Newsletter January 2007 Guild Gram Newsletter: PALM SPRINGS WRITERS GUILD Newsletter serving writers of the Coachella Valley January 2007 NEW LOCATION for all meetings!! Palm Desert Community Center 43900 San Pablo Palm Desert, CA Located just north of Fred Waring on San Pablo (2 blocks east of the Palm Desert Library where we used to meet). NEXT MEETING: Sun. January 7, 2007 2:30 - 4:30 PM SPEAKERS REVIEW by Joanne Hardy DECEMBER PARTY When December comes around, the old year winding down, Guild members start to think of our annual Christmas party. Although the party was held in a new place, the atmosphere was warm and familiar. Guild members are friendly any time they get together. Musician Bruce Singer was beginning to work his way up to Jingle Bell Rock but there would be several Christmas favorites on the way. Poinsettia centerpieces went to the guest at the table who had had the most recent birthday. We listened to the skit, a radio show from Santa's Workshop about Santa's difficulties getting published. Amid the conversation, table-hopping and nibbling on candy and hors-de-oeuvres, the larger question came to mind. Why is Santa trying to get published anyway? Isn't there enough out there? Isn't the competition tough enough? He already has world recognition and adulation - and he can fly. What more does this guy want? It was all great fun and we applaud Phyllis Costello and Dawn Spitz who wrote it -- with a little help from their friends. We applaud, also, the performers, Phyllis, Carol Mann, wannabe published-writer, Santa, otherwise known as Bob Hurlbert, musician Bruce Singer and announcer Dick Mills. Mary Olson donated the hors d'oeuvres, recipes from her work-in-progress cookbook, Feast and Fantasy. This is no ordinary cookbook. It includes twenty-four whimsical stories told by the food. The recipe in the story is then presented. Catering for the party was done by Hector Salvatierra, Executive Chef from Camelot Café. To present an evening's entertainment there is much invisible work that goes on behind the scenes. Special recognition goes to Phyllis Costello, Bari Maddox, Judy Joyce, Mary Olson, Carol Mann, Bob Hurlbert, Tony O'Doherty, Dawn Spitz and Vicki Mills for all their efforts. And now, 2007. Happy New Year to all! PRESIDENT'S LETTER by Dawn Huntley Spitz My profound appreciation to all the members of the Board and those others who worked so hard to make the holiday party such a success. Special thanks to Program Chair, Phyllis Costello, for taking the brunt of the responsibility in my absence. (I had to be in New York to welcome in a new granddaughter.) The party was the first affair held in our new venue, the Palm Desert Community Center. I am happy to report that the reason we have made the change is that we have outgrown our former facility. The Community Center is not only larger but is also centrally located for our meetings. Even as we celebrate this holiday season, the membership has been saddened to learn of the passing of former Guild president, Grahame Smith. Serving a two-year term, Grahame shepherded the Guild through perhaps the most challenging period in its growth. A tribute to him appears elsewhere in these pages. It seems to me, however, that the greatest tribute we can pay to Grahame Smith is to continue his work and his vision for the Guild. This involves not just leadership but membership participation. I urge you all to attend meetings and workshops. Volunteer to help when needed. And tell your friends about what the Guild has to offer. In gratitude to those who have done so much to promote the Palm Springs Writers Guild, let us each do our share to keep the glorious craft of writing alive and well in the Coachella Valley. I wish you all a festive holiday season and a Happy and Healthy New Year. GUEST WRITER Column By Kristin Johnson Excerpted from the MuseItUpClub Online Conference presentation: Blame it on Amazon, but now there is no excuse for not researching your nonfiction competition or exceptional nonfiction writing--you can do it from your computer. Read Jon Krakaeur, Patricia Cornwell, Erik Larson, Diane Ackerman, Virginia Postrel. Study how they use the five senses and observation. I am always amazed by the way great nonfiction writers make me feel as though I am in the scene. I try to paint the scene with senses and details. Sensory details not only put you in the scene, they can mirror the action in the scene or complement the emotions. Think of the wild and free washing of the waves over the lovers in "From Here to Eternity," or a single cloud raining over Charlie Brown after