at www.pointloma.edu/writers ) can also attend a dinner event with Chris Hedges and have front-row reserved seating. However, you must contact event coordinator, Edie Chapman, for this special deal.
So, purchase your ticket first, then email ediechapman@pointloma.edu to let her know you want to attend the complimentary dinner. Only SPJ members can come to the dinner, but all are welcome to purchase a ticket for the evening interview only. The dinner will be held in PLNU’s Cunningham Dining Room from 5:30-6:30 and the interview will begin at 7:00.
Also check out the events at the symposium, including interviews with the highly regarded Dave Eggers and Rachel Held Evans and practical workshops with local investigative journalist Caitlin Rother and with literary agents Elise Capron and Jill Marr.
This e-mail is from the Visit us online at www.spjsandiego.org. Questions, or have information to share? Contact us at spjsandiego@gmail.com. To join or renew your SPJ membership, visit www.spj.org/join.asp or print an application from our website, www.spjsandiego.org.
February 2 (Thursday, 6:00 pm) — Adventure with Drusilla Campbell. Mysterious Galaxy is proud to be partnering with Adventures by the Book for an exciting off-site event with author Drusilla Campbell. For reservations and information, please visit their website at www.adventuresbythebook.com.
Join Drusilla Campbell for a book discussion, Q&A, and signing of Drusilla’s new book, Little Girl Gone, followed by a two-hour writing workshop conducted by the author, an acclaimed writing instructor and President of SDWI.
February 2 (Thursday 6:00–9:00 pm) — Writing Workshop Adventure by the Book in partnership with San Diego Writer’s Ink, to benefit Project SARAH. Adventures by the Book, together with San Diego Writer’s Ink, presents a Little Girl Gone Writing Workshop Adventure with critically-acclaimed local author and writing instructor Drusilla Campbell at San Diego Writer’s Ink, 710 13th Street, San Diego 92101.
This is a ticketed event ($35 per person, or $30 for SDWI members and teens under 18) that includes light refreshments,, book discussion and signing with the author, Q&A, a two-hour writing workshop, “Dangerous Love,” led by the author, a donation to Project SARAH, and an opportunity to meet Drusilla Campbell up close and personal in an intimate setting. About the Book: Madora was 17 and heading for trouble when Willis rescued her. Fearful of the world and alienated from friends and family, she runs away with him, and for 5 years, lives in near isolation, caught up in a “Dangerous Love.” When Willis kidnaps a pregnant teenager and imprisons her in a truck trailer behind their house, Madora is torn between her love for Willis, her fear of the world, and her sense of right and wrong. When a brilliant but troubled young boy enters Madora’s life, will she discover the personal and moral courage to free herself from Willis’ control and abuse, and stand on her own.
For more information regarding the event, please contact Susan McBeth at (619) 300-2532 or at susan@adventuresbythebook.com. For interview or media requests, please contact Jennifer Reese at Jennifer.reese@hbgusa.comor at (212) 364-1132.
February 2 (Thursday, 7:00 pm) San Francisco Zen Buddhist priest and poet Norman Fischer will read from his new book Conflict at D.G.Wills Books, 7461 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, 858-456-1800, www.dgwillsbooks.com.
Norman Fischer is a poet and Zen Buddhist priest. For many years he has taught at the San FranciscoZenCenter, the oldest and largest of the new Buddhist organizations in the West, where he served as Co-abbot from 1995-2000. He is presently a Senior Dharma Teacher there as well as the founder and spiritual director of the Everyday Zen Foundation, an organization dedicated to adapting Zen Buddhist teachings to Western culture. Among his many books are Taking Our Places: the Buddhist Path to TrulyGrowing Up; Sailing Home: Using Homer’s Odyssey to Navigate Life’s Perils andPitfalls; Opening to You: Zen-inspired Translations of the Psalms and numerous books of poetry, including Precisely the Point being Made; Slowly but Dearly and I Was BlownBack. He is also the author of Jerusalem Moonlight, a prose memoir about Judaism and Buddhism. Norman Fischer has been particularly interested in the application of Zen to issues of Western culture and everyday life in the world. His Zen essays on topics ranging from racism to monasticism to romance appear frequently in Tricycle, ShambhalaSun and Buddhist Writing. In addition to his regular work at ZenCenter and with Everyday Zen, he has taught extensively with his old friend, the late Rabbi Alan Lew, on the relationship between Buddhist and Jewish practice. He is the co-founder, with Rabbi Lew, of Makor Or Jewish Meditation Center in San Francisco. Conflict, Norman Fisher’s recently published book-length poem, is an exploration of conflict within the self; conflict between friends, lovers, communities, nations, war and torture.
