San Diego Memoir Writers Association

How to Write a Winning Memoir Showcase Piece
2022-07-08 13:00 - 14:00 UTC | CA
Free online workshop on zoom. Register Here
Here is the zoom Info:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88397281090?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 883 9728 1090
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Memoir, Mentors, and Mimosas Fundraiser
2022-06-12 11:00 - 13:00 | San Diego Writers, Ink, 2730 Historic Decatur Rd. #202-204, San Diego, CA, 92106, United States
Join us June 12th at San Diego Writers, Ink for an in-person fundraiser event. Bring your questions!
Cost: $75- General Admission
$100- Right to sell books at the event
Tickets are tax-deductible
Purchase your Tickets Today:

Admission Levels

General Admission $75.00 USDOption to sell books $100.00 USDStar Donor $500.00 USDAngel Donor $1,000.00 USD

Just a sample of the topics you can ask about:

What are some trauma-reducing tools for memoir writing?
Where should I start my memoir?
Do I need an author video?
How should I publish?
How can I tackle procrastination?
How should I approach publicity?
How should I handle social media?
What’s the difference between marketing and publicity?
Can I make a documentary about my life?
Can breathing and centering improve my writing?
How should I end my memoir?
How do I find an agent?
How do I publish a memoir writing about people who are still alive?
How do I overcome self-doubt?
How can I make my first five pages the best they can be?
Should I use flashbacks?
How can I turn my memoir into a movie?
Do I need an author website?
Do I need an editor?
How do I write about family?

Mentors:
Amy Wallen: Author, Teacher, Pie Maker
Tracy J. Jones – Editor, Writing Teacher Writing Coach
Jennifer Coburn: Author, PR Specialist for Authors
Jeniffer Thompson: Author Branding Expert
Vin Schroeter PhD: Bioenergetic Therapist
Carlos de los Rios – Filmmaker, Author Video Specialist, Documentarian
Marni Freedman: Author, Editor, Writing Teacher, Writing Coach
Madhushree Ghosh: Author, Memoirist, Social Justice Advocate

Laura Engel Talks About Her Debut Memoir, You'll Forget This Ever Happened
2022-06-04 14:30 - 16:30 | CA
Join us June 4th when guest speaker Laura Engel talks about her debut memoir, You’ll Forget This Ever Happened – Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s
You Got This!
Laura walks us through the ups and downs of writing her book about secrets, trauma, and incredible joy. As she takes us along on her writing, editing, and publishing journey we will learn how writing her memoir healed her in ways she never dreamed. Laura will read passages from her book and answer your questions and she promises that you too have a book inside of you.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86079642954?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 860 7964 2954
Passcode: [REDACTED]
About Laura:
Many of you know Laura as President of the San Diego Memoir Writers, a fellow writer and friend. What you may not know is that five years ago she never dreamed she would write and publish a memoir about the darkest secret in her life. Writing her book started by accident in a Writers Ink, Artist’s Way class that segued into walking into her first Memoir 101 classwith Marni Freedman and Tracy Jones in January 2017.
Check out Laura’s website for more information: https://www.lauralengel.com

Introduction to Hybrid Publishing – Get Your Story Out! with Holly Kammier
2022-05-07 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Introduction to Hybrid Publishing – Get Your Story Out!
Holly Kammier, Co-Founder of Acorn Publishing, will discuss the pros and cons of your 5 main publishing options today:

Traditional Publishing
Small Publishers
Self-Publishing
Vanity Press
Hybrid Publishing

About the Author
Holly Kammier is co-founder of Acorn Publishing, a highly selective hybrid publishing imprint to a large collective of best-selling, award winning authors. Holly, the international, best-selling author of Kingston Court, Choosing Hope, and Lost Girl, is also an accomplished writing coach and a former journalist who has worked everywhere from CNN in Washington, D.C. and KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, to the NBC affiliate in small-town Medford, Oregon. Holly teaches at several writers conferences across Southern California. The UCLA honor grad and mother to teenage boys lives in her hometown of San Diego, close to family and friends.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85459178203?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 854 5917 8203
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Food Writing in Memoir and Social Justice with Madhushree Ghosh
2022-04-02 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Food Writing in Memoir and Social Justice
Khabaar is a food memoir and personal narrative that braids the global journeys of South Asian food through immigration, migration, and indenture. Focusing on chefs, home cooks, and food stall owners, the book questions what it means to belong and what does belonging in a new place look like in the foods carried over from the old country? These questions are integral to the author’s own immigrant journey to America as a daughter of Indian refugees (from what’s now Bangladesh to India during the 1947 Partition of India); as a woman of color in science; as a woman who left an abusive marriage; and as a woman who keeps her parents’ memory alive through her Bengali food.
The talk will focus on what food means in memoir writing, how can we use it to talk about our own experiences, and also about social justice issues.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86131957629?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 861 3195 7629
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Social Media for Writers
2022-03-05 14:30 - 15:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join us at our March 5th meeting for a presentation on Social Media for Writers with Caroline Gilman. Everything writers need to know about Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Tips galore for networking with fellow writers and how to promote your own work on your social channels!
Zoom invite:
Topic: SDMWA March Meeting for Members
Time: Mar 5, 2022 02:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85022797292?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 850 2279 7292
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Warwick’s + SDWF Book Club & SDMWA Meeting - House of Sticks: A Memoir with Author Ly Tran
2022-02-05 14:30 - 16:30 | Facebook Live
February Book Club Pick: House of Sticks