another defeat at baseball or another football Lucy van Pelt has pulled away. In a horror movie, for example, a character might utter the line, "Storm's coming," and we know by the thunder that the power is about to go out, or that the heroes will face an onslaught of gruesome jump-out-of-your-seat moments soon. Erik Larson describes the pollution from coal furnaces and the constant noise from carriages in turn-of-the-century Chicago as the backdrop for Dr. H.H. Holmes' reign of terror with anonymous young women, and for the chaos that plagues the development of the Chicago World's Fair. Patricia Cornwell goes into great detail to place us in Jack the Ripper's London, the seedy, squalid conditions she describes a fitting backdrop to explore the mind of history's most notorious serial murderer. If you think these details are irrelevant in a world of digital and interactive media (the billion-dollar video game business) and twenty-four-hour news and video on demand, think again. Even the supermarket tabloids (some articles, written, supposedly, by creative writing grad students) thrive on reporting the smallest details from the infidelity du jour. Was there the distinctive heavy odor of whiskey in the boudoir? The Hollywood gossip shows do have writers whose job it is to document the dirty deeds. I don't mean to dwell on the sordid side (even though we all know sex sells). But sometimes digging with the senses leads to new ways of thinking that illuminate important social issues and truths. Writers Jon Samsel and Darryl Wimberley describe a brainstorm of French writer Émile Zola in Writing for Interactive Media. While touring coal mines, Zola discovered donkeys working underground and discovered that the animals were lowered into the mines where their offspring were born in filth, with no sunlight. The donkey, for Zola, became a symbol of the plight of the French working class, which Zola portrayed in his fiction and nonfiction. Zola's research took him beyond books, and as a result, he made us able to see and feel what it must be like to be a donkey toiling in darkness. If you're an animal lover, would you ever forget that image? The Five Senses Taste Often ignored unless writers are writing about food. Air has a taste. Water has a taste. Examples: spicy, sweet, flat, bitter, tasteless, foul. The air in a coffin tastes different than the air on a summer porch in Georgia, and the air in Georgia isn't the same as the air in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Smell A staple of good writing, yet how little we rely on it. "The air smelled sweet" doesn't put you in the scene as much as "The air smelled of cotton candy and cinnamon elephant ears." Also, there's a difference between odor, scent, aroma and smell. "Smell" is neutral. "Scent" is most closely associated with perfume and human pheromones, but you could use it to describe a barn with hay. "Aroma" should only be used in connection with appetizing food. "Odor" only applies to unpleasant scents--rotting flesh, garbage, sewage, vinegar, the inside of any junior high boys' gym locker. When virtual reality incorporates smell, you'll learn to tap into this sense in background research for, say, the Iraqi desert. Sound "Cacophony" isn't necessarily a mix of city sounds--although it can be. You can talk about the "cacophony of rap music" if you mean that rap music is unpleasant. You can talk about the harmony (or euphony if you want to kick it up a notch) of rap music as well. Sound and sight are the two senses writers rely on most, yet Roy H. Williams, "The Wizard of Ads," has demonstrated in his lectures that we subconsciously process sound first, then text and images. Think of the sound of traffic in 1890s Chicago, or birds in a tropical jungle. I described the way it sounded when Sir Perrin milked cows in his childhood. Comic books are full of sounds: "slam, hiss, whish, screee." Remember the original Batman title sequence: "Biff," "Bam," "Pow." For a multimedia world, you have to provide the right sound cues. Sight How many times have you written about "flaxen hair" or "blood red lips"? They work, but they give your subject a cookie-cutter, even vampish light. This may be intentional, but if you want to portray a supposed man-eater in a more objective light, you may note that "her blood-red lips were chapped from kissing her five children goodbye in ten-below-freezing temperatures." Or, "Her flaxen hair did not resemble Rapunzel's pulled back in a hasty ponytail secured with a neon-green scrunchie, but she'd only had time to give it a perfunctory combing that