February 3 (Friday 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm) — The Mayor and City Council of the City of San Diego, The Board of Library Commissioners and The San Diego Public Library have invited local authors who have published books lastg year to a reception celebrating the 46th Annual Local Authors Exhibit at the San Diego Public Library, 820 E Street. You must RSVP online at SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY by January 25, 2012.
Free parking available at the Ampco Parking lot (formerly 5 Star) at the Southeast corner of Broadway and Eighth Avenue.
For additional information, contact Rachel Esguerra, Local Authors Exhibit Assistant at 619-236-5817or email resguerra@sandiego.gov.
February 4 (Saturday, 6:30 pm) — Publishers and Writers of San Diego (PWSD) will hold its monthly meeting in the Community Room at the Encinitas Library, 540 Cornish Drive. Jeniffer Thompson of Monkey C Media will share her knowledge of "How to Maximise Your Online Presence." She’ll discuss how to optimize Facebook for book marketing, tips about online marketing trends, and whether or not Google+ needs attention. Anyone interested or involved in writing, editing, publishing, designing, or anything related to books is welcome to attend.
Cost is $15 for non-members, $10 for members. Visit www.PublishersWriters.org for more information and to RSVP.
February 6, (Monday, 7:00 pm) — Hassidic Courtyards: A Photographic Study of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel by Gil Cohen-Magen, Photojournalist, Reuters News Agency.
Gil Cohen-Magen spent a decade compiling his book Hassidic Courts which contains exclusive images of the Hassidic communities in Israel. Gil Cohen-Magen built bonds over a period of years to gain unprecedented access to communities that rarely open their doors to outsiders. The book shows exciting and surprising moments in the lives of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews.
David & Dorothea Garfield Theatre, Lawrence Family JCC, JACOBS FAMILY CAMPUS ,4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037.
February 9 (Thursday 7 pm) — Carlsbad City Library, 1775 Dove Lane in southern Carlsbad, Hosts Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins “An Evening with Billy Collins.” Mr. Collins will read his poetry and signs his books, which will be available for sale. This special event is free and seating is limited and first come, first served. For more information, call 760-602-2012 or visit www.carlsbadlibrary.org.
Billy Collins is an American phenomenon. No poet since Robert Frost has managed to combine high critical acclaim with such broad popular appeal. His work has appeared in a variety of periodicals including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The American Scholar, and his last three collections of poems have broken sales records for poetry. Mr. Collins was appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001-2003. Included among the honors he has received are fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has published eight collections of poetry, including The Art of Drowning, The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems, most recently, Horoscopes for the Dead.
February 11 (Saturday, 12:00 pm) — Young Readers Group. The Mysterious Galaxy's Young Readers Book Group is aimed at readers ages 7 to 13 who want to explore new books and meet new friends in a casual and fun setting. Join us to enjoy readings, discussions and art projects as they decide as a group what will be the most fun for all. The spotlight book will be Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes.
Their goal is to create a home for young readers who are dedicated to books and loyal to independent booksellers. They are, after all, our future. Using our store as a hub for this new endeavor, we hope to promote literacy and community to their younger customers and their families.
Please contact Elizabeth in store at (858) 268-4747, by email at elizabeth@mystgalaxy.com or drop by the Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., if you have any questions.
February 11 (Saturday, 2:00 pm) — Bill Fitzhugh signs at the Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. In Linda's review of The Exterminators, she compares Bill Fitzhugh's sequel to Pest Control to the works of Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey. Here's what those luminaries had to say about it. Hiaasen says, "The Exterminators is wild and clever fun, but it's also crawling with enough creepy insect facts to humble an Orkin man. Even as you lie awake grinning at Fitzhugh's writing, you might find yourself hearing the soft scuttle of cockroaches under your bed." And Dorsey adds: "The Exterminators is an hysterical satire on politics, religion, Hollywood, and insects."
February 12 (Sunday, 2:00 pm) — Betty Webb signs at the Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. In Desert Wind, the seventh Arizona PI Lena Jones mystery, Betty Webb and her protagonist explore the issues of mining and bomb testing and their impacts on the environment and those who love in it, when Lena is asked to help investigate a murder with ties to her partner's Pima Indian family. And the second Gunn Zoo mystery, The Koala of Death, sets quirky Theodora "Teddy" Bentley on the trail of the killer of fellow zookeeper "Koala Kate."
