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Reading Resolutions

January 9, 2011 by in category Archives

I’m giving up on all those resolutions about losing a few pounds, keeping in touch with people better, tidying my office / bedroom / kitchen, and instead sticking with resolutions that I might actually be able to keep. The one think I can guarantee I’ll do this year is read books. Lots of them. So I’m resolving in 2011 to read some of those books and authors I’ve always meant to but never got around to, and to re-read some whose delights I’ve all but forgotten.

So, on the first-time read list for this year are Moby Dick (yes, I know I should have read it!), a couple of Herman Wouk titles, since I so loved The Winds of War in 2010, anything by Deanne Gist, some more Jennifer Weiner… The new Susan Elizabeth Phillips book. I’m halfway through Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen, so that’s solid progress on my resolution already. The Last Will of Moira Leahy, by Therese Walsh. At least one YA novel by Julie Kagawa. I like to buy authors’ debut novels, so in 2011, that’ll mean buying books by Michelle Diener, Soraya Lane and Kylie Griffin. Skinny Dip, by Carl Hiaasen, and maybe his new book, Star Island, as well.

On the re-read list are Jane Eyre, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility. Maybe War and Peace if I’m not overly daunted by the size of the thing.

Tell me what you’re planning to read this year – I’m always keen to hear your recommendations!

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January 8th Meeting – Wendy Corsi Staub and HelenKay Dimon

January 4, 2011 by in category Archives
Get your writing year off to a great start with OCCRWA’s January meeting.

***SPECIAL NOTICE***
Starting in January 2011, OCC meetings will begin at 10:00 AM, rather than 10:30, and doors will open at 9:00.

The 2011 BBB (Book Buyer’s Best) Contest deadline is January 8th! Published authors, don’t miss this chance to get your books in front of a first-round panel of librarians, booksellers, and readers, and possibly final judge Sue Grimshaw of Borders Group, Inc.! General Information, Rules and Entry Form are available on the OCC website.

MONTHLY MEETING:

OCC’s next monthly meeting will be Saturday, January 8th, at the Brea Community Center, at 695 E. Madison Way, on the corner of Randolph Ave. and Madison Way.

In the morning, New York Times-bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub presents “Ask Me Anything!”


Wendy is the NYT-bestselling, RITA-award-winning author of over seventy published novels–but her professional experience touches every corner of the publishing map. She worked in two independent bookstores during college, then moved alone to New York City to work as a book editor for a Manhattan publishing house and an account coordinator for a major advertising agency, while launching her own writing career. She has published in various genres including suspense, horror, historical and contemporary romance, women’s fiction (as Wendy Markham), television and movie tie-in, and biography. Her latest book, SCARED TO DEATH (Avon Books, January 2011), is part of an all-new suspense trilogy.

In her interactive presentation, Wendy will discuss her wealth of varied experience in the publishing world and invite questions on everything from writing, to editing, to bookselling. She invites OCC members and guests to “Ask anything!”


In the afternoon, author HelenKay Dimon presents “How Not to Forrest Gump Your Way Through Your Writing Career.”

Bestselling and award-winning author HelenKay spent twelve years in the most unromantic career ever – divorce lawyer. After dedicating all that time and effort to helping people terminate relationships, she is thrilled to write romance novels full time. Her debut novella appeared in the April 2006 Brava anthology release, WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD BOYS with Lori Foster and Erin McCarthy. Since then she has sold more than twenty-five books to Kensington, Berkley, Harlequin and Samhain. Her books have been featured at E! Online and in the Chicago Tribune, and she has had two books featured as “Red-Hot Reads” in Cosmopolitan Magazine. When not writing, she teaches fiction and romance writing at MiraCosta College and UCSD and generally wastes a lot of time watching bad SyFy channel movies.

Doors open at 9:00 AM for Ask-an-Author with Susan Squires.

See you there!
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“Going the Distance: Goal Setting and Time Management for the Writer” with Kitty Bucholtz

December 26, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as

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As you take a few moments to reflect on the past and look ahead to the future…
ARM YOURSELF WITH THE TOOLS TO MAKE YOUR 2011 WRITING GOALS REALLY HAPPEN.

“Going the Distance: Goal Setting and Time Management for the Writer“
with Kitty Bucholtz
January 10 to February 5, 2011

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassJan11.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass@yahoo.com

ABOUT THE CLASS:
Wherever you are in your career, time management is often one of the biggest challenges. Every New Year’s Eve, as the fireworks explode, we try to figure out how to make our goals into our reality. But what will work for you?

In this class, you will be presented with a variety of ways to look at goal setting and time management specifically designed for the writer. Whether you are a plotter or a pantster, this interactive course will help you design a game plan that will work for you.

You will be encouraged to share your personal time management frustrations as well as your tips and tricks for achieving your writing goals. Everyone will take away a printed personalized plan for the year, and you will know how and when to make adjustments. Though class interaction will be most helpful, this is a class that can be taken and saved for later as long as you take the time to download the many forms provided on the group website.

Start the New Year right! Forget the mistakes of the past and focus on what you can do to change your future!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Kitty Bucholtz is a writer and speaker, and a member of Romance Writers of America and Romance Writers of Australia. She co-founded Routines for Writers (http://www.routinesforwriters.com\) a web site dedicated to helping writers write more. In 2011, Kitty will receive her Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing from University of Technology, Sydney.

