San Diego Memoir Writers Association

STT4 Shaking the Tree Launch at Warwick's IN PERSON
2023-01-12 19:30 - 20:30 UTC | Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla, CA, 92037, United States
For Tickets: https://www.warwicks.com/event/shaking-the-tree-2023
The official launch for Shaking the Tree Four! We will have readings and giveaways as we kick off the official book tour!
Readers: Jen Laffler “Big Apple, Big Cherry, Big Smoke,”
Lindsey Salatka – “I am Ajumma,”
Kenny Sucher – “Strength Training”
Kathleen McCabe – “Thirty Bucks,”
Chili Cilch – “Did That Really Happen?”
Lauren Cross – “Flings”

Awakening the Creative Spirit with Marni Freedman and Tracy Jones
2023-01-07 14:30 - 16:00 | CA
Join Marni and Tracy for a hands-on workshop that will cover how to tackle the 4 myths that may be holding you back creatively, the laws of the creative source that may help you to break free from self-sabotage, and ideas to awaken your most creative year yet.

November Meeting - Wisdom and the Writing Life
2022-11-05 14:30 - 16:00 | CA
Wisdom and the Writing Life (and Pie)
Perseverance, inspiration, revising, completion, publishing!
Join novelist and memoirist extraordinaire Amy Wallen as she shares insights from her brand new, delicious book, “How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies.”
November 5, 2022 – 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85745612250?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 857 4561 2250
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Amy Wallen

Amy is the author of When We Were Ghouls, A Memoir of Ghost Stories. Her essays have been published in The Gettysburg Review, The Normal School, Country Living, and others. Her first novel MoonPies & Movie Stars, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller.

September Meeting — Editor’s Panel
2022-09-03 14:30 - 16:00 | CA
Ask an Editor!
Do you know the difference between a copy editor and a content editor? Do you know what editor to use at the beginning, middle, and end of your writing journey?
Bring all your editing questions to the International Memoir Writers Association’s September meeting!Saturday, September 3 at 2:30 p.m. on Zoom and Facebook LiveModerated by Tracy J. Jones and featuring editors Nadia Geagea Pupa, Erin Willard, and Chris Zook.
Zoom LinkTime: Sep 3, 2022 02:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/88157033175?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 881 5703 3175Passcode: [REDACTED]

Tracy J. Jones is a professional content writer, editor, and writing coach. She’s co-runs the San Diego Memoir Showcase and co-edits the Showcase anthology, Shaking the Tree: brazen. short. memoir. Tracy runs several read and critique groups, teaches at San Diego Writers, Ink, Oasis San Diego, and hosts the Warwick’s + San Diego Writers Festival Book Club. She’s a freelance editor for Acorn Publications. She can be reached at tjjones1@gmail.com.

Chris Zook brings more than 25 years of professional copywriting and editing experience to every project. He writes and edits online content, blogs, e-newsletters, grants, reports, press releases, and marketing materials for various nonprofits. He also edits full-length books for self-publishing authors, yoga manuals, as well as scholarly articles and dissertations for academics.
He holds a master’s degree in art history from the University of California Santa Barbara, where he advanced to Ph.D. candidacy, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College. He’s the former president of the San Diego Professional Editors Network (2015–2018) and a member of ACES: The Society for Editing. His business website is TheConsciousWriter.com.

Erin Willard is a copy editor whose past projects have included editing manuscripts of award-winning novels, short stories, and memoirs. Working with independent authors and small publishers is her specialty, giving a light polish to the voices of new writers, seasoned professionals, and those in between. Erin received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from San Diego State University and her certificate in copyediting from UC San Diego Extended Studies. She is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA); ACES, the Society for Editing; the Association of Independent Publishing Professionals (AIPP); and the San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN), where she served as secretary in 2017 and 2018 and co-president in 2019 and 2020. More information about her business, Erin Willard, Copy Editor, can be found on her website, ErinCopyEditor.com.

Nadia Geagea Pupa, president of the San Diego Professional Editors Network (SD/PEN), has worked as an editor and graphic designer for more than 15 years. She works with both corporate clients and self-published authors to assist in developing, editing, and designing content. Nadia provides in-depth book evaluations and cohjfgaching sessions to help writers create a solid framework for their books. She is passionate about helping authors stay true to their mission and to publish with personality. For more information about her company, Pique Publishing, visit piquepublishing.com.

