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Guest Speakers

July Featured Speaker – Jennette Green

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Workshop Title: How to Create Characters Readers Care About

Readers don’t fall in love with perfect characters—they root for characters they care about. Discover the emotional building blocks that turn ordinary characters into unforgettable ones in this practical workshop for fiction writers.

In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the emotional building blocks that create sympathetic, memorable characters. We’ll look beyond personality traits and discover how a character’s actions, emotional wounds, fears, mistaken beliefs, self-protective behaviors, wants, needs, and growth work together to create someone readers understand, care about, and remember after the story ends.

We’ll examine examples from well-known stories, discuss why certain characters capture our hearts, and learn a practical framework that you can immediately apply to your own writing.

Whether you’re creating your first character or developing an existing one, you’ll come away with the tools to build characters that readers will care about and root for, and a simple character-development framework you can use in every story you write.

Jennette’s Bio:

Jennette is an author who loves helping other authors. She began indie publishing in 2010 and has since published 20 books in both romance fiction and nonfiction. Along the way, she has helped hundreds of authors prepare the files needed to publish their books and navigate the indie publishing process.

She is also the author of Book Formatting for Self Publishers, now in its second edition, and creates writing tools, workbooks, and publishing resources designed to make the writing and publishing journey feel less overwhelming.

Author Website: https://www.jennettegreen.com
Publishing Services: https://www.selfpublishingnerd.com
Etsy Writing Tools: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PlotAndPublishStudio
Substack: https://plotandpublishstudio.substack.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plotandpublishstudio

Meeting on Saturday, July 18, 2026
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am
The general meeting begins at 9:15 am
Hodel’s at 5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield

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

April Featured Speaker – Tina Hogan Grant

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Workshop Title: Workshop for Indie Authors

Planning to publish your book? Learn the essential steps authors should take before publication—from building exposure while writing to understanding publishing choices, distribution options, and key marketing considerations.

This session condenses three of the speaker’s indie author workshops into an hour and fifteen minutes, focusing on the most important steps authors should take before publishing a book.

The presentation will address building exposure while the book is still being written, along with the importance of establishing an author website and maintaining a social media presence. It will also explore the publishing choices available to authors, including the decision between publishing wide or enrolling in Kindle Unlimited exclusivity, and how to avoid vanity publishers.

The session will also discuss distribution options, including the role IngramSpark can play, and considerations surrounding ISBN choices. Time permitting, Tina will touch on some of the ongoing challenges of marketing a book and highlight several key factors authors should keep in mind.

As time allows, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions or request additional clarification on specific topics.

Tina’s Bio:

Award-winning author Tina Hogan Grant was born in England and moved to the U.S. in 1979. She spent a decade as a commercial fisherwoman on the southern California coast before retiring to the mountains, where she and her husband built their own dream home. Tina writes women’s fiction, family sagas, small-town rural stories, and romance series—all with strong female leads who know what they want and aren’t afraid to go after it. Her writing blends emotional depth, suspense, and heartfelt relationships, drawing inspiration from her own adventurous life.

Awards:

The Reunions – Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award, Best Fiction Adventure (2021)
Better Endings – Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award, Best Fiction Adventure (2020)

Website: https://tinahogangrant.com
Facebook Group: “Read More Books” https://www.facebook.com/groups/tinahogangrant
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Tina.Hogan.Grant.Author/
Instagram: @tina_hogan_Grant
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tinahgrant
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tinahogangrant/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18477671.Tina_Hogan_Grant

Meeting on Saturday, April 18, 2026
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am
The general meeting begins at 9:15 am
Hodel’s at 5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield

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

2026 Spring Conference

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Our Spring Conference will be held on Saturday, March 21, from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm.
Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and buffet lunch are included.

SPEAKERS

Tom Foley: Anybody Can Write a Book

Too young. Too old. Too expensive. Can’t spell. Can’t type. Not good with computers. Don’t have time.

Nonsense.