February 14 (Tuesday, 7:00 pm) Renowned Canadian author Gary Geddes will read from and discuss his new book Drink the Bitter Root: A Search for Justice and Healing in Sub-Saharan Africaon at D.G.Wills Books, 7461 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, 858-456-1800, www.dgwillsbooks.com. Drink the Bitter Root is an international story about the ethical and environmental footprint world nations are leaving in Africa in their determined efforts to destabilize and loot the continent. In the spirit of Robert Kaplan and Samantha Power, Gary Geddes sets out in search of justice, healing, and reconciliation.
He begins his journey at the International Criminal Court inThe Hague, then travels to Rwanda, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Somaliland, crossing LakeVictoria and the Great Rift Valley, where human life began. Geddes’quest takes the form of an intimate personal travelogue. Although he confronts the dark realities of abduction, rape, mutilation, and murder, drawing on painful encounters, interviews, and adventures that occur along the way, Geddes also brings back amazing stories of survival and unexpected moments of grace. His poet’s eye and self-deprecating humor draw us ever more deeply into the lives of some amazing Africans, while never forgetting the complicity we all feel in the face of tragic events unfolding there. In the words of author and Africanist Ian Smillie, Drink the Bitter Root is not only poignan, literate, and funny, but also “a deeply textured journey without maps into the unexplored rifts of sub-Saharan Africa, the human experience, and the psyche. It’s also the masterful handling of a full palette.” Gary Geddes is an internationally acclaimed travel writer who has been compared to Bruce Chatwin, Michael Ondaatje, and William Least Heat-Moon. He has written and edited more than thirty-five books, which have sold close to half a million copies in seven languages. His memoir Sailing Home and his travelogueKingdom of Ten Thousand Things were both Canadian bestsellers.
February 15 — (Wednesday, 4:30 pm) UCSD's New Writing Series is excited to
announce an upcoming reading from RENEE GLADMAN. The reading will take place in the Visual Arts Facility (VAF) Performance Space.
Renee Gladman was born in Atlanta in 1971. She received a B.A. in
philosophy from Vassar College, and a Master’s degree in poetics from
New College of California. She is the author of four works of prose,
most recently Event Factory and To After That (TOAF), and one
collection of poetry, A Picture-Feeling. Since 2005, she has operated
Leon Works, an independent press for experimental prose and other
thought-projects based in the sentence, making occasional forays into
poetry. She teaches in the Literary Arts Program at Brown University,
and lives in Massachusetts.
This event is FREE and open to the public! For information and
directions: http://literature.ucsd.edu/news-info/events/new-writing-series or
contact: Franciszka Voeltz: lvoeltz@ucsd.edu or Rachel Taylor: rtl001@ucsd.edu
February 16 (Thursday, 7:00 pm) — at Mysterious Galaxy. Celebrate the launch of Mike Sirota's new novel, The Burning Ground (ZOVA Books), a story of vengeful Native American spirits. The Maidu Indians wanted no part of the white devils that came to their sacred land to hunt the shiny metal. But in 1849 Gold Rush miners in the Sierra Nevada foothills slaughter nearly all the inhabitants of the village of Kalkalya, trapping their spirits. Over a century and a half later, a “thief of time”—a grave robber—desecrates the Maidu burial ground in search of artifacts. Now the spirits are really angry.
"Mike Sirota has been practicing his craft for a long time and that craftsmanship is evident in The Burning Ground." - Raymond E. Feist, New York Times bestselling author of the Riftwar and Chaoswar Sagas. Mysterious Galaxy is located at 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. in the Kearny Mesa/Clairemont area. The store will also have available his recent novel, Fire Dance (ZOVA Books), and his two early horror novels, Demon Shadows and The Modoc Well, originally published by Bantam Books and now reissued under his own imprint, Atoris Press.
February 16 (Thursday, 5:30 pm – ?) — Celebrate a Leap Year February with your AMWA Friends and Colleagues at a San Diego Networking Social held at: Cozymels Coastal Mex, 4303 La Jolla Village Drive. Please RVSP if possible. With 8 confirmed we can reserve a table! Drop-Ins Welcome!
