Writers of Kern

Everything Writers Need | Writers of Kern

Natalia Corres

13 April 2019 |Featured Speaker, Jeanne De Vita – aka The Book Genie

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Jeanne De Vita │Essential Master Class in Writing Romance Novels: Arc, Beats, and Craft

Jeanne De Vita is pleased to present a master class on the essential craft of writing a romance novel. Commercial fiction is an enormous market but how do you know if your story has the structure to stand up and the soul to attract and keep readers? Developmental editor and writing instructor Jeanne De Vita will share the often overlooked essentials of romance novel craft: creating a character arc through correctly placed character beats and the essentials of the craft. Practical and accessible, this workshop will introduce new authors to concepts and tools while also challenging experienced authors to improve their mastery of the genre.

Click here to purchase tickets for the meeting online.

MFA, award-winning author, and editor with an extensive background in publishing.  Ms. De Vita is currently a Developmental Editor for Waterhouse Press, and previously worked as both an Acquisitions Editor and a Managing Editor.  She counts several New York Times best-selling authors among her clients.

16 March 2019 | Spring Conference

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To purchase tickets by mail, send check or money order, no later than February 1, 2019, to: Writers of Kern – Spring Conference 2019, P.O. Box 22335, Bakersfield, CA. 93390

Vendor tables ( 1/2 or whole) are available for members and non-members who have books or services to sell – with purchase of a conference ticket. You will find the options for vendor tables, as well as the conference tickets in the shopping cart.

Click here to purchase online.

Conference Details

When: 16, March, 2019, 8:00 am-3:00pm

Where: Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield
, CA.

Would you or your business like to sponsor this conference? Click here for more information.

17 November 2018 | Suspense Tips from a Crime Novelist

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Workshop: Suspense Tips from a Crime Novelist

Keep readers fidgeting and turning pages with these…wait for it…cliff-hanging suspense tips from crime novelist, Mar Preston.

“Suspense is important in every type of fiction,” said Mar, who is the author of six crime novels and the instructional series, Writing Your First Mystery.

On Saturday, 17 November, she’ll cover some of her best tips for injecting any fiction story with page-turning suspense. From structure and stakes to conflict and pacing—there are many places to build suspense into your story. After Mar’s workshop, you’ll know exactly how to spot them and the best techniques to pull it off.

Workshop Details

  • When: 17 November 2018, 8:45-11:30am
  • Where: Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive in Bakersfield
  • Tickets: $10 for members, $15 for guests, include a buffet breakfast and can be paid at the door or online.

July 21st, 2018 | Crafting the Perfect Pitch with Clarissa Kae

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Clarrisa Kae

Monthly Meeting July 21, 2018

The publication journey is filled with obstacles. Among them is “the pitch.” At the July 21st Writers of Kern meeting, Clarissa Kae will present a workshop that will demystify the art of a pitch. Writers will discover what a pitch is and what it isn’t–and why we authors need one.

We’ll learn the basics (what, where and how) of a pitch and then work together to reconstruct a more polished pitch. At the end of the workshop, we’ll have a Good Pitch, Bad Pitch contest, where each participant can win a prize for their Perfect Pitch.

“A Perfect Pitch is the very soul of the novel—and the crowning moment in the author’s craft,” says Kae, longtime board member and this year’s WOK president. She has worked with publishing editors and the online presence for Writers Digest and others and garnered clients for traditional and self-publishing clients before breaking out on her own.

Join us on Saturday, July 21, for this exciting topic. Register to attend here.

(You can also pay at the door.)

April Snow

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Sierra dawn,
crystals whirl, wispy– white gentle on pine branches.

Awakened children run to this surprise,
form a footpath from the cabin,
flapping arms and legs, becoming angels—

Children and parents—together—push and roll snowballs into
white belly, chest and head:
Brown branches for arms,
black briquettes for eyes,
yellow banana peel for a smile,
sliced carrots for buttons;

This snowman stands on a lawn overlooking a lake.

By end of the day, it melts bowing to the departing sun.

—Portia Choi

Portia Choi

Portia Choi hosts the monthly First Friday Open Mic and publicizes events during National Poetry Month in April. She administers www.kernpoetry.com. She published a chapbook of her poems Sungsook, Korean War Poems. Her poems are published in multiple journals. She can be contacted at portia@kernpoetry.com