National Novel Writing Month 2009

In part of the novel writing world November is known as the National Novel Writing Month; aka NaNoWriMo, aka NaNo.
The challenge is to write a 50,000-word novel in the 30 days of November. It starts at 12:01 Nov. 1 and runs until 12 midnight Nov. 30. “But Thanksgiving is in November.” And so your point is? Take your laptop along and find a quiet corner to pluck out the 1,667 words you need for that day. If you don't you'll have 3,334 to do on Friday.
All the information you need to know about National Novel Writing Month can be found at www.nanowrimo.org. They really do have this down to a fine art.
My suggestion, if you decide to take this mission, is to write your story on your own computer and then every evening or every week upload to the NaNoWriMo website for your word count.
Last year both James (my husband) and I kept a word count spreadsheet and uploaded to NaNo once a week. My system for writing this, on my own computer, might be considered complicated, but it worked for me. I had a main file that I added each chapter to and uploaded. I wrote it chapter by chapter and keep a daily running count of my words. This meant that I started a new file everyday and added it to the existing chapter file at the end of every day (after I got my word count). I told you it was complicated.
After the month came to an end I had a file for each chapter, i.e. Chap. 1, Chap. 2, in a folder titled Nano2009. This made it easier for me to edit
I can tell you, it is daunting to think of writing 1,667 words a day and 50,000 words in a month but it can be done. I know for sure that five members of the San Antonio Writers' Guild did complete a novel last year – it may be six members but I'm not sure if one completed or not. When you see that 40,000-word mark on the counter adrenaline runs through your body. “Wow! I can finish it.” You see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
One member has had several agents request part or all of her manuscript and I mine make it to the final round of judging in the San Gabriel Writing Smarter Writing Contest – sponsored by the San Gabriel Writer's League.
NaNoWriMo is a challenge that I recommend every writer try. Not everyone makes it to the 50,000 words but if you don't try, you will never find out.
I amazed myself when I realized that, “I'm actually going to make it.” I have to give credit to my fellow guild writers for their encouragement in my endeavor.
Am I going to tackle it again this year? You bet I am. Am I going finish it? You bet I am. Notice I didn't say I'm going to give it my best shot. Always go into this with an excited and positive attitude.
Try not to get more than one day behind on your words. I found out the hard way it's not easy to make up the word count you missed.
What do you get if you finish it? Well, let me tell you. You get a tremendous sense of accomplishment not to mention a certificate and a sticker (if you will) you can put on your website.
Go get em!

Winter Writing Practice Retreat Dec. 5

Title: Winter Writing Practice Retreat with Saundra Goldman Dec. 5
Dates: Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Cost: $109 WLT members / $269 nonmembers
Deadline for registration Nov. 27
Location: Austin, specific location to be announced
Phone: 512.499.8914
Visit: www.writersleague.org.
   This winter's retreat will help you set the tone for the season with a day of writing practice and meditation. May Sarton wrote that, "winter is the season when both animals and humans strip down to the marrow." While the media tells us to shop, party and overeat, the Earth gives us a different message, that it is time to withdraw, to go under.
   Topics and exercises at the retreat are designed to help you go deep inside yourself, to strip to the marrow, and get grounded for the weeks and months ahead.
   Open to all levels of writers.


Who Should Attend?

• Anyone interested in starting a writing practice
  
• Writers who want to deepen their writing experience
  
• Students of past "Build a Writing Practice" classes
  

   Dr. Saundra Goldman brings years of experience in writing practice, including intensive study with Natalie Goldberg. She is a writer and art historian. Her short stories, essays, and reviews have been published in literary journals, museum catalogs, textbooks, anthologies, and professional journals, including Art News, New Art Examiner, Art Papers, Theater and Drama Review, and the Texas Observer. She also served as art critic to the Austin American-Statesman and the Austin Chronicle. She is currently writing a book about the feminist performance artist and sculptor Hannah Wilke.

