A contributor to numerous journals, newspapers, magazines and anthologies, Linda Watanabe McFerrin is a poet, travel writer, novelist and workshop leader. She has served as a literary arts panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts, and was a winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her novel, Namako: Sea Cucumber was named Best Book for the Teen-Aged by the … [Read more...] about Linda Watanabe McFerrin, Bringing Sensuality to the Page
Past Meetings
Mark Coker, Smashwords – The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success
Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, will provide an information–packed primer on ebook publishing. Attendees will learn best practices to easily produce, publish, distribute and market an ebook. The presentation draws upon Mark's experience helping over 11,000 Smashwords authors publish and distribute over 25,000 ebooks. Smashwords is based in Los Gatos. The company … [Read more...] about Mark Coker, Smashwords – The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success
Becky Levine – Building a Strong Critique Group
Becky Levine is the author of The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide (Writer's Digest, 2010) and a freelance writer and editor, living in the Santa Cruz mountains. She has almost 20 years of experience with critique groups and knows both the challenges and benefits of making the critique process work. Becky is also working hard on her own writing projects for children … [Read more...] about Becky Levine – Building a Strong Critique Group
Brad Herzog and What’s the Big Idea?
Award-winning magazine writer, children's book author and travel memoirist Brad Herzog contends that the secret to good writing begins before the first line is ever written. It all starts with a good idea -- subject matter that generates enthusiasm among students, concepts that capture readers' attention, stories and angles that are simply too clever for an editor to pass up. … [Read more...] about Brad Herzog and What’s the Big Idea?
A Milestone In the Book Industry
Ransom Stephens, PhD, will discuss … [Read more...] about A Milestone In the Book Industry