Tell your friends! Non-AMWA members welcome. For additional information, go to http://www.amwa-pacsw.org/ or call (858) 658-0480
February 16 (Thursday, 6:30 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. panel) — Tweeting events live: Locals explain how, why they do it. Gone are the days of filing your story at day’s end. Now, journalists are filing stories as they occur through Twitter. Our latest SPJ workshop will highlight some of San Diego’s most prolific Twitter users and their strategies on covering elections, meetings, rallies and whatnot in 140-character doses as events are unfolding. If you’re a journalist in this town today, this is an essential skill. Learn more about it at an upcoming panel of ours.
Panelists: Voice of San Diego education writer turned Los Angeles Times journalist Emily Alpert, San Diego CityBeat’s Dave Maass and U-T San Diego’s Wendy Fry. Moderator: U-T San Diego’s Matthew T. Hall
February 17-20 — The 26th annual Southern California Writers' Conference in San Diego takes place Presidents’ Day Weekend. With nearly $4 million dollars worth of publishing success behind us, as always, our next event is geared to get you where you want to go with your work.
Here's the latest:
1. Workshop Leaders & Advance Submission Readers
2. Darlene Quinn's "Webs of Fate" Trailer
3. NovelCram Immersion Track Returns
4. Write Click Sponsors $75 Registration Discount
5. Win A Kindle eBook Reader Contest
For additional information, go to www.WritersConference.com.
February 18 (Saturday, 2:00 pm) — George Galdorisi Signs at the Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. The 2012 film, Act of Valor, tells of a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. George Galdorisi , who has received both military service and writing honors, turns his extensive experience to the novelization. Our special host for this event is local author and retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer and Anti-Submarine Warfare Specialist Jeff Edwards (The Seventh Angel).
February 25 (Saturday) — Passion & Prose Conference to be held in Long Beach. We hope that those of you who love to read romanance, paranormal romance, and young adult fiction will join us for what we promise will be an amazingly fun filled day! Check out who is coming and what's being planned on the Passion & Prose website. And please encourage anyone you know who might be interested to check it out at www.passionandprose.org/
February 27 (Monday 6:30 pm) — The San Diego Writers and Editors Guild's monthly meeting. For additional information including program, location and directions, go to their website at: www.SDWritersGuild.org.
February 27 - 29 (Monday - Wednesday) — 2012 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea is an annual event designed to inspire both the writer and the reader. The evening interviews, conducted by symposium founder Dean Nelson, feature lively conversations about the stories behind the author’s stories. The audience gets to eavesdrop on these exchanges and even interact with the writer during a Q&A session that follows. Specialized afternoon workshops, conducted by published writers, provide tips and insight into the writing process. You are invited to join us and listen in on what some of today’s cutting edge writers have to say!
Writer's Symposium by the Sea is sponsored by the Point Loma Nazarene University Department of Literature, Journalism and Modern Languages, and partially funded by the estate of Mery Olive Bangs. Tickets for events may be purchased at www.pointloma.edu/writers, which also lists a complete schedule of both evening events and workshops. Or contact Event Coordinator, Edie Chapman, at 619-849-2297. All events are held in the Crill Performance Hall, in Cooper Music Center, located in the heart of the Point Loma Nazarene University campus in San Diego.
For additional information or to ask a question, please contact Event Coordinator, Edie Chapman, at (619) 849-2297.
February 28 (Tuesday, dinner 5:30-6:30 and the interview 7:00) — SPJ members are invited to join with other journalists for a special dinner and interview event with Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges at the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. The San Diego SPJ chapter is co-sponsoring the event so the first 40 SPJ members who buy a ticket to the evening interview (available at http://www.pointloma.edu/writers ) can also attend a dinner with Chris Hedges and have front-row reserved seating. Contact event coordinator Edie Chapman for this special deal. Please do so soon if you’d like to take advantage of the offer.So, buy your ticket first, then email ediechapman@pointloma.edu to let her know you want to attend the complimentary dinner. Only SPJ members can come to the dinner, but all are welcome to purchase a ticket for the evening interview only. The dinner will be held in PLNU’s Cunningham Dining Room.
Also check out the events at the symposium, including interviews with the highly regarded Dave Eggers and Rachel Held Evans and practical workshops with local investigative journalist Caitlin Rother and with literary agents Elise Capron and Jill Marr.
March 3 (Saturday, 7:00 pm) Renowned theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss will discuss his new book A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something from Nothing at D.G.Wills Books, 7461 Girard Avenue , La Jolla , 858-456-1800, www.dgwillsbooks.com. Professor Krauss will be introduced by Roger Bingham of The Science Network.