Synopsis & query letter writing Nov. 21 & Dec. 5

Title: Writing the Successful Synopsis and Query Letter (or Selling Your Book Without Selling Out)
Dates: Saturdays, Nov. 21 & Dec. 5, 2-5 p.m.
Cost: $99 WLT members / $159 nonmembers
Deadline for registration Nov. 13
Location: Writers' League of Texas Office, 611 S. Congress Ave, Suite 130, Austin
Phone: 512.499.8914
Visit: www.writersleague.org.
   This two-part class is designed to teach you how to write a concise, interesting, one-page synopsis of your novel or nonfiction book and how to compose a pitch-perfect query letter that will attract the attention of an agent. Whether you are just starting to write your book or have already finished writing, this class will help you see how the synopsis and query can not only help you sell your manuscript but can also help you develop and polish your work.
   By the end of class, each student will walk away with the following:

• a completed a synopsis
  
• a completed query letter
  
• a written critique from the instructor of their synopsis and query
  
• an understanding of what agents are looking for in the synopsis and query
  
• insights into how the synopsis and query can help you develop, edit, and polish your manuscript
  
• a written critique from the instructor to help him/her polish the synopsis and query
  

   The class format will be primarily lecture with some in-class writing assignments and opportunities for class discussion and Q&A. Students will not be required to share work or critique work in class, although students are always welcome to share portions of their synopsis and query if they wish to do so.
There will be two homework assignments:

• A one-page synopsis
  
• a one-page query
  

Session I: The Synopsis
   This session will cover:

• ways to include relevant information about plot, character, theme, and setting
  
• the proper format, content, length, tone, and style
  
• strategies for getting and holding the reader's attention
  
• sample synopses
  
• common mistakes and pitfalls and how to avoid them
  

Session II: The Query Letter
   This session will cover:

• models for successful letters
  
• strategies for assigning the correct genre to your work
  
• choosing the right vocabulary to describe your project
  
• establishing an interesting and confident voice
  
• common mistakes and how to avoid them when writing the query
  

Who Should Attend:

• Writers at any level and at any stage in the writing process
  
• Writers preparing to find an agent or publisher
  
• Writers wanting to improve their own promotional writing skills
  

   John Pipkin's first novel, Woodsburner, was published to national acclaim by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday in April 2009 and recently sold his second novel to Doubleday based on just a query and synopsis. John received his Ph.D. in British Literature from Rice University in 1997 and was an Assistant Professor of Humanities and Rhetoric at Boston University, before working as an editor and content specialist in educational publishing. He is the former Executive Director of the Writers' League of Texas.

Build-a-Book set for Jan. 9, April 17 & June 19

   The San Antonio Romance Authors’ (SARA) Build-a-Book series will continue through 2010 with a uniquely designed series of hands-on workshops. The series will educate aspiring writers how to write, sell and promote fiction in the 21st century.
   SARA's award-winning published members will teach what they know best--from plotting to characterization, to how to acquire an agent and promote the finished book.
   The first session, held Saturday, Sept. 19, concerned Hooks, Show vs. Tell, Romance in the 20th Century.
   Dates for remaining sessions in this new series are:

• Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010. Deep POV, Dialogue, and Characterization Stereotypes
  
• Saturday, April 17, 2010. Pacing/Turning Points and GMC/Conflict
  
• Saturday, June 19, 2010. Scene & Sequel and Narrative
  

   Each workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Depending on the length of each presentation, two or three topics will be offered at each session.
   The sessions will be held at the Hilton Airport (the site of the 2009 Merritt Conference), 611 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78216, (210)340-6060
   Registration fees:

• SARA members: $13 per workshop or $15 per workshop if paid with PayPal
  
• Non-SARA members: $20 per workshop or $22 per workshop if paid with PayPal
  

   For more information, contact: Joni Hahn, Workshop Chairperson, at jonihahn@satx.rr.com or visit: www.sararwa.net/conference.html from time to time to look for updates.
   The Build-a-Book workshops are held in place of SARA's monthly meetings for September, January, April, and June.