This beautifully written “masterclass in memoir” (Elle) recounts a young girl’s journey from war-torn Vietnam to Queens, New York, “showcas[ing] the tremendous power we have to alter the fates of others, step into their lives and shift the odds in favor of greater opportunity” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis). Ly Tran is just a toddler in 1993 when she and her family immigrate from a small town along the Mekong river in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens. Ly’s father, a former lieutenant in the South Vietnamese army, spent nearly a decade as a POW, and their resettlement is made possible through a humanitarian program run by the US government. Soon after they arrive, Ly joins her parents and three older brothers sewing ties and cummerbunds piece-meal on their living room floor to make ends meet. As they navigate this new landscape, Ly finds herself torn between two worlds. She knows she must honor her parents’ Buddhist faith and contribute to the family livelihood, working long hours at home and eventually as a manicurist alongside her mother at a nail salon in Brooklyn that her parents take over. But at school, Ly feels the mounting pressure to blend in. A growing inability to see the blackboard presents new challenges, especially when her father forbids her from getting glasses, calling her diagnosis of poor vision a government conspiracy. His frightening temper and paranoia leave a mark on Ly’s sense of self. Who is she outside of everything her family expects of her? An “unsentimental yet deeply moving examination of filial bond, displacement, war trauma, and poverty” (NPR), House of Sticks is a timely and powerful portrait of one girl’s coming-of-age and struggle to find her voice amid clashing cultural expectations.

One of Vogue and NPR’s Best Books of the Year.
The Details:
Buy the Book: Click here to buy from Warwick’s
When: Feb 5, 2022, 02:30 PM Pacific Time (U.S. and Canada)
Where: A Facebook Live Event. Click here to Watch
Join Us: Click here to join us on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 883 6389 6322
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Meet The Author

LY TRAN graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Creative Writing and Linguistics in 2014. She has received fellowships from MacDowell, Art Omi, and Yaddo. House of Sticks is her first book.

Check out this video of Ly talking about her book from her publisher’s site.

Social Media/Website:

@LyTranWrites (Twitter)
Visit Ly Tran on her website

Reviews:
“Tran fluctuates between tenderness and quiet rage … [Tran] honor[s] these complexities, tell[s] us we were not meant to swallow our pain and survive in this world without support systems.” —New York Times Book Review

“[An] unsentimental yet deeply moving examination of filial bond, displacement, war trauma, and poverty. Ostensibly an immigrant success story, Tran’s narrative power lies in its nuanced celebration of filial devotion that withstands the enormous cost of the American dream … The dilapidated nail salon in a racially volatile Brooklyn neighborhood that Tran’s parents came to own after the end of their sweatshop era — with its filing sticks as tools of the trade — witnessed their stark tribulations as well as the wondrous resilience of their immigrant selves. In the end, Tran’s empathy and her parents’ appreciation of her filial love cemented the emotional bricks that steady their seemingly tenuous hold on this unaccustomed earth.” —NPR

“Powerful … showcases the tremendous power we have to alter the fates of others, step into their lives and shift the odds in favor of greater opportunity” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

“House of Sticks is a book that will assault and warm your heart at the same time—a classic immigrant tale, told from the perspective of a Vietnamese child who settled with her family in New York City in the early ’90s with little to no knowledge about life in America… But it is also much more: a coming of age story, A New York hustle, a battle with a father who not only maintains an ironclad sense of filial duty, but also, fueled by his paranoia, exercises irrational control over things like vision correction. (In another elegant examination of absence, the book recounts what a fundamental challenge it is to move through the world without basic ability to see.)” —Vogue, Best Books to Read 2021

“Graceful but unflinching, Ly Tran’s House of Sticks follows the author’s immigration from Vietnam to New York as a toddler, and the subsequent identity shaping and re-shaping she undergoes throughout her youth and early adult years. Resettled in Queens through a humanitarian program—her father is a former POW—Tran attempts to honor her family through faith and labor, only to find herself yearning for something that exists outside of their home. Intimate yet universal, this is a masterclass in memoir.” —Elle, Best Books of Summer 2021
“A moving recount of how Tran and her family immigrated from a small town in Vietnam to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens, and how she forged her path in a new culture.” —Marie Claire, 20 New Books by Asian Authors to Get Excited About

