OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER of the

BERKELEY BRANCH of the

Write Angles
Write Angles CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB

April 2010

tAbLe of ContentS
The View From the Helm ..........2
April Speaker:
Francine Thomas Howard ........3
Upcoming Events ......................4
Upcoming Workshop
Marianne Rogoff ........................4
Author Interview:
Francine Thomas Howard ........5
Member News .........................6
Tidbits .....................................7
Shop Talk: It’s a Long, Long Trail
a-Winding ..................................7
Member Marketplace ...............9
on tHe CoveR:
Distinguished Writers of California
Allen Ginsberg
1926 – 1997
Allen Ginsberg moved to San
Francisco in the 1950s and
defined the Beat Movement with
his poem Howl. He became a
literary voice for change in the
1960s on the worldwide stage.
Throughout his life he collected
knowledge AS some collect wealth.
“Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of
night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the
private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg
APRIL 2010
The View
From the helm
““I write for me, for the pleasure of
becoming a better writer.”
Early in the days when I first
connected with the California Writers
Club, I received the most valuable lesson I ever received as a
writer.
Even as a new club member I understood the time was past
for much chance of fame and fortune for any young writer. Yet
the conversations in the writers’ club were about publishers,
agents, and platform; about workshops, books on writing, and
other keys to getting published. The goal for most writers I knew
was to see their work in print. Most were prepared to pony up
their own cash to make the splash.
At a critique group where Barbara Ruffner was offering a
chapter from an early draft of her mystery novel, I asked her what
publishers she planned to submit to.
“None,” she answered. “Huh?” didn’t escape my lips. My
blank stare was question enough for Barbara to continue.
“At this point I’m not interested in the hard work of shopping
for an agent or dealing with the tug of war of negotiation with a
publisher or hawking myself to bookstores and author events.”
“So why do you write?”
“I write for me, for the pleasure of becoming a better writer.
And for the camaraderie of my friends in the critique group.”
So, today, I thank Barbara for this valuable perspective so
early in the rebirth of my writing avocation. Barbara gave me
permission to take the pressure off myself—to enjoy writing for
its own sake. How great not to be distracted by wondering what
to do with the finished manuscript while struggling with the first
draft. How much less joyful writing would be without that lesson.
* * * *
Kristen Caven, the stellar production editor of Write Angles,
needs to step down from her post on the newsletter staff. Life
sometimes intrudes on having fun. Kristen’s graphic arts
business and the launch of her own book in early May, as well
as her responsibilities in family management, have forced her to
make difficult choices about her time management. After taking
continued next page...
Write Angles • 2
APRIL SPeAKeR: vIeW
fRAnCIne tHomAS HoWARd Continued....
the look and
feel of Write

