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Guest Speakers

Inclusive Characterization: Writing ‘the other’ without Stereotypes or Appropriation

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Join the Writers of Kern on Saturday, May 21, 2022, as we welcome author Michelle Cruz Gonzales as she presents her workshop Inclusive Characterization: Writing ‘the other’ without Stereotypes or Appropriation.

This workshop will advance your skills in real-world characterization and authentic representation. Gonzales will teach you how to write diverse characters in a rich and meaningful way that humanizes them.

Michelle Cruz Gonzales is an English professor and author of the memoir, The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk which is taught in in colleges and Universities in colleges all over the United States. She has essay and fiction in anthologies by Putnam, PM Press, Seal Press, and Literary Kitchen, and she has published online in Longreads,  The Los Angeles Review of Books, Latino Rebels, and Mitu. She recently completed a satirical novel about near-future-California that secedes from the US and forces intermarriage between whites and Mexicanos for the purpose of creating a race of beautiful, intelligent, hardworking people, and she is currently at work on a screenplay.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Gonzales was a member of three all women punk bands, Bitch Fight, Kamala and the Karivores, and Spitboy. Never interested in playing music with men, Gonzales, primarily a drummer and lyricist, toured nationally and internationally with Spitboy whose lyrics focused on women and gender issues. In 2016, Gonzales published The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band, about her experiences as the only person of color in Spitboy and what it was like being a person of color in the predominately white Bay Area punk scene. Gonzales and Spitboy are featured in the 2017 documentary, Turn it Around: Story of East Bay Punk. 

Purchase in-person tickets here: $15 members and $18 nonmembers.
Purchase online tickets here: $5 Zoom.

April Featured Speaker: Deborah A. Lott

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April Workshop: Writing Childhood

Course description

When writing memoir about childhood, or fiction with a child protagonist, how do we convey a child’s point of view and experience? What are the particular characteristics of child consciousness we need to capture? Do we use a child’s language or an adult’s? If we are writing in the voice of a first person child narrator, how do we transmit information beyond what the child understands? Author of the coming of age memoir, Don’t Go Crazy Without Me and Antioch college instructor, Deborah A. Lott, addresses these questions and others to enable us to create memorable and specific child characters, and to convey the perspectives, fantasies, and dilemmas of childhood. 90 minutes with ample examples from fiction and memoir and time at the end to discuss our own work.

Purchase tickets here: In Person $15 members $18 non-members | Zoom online $5

What some distinguished writers and reviewers have to say about Don’t Go Crazy without Me      

“Deborah A. Lott’s Don’t Go Crazy without Me is funny, horrifying, and heartbreaking – and often surprisingly, all three at once. It’s an astonishingly vivid book, and to read it is to be caught up, just as the writer was, in an impossible, crazy, misfit family. Through grace and nerve and will, Deborah learns that you can’t “screw nature,” or “stop time,” as her father tried to do, “but you could turn your grief into love.” This writer’s love for her deeply screwed-up family is unforgettable. As the best memoirs do, Don’t Go Crazy without Me makes this writer’s story belong to all of us.”

Mark Doty, National Book Award Winner, author of the memoirs, Firebird, Dog Years, Heaven’s Coast, and multiple volumes of poetry.

          “Don’t Go Crazy without Me is an extraordinary book. Deborah A. Lott writes about everything – parents, children, bodies, illness, sex, writing – with a voice that is utterly clear and beautiful and funny and original. This is a book written with honesty that will both break your heart and enlarge it.”

Karen E. Bender, National Book Award Finalist, and author of A Town of Empty Rooms, Refund, and Like Normal People.

“Deborah Lott writes with an intelligence that’s simultaneously hilarious, devastating, and generous. Don’t Go Crazy Without Me turns whatever we thought a memoir should do completely on its head and makes something glorious and fresh of the form. It reminds us why we need to laugh, especially in dark times.

Paul Lisicky, author of  Later, The Narrow Door, and Lawnboy

               “Sentence by sentence, Deborah A. Lott is one of the finest writers I know. Her keen insights into the dynamics of her quirky, unforgettable family, and into family dynamics in general, make this book bound to be a classic.”

               Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters

               “Brilliantly written with grace, generosity, and a highly refined sense of the absurd, Don’t Go Crazy without Me is the harrowing account of a chaotic, bewildering childhood. This reader was enthralled from the get-go and Deborah A. Lott is now one of my favorite writers and I kiss the hem of her garment.”

               Abigail Thomas, author of  Safekeeping, Three Dog Night, and What Comes Next and How to Like It

               “A vivid, compelling, and highly provocative read, Don’t Go Crazy Without Me showcases the memoir as an art form.”

               Jody Keisner, The Adroit Journal

               “The deeper story, of Lott taking control of her body and thoughts and finding her voice, is what makes this memoir important. . . . Try it, you won’t put it down.”

               Bettina Berch, Jewish Book Council

               “Don’t Go Crazy Without Me is a fearless, fascinating story of self-discovery and reconciliation.”

               Laurel Miriam, Hippocampus Magazine

               “A candid, unsettling family portrait of madness and enduring love.”

               Kirkus Review

Biography

Deborah A. Lott is the author of two books, In Session: the Bond Between Women and Their Therapists and the recently published tragicomic memoir, Don’t Go Crazy Without Me. For twelve years, she served as Senior Writer/Editor for the UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.Her creative nonfiction and reportage have been published in the Los Angeles Times, the Alaska Quarterly Review, Bellingham Review, Black Warrior Review, Cimarron Review, the Huffington Post, Salon, Tin House online, The Rumpus, Scoundrel Time, Psychology Today, the Writing Disorder, and many other places. “The Daddy-Cure” which was published in StoryQuarterly garnered Lott’s third Pushcart Prize nomination. Her work has also been thrice named as notables by Best American Essays. She now teaches literature and creative writing at Antioch University, Los Angeles, where she also serves as faculty adviser to Two Hawks Quarterly.com.

17 July 2021 | Featured Speaker: Nancy Ellen Dodd | Story + Character Arcs = Tension

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by Srey Khoy

          Would you like to know the secret behind increased reader engagement? How would you like your story to hold the reader’s attention from beginning to end? If you answered yes, stay tuned for our fabulous speaker.

          Writers of Kern is pleased to welcome back Nancy Ellen Dodd, and her presentation “Story + Character Arcs = Tension” is sure to explore and improve the creative storytelling process. Attendees will also have the opportunity to practice these concepts during the workshop.

          What is tension? This is the energy that keeps the audience engaged; without it, you’ll have a flat story that puts your audience to sleep.

          How does tension occur? The story arc and character arc must inspire tension in such a way that the reader cares what happens to the character and whether they achieve their ultimate wish.

          When does tension occur? This occurs whenever the characters disagree, even when they have feelings for each other. Other incidents include obstacles thrown in the characters’ path.

          Here’s what you’ll learn:

  • How to develop more tension between characters.
    • How to develop a character arc with more tension.
    • How to develop a story arc, adding more tension.

You won’t want to miss out on this free, virtual workshop. Mark your calendars for July 17 at 9:15AM PST, and don’t forget to REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE.

Nancy Ellen Dodd, author of The Writer’s Compass: From Story Map to Finished Draft in 7 Stages, is also an instructor and editor. She earned an MPW (master’s in professional writing) and an MFA (in playwriting) from USC. She teaches advanced screenwriting at Pepperdine’s Seaver College and has published more than 130 articles in local and national publications. She is currently earning her Ph.D. in Global Leadership and Change. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Facebook.

19 June 2021 | Featured Speaker: Brendan Constantine | “The Art of Getting It Wrong” | Board Elections

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by Susan Baker

“Why on earth do we need more writers?”, asks Brendan Constantine, a Los Angeles based poet. Those attending the Writers of Kern monthly meeting scheduled for Saturday, June 19, 2021 will have the chance to find an answer to that question.  Mr. Constantine will be the featured guest speaker, delivering a special edition of his curiously titled workshop, ‘The Art of Getting It Wrong’. 