Manifest Your Writing Dreams with Marni Freedman (Online Workshop)
2022-01-08 10:00 - 12:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
ZOOM Link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/96745452627?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 967 4545 2627
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Shaking the Tree Volume 3 Book Signing (Diesel, A Bookstore )
2021-11-07 14:00 - 15:30 | Diesel Bookstore, 12843 El Camino Real Suite 104, San Diego, 92130, United States
Shaking the Tree Volume 3 Book Signing

Diesel, A Bookstore

Sunday, November 7, 2:00PM – 3:30PM

Diesel, A Bookstore
12843 El Camino Real Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92130

Learn from Local Authors - Memoir Panel
2021-11-06 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Learn from Local Authors – Memoir Panel on November 6
Join us for a dynamic panel of local authors who will discuss their process – from writing to revising to publishing and marketing. Bring your questions!
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/96745452627?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 967 4545 2627
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Shaking the Tree Volume 3 Book Signing (Downtown Library)
2021-10-23 14:00 - 15:30 | San Diego Public Library, 330 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA, 92101, United States
Shaking the Tree Volume 3 Book Signing

Library Shop at the Downtown Library
330 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101
Saturday, October 23, 2:00PM – 3:30PM
Outdoor courtyard, next to the Library Shop, Downtown library

Registration required as this event is limited to 100 attendees:
REGISTER HERE

Savory Senses: From Detail to Metaphor to Art with Sue William Silverman (Workshop)
2021-10-02 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
**Facebook Live**
Join us for a SDMWA Workshop: Savory Senses: From Detail to Metaphor to Art with Sue William Silverman
Please RSVP here.
Link to join workshop (click here)

Aristotle writes, “Place is a vessel that holds us.” And, indeed, it is. As writers, we need to draw upon our physical surroundings for sensory images and details to embody our complicated and compelling interior lives. By doing so, we also discover the metaphors of our narratives, thus turning experience into art. We will explore how these essential aspects of craft can help transform our personal stories and open them up to a universal audience. During this presentation, there will be time for Q&A and a generative exercise

Shaking The Tree 3 Book Launch and Meeting
2021-09-11 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
The September SDMWA meeting and Shaking The Tree 3 Book Launch is Sept 11, at 2:30-4:30 PM
Join us for our monthly meeting and for fun, readings, book giveaways and swag!

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83187571821?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 831 8757 1821
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Don’t forget to save the date AND RSVP HERE: Ask friends and family to RSVP at the Eventbrite link above so they can join us too.

The Joys and Perils of Writing Anonymously (Plus 7 Practical Tips if You Do) with Marijke McCandless
2021-08-07 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
About Marijke:
Marijke McCandless is an award-winning author and long-time awareness practitioner. Her memoir, More…Journey to mystical union through the sacred and the profane (written under a pen name) has won awards every year since it was published in 2016. She leads a popular online writing practice called Write Now Mind and awareness practice sessions called Juicy Practices for Getting Present plus other immersion workshops. Her recipe for enlivenment? Listen. Play. Write. https://marijkemccandless.com
Join Zoom Meeting (FREE)
https://zoom.us/j/99586470334?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 995 8647 0334
Passcode: [REDACTED]

How to Write a Winning Memoir Showcase Piece (Workshop)
2021-06-19 11:00 - 13:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Join SDMWA for a How to Write a Winning Memoir Showcase Piece (Workshop)

June 19, 2021 11:00 AM PST
ZOOM (Free)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89491407470
Meeting ID: 894 9140 7470

How Travel Writing Created the First Memoir with Lenore Greiner
2021-06-05 14:30 - 16:30 | CA
****FREE — ZOOM ****
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96745452627?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 967 4545 2627
Passcode: [REDACTED]

How Travel Writing Created the First Memoir
Did you know that travel writing created the first memoir?
This ancient relationship began in 400 BC when a Greek named Herodotus began traveling and writing letters home, forever conjoining the arts of travel writing and memoir.
Award-winning travel writer and memoirist, Lenore Greiner, will show you how to enrich your writing with travel writing as a powerful prism through which to view the self.
The craft of travel writing allows a writer explore the world outside and the world inside herself. Learn how travel writing will help you:
Capture a place as a character as in Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast
Share a healing journey as in Eat, Pray, Love
Make your reader laugh out loud as in Incontinent on the Continent: My Mother, Her Walker and Our Grand Tour of Italy
Learn a basic overview of travel writing within the craft of memoir:
The definition of travel memoir
Travel memoirs throughout history
Types of travel memoirs
Tips on incorporating travel writing into your own memoir
A passionate travel storyteller, Lenore Greiner won a 2021 Gold Solas Travel Writing award for her travel narrative, “From Mill Valley, With Love.” She was honored in Best American Travel Writing 2013, edited by Elizabeth Gilbert. Her piece “Translating Respect” appeared in the Shaking the Tree memoir anthology after earning her Memoir Writing Certificate at San Diego Writers Ink. Her travel writing has appeared in print and online; she’s authored a Las Vegas guidebook and has contributed to 17 guidebooks for Fodor’s Travel Publications. To learn more, visit www.LenoreGreiner.com.