A pAGe FROM OUR Angles to a

new, high level,
WReTCheD pAST Kristen tells me
that she must
From the first page of Francine Thomas Howard’s divest herself
debut novel, Page from a Tennessee Journal, we of this most-fun
sense the sure hand of an author who knows how activity.
to write compelling historical fiction. Indeed, the So we
first paragraph itself sets the stage for the drama are in serious
to be played out in this book, a recent publication of search mode for a
AmazonEncore. We’ll have a chance to ask Francine about her successor. Kristen
exciting work at the April 18 meeting, when she’ll join us as the will help with the transition
featured author in an expanded Author Event. Trading insights and be available for advisory
with her fellow writers is nothing new for Francine, member of phone calls. Production of
the California Writers Club, Berkeley Branch, and a long-time Write Angles will be suspended
participant in our 3rd Saturday Support/Critique Writers’ Group. until someone can take over
In the novel, set in rural Tennessee in 1913, we hear the the task.
language of the time, see cornmeal in the larder of a makeshift As we groan and wring
kitchen, and smell what’s cooking in the stew pot. We appreciate our hands over the absence of
the plot and pacing of the novel. Events leading to a life-or-death this signature feature of the
climax are so well crafted and thoughtfully arranged that Page Berkeley Branch, let us be
often reads like a thriller, combining brutal inevitability with grateful for the wonderful work
surprise. Kristen has produced for us
We find the novel’s greatest strength in its characters. Two and wish her well with her new
couples, one black, the other white, emerge as four distinct book.
individuals trapped by the expectations of the society they live —AL Levenson, President
in. Annalaura, a black woman working on her own as a tenant
farmer on the mid-forty of a tobacco farm, her husband John
Welles long absent, and Alex, the white landlord, married to Eula,
cross the color line with dangerous results. Their behavior and MeeTING
that of the people around them are consistent with then prevailing pROGRAM:
attitudes about race and gender, despite the abolishment of
slavery years before. With great skill, Francine probes beneath 1:00 p.m.
the assumptions of the time to bring out the flawed humanity of Library doors open
players in her drama and reveal the gamut of their experiences.
We can’t help but care about them, even those whose actions 1:05-2:00 p.m. Marketing
seem despicable to us. group meeting
At the April meeting, though we’ll ask Francine how 1:05-2:00 p.m.
writers of historical novels do their research, a more interesting Social time for members
question might be: how did you find the empathy to portray your
and newcomers
characters the way you did?
—David Baker 2:00-2:15 p.m.
Club meeting,
ApRIL MeeTING: announcements
Sunday, April 18, 2010, 1-3:30p.m. 2:15-3:30 p.m.
West Auditorium of the Oakland Main Library Author Event and Book
at 125 14th Street near the Lake Merritt BART station. signing
Enter directly from Madison Street between 13th & 14th Streets.

APRIL 2010 Write Angles • 3

 mARK YouR
CALendAR
for these upcoming
berkeley branch events

April 11, 2010, WORKSHOP,

marianne Rogoff, Travel Writing

April 18, 2010. AUTHOR

EVENT, francine Howard,
Page from a Tennessee Journal.
Launch party for her debut
novel.

May 8, 2010 WORKSHOP, APRIL WoRKSHoP:

Wesley Gibson, Writing effective
dialogue.
mARIAnne RoGoff
Author, editor, teacher, workshop leader, retreat
May 16, 2010, AUTHOR EVENT,
facilitator.
Karin Ireland, The Job Survival
Instruction Book.

May 16, 2010, SPEAKER,

Ransom Stephens, How The
God Patent made it to print from
an eBook.
May 23, CWC BB Fifth Grade
Story Contest awards
June 20, 2010, SPEAKER,
author molly Giles.
other events of interest:
April 24, BLOGGING
WORKSHOP, sponsored by the
South Bay Branch. For info:
calwritersclub@gmail.com
April 25, AUTHOR READINGS,
and tours of Joaquin Miller Park
sponsored by Friends of Joaquin
Miller Park. (See next page.) For
info: calwritersclub@gmail.com
Travel Stories Workshop
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Travel stories describe meaningful encounters between
self and place. Document the shift in your sense of who you
are as you respond to being in new territory. Relate personal
memories to the collective experience of locals. Create portraits
of the people, places, and things you find on the journey.
$9 CWC members / $29 nonmembers.
Seating is limited.
To register, mail your check to CWC-BB, Box 6447, Alameda,
CA 94501. Registration must be received by Friday, April
9. Include email address and telephone number with your
registration. The workshop will take place at a restricted-access
venue in Alameda. Location will be sent in a separate email.
Questions? cwcworkshops@gmail.com

UpCOMING WORKShOpS
May 9, 2010 Wesley Gibson, Writing Effective
Dialogue
To recommend or request a speaker, contact Risa Nye
at cwcworkshops@gmail.com.

