Elaine Schmitz

Born into the Manolakas family as a second generation Greek-American, Elaine Schmitz helped her mom in the kitchen since she was five. By the time she married she was well on her way to mastering the art of cooking, particularly Greek cooking. A business, then fiction writer, for most of her professional life, Elaine decided the perfect combination for her family memoirs would be their stories served up with the recipes they perfected. Elaine is currently shopping around her women’s lit/new age novel and completing a second historical novel based on her family’s experience during the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s.

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Website: Elaine Schmitz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elaine.schmitz

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EDSchmitz

Steve Minniear, Author & Historian, November 20, 2021

Steve Minniear will present “Integrating Stories Into a Broader Appreciation of History” at the Tri-Valley Writers November meeting. Steve, along with a featured Tedx from Dr. Jim Ott, English professor at Las Positas College, will discuss the best ways to integrate personal stories, especially those from veterans, into the fabric of an area’s history. Steve and Dr. Ott firmly believe in getting personal emotions on the page as a conduit of healing and understanding events that shape an individual’s journey, as well as the rich historical landscape of our time.

Fact: Today, less than 1/2 of 1% of the American population serves in the military, compared to 12% in World War II. Yet every day, an average of 22 veterans commit suicide. Few of us know how to connect with these people who have made sacrifices, deferred their careers, and led a warrior’s life. As we honor veterans this month, let us also support them by helping tell and understand, without judgment, their truths.

Join us on Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton, 5115 Hopyard Road in Pleasanton. Check-in begins at 1:30 p.m. There is a two-step RSVP & Payment process:
1. An Email RSVP is REQUIRED at reservations@trivalleywriters.org by Wednesday, November 17.
2. Payment is REQUIRED (see below)
REGISTRATION DETAILS:
CWC adult members, $14; nonmembers, $18. CWC student members (ages 14-22), $6; student nonmembers, $10. Payment MUST be made via online below.

For health and safety reasons, walk-ins will NOT be allowed.

Steve Minniear is the author of Dublin, California: A Brief History (The History Press, 2018) and co-author of Dublin and the Tri-Valley: The World War II Years, (Arcadia Press, 2014) a pictorial history of Camp Parks, Camp Shoemaker, Shoemaker Naval Hospital, and Livermore Naval Air Station. He is Dublin’s historian, a board member of the Dublin Historical Society, and a commissioner on Dublin’s Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission. Also, Steve is the volunteer archivist for Dublin’s Heritage Park and Museums and the volunteer curator for the Dublin Camp Parks Military History Center. He is a member of the Society for Military History and has written over 15 book reviews for the Journal of Military History. Steve is currently working on a biography of Grace Adams East, “America’s Foremost Woman Trumpeter” of the 1930s and 1940s.

Tri-Valley Writers is committed to ensuring all attendees’ health and safety. Therefore TVW will abide by all Alameda County safety requirements.

Member Premier & Publications

James Morehead’s poem, “Gallery,” which has been composed by Deon Nielsen Price, will premiere worldwide on Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. PST, at the Presidio in San Francisco. “Gallery” will be performed by Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, accompanied by Paula Fan on piano. James will recite his poem before the performance. The program also features pieces set to poems by Dana Gioia (Poet Laureate – State of California), Charlene Derby and E. E. Cummings, and songs by Welsh and American composers. Free tickets are available. Here is the link: https://viewlesswingspress.com/2021/10/25/gallery-by-composer-deon-nielsen-price-and-poet-james-morehead-world-premiere-at-the-presidio-chapel-sun-nov-14/

Elaine Drew’s cozy medieval mystery Nun Too Clever was published on October 22, 2021. It is available in paperback and ebook. Elaine wished to thank Violet Moore for her expert and meticulous editing.

Monique Richardson’s memoir When Then Became Now was published on October 17, 2021. It is available in paperback and ebook.

Member Publications

Four Tri-Valley Writers’ members have pieces in the CWC 2021 Literary Review. Patricia Boyle for her poem, “Unidirectional Flow,” Connie Hanstedt for her poems, “Holding On for Dear Life” and “Letting Go,” Julaina Kleist-Corwin for her memoir, The Town Crier,” and Coralyn McGragor for her poem, “Rooted.” In addition, two members have their photos included: Monique Richardson’s “Concrete Love,” and Jordan Bernal’s “Kerry Coast.”

Connie Hanstedt’s poem, “Lost,” is a finalist in the 2021 San Francisco Writers Contest and will be published in the 2021 SFWC Writing Contest anthology.

Kathleen Moore’s debut novel, Elinormal, was published on October 15, 2021. Kathleen will be in conversation with Olympic Gold Medalist and NY Times Best-Selling author, Kristi Yamaguchi, on November 4, 2021 at 5:30 p.m.. Here’s a link to register.

The Poemsmiths of the Mojave High Desert have selected two of Rose Owens’s poems, “How Far to Bethlehem” and “They Pity Me in the Village,” for inclusion in the anthology, From Silence to Speech: Women of the Bible Speak Out. They had over 150 submissions and 91 poems were selected.

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