Editor's Panel - SDMWA May Presentation (Panel)
2021-05-01 14:30 - 16:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Editor’s Panel – SDMWA May Presentation – May 1st – ZOOM
Ever wonder how and why you should hire an editor? Wondering what the difference is between a developmental editor, a copy editor, and a proofer?
Curious how to decide who to hire or how long the editing process takes?
Bring every question you have to this highly interactive editor’s panel hosted by editor and SDMWA board member, Tracy J. Jones with editors Chris Zook, Erin Willard and Nadia Geagea Pupa.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92082722498?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 920 8272 2498
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Moderator and Panel:
Moderator:

Tracy Jones is a professional content writer and editor, ghostwriter, and copy editor with more than 25-years experience writing and editing for private clients, non-profits, and corporations. She’s a producer, head judge, writing coach, and co-director of the San Diego Annual Memoir Showcase. She’s the co-editor for Volume One, Two and Three of Shaking the Tree: brazen. short. memoir. She’s also a writing coach for SDWI’s Certificate in Memoir Writing, a board member of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association, volunteer director for the San Diego Writer’s Festival, and has been a featured writer/performer in So Say We All’s V.A.M.P. showcase. She also runs two successful read and critique groups; one that meets at San Diego Writers, Ink on Saturdays and another on Tuesday nights in La Jolla. For more information, email Tracy at tjjones1@gmail.com.

Panel:
Chris Zook has worked as a freelance copyeditor and copywriter for nearly 15 years. He edits books and articles in a variety of fields, including history, philosophy, social welfare, yoga, natural health, and relationships. He currently writes and edits online content, e-newsletters, grant narratives, and marketing materials for various nonprofits. He is the former president of the San Diego Professional Editors Network and a member of ACES: The Society for Editing. For more information, visit Chris’s website TheConsciousWriter.com

Erin Willard is a professional copy editor whose past projects have included manuscripts of award-winning novels and nonfiction and creative nonfiction books. Working with independent authors and small publishers is her specialty. Her professional memberships include the Editorial Freelancers Association; ACES, the Society for Editing; and the Association of Independent Publishing Professionals; and she is past co-president of the San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN). More information about her business, Erin Willard, Copy Editor, can be found on her website, ErinCopyEditor.com.

Nadia Geagea Pupa has worked as an editor and graphic designer for more than 15 years. She got her start as the editor in chief of her college student newspaper, while pursuing her journalism degree. Overtime, she discovered her passion for editing and designing books, journals, magazines, and a variety of publications. She is the current president of the San Diego Professional Editors Network. For more information about her company, Pique Publishing, Inc., visit piquepublishing.com.
Also, my middle name (maiden name) is pronounced “Jah-Jah” and my last name “Pew-Pah.”

Writing About Trauma: Art from Adversity with Deborah A. Lott
2021-04-10 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Traumatic events may render us speechless. At the same time, we feel compelled to recount what has happened, to tell the tale of the unspeakable, to bear witness. This interactive presentation is based on my 12 years as a writer with mental health experts at the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, as well as my experience writing my own memoir, Don’t Go Crazy Without Me. In this talk, I offer specific tips for getting past obstacles internal and external. How do we construct a coherent narrative from chaos? How do we create a chronology when trauma fractures our sense of time? How do we tell the story with authenticity and compassion? How do we tolerate the re-experiencing in the process of creating a vivid and visceral account? How do we get beyond the therapy draft that serves our own psychological needs to a work of literary art that reaches readers?
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96426360484?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 964 2636 0484
Passcode: [REDACTED]
One tap mobile
+16699006833

It’s Never Too Late to Write Your Book! SDMWA March Presentation (Panel)
2021-03-06 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
It’s Never Too Late to Write Your Book! An interactive Zoom Panel – SDMWA March Presentation
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95787188959?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 957 8718 8959
Passcode: [REDACTED]
——————————————————
Moderator and Panel:
Laura L. Engel
Laura L. Engel originally from Mississippi, migrated to San Diego over 50 years ago. She and her husband Gene are the proud parents of 6 grown children and 10 cherished grandchildren. After retiring from a successful 35 year career in corporate sales Laura planned on quietly catching up on hobbies and travels with her husband Gene. Instead, she found herself in Marni Freedman’s Memoir 101 class and began writing a memoir about the darkest secret in her life. Three scenes from her memoir were winners in the San Diego Memoir Showcase, two performed on stage and all three published in the Shaking The Tree anthologies, vol 1,2, and 3. Laura’s book You’ll Forget This Ever Happened will be published by She Writes Press, May 2022.
You can find Laura at https://www.lauralengel.com