APRIL 2010 Write Angles • 4

AutHoR InteRvIeW: berkeley branch
Francine Thomas howard mARKetInG
AL interviews Francine Howard, Berkeley Branch member whose GRouP
debut novel, Page from a Tennessee Journal, launches this month. April 2010 Report

AL: When did you first know you wanted to write? The goal of CWC BB Marketing
FRANCINE: I know I’m supposed to say, “Before I was weaned Group is not to market books
to the cup,” but I am an oddity. I never “wanted” to be a but to educate authors how to
writer. I could always write, mind you. I recall churning market their work. With the
out a novella at twelve, but I don’t think that was because Internet, the opportunity to reach
I had a burning desire to become an author. I was an A a vast audience is great, but
student in English. It just came easy to me, but I never
the challenges of marketing are
took a separate creative writing course. In my freshman
English class at San Jose State, I remember being called complex and intertwined.
aside at the end of the session by the instructor. He asked In February, the group focused
if I had ever considered becoming a writer. I was insulted. on delivering an elevator speech,
My interest was health care. I spent the next three decades
that thirty seconds (or less) pitch
practicing occupational therapy, not writing. I was very
to interest book buyers or sellers.
happy with my career choice, and now I look forward to
chapter two of my life. Several members stood and
presented their pitch and received
AL: How much of your writing is for your own pleasure and how
feedback.
much is for your readers?
FRANCINE: The answer is 100 percent for both. My “readers” are At the March meeting, the topic
family, friends, and future generations. I write because I focused on blogging and methods
want to pass on stories that I think should be preserved. to attract an audience and boost
I very much honor those ancestors who paid for my page rank for search engines.
opportunities with their own struggles. It is for them and There’s a lot more to learn
the future that I write. And, yes, telling the stories they about blogging, so this topic will
could not gives me tremendous pleasure. continue in April.
AL: Where did your first inspirations come from? Do they still
come from the same place? The CWC BB is still accepting
members to attend the NCIBA
FRANCINE: Sometimes I wonder if I
have the most unusual family Trade Show. The deadline
in America, or if all families live for reserving a seat ends
with such odd circumstances April 18. To find out more
and just keep quiet about them. about the NCIBA Trade
The secrets in my family, and Show, visit the CWC BB
in that of my in-laws, could Marketing Blog at http://
keep me in the book-writing cwcberkeleymarketing.
business for decades. I guess wordpress.com/. If you do
I’m lucky. Some of those stories not know the password for
reach into the top levels of the password-protected area,
American aristocracy (the U.S. ask.
presidency), and also into the
British aristocracy (look up The Marketing Blog has
the Howard family in British been designed to support the
genealogy). Even if the tales learning process.
are not directly related to me,
something in what I see or hear The BB MG is co-chaired by
can trigger an entire book in Alon Shalev ((alshalev@yahoo.
my head. So far, those stories are com), and Lloyd Lofthouse
still coming. Right now I’m working on a five-book series (lflwriter@sbcglobal.net).
about three sisters kidnapped from Timbuktu and sold into
slavery in the Americas.
continued next page...

APRIL 2010 Write Angles • 5

HoWARd Continued...

AL: What part of the craft comes easiest to you?