Events at the Twig bookshop in San Antonio

Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Time: 4 p.m.
Event: Lisha Adela Garcia, Blood Rivers: Poems of Texture from the Border
   Lisha Adela Garcia's debut collection of poems are deeply rooted in land and language, in heartbreak, paradox,and celebration. The poems follow the legacy of blood - spilled, spared, reviled, holy, singled-out, intermingled, and sustaining. They are poems of cultural border crossings and personal boundary breaches as seen from the female perspective.
   
Lisha Adela Garcia, an Arizona resident, is a bilingual, bicultural poet who has Mexico, the United States and that land in between, in her work. She is a simultaneous interpreter and translator who is influenced by the American Southwest and border culture.


Date: Tuesday, Oct. 27
Time: 5 p.m.
Event: Andie Ryan, Shakedown
   The best elements of suspense in an unforgettable story of corruption!
   Shakedown couldn't be more topical relative to the day's headlines of financial industry scandal and corruption. At the heart of a massive insider trading scheme, public relations executive Tom Hollister discovers a murder conspiracy. Estranged from his family, he falls for an aging call girl, unaware of her connection to the company's crimes. Against the backdrop of a corporate meltdown, Hollister races to expose the scheme and bring the killers to justice, even though the truth could cost him his life and everything he has come to love.


Date: Friday, Oct. 30
Time: 5 p.m.
Event: Carolina De Robertis, The Invisible Mountain
   "Marvelous. . . Carolina De Robertis brings to vivid life the History and culture of Uruguay. Bold, passionate, and filled with songs both ecstatic and tragic. The Invisible Mountain tells the stories of three generations of women whose lives transcend the ordinary." - Christina García, author of Dreaming in Cuban
   From the verdant hills of Rio de Janeiro to Evita Peron's glittering Buenos Aires, from the haven of a corner butcher shop to the halls of the United States Embassy in Montevideo, this gripping novel--at once expansive and lush with detail--examines the intertwined fates of a continent and a family in upheaval. The Invisible Mountain is a deeply intimate exploration of the search for love and authenticity in the lives of three women, and a penetrating portrait of the small, tenacious nation of Uruguay, shaken by the gales of the twentieth century.
   On the first day of the year 1900, a small town deep in the Uruguayan countryside gathers to witness a miracle--the mysterious reappearance of a lost infant, Pajarita--and unravel its portents for the century. Later, as a young woman in the capital city--Montevideo, brimming with growth and promise--Pajarita begins a lineage of fiercely independent women with her enamored husband, Ignazio, a young immigrant from Italy and the inheritor of both a talent for boat making and a latent, more sinister family trait. Their daughter, Eva, a fragile yet ferociously stubborn beauty intent on becoming a poet, overcomes an early, shattering betrayal to embark on a most unconventional path toward personal and artistic fulfillment. And Eva's daughter, Salome, awakening to both her sensuality and political convictions amid the violent turmoil of the late 1960s, finds herself dangerously attracted to a cadre of urban guerrilla rebels, despite the terrible consequences of such principled fearlessness.
   Provocative, heartbreaking and ultimately life-affirming, The Invisible Mountain is a poignant celebration of the potency of familial love, the will to survive in the most hopeless of circumstances, and, above all, the fierce, fortifying connection between mother and daughter.


