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May WOK Honors Dinner 2023

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May Honors Dinner – Members and Guests Only

It’s time to ramp up for our May Honors Dinner.  Unlike our “teaching” meetings, this meeting is a dinner, a social opportunity, and a time to honor those who have met certain goals.

Peggy Connelly Scholarship Presentation
Robert C. Hargreaves Achievement Award
Writers of Kern Active Member Pinning

If you have been traditionally published (or become so before the meeting) you will be honored with the Robert Hargreaves award.  You will receive a plaque to take home and your name will also be added to the perpetual plaque with all former recipients.  Please let us know asap if you have qualified for that honor.

If you have any questions, you can reach out to Sandy Moffett at [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

There will be opportunity bags/baskets and time to share your latest writing (five minutes each).  There may be games…and there will be a writing prompt if you would like to participate.

We look forward to seeing all of our members and their special guests.

Saturday May 20, 2023

Members $20 and Guests $20

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:00 p.m.

Hodel’s Country Dining

5917 Knudsen Drive

Bakersfield, CA 93308

(From Hwy. 99, exit Olive Dr. West. Turn right at Knudsen Dr.)

Reserve Your Seat Now!

April Featured Speaker – Jenny Margotta

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Workshop Title: Writing Incredible Dialogue

Writing dialogue can be so much fun—and so much work. When it’s done correctly, it can individualize your characters and add a delightful layer to your stories. When it’s done incorrectly . . . well, let’s not go there.  Dialogue should sound as if the reader is actually listening to real people having real conversations. People speak in partial sentences and contractions. They break all the rules of proper grammar and sentence structure. They flavor their speech with regional dialects, acronyms, foreign words, and their own personal idioms.    My tips for writing incredible dialogue will help you master the art of writing believable, character-establishing dialogue that will take your story to the next level. 

BIOGRAPHY

Editor – Jenny Margotta is an author and professional editor. As an author her portfolio includes technical articles and in-house publications written during her years in the corporate world, as well as opinion pieces, award-winning short stories, two fantasy-adventure novels, and a poignant novel about the emotional journey of a woman suffering the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease. As a professional editor, Jenny has edited over 140 full-length books and numerous short stories in a wide variety of genres. She has also formatted over 140 books and has designed more than 50 book covers.  She freelances for a Stories to Tell Books, a small publishing house on the East Coast, and works closely with the High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club, as well as various independent authors across the country. She assists writers through every step of the writing process from a basic idea to putting words on a page to holding a printed book in their hands.

Public Speaker – Jenny Margotta began performing in public at the age of three. Over the years she has both acted and directed in several stage productions. She has sung in numerous choirs and ensembles, toured Europe with a musical group, and for many organizations and in clubs, both on her own and with instrumental backup.  She freely admits she seldom passes up an opportunity to take center stage and rarely if ever needs a microphone. She is articulate, well-spoken, and knows how to get a laugh—or a tear—from an audience. She has given presentations to Seniors With Inquiring Minds, California Retired Teachers, the Hesperia Public Library, the Wrightwood Historical Museum, the Mojave River Valley Museum, Barstow Senior Citizens Center, the Ridgecrest Branch of the California Writers Club, numerous presentations for her own High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club, and has taught classes in various writing and editing techniques at the Federal Correctional Center and, through the Dorothy C. Blakely Memoir Project at the Academy for Academic Excellence in Apple Valley, California, and University Preparatory High School in Victorville, California. As an author her portfolio includes technical articles and in-house publications for the corporate world, opinion pieces, award-winning short stories, two fantasy-adventure novels, and a poignant novel about the emotional journey of a woman suffering the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently working on her next novel, Paisan, a World War II-era novel, an excerpt of which has already won an award. Her editing credits to date include editing over 140 full-length books, formatting over 100 books, and designing more than 50 book covers.  She is a freelance editor for Stories To Tell Books, a small publishing house on the East Coast, works closely with authors in the High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club, and independent authors across the country.

Ms. Margotta can be contacted at [email protected]. 

Writers of Kern Monthly Meeting and Workshop Fee. Breakfast is included.