FRANCINE: I am learning the craft of writing as I put my stories on
Member News
paper—a sort of learning on the job endeavor. I find writing CWC BERKELEY BRANCH
characters and dialogue to be the most fun. I love climbing MEMBERS: Please send Write
into the heads of my characters to see what makes them Angles all the news about your
tick. I really like it when the man or woman is usually life in the world of art, letters,
thought of as a villain—like Alex in Page from a Tennessee and literature, however it
Journal. It’s a fun challenge to show why the men and expresses itself. Your efforts and
women I write about decide to do what they do, be their
accomplishments inspire courage
actions good or evil.
in others. writefox@aol.com
AL: What part does not come so easily?
FRANCINE: I am extremely lucky that I have pre-told family stories fRAnCIne HoWARd was
or dreams just waiting for me. These already have a story interviewed by Regan McMahon,
arc and a built-in plot. I just have to put them down on
San Francisco Chronicle reporter,
paper. Plotting is my nemesis. I do not think I could plot
for a feature article on the changing
out a story on my own. I hold the strongest admiration for
writers who can construct a decent plot. face of publishing. Also, a review for
her novel, Page from a Tennessee
AL: Just a minute. You can’t plot? Where did Page from a
Journal, will be in USA Today.
Tennessee Journal come from?
FRANCINE: Plotting really is my nemesis. I can’t plot. I am able CARoL neWmAn-WeAveR’s book,
to write novels because stories pop into my head pretty Radical Feminist in a Topless Band,
much full-blown. I’ll hear or see something that strikes me is now posted on Scribd.com. Carol
as curious. Then I’ll forget about it. Later on—sometimes is soon to self-publish through
months, sometimes years—that thing that felt a little bit Amazon’s Print on Demand and
off comes into my head with an answer. That’s what I turn Kindle. Member News will keep you
into novels. posted about the dates..
AL: But you have a several-book series in the works?
KRISten CAven’s memoir,
FRANCINE: This Timbuktu series is based on my DNA/genealogy
Perfectly Revolting: My Glamorous
research. My DNA “cousins” and I share a common African
ancestress. Some of them identify as white descendants of Cartooning Career, comes out on
early Spanish settlers (conquistadores out of New Mexico). May 4, the twentieth anniversary
Others formed the great Creole families of Cane River in of the Mills College Student Strike,
Louisiana. My branch identifies as African-American and to be commemorated at Mills.
Cherokee. I started with the last book (yes, I know I’m Kristen’s book contains Inside
doing it backwards). I’m almost finished with that one. I’ve the Mills Revolution, her 1990
already got a detailed outline of book one, and I will write it cartoon history of the strike, and
next. Books two, three, and four will follow the lines of the has a great blurb from herstorian
three sisters. Trina Robbins (The Brinkley Girls,
AL: Is there a writer who is a hero or heroine to you? From Girls to Grrlz, and The Great
FRANCINE: In my younger days, I was a voracious fiction reader. I Women Cartoonists), once a speaker
loved historical fiction, and James Michener was my hero at the Berkeley Branch. On May
(until Chesapeake, that is). I also liked James Clavell. But 27, Kristen will do two Oakland
then I entered a MPA program at USF. One early instructor booksignings: at the Dimond
was such a stickler for reading every word on a printed Curves in the morning, and at
page and coming up with ten different nuanced versions of Laurel Book Store
its meaning, that he killed that lost-in-the scene rapport in the evening. Visit
I had with fiction. It has taken me a long time to get it www.kristencaven.
back. I’ve just finished Zetta Elliott’s A Wish After Midnight
com to join her
and enjoyed it. Right now I am finishing up Wench, Dolan
Perkins-Valdez’ debut novel that is stirring such a buzz in mailing list and
the publishing world. I am thrilled, of course, that some learn more.
Page reviewers are comparing Wench to my novel. I am —Anne
Anne Fox
enjoying this second life of reading-for-pleasure.
AL: And I look forward to enjoying your second life as a writer.