Date: Saturday, Nov. 7
Time: 4 p.m.
Event: Marcia Hatfield Daudistel, Editor, Literary El Paso
   The latest addition to the successful literary citieis series by Texas Christian University Press, Literary El Paso brings attention to the often overlooked extraordinary literary heritage of this city in far West Texas. El Paso is the largest metropolitan area along the U.S.-Mexico border and is geographically isolated from the rest of Texas. It is in this splendid isolation surrounded by mountains in the midst of the beautiful Chihuahuan Desert that many award-winning writers found their literary voices. Literary El Paso features bilingual selections to reflect the bi-cultural environment of the region and the state.
   Daudistel uses her years of publishing experience in El Paso to gather the works of past, present, and emerging writers of the Borderlands. Historical essays, fiction, journalism, and poetry portray the colorful history and vibrant present of this city on the border through the works of 63 writers.
   Once a backdrop to the Mexican Revolution, El Paso was also home to infamous outlaws. Historians C. L. Sonnichsen and Leon Metz write on the gunmen and lawmen of El Paso including John Wesley Hardin, Dallas Stoudenmire and Bass Outlaw. There are feature stories from award-winning journalists Ruben Salazar early in his newspaper career, Ramon Renteria with the last interview of poet Ricardo Sanchez, and Bryan Woolley on the 1966 University of Texas-El Paso Miners and lively South El Paso Street.
   Many groundbreaking Chicano writers began their work in El Paso, such as Jose Antonio Burciaga, Abelardo Delgado, Estela Portillo Trambley, and Arturo Islas. The works of Tom Lea, Amado Muro, Dagoberto Gilb, Rick DeMarinis, Pat LittleDog, the inimitable word sketches of Elroy Bode, and the poetry of Benjamin Alire Saenz, Pat Mora, and Bernice Love Wiggins, one of the first African American female poets published in Texas, explore the experience of life in El Paso.
   In addition, previously unpublished works from John Rechy, Ray Gonzalez and Robert Seltzer are included. For the first time in the series, Literary El Paso features bilingual selections to reflect the bi-cultural environment of the region and the state.


Date: Saturday, Nov. 21
Time: 4 p.m.
Event: Jesse Katz, The Opposite Field: A Memoir of Love and Little League
   The gorgeously written and deeply resonant story of Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Jesse Katz's struggle to raise his son while presiding over a complex, multicultural Little League in the immigrant suburbs of Los Angeles.
   Here is one of the most remarkable, ambitious, and utterly original memoirs of this generation, a story of the losing and finding of self, of sex and love and fatherhood and the joy of language, of death and failure and heartbreak, of Los Angeles and Portland and Nicaragua and Mexico, and the shifting sands of place and meaning that can make up a culture, or a community, or a home.
   Faced with the collapse of his son's Little League program-consisting mostly of Latino kids in the largely Asian suburb of Monterey Park, California-Jesse Katz finds himself thrust into the role of baseball commissioner for La Loma Park. Under its lights the yearnings and conflicts of a complex immigrant community are played out amid surprising moments of grace. Each day-and night-becomes a test of Jesse's judgment and adaptability, and of his capacity to make this peculiar pocket of L.A.'s Eastside his home.
   While Jesse soothes egos, brokers disputes, chases down delinquent coaches and missing equipment, and applies popsicles to bruises, he forms unlikely alliances, commits unanticipated errors, and receives the gift of unexpected wisdom. But there's no less drama in Jesse's complicated personal life as he grapples with a stepson who seems destined for trouble, comforts his mother (a legendary Oregon politician) when she's stricken with cancer, and receives hard lessons in finding-and holding on to-the love of a good woman.
   Through it all, Jesse's emotional mainstay is his beloved son, Max, who quietly bests his father's brightest hopes. Over nine springs and summers with Max at La Loma, Jesse learns nothing less than what it takes to be a father, a son, a husband, a coach, and, ultimately, a man.
   This is an epic book, a funny book, a sexy book, a rapturously evocative and achingly poignant book. Above all it is true, in that it happened, but also in a way that transcends mere facts and cuts to the quick of what it means to be alive.


Locating The Twig...
   The Twig Book Shop and Red Balloon are located three miles south of Loop 410 on the west side of Broadway, in front of Cappy's Restaurant. The store is two blocks north of H-E-B's Central Market. Look for the blue stucco building with the Alamo-shaped facade next to Cappyccino's. The address is 5005 Broadway, San Antonio. Tel: 210-826-6411. Fax: 210-826-6411.