August Meeting- Local Author Spotlight
2022-08-06 10:00 - 12:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118
Our August monthly meeting will be an in-person meeting at the Coronado Library Saturday, August 6, 2022, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM in the Winn Room. We would love to see you there!
Featured Authors

Anastasia Zadeik is a writer, editor, and narrative nonfiction performer. She lives in San Diego, CA, where she serves as Director of Operations for the San Diego Writers Festival and as a mentor and board member for the literary nonprofit So Say We All. When she isn’t reading or writing, you will find her hiking, practicing yoga, playing tennis, swimming, or hanging out with her husband and their empty-nest rescue dog, Charlie. Blurred Fates is her first novel. Visit her website at www.anastasiazadeik.com

Janet Hafner born and bred in Queens, New York, married her high school sweetheart after graduating college in Maryland. As a military wife, she was always on the move with her husband and their three sons.
She doesn’t have a long history of writing accomplishments. Her passion and strength have always been teaching. A thirty-year career teaching English and Spanish at Palomar College was followed by a second career as a communication/language trainer for international corporations. So . . . when did writing enter the picture? Late in life. A dream, complete with plot, characters, setting and lots of conflict compelled her to write it down. That became her first middle grade novel, Peter Poppin and the Lost Emerald. The decision to self-publish gave her an opportunity to learn more about writing and the art and science of putting a book together.
As if by fate, Janet met Marni Freedman whose infectious drive for engaging story telling stimulated her to write scenes from her life which she shares with other memoir writers in Marni’s memoir critique group. Her life episodes have been published in Shaking the Tree anthologies and have been selected twice as winners for the Memoir Showcase. A desire to learn more about writing led her to join the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild where she served on the Board of Directors for four years.
She is now honored to be a member of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association board. She is currently working on her second middle grade novel about a dog named Tessa who loves being an author. Her website is www.jrhafner.com

Laura L. Engel, born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast transplanted to San Diego over 50 years ago. She is married to the love of her life, Gene, and the mother of five beloved grown children and an adored golden retriever, Layla Louise. Laura is the proud Grammy of 10 cherished grandchildren. In 2016 Laura retired from a 35-year career in the corporate world with plans to quietly catch up on hobbies and travels with her husband Gene. In October of that year her plans changed when a miracle happened in her life. She soon found herself busier than ever taking writing classes and writing up a storm about a secret she thought she would take to her grave.
Along with writing her memoir, Laura holds the office of President of San Diego Memoir Writers Association and is an active member of the International Women Writers Guild. She is also a member of San Diego Writers Ink and San Diego Writers and Editors Guild.
Today finds Laura fulfilling her life-long dream having written her first book, a memoir she never dreamed she would write, You’ll Forget This Ever Happened -Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s published by She Writes Press in may May 2022 and is now available wherever books are sold. Visit Laura’s website at www.lauralengel.com

Lindsey Salatka is an author, ghost-writer, and editor. She is best known for her debut novel, Fish Heads and Duck Skins. Her writing has been featured at Blog Her and in Shanghai Family Magazine, Urbanatomy: Shanghai, and Volumes 3 and 4 of Shaking the Tree: Brazen. Short. Memoir. She is on the advisory board of the San Diego Writers Festival and serves as Director of the KidsWrite! Children’s Writing Contest. You can find Lindsey at www.lindseysalatka.com, on Instagram @mywhatlovelygillsyouhave, on Facebook @fishheadsandduckskin, or on Twitter @lindseysalatka.