APRIL 2010 Write Angles • 6


Tidbits
California Writers Club
Statewide Contest
for Time Capsule
August 25, 2010 (174th birthday
of Bret Harte, one of California’s
first great storytellers) is
the deadline to submit your
prediction about the future of
print media, to be considered
for the CWC Centennial Time
Capsule to be opened in 2035
on the occasion of Mark Twain’s
bicentennial.
For submission and more
details, go to www.calwriters.org,
click on the Newsroom tab, and
open the September 30, 2009
media release with the title,
Writers Club Time Capsule Calls
for Essays on the Future of Print
Media.
Invitation to Read
Your Poetry
The California Writers Club
invites poets and readers to join
in the celebration of the 100th
anniversary of CWC. Poets may
bring their own work to read or
can read the work of other poets.
Readings of Joaquin Miller
and nature-based spirituality
and eco-poetry are especially
welcome.
The poetry group will meet on
Sunday, April 25, at 12 noon, by
the fountain at the base of the
Woodminster Amphitheater.
Obtain directions for the Joaquin
Miller Park from MapQuest or
Google to: Joaquin Miller Park,
See You There!
Oakland, CA 94602-2646
Parking is available on Joaquin
continued on next page...
APRIL 2010
SHOP TALK #3
The Story of a Novel:
IT’S A LONG, LONG TRAIL
A-WINDING
by Thomas Burchfield
In the last issue of Write Angles, I related how I’d finished Draft
#2 of that upcoming roof-smashing bestseller you are—of course—
all going to read, Dragon’s Ark. After ending a mini-vacation from
writing, I read through Draft #2 to see what new hell I had wrought
upon the computer screen. Here’s what I learned:
1.
Draft #2 came to a length of 618 pages, or around 174,000
words. At least 130 pages, or around 35,000 words, would
2.
have to go.
As far as writing—execution, style, control of narrative,
spelling—your correspondent was still attending the
Danielle Steel School of Keyboarding Your Way to
Bestsellerdom. Bad writing abounded—misspellings and bad
sentences like repeated stakes through my heart. I found
no howlers, but there was plenty to make me roll my eyes.
Discontinuities remained: I’d only settled recently on the name
of the eponymous geographic feature, while a couple of minor
characters changed their names throughout. Does my cat make
a cameo appearance in this book or not? (Eventually, I would
3.
decide yes.)
I did detect significant improvements. The plot and story
were much clearer, more focused and coherent. The time
and place were set, as were the major characters and
most minor ones. I had all the basic plot I needed. I saw where I
might snip away a few knots and strands and sew together a few
others to spin a swifter, more graceful yarn. As I read Draft #2,
I graded each chapter, A through F. I gave myself mostly Cs, a
couple of Fs, and more Bs and As than I expected to find. At least
one chapter had leapt from what would have been a D-minus to a
B-plus, simply by my radically rethinking a character. The ending
still thrills me enormously, though, of course, I might be wrong.
And if I don’t get the middle section right—or right enough—
4.
readers will never get there.
Research: One of my major characters is a rural doctor,
but don’t expect a Tom Clancy novel with entire chapters
of step-by-step instructions on brain surgery and broken
legs. Nevertheless, I need those scenes to ring true when the
doc practices his medicine, not only in terms of basic medical
procedure, but also in terms of his role in his community. I
read several books on the life of rural physicians and had a real
rural doctor read the relevant chapters, an extremely helpful
experience. Oddly, even Wikipedia turned out to be useful.
continued next page...
Write Angles • 7