Diana Eden
After a career as a dancer and actress, Diana Eden spent 30 years in Hollywood, costume designing prime time television series, soap operas, pilots, movies for TV, and feature films, plus dozens of stage productions both in Los Angeles and New York. Eden received three Emmy nominations for her work in costume design.
“Stars in Their Underwear” Eden’s memoir, covers her triple careers and her interaction with some of Broadway and Hollywood’s biggest stars. http://www.dianaedendesigns.com

Nere Lartitegui
Nere Lartitegui is a writer, the mother of five children (ages 49-57), and grandmother of four (ages 10-22). She was born in the Basque Country and emigrated first to Venezuela and finally to Southern California where she currently resides. She holds two Master degrees in Economics and a PhD in Human Behavior and Leadership. In her early 40’s she discovered that living in peace was her most precious priority and began to spread peace throughout her work and life. She was a successful psychotherapist and conflict resolution mediator and now, at 84, spends her time writing and promoting peace wherever possible. Her book, The Missing Peace, will be published in 2022.

Suzanne Spector
After two wonderful careers, first as the Director of an innovative school which her three daughters attended; second, as the Director of an internationally renowned humanistic psychology organization, Spector took up writing in her late seventies. Her award winning Memoir Showcase entry about a hot love affair at eighty was performed in October, 2019 and will be published in Spring 2021 in the anthology, Shaking the Tree:Brazen Short Memoir, Vol.3. When her memoir, A Woman Who…Sex, Search and Spirit in the Second Half of Life is published by SheWrites Press in August, 2022, she will be eighty-six years old.

Kathy Pease
Kathleen Holstad Pease is an MBA and retired Qualcomm Vice-President. Her work was featured in the 2016 and 2017 Memoir Showcases. Her memoir, “Don’t Let The Kids Bite The Dog” was published in 2018. An excerpt of her book is included in “Shaking the Tree”, the SDMWA Memoir Showcase Anthology.

Using Tarot to Access Life Events & Create a Tarot Timeline with Tanya Pryputniewicz (FREE--ZOOM)
2021-02-06 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
As writers, we work to establish a practice of engaging deeply with our inner and outer lives in the service of writing compelling work. Ideally, we put ourselves in front of the blank page on a regular basis and this practice means we live in an ongoing conversation with our muse and our projects. While tarot has been used as a spiritual tool for self-discovery and divination, it can also be used as a visual prompt for helping us access our own life events when we connect imagery in the cards to life experiences, either those we’ve had or those we can imagine having. The tarot’s built-in structure lends itself to exploring all aspects of a lifetime across four areas of focus, also known as the four elements: the heart (element of water), the mind (element of air), the will/creativity (element of fire), and tangible manifestation such as money or specific hands-on projects (element of disks). How we use the four elements or how we are blocked from using them makes up the very story of our lives. This workshop covers a basic introduction to the structure of the tarot, how to tarot journal to connect the card’s imagery to our own lives, and how to use a tool called a Tarot Timeline to seed new work. Includes PDFs for How to Tarot Journal and How to Create a Tarot Timeline.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/94584591204?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 945 8459 1204
Passcode: [REDACTED]
FREE!! Donations accepted.
Click here to donate.
A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Tania Pryputniewicz is the author of November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014). Recent poems appeared in America, We Call Your Name: Poems of Resistance and Resilience, NILVX: A Book of Magic (Tarot Series), The Rockvale Review and at SWWIM online and are forthcoming in Climbing Lightly Through Forests (tribute anthology for Ursula K. Le Guin) and at Bilingual / Borderless. Her Heart’s Compass Tarot: Discover Tarot Journaling and Create Your Own Cards workbook is forthcoming on Valentine’s Day, 2021 from Two Fine Crows Books and features tarot inspired non-fiction, poetry, and student tarot cards. Her essay, Mom’s Night Out and the Trickster is forthcoming in Shaking the Tree. Tania teaches at San Diego Writers, Ink and through Antioch University’s Continuing Education Program. She lives in Coronado with her husband, three children, one blue-eyed Husky and a formerly feral cat named Luna.
*Photo credit: Jamie Clifford

Grand: A Memoir by Sara Schaefer (SDWF Book Club Event)
2021-01-26 17:00 - 19:00 | Facebook Live
Join the San Diego Writers Festival on Jan. 26th, 2021 for a free Facebook Live event!