Lawrence M. Krauss is a renowned cosmologist and science popularizer, and is Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University . Hailed by Scientific American as a rare public intellectual, he is also the author of more than three hundred scientific publications and nine books, including the international bestseller The Physics of Star Trek, and his recent Quantum Man: Richard Feynman’s Life in Science. He received his PhD from MIT in 1982, then joined the Society of Fellows at Harvard University , was a professor at Yale University and Chair of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University before taking his present position. Internationally known for his work in theoretical physics, he is the winner of numerous international awards, and is the only physicist to have received major awards from all three US physics societies, the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Association of Physics Teachers. Krauss is also a commentator and essayist for newspapers such as the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, has written regular columns for New Scientist and Scientific American and appears regularly on radio and television. He is one of the few scientists to have crossed the chasm between science and popular culture, and is also active in issues of science and society. He serves as co-chair of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and on the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Scientists.
March 7 (Wednesday, 7:00 pm) — Book Group Meeting at the Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Book to be discussed is The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
Mysterious Galaxy's San Diego Book Discussion Group meets on Wednesday nights at the store. (Tuesdays during the summer.) Participation is open to all readers; readers need not have completed a particular book to attend.
March 26 (Monday 6:30 pm) — The San Diego Writers and Editors Guild's monthly meeting. For additional information including program, location and directions, go to their website at: www.SDWritersGuild.org.
April 19-21 — On April 19-21 the American Society for Indexing (ASI) will be holding its national conference at the Bahia Resort in San Diego. Rotating its location every year, this opportunity to attend so easily may not come again for a long time. Those who are not familiar with this group may want to visit their website at http://www.ASIndexing.org. It is the only professional indexing group in this country and one of only eight in the world. Who do they serve? To quote from their website:
ASI serves indexers, librarians, abstractors, editors, publishers, database producers, data searchers, product developers, technical writers, academic professionals, researchers and readers, and others concerned with indexing.
If you find yourself in that group you may want to attend. Registration is now open.
April 20 (Friday, 7:00 pm) Noted Port Townsend, Washington poet Norman Schaefer will read from his new book The Sunny Top of California: Sierra Nevada Poems and a Story; and noted New Mexico poet John Brandi will read from his new book Seeding the Cosmos: New and Selected Haiku on Friday at 7 P.M., 20 April 2012 at D.G.Wills Books, 7461 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, 858-456-1800 www.dgwillsbooks.com. Norman Schaefer has been a laborer and gardener, climber, and expert Sierra Nevada backpacker for over twenty years. But more than that he is a unique poet. He sat in on one of my early poetry workshops when I was teaching at UC Davis in the early 90s, and after the first year I told him, “You’re good enough now to keep going on your own and leave other influences behind.” He has stayed in touch with me though and kept me up on his long mountain trips and also his writing. We did a poetry reading together one time in Davis where we each read West Coast mountain poems. I have seen his work become more compressed, refined, and intense over time. Many of his poems show the influence of Chinese classical poetry and a bit of Han-shan, the “ColdMountain” poet. Even so they all have Schaefer’s own stamp. Part of his uniqueness is the modesty and underlying humor woven through the poems. He is a mountain lover without showy piety or bravado. John Brandi, a native of Southern California, grew up traveling the Big Sur coast, the Sierra Nevada mountain range and the Mojave Desert. Then he joined the Peace Corps, worked with Andean farmers in their struggle for civil liberties and land rights, and began publishing his poetry in hand-sewn mimeograph editions as part of the “do-it-yourself” phenomenon that preceded the alternative-press movement. Returning to North America, he met Beat Generation poets Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, and Allen Ginsberg while living in California, and in 1971 moved to New Mexico. He still resides there, living in the northern mountains with his wife, poet Renée Gregorio. During Brandi’s early years in the Southwest, he traveled with Japanese poet Nanao Sakaki, and compiled That Back Road In, the first of his many memorable poetry collections. He stayed alive by teaching as an itinerant poet and in 1979 received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry.
September 21-23 — The 26th annual Southern California Writers' Conference in Los Angeles. With nearly $4 million dollars worth of publishing success behind us, as always, our next event is geared to get you where you want to go with your work. Here's the latest:
1. Workshop Leaders & Advance Submission Readers
2. Darlene Quinn's "Webs of Fate" Trailer
3. NovelCram Immersion Track Returns
4. Write Click Sponsors $75 Registration Discount
5. Win A Kindle eBook Reader Contest
For additional information, go to www.WritersConference.com.