Heartland New Day Book Fest April 9-10

When: Friday through Sunday, April 9-10, 2010
Where: 3001 S. Boulevard, Edmond, Oklahoma, (First Nazarene Church gym and Fireplace Room)
Phone: 405-513-2850
Visit: www.hndbookfest.com
   Contact: Heartland New Day BookFest, PO Box 30960, Edmond, OK 73003-0016
Keynote:
   Jordan Dane will be the keynote speaker at the Awards Dinner April 9 and will be on a panel with Carolyn Hart, William Bernhardt, and Vivian Zabel during the Book Fest April 10.
   Avon/Harpercollins launched Dane's debut suspense novels in a back to back publishing event in Spring 2008 after buying the three-book series in auction. Pursuing publication since 2003, Dane had received awards in 33 national writing competitions and was an energy sales manager in the oil and gas industry prior to selling. Now she is following her passion and writes full time.
   Ripped from the headlines, Dane's gritty plots weave a tapestry of vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. She loves challenging a reader's moral barometer with the borderline ethics of her characters and their flawed personalities—dark, angst-ridden antiheroes pitted against unforgettable villains. Publishers Weekly compared her intense pacing to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag—"romantic suspense that crosses over into plain thriller country with tight plotting and exceptional male characters, both bad guys and good."
General:
   Friday activities are authors and artists visiting the schools during day and awards dinner at night.
   The bookfest is Saturday with a children’s reading room and presentations by authors, artists, and experts about writing, reading and illustrating books. Over 50 authors and illustrators are expected.
   Inspirational authors will visit churches Sunday.
   Contests: Essay contests for elementary, middle, and secondary schools; best published book in 2008 or 2009; and most attractive table Saturday.
   Featured authors attending include keynote speaker Jordan Dane. Ptjers are Bob Avey, Jacque Graham, Gloria Teague, Suzy Koch, Michael W. Hinkle, Vivian Zabel, Tonya Shook, Pat Browning, Tammy Wilson & Tonya Hacker, Tom Keith, and Carlita Cartmill-Wheeler.

Last SAWG Write-in of 2009 set for Saturday Nov. 14

   The seventh and final San Antonio Writers Guild write-in of 2009 will be held Saturday, Nov. 14. It will be a picnic and will celebrate National Novel Writing month. The picnic write-in will be held at the city's O.P. Schnabel Park at 9606 Bandera Road (just north of the Maverick Library).
   The event will start at 9 a.m. with setup and everything will start just as soon as you get set up There will be a 15-minute break at 10:30 a.m. Lunch efforts will start at 11:45 a.m. After lunch, there will be more writing and will continue until everyone goes away or the park people throw us out.
   The cost of the write-in is $10 for members and $15 for non-members.
   So come to the write-in and everyone will be there to write. Dig the energy, baby!
   Just think, you can jump start a new novel, complete a short story, or pound out something that's been hanging in your head and really needs to get down on paper, floppy, hard drive, or flash drive...
   Please email James ( jameshenry@frazar.net) or call him at 210-473-5192 if you need a computer to use. A limited number of computers are available but it is absolutely necessary to reserve a computer because James is not going to bring extra computers if no one calls.

CLASS Christian Writers Conference set Nov. 4-8

   The CLASS Christian Writers Conference will be held at Ghost Ranch in Abquiu, NM, Wednesday through Sunday, Nov. 4-8.
   Tuition is $575 if paid in full by Oct. 15 and $625 after Oct. 15.
Lodging is not included in the tuition fee.
   Teaching labs offer three consecutive days of learning from industry professionals:

• Nancy Moser - Fiction Track
  
• Bucky Rosenbaum - Nonfiction Track
  
• Karen Porter - Advanced Career Track
  
• Jeannie St. John Taylor - Children's Track
  
• Jerome Daley - Writing for the Next Generation
  
• Craig von Buseck - Technology / Writing for the Web
  
• DiAnn Mills - Advanced Fiction Mentoring (Limited to 8)
  

   Visit: www.classeminars.org/Events/Writers-Conference.