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassJan11.html
COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members

Coming in February 2011
“OMG I ♥ it: Writing the YA teens want to read”
with Suzanne Lazear
Find out what Teens expect out of a YA novel and how to write the YA story you want to tell in a way that appeals to today’s teens.

Check out our full list of workshop at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html

Want to be notified personally two weeks before each class? Be sureyou’re signed up for our Online Class Notices Yahoo Group! Sign up at the bottom of http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html or send a blank email to OCCRWAOnlineClassNotices-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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INPIRATION: A ROCK & A HARD PLACE

December 15, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

Sometimes I find myself uninspired. Creatively shot. My mind becomes a veritable wasteland. Think dust blowing over a dry lake bed, a potholed lunar landscape, a book signing where no one shows up. The next turn of phrase, the analogy, adverb or adjective is on the tip of my tongue but that tongue is tied. The fuel pump’s blocked, the door is closed. I am, so to speak, between a creative rock and a hard place. Giving up is out of the question, so I take a walk to jar my thoughts lose. My destination is the bustling village a mile down the hill from my house.
If I head to the beach, I will walk on white sand that rings the sapphire blue ocean which fills a horseshoe of a bay. I can see Malibu across the water and dolphin in the curl of the waves as they frolic with the surfers. There are skaters, volleyball players, cyclists and a plethora of beautiful California bodies which I would probably appreciate more if I were younger (the bodies, not the view). As it is, all those beautiful people only serve to remind me that I’m not younger.
If I go the other way I walk on asphalt, past rows of well-kept, modestly-sized ranch style houses. This is the route I usually take because there is one house that never fails to pique my curiosity. Actually, it isn’t the house but the rock that sits on the lawn in front of the house that I find so curious.
This rock is unimpressively grey, round on top and flat on the bottom. Rather than move it, the owner of the house planted grass around it. The lawn is beautiful; the rock is not. The rock is arm-span wide and a little more than knee-high. There is a stone on top of it that looks like a dinosaur egg. The rock and the stone could be one of those Boy Scout signs my brothers built in the backyard as if they believed I couldn’t find my way home. This rock is just like that but it points the way to inspiration. Whoever lives in the house makes the rock and stone his canvas and three times a year it becomes something else entirely.
In October the rock is wrapped in orange paper, the stone in green and it is transformed into a pumpkin.
Come December, the rock becomes a granite snowman with a red and green stripped scarf wrapped around its nonexistent neck.*
Ah, spring! Rock as Easter Bunny….
You get the idea.
With a little help, the rock and stone become a herald of good cheer and harbinger of happy times to come. The rock speaks of faithfulness, passing each year with the owner of the house, marking time, submitting to the ‘artists’ vision. The rock, all dressed up, is funny and pleasing to the eye and unexpected. Dressing it up is a public service and I, as a member of the public, never cease to be delighted by the ever morphing rock and his friend the stone. Here is a story told completely and without need of explanation or overt flourish.
I believe in getting lost in a narrative, in creating fantasy, in telling a good story. I believe that around every corner is a mystery or mayhem or madness or magic if we just keep our eyes open. I believe that someday I will walk by the rock and it will lament that it is too hot to wear a scarf during the California Christmas season. When that happens, I’ll pause and loosen the scarf. Maybe I’ll rest on the lawn and we’ll have a chat.
And when my mind is mired, when I feel that I am stone deaf to inspiration and that my creativity is weighed down by real life, I don’t despair. I know I will have to go no further to find either than to walk through a modest neighborhood where I will give a wink and nod to a rock, a stone and whoever is in that house who can teach me a thing or two about inspiration.

*This year another rock has been added and a hat has rounded out the ensemble. I preferred the simplicity of the rock, the stone and the scarf but I applaud the extra inspiration and creativity. Here’s wishing everyone a little inpspiration in the year to come. Happy holidays.

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Happy Holidays with Story Videos from Jina Bacarr

December 11, 2010 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

We’re at the busiest time of year…and Santa’s Elves have been busy helping me put together four episodes for my story videos called: “A Naughty Christmas Carol.”

What is a story video? you ask.

It’s an idea I came up with when I decided to make audio stories with pictures and sound effects.

You’d think it would be easy: write a short 5 to 7 minute story epsiode for my theme about a naughty christmas carol, then record the voiceover, take some pictures to reflect the characters and settings, go through my sound effects (I have a collection of more than a 1,000 sound effects!), add some royalty free music and poof!

Like magic you have a story video…

Oh, my, what fools we writers be.

Writing then rewriting the stories was the easy part.

Recording my voiceover…how many takes?

Sound effects? Have you tried to find the right grandfather clock chime to fit what’s in your mind?

Compose pictures for the video: we’re not talking one or two shots; I took hundreds of pix for my Naughty Christmas Carol videos before I narrowed them down to a few pictures.

Have you ever tried to cajole a Christmas Doll to have attitude in her picture?

At least she sat still for her photo session!

Here she is:

Click here if you’d like to watch Episodes of “A Naughty Christmas Carol”

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