morning." Take note of color, visual textures, the whole picture. Maybe her cheeks are stained from finger paint. Touch A terry cloth robe feels different than a silk negligee. Suppose you describe your subject's skin as "like terry cloth"? Terry cloth is comfortable, in some cases soft and luxurious, but doesn't evoke the same image as skin like a silk negligee. What if your subject is a dog, such as a terrier or a working dog? Rather than simply saying "sturdy, springy fur," you can say "terry cloth fur." If the dog is named "Terry," you get a sense of how Terry's owners think. Is Terry a comfortable robe, almost a security blanket for them? What other tactile clues can you find in their daily lives? As a mattress product description writer, I had to focus on how mattresses felt to the touch. While most mattresses are comfortable, I used words like "cloud-like" to entice the buyer to buy a specific mattress brand and model. We often forget the power of touch. A chestnut tree is hard in a different way than a Razr cell phone. The best newspaper and magazine writers don't just write "what, who, where, when, why, how"--they use the five senses. Imagine September 11 coverage without poignant descriptions of weeping, shouting, sirens, the towers collapsing, or the odor of acrid smoke and the taste it left in the mouth. To get the sensory details right, it isn't enough to just read about Ancient Greece--going to the Parthenon, for example, and feeling the stones, or (if you're not able to travel) listening to ancient recordings, or tasting the foods Pericles ate will make your manuscript more authentic, and transport your readers to places you can't even imagine. Start fulfilling your New Year resolutions immediately! See you at the first Writers Guild meeting of the year! PLEASE NOTE! There is a new time for all meetings: 2:30 to 4:30 Next meeting: Sunday January 7, 2007 Grahame Smith The Oxford English Dictionary defines grief as deep mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss. It is with that feeling of grief that we share the news of the passing of Grahame Smith. He died peacefully, at 64, at home, on December ninth, 2006. Grahame became president of the Palm Springs Writers Guild in 2001. With his intelligence, charm and humor the Guild flourished during the two terms of his presidency. Grahame was born in South Australia. After completing his B.S. with honors at the University of Adelaide, Australia he was awarded a scholarship to Cornell University where he received his M.S. and PhD. in Biology. He taught at Brown University, Boston University, and Babson college. He and Richard Bentley had been partners for 33 years. A celebration of his life will be held in 2007. Donations in his honor should be sent to VNA Hospice, 42600 Cook St., Ste. 202, Palm Desert, CA 92211. Submitted by Fran and Harold Kaplan The Crow's Nest By Dodie Cross "We do our utmost to promote the success of our fellow members" as Bob Hurlbert says. We can promote you in our Guild Gram if we have your success stories emailed to me by the 15th of the month so that they can appear in the next month's issue. Bruce Singer has something to crow about with his book. Three years in the making, Swami Sez Trade the Blues for Brownies is about 365 ways to "beat the blues" or depression with wit, wisdom and laugh-out-loud humor. The most comprehensive book out there, including 365 positive affirmations plus jokes. You'll laugh... You may cry.... You WILL get well.... You will see! If you got the blues......order right away at Barnes and Noble.com or Amazon.com, or dial Bruce Singer direct at (760) 272-0049. This from Kathryn Jordan: John Walton's father was the legendary gangster Al Capone! Live from Two Bunch Palms Resort & Spa in Desert Hot Springs in front of the Al Capone suite, Mr. Walton will "go public" with the story he tells weekly on his Hidden History Tours at the lush resort. Al Capone met silent screen star Gladys Walton on the set of her film "The Untamable" in 1923. Gladys was 20, Al was 24. Capone's desert hideaway became their love nest. Born in Chicago in 1929, John Walton is the love child of Gladys and Capone. And that's the title of the novel Mr. Walton is working on now with author, Kathryn Jordan, GLADYS AND CAPONE. From Debbie Madison, who is crowing about her news: "Hello everyone! My newest novel, Rider Down is (finally) finished. The good news is, it's just in time for Christmas and is the perfect gift for anyone who has or who has had horses! It's filled with horses-adventure-romance-humor. You can purchase it and read excerpts