Peggy Connelly Scholarship 2023

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The Peggy Connelly Scholarship honors children’s author Peggy Connelly, a founding member of Writers of Kern, who encouraged and supported new writers. Just as her books encouraged young readers, this scholarship continues her legacy by helping writers of children’s literature.

One $500 scholarship* has been established by Writers of Kern to provide financial support to Kern County writers of children’s literature which can be used for materials, education, promotion, publication, or expenses related to a children’s writing project. Children’s writing includes fiction, nonfiction, and verse ranging from board book, picture book, chapter book, middle grade novel and young adult novel. We invite all aspiring and established children’s authors living in Kern County to apply. (Membership in Writers of Kern is not a requirement)

Application Requirements

Peggy Connelly Scholarship application and submission information is found below.

Questionnaire

In two (2) pages or less, please answer the following questions:

  1. What do you consider your strengths as a children’s writer?
  2. What obstacles do you face as a writer?
  3. What goals have you set for yourself as a writer?
  4. If you are awarded the grant, how will you use the money to further your children’s writing and achieve these goals? (Be specific: include details and prices)
  5. Have you ever received the Peg Connelly scholarship in the past?

Style guidelines: Please address each question in a Word document, double-spaced, 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman), 1-inch margins all around. Submit two (2) copies: copy 1 with identification; copy 2, blind. Judges will read for clarity as well as creativity. Applications that do not comply will not be considered.

Writing Sample

Please submit a sample of your work in progress as described below:

  • Full text of a picture book (fiction or nonfiction); OR
  • First five (5) pages of your children’s work-in-progress project.

Writing Sample Guidelines:

Submissions must be correctly formatted in a Word document, double-spaced, 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman), 1-inch margins all around. Only works in progress that have not been previously published will be considered. Do not send illustrations. Format as a manuscript; do not format as book pages or spreads. Submit two (2) copies: copy 1 with identification; copy 2, blind. Judges will read for clarity as well as creativity. Applications that do not comply will not be considered.

Application Period

The application period is March 20 through April 08, 2023. Applications will not be accepted after 11:59 p.m., Saturday, April 08, 2023.

*Judges reserve the right to make no award if the number or quality of entries is insufficient.

Please email the following documents with the title of your manuscript in the subject line to: [email protected]

  1. Questionnaire (Identity Copy)
  2. Questionnaire (Blind Copy)
  3. Writing Sample (Identity Copy)
  4. Writing Sample (Blind Copy)

You will receive an email confirming receipt of your application.

All application materials must be received no later than 11:59 p.m., Saturday, April 08, 2023. Submissions after this time will not be accepted or recognized.

TIPS:

  1. Be specific when answering the questions and include how you will use the money to further your writing goals. General answers such as “I plan to attend a workshop” won’t score as high as specific answers such as “I plan to use $250 of the grant money to attend the Highlights middle grade novel writing workshop in June, 2021. The remainder of the money will go towards paying for a substantive edit of my middle grade novel with freelance editor Karla Writewell.”
  2. Polish your writing sample and have a friend proofread it prior to submitting.
  3. Don’t wait until the last minute to submit.

Please direct any questions to Rebecca Langston-George at the email above. (Do not wait until the last day to ask questions)

Winners will be recognized at the WOK Honors Event in May!

2023 Spring Conference | Online Ticket Purchase

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The Writers of Kern 2023 Spring Conference will be held on Saturday, March 18, at Hodel’s Country Dining, 5917 Knudsen Drive, Bakersfield, CA. Includes: Continental Breakfast, Snacks, and Lunch

Featured speakers are:

Rebecca Langston-George

How to Make a Big Splash in the Kiddie-Lit Pool: Understanding and Pitching to the Market.

Rebecca Langston-George is the author of thirteen nonfiction books for children including For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story, and The Booth Brothers: Drama, Fame and the Death of President Lincoln. Her first graphic reader on one of WWII’s most daring spies, Virginia Hall, is coming in fall 2023. California Reading Association honored her with the Armin R. Schultz Award for writing in social justice in 2016. A graduate of California Baptist University, she holds a Master of Education degree. Rebecca recently retired from teaching to devote more time to writing books and developing her own writing curriculum. She is a past president of Kern Reading Association and the Regional Advisor for the Central-Coastal California chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI CenCal), helping other writers learn the craft. She’s passionate about children’s books, writing instruction and beading funky jewelry. She writes and mostly re-writes on a treadmill desk at one mile per hour.