Click here for the facebook live event.

RSVP for the event here!
Visit the San Diego Writers Festival Book Club page for more information.

For fans of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, comedian and Emmy Award–winning writer Sara Schaefer’s hilariously honest memoir follows Sara’s trip through the Grand Canyon with her sister that causes her to reflect on her childhood and the scandal that changed her family forever.
When Sara Schaefer is in first grade, her father warns her to always tell the truth because one lie leads to another and soon you will find yourself in a hole you can’t escape. A few years later, the Schaefer family is completely upended when it’s revealed that their grand life is based on a lie. Her parents become pariahs in their upper middle class community and go from non-religious people to devout church members. The idea of good and evil as binary, opposed forces is drilled into Sara and it becomes the perfect framework on which to build her anxiety and increasingly-obsessive thoughts.
The year she turns forty, Sara decides to take each member of her family on a one-on-one vacation culminating with a whitewater rafting journey through the Grand Canyon with her younger sister. The only problem is she’s terrified of rafting. Along the way, she grapples with unresolved grief over the death of her mother and the family scandal that changed the trajectory of her life.
Heartfelt, candid, and witty, Grand is a story about family, identity, and struggling to make something of yourself. Sara deconstructs her struggles with anxiety and depression, what it means to be a good person, and the radically discordant stories we tell ourselves and share with the world.

Sara Schaefer is a stand-up comedian and writer. She was the cohost of MTV’s Nikki & Sara Live and has written for numerous television shows including The Fake News with Ted Nelms and The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Sara’s solo show Little White Box debuted to a sold-out run at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and her Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special premiered in 2019. She lives in Los Angeles.

Get your copy here.

Be the Author of Your Life!
2021-01-09 14:30 - 16:30 | CA
Join writing coach Marni Freedman and the rest of the SDMWA for an empowering session to ring in the new year of writing. In this workshop, you will learn how to connect to the creative flow state, connect with your dreams, and take a step in making them come true.
Join us for this free event.

Online — Facebook Live event, Saturday, January 9 at 2:30 pm PST.
Click here to RSVP
FREE!! Donations accepted.
Click here to donate.

Discussion with Amy Cook, Publishing Attorney, on the legal issues for memoir writers
2020-10-03 14:30 - 16:30 | Facebook Live
Join attorney Amy Cook on [October 3 at 2:30) for a discussion on the legal issues for memoir writers. Make sure you’re on legally-solid ground as you write about real-life situations. We’ll cover defamation, invasion of privacy, rights of publicity, use of trademarks, releases, nondisclosure agreements and more.
Amy Cook – Publishing Attorney
A joint meeting with San Diego Writers Festival live on Face book on
Come with all of your Memoir Writers’ legal questions!
Join us on Facebook Live on October 3!
Facebook.com/sandiegowritersfestival/live

FREE!! Donations accepted.
Click here to donate.

A Writer's Journey with Lucy Rose
2020-09-12 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Online — ZOOM, Saturday, September 12th at 2:30 pm PST.
https://zoom.us/j/98287493413?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 982 8749 3413
Passcode: [REDACTED]
FREE!! Donations accepted. Click here to donate.

Lucy Rose tells how and why she decided to “ghost write” her brother’s memoir: The Journalist: Life and Loss in America’s Secret War by Jerry A. Rose and Lucy Rose Fischer (Spark Press, 2020). Her brother, Jerry Rose, was a journalist in Vietnam in the early 1960s. Lucy Rose has written his memoir in “collaboration” with her late brother, based on his journals, letters and other writings—giving the term “ghost written” a whole new meaning.

She began working on this book almost thirty years ago—which may be some kind of record. Along the way, she has had a lot of help from other writers, editors, and coaches, most especially Marni Freedman. She is extraordinarily grateful.
Click here to watch the book trailer.