at: www.Riderdown.info. I hope you enjoy this novel as much as I have enjoyed writing it." Got something to Crow about? E-mail me at dodiecross@dc.rr.com and inspire others. "Waiting Women" (A tribute to artist R. C. Gorman 1931 to 2005 "Waiting Women" A Lithograph 1976) Wrapped in blankets of patience, women wait and watch--stoic survivors bearing wisdom of ages timeless a sisterhood of earth mothers knowing sun gods carry fire wind spirits breathe gusts of fury wolf moons beckon the hunter's stealth rain pulls growth from the struggling seed singing songs of an earth capricious etched by drought, awash in flood bare with famine--cleft by war stained by cries of lonely childbirth and sun climbing from desert crags carrying the day in its ample pouch scooping dollops of nurturing goodness on barefoot children running, laughing by Carol Mann Popular speaker returns!! Penny Sansevieri will be with us on Saturday, January 20 for a workshop to be held from 1:00 to 4:00. Penny is an author as well as CEO of Marketing Experts, Inc. The workshop is called Red Hot Internet, and will enable attendees to use the Internet to best advantage for marketing and book sales. She will also include a short instruction on entering contests. Location will be announced later via email. Don't miss Penny! She was a winner last spring. DYNAMIC SPEAKER JANUARY 7th for our first meeting of the year!! We begin our new year with an internationally recognized consultant, Dr. Edward Gordon who has published 15 books, written 200 articles for major newspapers, popular magazines, business and educational journals. He has appeared on The Early Show, CBS, CNN, NBC and numerous other media stations. He will give you much to take home about publishing in today's world! More details on page 2! GUEST POLICY We always welcome guests! As of our January 2007 meeting, to help defray the costs for our larger facility, we will be charging $5 per guest per meeting. This can be applied toward the annual $40 dues for the Guild membership if they decide to join the Guild. Limerick by Carol Mann There once was a writer who said, "I'm not getting out of my bed Until I have got An end to this plot!" And he pulled blankets up o'er his head. PROGRAM SCHEDULE for 2007 by Phyllis Costello Jan 7 Dr. Edward Gordon, author 15 books; Business Consultant; speaking on publishing. Feb 4 Ray Strait, author, biographer 27 books; his experiences; how to find your way in the maze of publishing, selling, and the entertainment business Mar 4 Julie Gorges and John Hacker, father/daughter team; she writes for young people and he writes humor about aging April 1 Judy Weigle, "My Office is a 3-Ring Circus"; self-publishing promotion May 6 Steve Peterson, author, poet, singer, performer; relates a new author's adventures into publishing a first novel. Election of officers. June 3 Ice cream social; new officers installed; writers' open readings. Limerick Kathryn Jordan A serious writer named Kate Feared her novels were too darn sedate, So she conquered her hex By switching to sex Now they're calling her Kathryn the Great! Jenny Gumpertz Sunday January 7th 2:30 - 4:30 Dr. Edward Gordon: further credentials We begin our new year with an internationally recognized consultant, Dr. Edward Gordon, the president of Imperial Consulting Corp., based in Chicago and Palm Desert. Recognized as an expert on training, career and educational issues, he has worked with Microsoft, Motorola, Pricewaterhouse, U.S. Dept. of Education and Labor, many state agencies as well as universities and non-profit organizations. With 20 years teaching business, education and history at DePaul, Loyola, and Northwestern universities, he ties education to tomorrow's workforce. He is also interested in keeping people reading! How does all of this fit into our program? Come and find out! By Phyllis Costello "Marci Stillerman has copies of the short stories submitted for the 2006 contest. Anyone who wants their copies back should contact her at marciess@aol.com or call her at 760-346-7956. She will be discarding them after the January meeting." The National League of American Pen Women luncheon is the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 11:30 at Palm Valley Country Club. Contact Estelle Shanley for details. 760-771-5849 or estelleshanley@aol.com. Renew Membership or become a Member - click here Writers Guild Board and Committee Members - click here Palm Springs Writers Guild P.O. Box 947 Rancho Mirage, CA 92270 PalmSpringsWritersGuild.org ^ posted by Webmaster @ 12/28/2006 11:00:00 AM Pacific Time Powered by Blogger. |