This event will fuel a “generative discussion” inviting writers of all genres to explore topics including:

  • How to reduce distraction and foster creative momentum
  • Understanding and getting past ‘writer’s block”
  • How to change your focus and reassess your motivation for writing – writing for self-expression vs writing for publication
  • How to balance your needs as a writer with the needs of your audience
  • Discovering your personal “style” (your greatest strengths)

During the process, participants may well discover why others need THEIR writing!

This presentation will include a lecture, discussion, group participation, a slideshow and handouts (provided digitally).  Participants are promised that they will acquire new tools with which to approach their writing. “I’m turning over all my tricks!” declares Constantine.  Further, he plans to provide participants with enough source material to enable them to conduct their own workshops to inspire even more writers.

A critically acclaimed American poet, Brendan Constantine’s work has been published in numerous publications including several full-length collections with established publishing houses, as well as viral media posts. His work has also appeared in numerous journals, including Poetry, Tin House, Best American Poetry, and Poem-a-Day. His latest work will soon be appearing in Rattle, Radar, and the Washington Square Review.  A gifted performer, Brendan performs his poetry for audiences across the United States and Europe. He has been featured on NPR’s ‘All things Considered’, as well as TED ED, podcasts and YouTube. 

In addition to publishing and performing, Brendan teaches at the Windward School in Los Angeles.  But his passion for helping others to find their own words and means of expression extends beyond the stage or classroom to writers who struggle to construct even the most basic sentence.

For the past four years, Constantine has been collaborating with linguists and speech pathologists to create workshops to help persons with aphasia (communication disorder affecting reading, writing and speech) and traumatic brain injury. He states, “I have seen firsthand the usefulness of the very methods I plan to share in my lecture. By spending a little time with our first motivations to write (our original ‘boldness’), by rising to meet distraction and reluctance, I’ve witnessed astounding results.”

The Art of Getting It Wrong, is an online event, hosted by The Writers of Kern.  It is open to the public and free of charge.  Pre-registration is required and is on a first come, first served basis.  To sign up, go to: EVENTBRITE

Brendan Constantine

To find out more about Brendan Constantine and sample his work, go to: brendanconstantine.com

17 April 2021 | Featured Speaker: Dean James (Pen name: Miranda James) | “How to Kill People for Fun and Profit”

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Penning the murder mystery or How to kill people for fun and profit

If you enjoy curling up with a hot cocoa in one hand and a great who-dunnit novel in the other, you will want to attend the next Writers of Kern Monthly Meeting. 

Scheduled for Saturday morning, April 17, 2021 and presented online free of charge via Zoom technology, WOK will feature best-selling cozy mystery author Dean James, better known to his fans as Miranda James. James will be sharing his fun and informative presentation, “Killing People for Fun and Profit”!

This will be a great opportunity to gain insight into the mystery writing and publishing worlds as James draws from his success both as an author, and 30 years of experience as general manager of Houston’s renowned mystery specialty bookstore, Murder by the Book. Even if writing mystery stories is not your thing, all writers and would-be authors could benefit from attending this workshop.

Attendees at this event will learn about:

  • The basics of strong writing regardless of genre
  • The basics of writing for publication
  • How to juggle writing multiple mystery series
  • How bookstores operate and how small presses and self-published authors can best work with them

Register for this free event by going to Eventbrite (CLICK HERE)

Dean James

James has authored and co-authored several mystery series under various pen names including:

  • The Southern Ladies series as Miranda James
  • The Cat in the Stacks series (featuring librarian Charlie Harris and his famous Maine Coon cat, Diesel) also writing as Miranda James
  • The Simon Kirby-Jones series as Dean James
  • The Wanda Nell Culpepper series as Jimmie Ruth Evans
  • The Emma Diamond series as Honor Hartman

James is currently a medical librarian at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi.  In addition to his award-winning success as the author of 30 mystery novels (his books have appeared on the New York times and USA Today bestseller lists several times), he has published articles on library science, the history of science and medicine, as well as co-authoring or co-editing six mystery reference titles and one short-story anthology.

To find out more about Dean James and his books, you may want to explore the following links:

https://www.facebook.com/dean.james1
https://www.facebook.com/mirandajamesauthor
https://www.facebook.com/DieselHarriscat
https://www.facebook.com/Cozy-Mystery-Share-A-Palooza-1438002186419017