Website  www.rebeccalangston-george.com

Email   [email protected]  

Carla Joy Martin

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words II

By looking closely at various works of art from different time periods, we will use the images as springboards for creative writing.  This process is called EKPHRASTIC writing. Ideas for poetry, short stories, memoirs, historical fiction, scifi and even screenplays can be enhanced by this imaginative process. 

Looking at art connects the viewer with memories, the subconscious and allows creativity to flow. Writers will learn something new about artists and view familiar and not-so familiar works to gain inspiration for writing. 

Writers will also be inspired by the stories behind the paintings and artists – it is always beneficial to learn about other creative people and their trials and triumphs.  

WOK members will also enjoy hearing what other members have written when we have the sharing time.  We will learn more about each other’s personal experiences and writing styles.

Carla is a poet, piano instructor and artist living in Bakersfield, California. She is Critique Group Chair for Writers of Kern.  Carla co-hosts First Friday Open Mics with Portia Choi and interviews the participants for KernPoetry.com.  Carla received her MA in English Literature from Stanford.  She has published poems in Rabid Oak, Reaching for the Sky, Writing Covid, and other literary journals. In 2020,Carla published her first poetry chapbook, Kaleidoscope of Love, which is available on Amazon.  Carla is also Chair of the Dukes Concert Committee which puts on free community music concerts at First Congregational Church of Bakersfield.

Website: CarlaJoyPoetry.com

Twitter:

Carla Joy@CarlaJoyPoetry

Brendan Constantine

No Word For This – Poet Brendan Constantine presents a special edition of his popular workshop ‘No Word For This: Saying the Unsayable.’

Participants will engage in a series of exercises and discussions to cultivate poems that ‘stay with you.’ No experience necessary. Writers of all genres are welcome. Sufferers of Writer’s Block strongly encouraged.

Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. He is the author of numerous collections and his work has appeared in many literary standards, including Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, Tin House, Poetry Review (UK) and Poem-a-Day. He has received support and commissions from the Getty Museum, James Irvine Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. A popular performer, Brendan has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. Brendan currently teaches at the Windward School and since 2017 has been working with speech pathologists across the country to develop poetry workshops for people with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). 

Get Your Conference Tickets Here!

2023 Writers of Kern Annual Dan McGuire Blog Challenge!

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What: Our annual Blog Challenge for our writing community honoring our dear friend, and prolific blogger, Dan McGuire.

Who: Anyone can participate (membership in Writers of Kern not required)

When: Start posting Monday, Feb. 13. Final posts by Monday, May 15.

Why: To develop a habit of regular writing and sharing it with a like-minded community of writers.

Where: Your personal blog online

The Fine Print: (Requirements to finish and be recognized at WOK Honors, our annual awards and recognition dinner. To be held this year on TBA):

  • To participate, please email: [email protected] with your name and blog web address by Feb 13, 2023.
  • Write 26 posts in 13 weeks
    • Subject/theme is up to you
    • We suggest two posts per week, but there is no minimum or maximum, just so all 26 posts are completed by the end date.
  • Leave 2 comments/week on other participants’ blogs
    • Each participant will be given a list of the other participants’ blogs for easy access
  • Though not required, we prefer you share a link to your blog posts on the Writers of Kern Facebook Group page (link below). It makes it easier to everyone to read and leave comments.
  • After publishing all 26 posts, please email [email protected] to confirm you’ve completed the challenge.
    • Note: Pace yourself. While it seems simple, many will start, while not everyone will finish and that’s okay. We celebrate everyone who starts!

If you do not have a blog, now is the time to start one! This video will help: https://youtu.be/5n-ZpBo7cHI

  • If, after watching the video, you are still struggling, please contact [email protected] We have two very patient volunteers who are willing to answer your blog set-up related questions.

Questions? Email [email protected]

2023 Writers of Kern Annual Dan McGuire Blog Challenge!