tidbits Continued....
Miller Road.
Readers and all celebrants may
bring the eats and drinks of their
choice, perhaps to share, then
stay a while.
For information, write Vernon
Dolphin at VDolphin709@
comcast.net. Inform him of the
length of your presentation
so that he can schedule you
on the program. You are also
warmly welcome to come to the
celebration as a listener.
CWC Writer’s
Memorial Grove
Have you ever wondered WHERE
the CWC Writers Memorial
Grove is, and how it got there?
On Sunday, April 25th, come to
Joaquin Miller Park and learn
how the CWC helped shape
Oakland’s inspiring, historical,
and interesting park. Families
are welcome to Walkin’ in
Joaquin’s Footsteps, starting
at 10a.m. Learn more at
http://www.oaklandnet.com/
JoaquinMillerPark/Friends-of-
Joaquin-Miller.asp.
“I have a new method of
poetry. All you got to do is
look over your notebooks...
And think of anything
that comes into your head,
especially the miseries... Then
arrange in lines of two, three
or four words each, don’t
bother about sentences ...”
—Allen Ginsberg
APRIL 2010
5.
shop talk Continued....
Other research: One supporting character is a county
deputy sheriff, so I had to learn more about his work, too.
Another supporting character is a fanatical rock climber,
so I had to do some reading to capture the experience and
some—but not too much—of rock-climbing lingo. Still another
character lives on the dole (among his many other challenges
and problems), so how might the welfare system work in such a
situation? And then, there’s all that wonderful flora and fauna
that make the eastern High Sierra the wondrous place it is.
Research, I admit, is not my number-one strength. The
reading part I’m good on, but, like many writers, I can choke
when it comes to approaching strangers and asking questions.
I feel like Ken Tobey when he opens that door in the movie The
Thing (the good version). What lies in wait behind that door?
“None of your business!” or “Ohhh, I get it! You’re gonna put me
in your stupid book so I look like a moron! Here’s my middle
finger! How’s that for information?”
Interesting note: I’ve read that one of the greatest genre
writers ever, the late Donald Westlake, claimed he hated research
and actually sourced it out! I have mixed feelings about that. I
also tended to fudge a little regarding my book’s subject matter
when talking to people (though I don’t now). As anyone who has
written supernatural fiction might know, of all genres, outside of
pornography, it can elicit the most hostile reactions, no matter
how many allusions you toss around to Shakespeare, Poe, or
Nathaniel Hawthorne (“A Dracula novel!? Uh-uh! No way! Step
back or I’ll break your nose with this door!”)
As I plowed on through Draft #3, the characters and their
world became more tightly knit. They started acting less like
hapless stick puppets and more decisively, with deeper, stronger
emotion and clearer purpose, with more flesh and blood, mind
and spirit. I cut several chapters only good for curing insomnia.
Some sections still seemed too long, with too much information
packed into too small a space.
Another field trip disguised as a camping excursion to lovely
Alpine County, California, lay ahead. Maybe “The End” of Draft
#3 waited just up ahead, over that hill yonder.
And then the next step: taking this Dragon’s Ark for a
spin by presenting it to a select sliver of the reading human
population—both writers and nonwriters—to see if I’ve
successfully transferred the world and its creatures in my
imagination into the minds and dreams of those to whom I offer
them.
But I’ll save that story for later.
t
April is National
Poetry Month!
Find local events (and poems for
every occasion) at www.poets.org
Write Angles • 8
 Member Marketplace beRKeLeY CWC
boARd of dIReCtoRS
SERVICES FOR WRITERS
Saturday Literary Salons * President: AL Levenson
Weeklong Themed Writers
Studio Retreats Vice President: Dave Sawle
Community Ed Classes: Vice President/Marketing: Lloyd
Memoir, Fiction, Travel Lofthouse
Stories, Griefwriting
Writer Coaching: Approaches Secretary: Jane Glendinning
to Starting, Overcoming
Obstacles, Finishing Treasurer: Carlene Cole
Manuscript Editing: Membership: AL Levenson
Developmental Feedback,
Hands-On Line Editing, Publicity Chair: Linda Brown
Thomas Burchfield
Proofreading
Writer/Professor Marianne Program Chair: OPEN
Rogoff * morogoff@gmail.com Workshop Chair: Risa Nye
* 415.455.0781 Editing & Writing Services
Newsletter Editor: AL Levenson
Tel. (510) 547-1092 • Cell (510) 541-1991
Copyeditor: Anne Fox
Kristen Caven
Newsletter Design/Production:
Kristen Caven
Webmaster: Lloyd Lofthouse
Delegate to Central Board: Linda
Brown
Delegate to CWC-Norcal: Lloyd
Lofthouse
5th Grade Story Contest: Lucille
Bellucci
To include your services in Member
Marketplace, send a scan of your business WestSide Story Contest: Tatjana
card or a short ad to calwritersclub@gmail. Greiner
com, with “for Members Marketplace” in the
www.kbc-design.com
title.
510-534-1415
kbc@littlepig.com

Cover image: Allen Ginsberg at the Miami Book Fair International of 1985. Courtesy The CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB
www.berkshirereview.net. • Image on page ? from www.transitionsabroad.com. is dedicated to educating members
and the public-at-large in the craft
of writing and in the marketing of
their work. For more information,
“Come leave your tears: a brief farewell. The beast visit our Web site at cwc-berkeley.
com.

With many heads butts me away. “ Copyright © 2010 by the California

Writers Club, Berkeley Branch.
All rights reserved. Write Angles
- William Shakespeare—Coriolanus, act 4, sc. 1, l. 1-2. is published 10 times a year
(September-June) by the California
Writers Club, Berkeley Branch,
on behalf of its members. CWC
assumes no legal liability or
of the

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APRIL 2010 Write Angles • 9