Salon Speakers
The Writing Mamas Speakers Series 2010
Aspiring writers often ask — how do I get published? First you write, then you connect. The Writing Mamas Salon is blessed to be based in the Bay Area of California, a literary hotbed of writers, editors and agents, many of whom are mothers.
Their words are profoundly inspiring.
You can see them during our monthly meetings, held on the second Sunday of the month (unless otherwise noted) in an intimate setting at Book Passage in Corte Madera from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Before they come we will write, then hear a speaker, and lastly, we will work shop our writing so they can then be sold as blogs, articles, books, and more. Attending this series of speakers is exclusive to Writing Mamas members only.
The Writing Mamas Speaker Series 2010 was produced by Dawn Yun. Here’s our rockin’ line-up!
January 10: Jennifer Bayse Sanders Former Random House senior editor, and co-author of ”The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Published” and the New York Times best-seller, ”Christmas Miracles,” and some fifty other titles. She owns the book-packaging firm Big City Books Group, and is the founder of the women’s weekend writing retreat, Write By the Lake, in Lake Tahoe, California.
February 7 (Note: 1st Sunday): Regan McMahon, former deputy book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, is a writer, editor, book critic, mother of two teenagers, and blogger for Mommytracked.com and sfgate.com’s The Poop. She is the author of ”Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports.”
March 14: Adrienne Biggs of Biggs Publicity & Events is a literary publicist and events planner who represents authors, filmmakers, musicians, and arts-related organizations. Her clients include Natalie Goldberg, Judith Orloff, Joanna Macy, Roger Housden, Parker Palmer, Dan Millman, Starhawk, and George Lucas Books, plus events like Poetry for Water, Dickens Fair and the Harmony Festival.
April 25 (Note: 4th Sunday): Tammy Nam is vice president of content at Scribd, the world’s largest social publishing company. It is an online destination where writers and readers convene to discuss and share written works. Authors can easily self publish their books, communicate directly with readers, collaborate with other authors and build a subscriber base.
May 9: Nicki Richesin is the editor of four anthologies, ”What I Would Tell Her,” ”Because I Love Her,” ”The May Queen,” and the forthcoming ”Crush.” Her books have been excerpted and praised in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, Parenting, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Bust, Daily Candy, and HipMama.
June 13: Michelle Richmond is the author of the New York Times and international bestseller, “The Year of Fog,” as well as “No One You Know,” “Dream of the Blue Room,” and the award-winning story collection, ”The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress.” Her stories and essays have appeared in Glimmer Train, Playboy, The Missouri Review, and The Kenyon Review.
July 11: Andy Ross is a literary agent. Prior to that, he was the owner of Cody’s Books in Berkeley, California. He specializes in non-fiction, particularly narrative non-fiction, history, current events and journalism, but has secured contracts in other genres, as well. Andy has served on the faculty of numerous writers’ conferences and has conducted workshops on writing non-fiction book proposals.
August 8: Shawna Ryan is the author of ”Water Ghosts,” a Northern California Book Award finalist. A month in a (possibly) haunted former gambling hall in Locke, California, led to this historical ghost story about the Chinese in the Sacramento Delta.
September 12: Melanie Gideon is the best-selling author of ”The Slippery Year: A Meditation on Happily Ever After.” She is also the author of two young adult novels: ”Pucker” and ”The Map that Breathed.” A widely published journalist, she has written for the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, More, Shape, the London Times Style Magazine, and Marie Claire. She is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.
October 10: Rachel Sarah is the author of “Single Mom Seeking: Play Dates, Blind Dates, and Other Dispatches from the Dating World.” Her essays have also appeared in ”Because I Love Her: 30 Top Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Relationship” and ”Unbuttoned: Women Open Up About the Pleasures, Pains, and Politics of Breastfeeding.” She has written for Family Circle, American Baby and Salon.com.
November 14: Mary Mackey’s published works include five volumes of poetry including ”Split Ends,” “One Night Stand,” and “The Dear Dance of Eros.” She’s written twelve novels including, ”McCarthy’s List,” ”The Last Warrior Queen,” and ”The Year The Horses Came.” A screenwriter as well, she has sold feature-length screenplays to Warner Brothers and to independent film companies.
December 5 (Note: 1st Sunday): End-of-year par-tay! featuring Writing Mamas who have had books published including Cindy Bailey, ”The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Optimizing Your Fertility,” Jessica O’Dwyer, “Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir,” Jennifer Gunter, ”The Preemie Primer: A Complete Guide for Parents of Premature Babies, — From Birth Through the Toddler Years and Beyond,” and Dawn Yun, ”Calming Crafts: Creative Crafts to Inspire Your Creativity.”
The Writing Mamas Speaker Series 2009
January 25: Caroline Paul, is the author of “Fighting Fire,” her memoir about being a firefighter (which she did after graduating from Stanford) and the novel,“ East Wind, Rain.” Her identical twin sister is Alexandra Paul, star of the TV show, “Baywatch.”
February 22: Katy Butler, best-known for her memoir writing salons at Esalen Institute, is a magazine writer on psychology, meditation, addiction and her own life. She writes for MORE, The New Yorker, Mother Jones, and The New York Times.
March 22: Ethan Watters, co-founder of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto, is the author of “Urban Tribes: Are Friends the New Family.” He’s written for Details, Spin, Men’s Journal, GQ and Esquire. A movie on his book is in development at Warner Brothers.
April 26: Nancy Hancock, Executive Editor, HarperOne, a division of Harper Collins publishing. She specializes in lifestyle, health & fitness, diet, nutrition, spirituality, well being and self-help.
May 24: Julie Flynn Stiler, author of “The House of Mondavi.” Julie’s book began as a story in The Wall Street Journal, for which she continues to write. She also leads Napa wine tours. Yes, there WILL be wine during her talk.
June 28: Lindsey Crittenden, author of “The View From Below,” and “A Skeptic Learns to Pray.” She’s also written for Real Simple, The New York Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle Magazine.
July 26: Robert Shepard, of the Berkeley-based Robert E. Shepard Agency. Professional and friendly, Robert will tell you the kinds of books he’s actively seeking, how to write a great proposal and the state of publishing today.
August 23: Kemble Scott, author of “Soma” and publisher of the must read San Francisco Literary Arts Newsletter; will speak on how to create a platform for yourself so you can become known, crucial in getting an agent and/or a publisher.
September 27: Andy Raskin, author of “The Ramen King and I,” has written for Gourmet, All Things Considered, This American Life, CNN Money, and Women’s Health. Before becoming a writer he worked in business.
October 25: Katherine Ellison, author of “The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes You Smarter,” www.themommybrain.com, and the upcoming tentatively titled, “Hotheads: A Mother and Son’s Quest to Master Attention Deficit Disorder in a Distracted World.”
November 22: Melanie Gideon, is the author of two novels for young adults, “The Map that Breathed,” and “Pucker,” as well as the novel, “The Girl Who Breathed.” Her first foray into non-fiction, “The Slippery Year,” will be published this fall.
December 13: The Writing Mama’s Annual End-of-the-Year Rockin’ Party! With special guests, yummy foods baked by The Mamas, of course, wine, of course, of course, and members reading from their own writing in “The Mama Monologues.”
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