This session takes on the reasons we tell ourselves we can’t write a book and replaces them with possibility. Drawing from his own experience, Tom offers practical encouragement: if he can do it, you can too. With today’s technology and a willingness to make time, writing a book is within reach.

Your story matters. Your children and grandchildren may never know that Grandma was an activist, a hell-raiser, or a saint unless you choose to write it down. At its heart, this session affirms a simple idea: everyone has a story to tell.

Thomas J. Foley was born and raised in California. He worked on the A-7 aircraft as a jet engine mechanic and troubleshooter for four years in the Navy. He earned his airframe and powerplant license, allowing him to work on private and commercial aircraft. From 1977 to 2011, He worked for the General Electric Aviation Division. He traveled extensively overseas from 1979 to 1986, including Europe, Asia, Australia, Taiwan, and Africa, supporting various airlines with GE-powered aircraft as a field service representative. From 1987 to 2003, he worked in engineering at the GE Ontario engine overhaul facility. Due to a plant closure, he transferred to a GE supervisor position at the BNSF maintenance facility in Barstow, CA, until he retired in 2011. He is a land-speed motorcycle racer and holds five SCTA land speed records and two AMA records in several engine classes. He started writing his memoir in 2004. He lives in Phelan, California, with his wife, Susan Andrusak Foley, and their five dogs. He published his memoir, Chasing the Elusive Dream, in 2022 and his second book, The Rest of the Story, in 2024.

Rebecca Langston-George: How to be a Scrappy Little Writer Writer and Pursue all the Publication Paths

Learn how to broaden your approach beyond writing for the traditional market, to also include self or hybrid publishing, and writing for the educational market or intellectual property market through work-for-hire. You’ll learn the perks and pitfalls of each path and how to juggle all three so that you really can have it all as well as build writing credits, snag an agent, and be your own boss.

Attendees will learn about different publication pathways, examine the role of an agent in their publication journey, begin evaluating ways to broaden their publishing potential, receive an informative handout, and have the opportunity to ask questions.

Rebecca Langston-George is the author of nineteen books for children including For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story and Rover Rolled Over. A retired teacher and board member of the California Reading Association, Rebecca is 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 writes, and mostly re-writes, on a treadmill desk at one mile per hour.

Rebecca Langston-George can reached here:
Website: https://www.rebeccalangston-george.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7216664.Rebecca_Langston_George
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccalangstongeorge/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/rebecca.langstongeorge

Mary Anne Em Radmacher: The Long and Short of IT and the Place Where Power Waits

This is not a traditional talk—it is an interactive practice in which everyone will engage. The session treats the room as a working “brain trust” of writing experience, energy, and ideas, with the intention of deepening that collective strength and leaving participants with a functional iteration and editing method they can immediately put into use.

Together, attendees will explore practical generative writing techniques in which one original, created piece becomes the root from which many others can grow. Participants will also examine the role of quiet, silent space in the writing process and learn an iteration technique designed to both lengthen and shorten a piece of writing, offering a flexible approach to revision.

Mary Anne Em Radmacher will also highlight a practical use of AI for writers generating original content, demonstrating how it can function as an engaged reader offering feedback on where a through line may need strengthening or where a moment of power can become more impactful. Participants are encouraged to bring paper, pen, and their creative spirit.

Mary Anne Em Radmacher is an aphorist. She’s distilled commentary into clean mission statements and aphorism for a former President, artists, leaders and business professionals. She’s published by four different houses and has self published many works through her own wholesale and retail company. She serves as the Creative Director at the Arts Council of Kern. She has a manuscript in process currently. Her years of distillation have resulted in a profound exercise that is made of many processes including reflection, iteration and editing.

Mary Anne Em Radmacher can reached here:
Website: https://maryanneradmacher.net/
Substack: https://maryanneradmacher.substack.com/

Get Your Conference Tickets Here!

Or you can pay by check in advance here: Writers of Kern, P.O. Box 22335, Bakersfield, CA 93390-2335

Saturday, March 21, 2026
Meeting begins at 8:30 am
Hodel’s at 5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield

February Featured Speaker – Robert Petersen

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Workshop Title: Turning Local History Into Compelling Storytelling

What if some of your most compelling story ideas are already waiting where you live?