Q & A with Lucy Rose Fischer with Laura Engel
LE: Writing and crafting a memoir in collaboration of your late brother, Jerry Rose is fascinating Lucy. When did you first decide to write his story?
LRF: This has been a very long journey. I had the first thoughts about this book some time in the 1980s. I heard a presentation at a conference from a writer who had a book about his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam. I had the quick thought—my brother’s life as a journalist in Vietnam would be a fascinating story—different from the perspective of a soldier. I knew that my sister-in-law, my brother’s widow, was storing all his papers.
LE: What did you learn while working on The Journalist about Jerry and about yourself?
Photo of Jerry Rose
LRF: My brother, Jerry Rose, was a painter and a writer—he had earned an MA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, had published short stories in literary magazines, and was working on a novel. While working on this book, I immersed myself in his story and his life—in a way that would not have been possible if I had not crafted this book. He was a remarkable person, ambitious but also very caring and concerned about both Vietnam and the US. He was driven to tell the truth about what he witnessed.
LE: What was the hardest part of writing your book and how did you push through and continue writing?
LRF: This book went through many, many versions—I wrote 100 versions of manuscripts to complete one book. The first one was a biography—very different from this memoir, which is written in my late brother’s voice. One of the hardest parts was to decide what to NOT include—whole episodes, chapters, and characters got left on the cutting room floor. I had a lot of help—editors, coaches, and readers. Marni Freedman and Judy Bernstein were especially instrumental. The previous books I had published were very different from this one—so there was a big learning curve.
LE: If other writers are interested in writing a similar memoir, what is your advice to them?
LRF: This is hard work and requires a lot of commitment, but you can’t let your ego get in the way. For me, the task was to craft the best book I could—that was how I could honor my brother. If that meant revising, revising and revising—that was okay. It’s as if, many years ago, I entered a long, long tunnel. The book that has emerged on the other side of the tunnel is not what I started out to write—it’s much, much better. And I am immeasurably grateful for all the help I’ve received along the way.
LE: What would you like your readers to take away with them after they finish your book?
LRF: I think there are a few messages: 1) it’s a story about the war—Jerry, as a journalist in the early 1960s was a witness to how America’s Vietnam War fiasco began; 2) it’s a story about a journalist—at a time when journalists are especially at risk, this is a story of courage; and 3) it’s a brother-sister story—my brother was my first mentor as a writer, so, in a way neither of us could have anticipated, he trained me to write his book.

About Lucy:
Lucy Rose Fischer, PhD, author, artist and social scientist, is the author of six books and has won awards for her research, her books and her art. She is featured on the public television program “Life Changing Art.” www.lucyrosedesigns.com

How to Pitch Your Book to an Agent with Jennifer Silva Redmond
2020-08-01 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
“What’s your book about?”
We get asked that question all the time, but most of us spend very little time figuring out how to effectively answer it. Pitching your book idea is key to selling it—whether you are pitching to agents or publishers. Once you know how to summarize your story in a quick “elevator pitch,” then expanding it to fit every occasion is easy. Jennifer Silva Redmond, long-time acquisitions editor/editor-in-chief and popular “Pitch Witch” will lead a hands-on workshop on pitching your book.
Some participants will get to pitch in this session and Jennifer will critique!
Online — ZOOM, Saturday, August 1st at 2:30 pm PST.
FREE!! Donations accepted.
Click here to donate.

Join us for a (free) SDMWA business, fun (another raffle), and an educational and important presentation (ZOOM)
2020-06-06 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Please join us for SDMWA business, fun (another raffle), and an educational and important presentation.
This meeting is Free. There will not be a regular $5 charge for the meeting, but your community of SDMWA will benefit from any donation you would like to give.
ZOOM Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7326499549

Tracy Jones will be moderating an Editors Panel. Learn why editing is so vital to our writing and interact with these professional editors.
Erin Willard is a copy editor whose past projects have included work on manuscripts of award-winning novels and nonfiction and creative nonfiction books. She has experience with a variety of genres, including memoir, mystery, historical fiction, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, and romance, as well as children’s, middle grade, and young adult fiction. Working with independent authors and small publishers is her specialty. Her professional memberships include the Editorial Freelancers Association; ACES, the Society for Editing; and the Association of Independent Publishing Professionals; and she is currently serving as co-president of the San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN). More information about her business, Erin Willard, Copy Editor, can be found on her website, ErinCopyEditor.com <https://erincopyeditor.com/> .
Chris Zook is a freelance copyeditor and copywriter with more than 25 years of experience. He has edited books and articles in a wide range of nonfiction genres and subject areas, including memoir, history, philosophy, social welfare, self-help, dieting, yoga, natural health, and relationships. He also writes and edits online content, e-newsletters, grant narratives, and marketing materials for various nonprofits. Chris has been a member of the San Diego Professional Editors Network since 2008 and served as its president from 2015 to 2018. He can be found online at www.theconsciouswriter.com <http://www.theconsciouswriter.com/> .
Diane Rush is a copy editor of nonfiction and fiction and has copyedited memoir, newsletters, and books of photographic collections as well as romance and fantasy. She served on SD/PEN’s board of directors from 2016 through 2019, first as copy editor of the newsletter and then as managing editor. She has a certificate in copyediting from UCSD Extension, and her previous experience includes her position as media coordinator for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she substitutes for high school library staff as time permits and enjoys volunteering there as well. She can be found on the San Diego Professional Editors Network <https://sdpen.com/member-profiles/rush/> website.