Madonna Treadway is an award-winning author. She is also a mentor and speaker passionate about helping others learn to move beyond grief after losing a loved one. Her first book, Six Healing Questions: A Gentle Path to Healing Childhood Loss of a Parent, walks readers through gentle healing steps, current research, and her own powerful story.The loss of her parents at age eight inspired a life-long quest investigating the meaning of grief and loss in her life and the lives of others.
Her new book, due out in late 2022, Grief Hack, A Creative Process for Coping with Everyday Loss, is a short, inspirational guide that walks readers through a creative process that can transform the pain of grief and loss into profound, life-altering realizations. Dedicated to ongoing research and creative discovery, Madonna wants to change the narrative around grief and loss from one of avoidance to sharing, embracing, and, ultimately, transformation. Visit her website www.madonnatreadway.com

Nancy Johnson is a retired high school English teacher, writer, wife, mother, and grandmother. She published articles in La Mesa Courier Newspaper, Discovering My City La Mesa Magazine, and English Literature Journal. Her short stories appear in Sunshine Noir II (Working and Walking the Boulevard), Shaking the Tree II (Glass Shards), and Shaking the Tree III (The Sky is Falling). Her blog is Slightly Squinting. She had a blast writing and performing “The Armpit Years” for So Say We All. She volunteers for San Diego Writers Festival and San Diego Writer’s Ink. Her book, Things My Mama Never Told Me, will be launched in 2020. She is a student of Marni Freedman, V.A.M.P., Writer’s Elements, all the writers who have gone before her, and the amazing teenagers who have shared their lives with her and who will remain part of her forever. Visit her website at www.nancypantsjohnson.com

Who am I? Suzanne Spector asked herself as she stripped off the bonds of marriage and conventional suburban life. Her adventurous journey of discovery led her from a nude beach on Ibiza at 41, to a banya in Siberia at 55, and into a hot love affair at 80.
These probably would not be the tales your mother or grandmother would tell about her life, but this 85 year old’s ebullient memoir of the second half of her life will move you to weave some rich new yarns into the tapestry of your own story. Her message: It’s never too late. Visit her website at www.suzannespector.com

Leslie Ferguson is an accomplished educator, editor, and writing coach. As a youth in foster care, she dreamed about becoming a teacher. After earning her teaching credential from the University of Redlands, she taught high school English at her alma mater for nearly two decades. During that time, she obtained a master’s degree in English literature and an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. She lives with one husband and two cats in the greater San Diego area, where she binge-watches dark character dramas and reminisces about her glory days as an All-American basketball player and collegiate Hall-of-Fame athlete. When I Was Her Daughter is her first book.Visit the author at LeslieFergusonAuthor.com

Vulnerable and Brave with Dr. Michelle Zive
2022-07-09 14:30 - 16:30 | CA
Are you ready for an interactive writing workshop that will help you to disrupt the stories you’ve been told and get empowered to express long buried parts of your authentic self?
How to participate?
Bring a photo – or an image from the internet to the session that says something about your vulnerability or bravery.
THERE IS NO WAY TO DO THIS WRONG. ANY PICTURE WORKS (we will also have some images to choose from on the day of the workshop). Zoom link will be emailed prior to the event.
Register Here
Here is your Zoom invite for SDMWA July 2022 meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83851830772?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 838 5183 0772
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Michelle Zive, PhD
Michelle Zive has a PhD in leadership from the University of San Diego. She has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nutritional sciences and is a registered dietitian. For over 30 years, she’s worked at UC San Diego as a Principal Investigator on large-scale community health projects focusing on access to healthy foods, physical activity, and food security. Based on her excellency for writing grants and telling the story, she’s brought in over $20 million dollars into UCSD. Zive has authored or co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles. She was the recipient of the SD Book Award for best unpublished memoir in 2009. Her focuses are on middle-aged women, feminism, equity, and social justice.
Here’s the vulnerable and brave bio:
Michelle Murphy Zive considers herself a suburban hippie. She grew up half of her formative years in Pacific Beach (a party and “progressive” town) and the other half in Alpine (a bedroom community with 3,000 people) which is 29 minutes from downtown San Diego. She created two kickass and vulnerable daughters from her first husband. She is a divorcee (such an antiquated word) and remarried to a man who sees her. Together they have a son. The mere fact that she married a wonderful man and had a son means she cannot hate 49% of the population. Instead, she is finding ways to create a world where women have a voice. She is the founder and disruptor of Representation Rebellion (RR). The mission of RR is to disrupt the stories they sell and tell about us by telling our own.
Here is the RR About page https://www.representationrebellion.com/our-rebellious-team/

How to Write a Winning Memoir Showcase Piece
2022-07-08 13:00 - 14:00 | 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