Notorious Bakersfield began as a passion project fueled by Robert Petersen’s love of true crime and local history. In this talk, he’ll explore how revisiting forgotten headlines became a way to tell meaningful stories, preserve local memory, and find a unique narrative voice by writing about the place he knows best.

Attendees will learn how real events—especially those drawn from history and true crime—can be shaped into responsible, engaging stories without sensationalism. The session also offers a practical look at how personal curiosity can become an ongoing creative project, developed one story at a time.

Perhaps most importantly, this talk gives writers permission to begin. You don’t need special credentials, a large platform, or a perfect plan to tell meaningful stories. You just need curiosity, attention, and the willingness to start—right where you are.

Robert’s Bio:

Robert Petersen is a Bakersfield native who spent much of his childhood living abroad after his family moved overseas when he was five. Though he lived in several countries, Bakersfield was always home, with summers spent returning before his family resettled permanently in the mid-1980s. During the COVID pandemic, Robert began reading archived issues of The Bakersfield Californian, discovering forgotten stories about his hometown. That curiosity led to the launch of the Notorious Bakersfield podcast in June 2021 and the publication of two companion books in 2023 and 2024.

Notorious Bakersfield website: https://www.notoriousbakersfield.com

Meeting on Saturday, February 21, 2026
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am
The general meeting begins at 9:15 am
Hodel’s at 5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield

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

January Featured Speaker – Baylie Jett Mills

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Workshop Title: The Stories We Carry – Turning Memory into Creative Fiction and Nonfiction

Our memories hold powerful stories. At this meeting, we will explore techniques for using personal memories to craft compelling creative fiction and nonfiction.

Many of us love to tell stories based on our memories, so why not use those memories to craft compelling creative fiction and nonfiction? Using your own memories as fuel for stories can help guide you toward realistic dialogue and actions while providing you with the basis for plot ideas. There is no rule that you have to use your experiences to write nonfiction; thus, memories can be a great springboard to write autobiographical fiction.

In this discussion, I will be providing techniques to utilize memories for creative story writing. I have been a creative writer my whole life, but as an undergrad and graduate student, I have studied creative writing and participated in various creative writing workshop groups that have helped me hone my technique as a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. Through my discussion and upcoming Levan Institute class, I hope to help others discover seeds for stories using their own life experiences. Be sure to bring a pen and paper to the discussion so you can take part in some writing activities!

Baylie’s Bio:

Baylie Jett Mills graduated summa cum laude from Texas Tech University, earning a BA in English with a concentration in creative writing and minors in communication studies and legal studies. She recently earned an MA in English with an American literature concentration and is currently pursuing a PhD in English literature and criticism. Baylie is the author and illustrator of The Adventures of Max children’s book series. She has also had work published in Western American Literature, Sigma Tau Delta Review, WORDY by Nature, Harbinger: A Journal of Art and Literature, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. 

In addition, later in January, Baylie will be teaching a course at the Levan Institute. The class name is: WRITING: HARNESSING MEMORIES FOR CREATIVE STORY WRITING
Levan Institute Class Description: Many of us love to tell stories based on our memories, so why not use those memories to craft compelling creative fiction and nonfiction? This class will teach you how to utilize a variety of craft techniques using your own memories as fuel. Each class will begin with a discussion of creative writing craft concepts. There will be short in-class writing exercises, breakout room activities, and short take-home readings and writing activities that will be discussed during class. Students will receive instructor feedback on their writing and, in the spirit of a workshop setting, students will share constructive feedback with one another. Registration for Spring 2026 will open Monday, January 12, 2026 at 10 a.m.  Register here: https://levan.asapconnected.com/#CourseID=321168

Writers of Kern Meeting on Saturday, January 17, 2025
Breakfast begins at 8:30 am
The general meeting begins at 9:15 am
Hodel’s at 5917 Knudsen Dr, Bakersfield

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