FREE Lunch & Learn with Editor Tracy Jones
2020-05-20 12:00 - 13:00 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Event: FREE SDMWA Lunch & Learn with Editor Tracy Jones
Topic: Tips and Techniques When Editing Your Own Writing
Time: May 20, 2020, 12:00 PM to 1 PM PST

Link to Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7326499549
To call in: (669) 900 6833
Meeting ID: 732 649 9549

Find Success in Your Writing Career with Amy Wallen (ZOOM)
2020-05-02 14:30 - 16:30 | ZOOM Online, CA, United States
Click here to make a donation.
Amy Wallen is the author of bestselling novel MoonPies & Moviestars and the memoir When We Were Ghouls: A Memoir of Ghost Stories. She is currently working with editors in New York on a book proposal titled How to Write a Novel in Twenty Pies: Sweet & Savory Secrets of Writing. In this book, a hybrid of how-to, memoir, and anecdotal sweet and savory recipes, Amy helps writers understand the importance of perseverance to get a book-length work completed, submitted, and published. Through tales of her own experience of surviving the writing her first novel by baking pies, she shares how you can avoid getting discouraged by how long it takes to write a book, to find an agent, or while waiting for editors to respond. She gives tips on how to use your creative process to rally your own encouragement, what the inside of publishing looks like, and finally how to celebrate your published book with pie! Whatever your side art, Amy encourages using this to help you persevere to the very end and find success in your writing career. How to Write a Novel in Twenty Pies is the illegitimate child of Nora Ephron’s Heartburn and Annie Lamott’s Bird by Bird. Like all good things in life, pie will be served at this event. First come, first served.

Amy Wallen is the associate director at New York State Summer Writers’ Institute, and the author of When We Were Ghouls, A Memoir of Ghost Stories, as well as the bestselling novel, MoonPies and Movie Stars. She facilitates a manuscript workshop with book critic David Ulin in San Diego called Savory Salons, and since 2004 has taught novel writing classes at UCSD Extension. Her essays have been published in The Gettysburg Review, The Normal School, Country Living, The Writers’ Chronicle and other national magazines. Her essay “Easy as Pie, That’s a Lie” is anthologized in The Shell Game, Writers Play with Borrowed Forms edited by Kim Adrian (April 2018). Most of the time she lives in San Diego, California with her husband and the cutest dog on earth named Hazel. Summers she lives in Saratoga Springs, New York where Hazel dreams of chasing woodchucks.
Link to Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96568604014

Or You Can Call In at:
(669) 900-6833
and input the Meeting ID : 965 6860 4014

Double Your Audience with Audio: Creating Your Audiobook with Nathan Agin
2020-03-07 14:30 - 16:30 | The Ink Spot, 2730 Historic Decatur Road - Barracks 16 #202, San Diego, CA, 92106, United States
Did you know that now is a perfect time to create your audiobook, and that there are THOUSANDS of people waiting to read it? Plus, getting it out to market has never been more accessible!
But where do you start? How does it work? What do you look for in a narrator?
We’ll address all these questions and more, including:

producing and payment arrangements
how to hire a narrator
ways to afford this
narrating it yourself (the pros and cons)
a walk-through of how to get it online and available to sell

Leave with the knowledge of how to make this happen, and the confidence that you can do it! There will be time to ask your questions too!
Nathan Agin is an actor, online marketer, and audiobook narrator/producer. He has completed over a dozen audiobooks for independent and self-published authors (including Chris Fox, Sean Platt, and Johnny B. Truant), as well as narrating 100+ articles for New York Times best-selling author Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck). He also brings 10+ years of web design, email marketing, and social media experience to his work as an audiobook coach and consultant. Locally, he is on the board of the San Diego Shakespeare Society (heading up Marketing) and volunteers with Bridge Hospice. Learn more at nathanagin.com/audio

The Importance of Building a Writing Platform
2020-02-01 14:30 - 16:30 | The Ink Spot, 2730 Historic Decatur Road - Barracks 16 #202, San Diego, CA, 92106, United States
We’ve all heard about the importance of building a writing platform, but the thought of trying to do that on top of writing a book is overwhelming for many nonfiction writers. Literary agents and publishers want to know that nonfiction writers have an established audience. What many writers don’t realize is that they can begin to build this audience by taking simple and doable steps, right now. In this month’s gathering, we will dive into the specifics of building a writing platform and why it’s essential for publishing success.

Michelle Kennedy is a published author and speaker with a book and dozens of pieces published on major platforms like HuffPost Personal, Tiny Buddha, and Elephant Journal. Her writing balances heavy topics with humor and includes everything from feeling foolish in yoga class, to moving through grief and trauma, sobriety, belonging, world travel, and even dating. Michelle coaches writers on everything from how to write winning essays for publication, to how to write books and query literary agents.

Michelle also teaches broadcast journalism and media studies at USD. She worked as a TV News Reporter and Anchor in San Francisco and other Northern California markets over an eleven-year period. A SAG member, she also acts, models and hosts.
