During our semi-annual Planning Retreat yesterday, we got down to business, but, as you can see by this snapshot, laughter trumped the agenda. Judith Marshall, Sarbjit Rai, and I were not the only ones in the group laughing, we just got caught in the act by Teresa with her candid camera.

I especially like this photo, because it will be a great reminder, when I’m deep in overload, that we truly do have so much fun interacting, networking, planning, and hosting events. And this is exactly why we choose to belong to WNBA-SF, along with the fact that as a national organization our influence reaches far and wide connecting women and men to the greater literary community across the country, as well as, promoting literacy world wide as a member of the United Nations and UNICEF.

Speaking of literacy, September is National Literacy Month, so we begin our fall season of events with Zen and the Art of the Book Deal and the Great Book Giveaway. October promises lunch with a bestselling author during National Reading Group Month, and November offers members the extra benefits of Authors’ Showcase & Silent Auction, just in time for holiday gift buying.

I will detail the teaser notes, above, by sending each of you a Fall Calendar of Events in the near future, which will also be posted on our website and sent out via email.

Come to the August 5th meeting at the San Francisco Main Library (6-8 p.m.) and have a good time making WNBA-SF your own!

Lynn Henriksen, President

http://www.telltalesouls.com

(l-r) Lisa Meltzer Penn, Birgit Soyka, Adele Langendorf, Pam Reitman, Mary Hower, Joe Ramelo, (seated l-r) Kate Britton, Juliane Cortino, Mary E. Knippel

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the WNBA-SF Open Mic Reading at Keplers last Friday. Members and guests networked, sharing what they are working on and milestones they had achieved. Both published authors and writers with works-in-progress took us on a creative journey with their inspirational and moving pieces. Subjects ranged from the frozen tundra of Alaska, classroom interactions, the glories of gardening, the courage to face life’s challenges, battling breast cancer and more.

My sincere thanks on behalf of WNBA-SF to Keplers for providing us with such a welcoming environment, to everyone who joined me at the podium, and to those who came to witness our readings.

Mary E. Knippel,

WNBA-SF Open Mic Chair and Immediate Past President

COME ONE, COME ALL to help us Celebrate the Joy of Shared Reading…

By Lynn Henriksen, President WNBA-SF

 …and the chance to win delicious raffle prizes donated by several neighborhood merchants, including Pacific Catch, Max’s, Ciao Bella, Izzy’s, and Book Passage. We’ll also toast our 10 sister chapters around the country with a wee bit o’ the bubbly and sparkling water.

Three superb novelists are the main attraction, of course, for our 3^rd annual National Reading Group Month event at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Thursday, October 15^th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

I promise you that the evening will be spirited, informative, and entertaining with Tanya Egan Gibson, C.W. Gortner, and Kathi Kamen Goldmark front and center. C.W. Gortner will bring you insight into his intriguing and highly adventurous historical novel, The Last Queen, and what’s next from him. Kathi will read about one fabulous character (her health-food-obsessed mom, Betty) from both a fictional and a nonfiction perspective. Kathi warns, “Bring your own wheat grass juice.” Tanya will moderate the evening, read, and talk about writing her critically acclaimed debut novel, How to Buy a Love of Reading, where you’re sure to fall in love with reading all over again. We aren’t suggesting the love of reading is something to be bought, but we know you’ll be inspired to buy these authors’ praise-worthy books.

      Many thanks to our partners for this event: Book Passage for their steadfast support of authors,  books, and writing; and Whole Foods Market of Mill Valley for providing specialty foods. 

 ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Tanya Egan Gibson’s debut novel, How to Buy a Love of Reading, was release in May, 2009. She was born and raised on Long Island’s south shore, the“Egg”-less side of the island Fitzgerald didn’t write about. She earned a B.A. in English from Cornell University and an M.A. from the University of Washington. She began writing How to Buy a Love of Reading ten years ago, while teaching high school English. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two children.

Kathi Kamen Goldmark is the author of And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You, a novel; co-author of The Great Rock & Roll Joke Book, and Mid-Life Confidential: the Rock Bottom Remainders Tour America with Three Chords and an Attitude; and has contributed essays to several anthologies—including Feed Me! (edited by Harriet Brown). With her husband, Sam Barry, she writes a monthly aspiring-writer-advice column in BookPage called “The Author Enablers.” A 2007 San Francisco Library Laureate and winner of the 2008 National Women’s Book Association award, Kathi is the founder and a member of the all-author rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders, president and janitor of “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Records, Author Liaison for many high-profile literary events—including Book Group Expo and the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library annual Laureates Dinner—and the producer of the nationally-distributed radio show West Coast Live.  

C. W. Gortner is the author of The Last Queen (Ballantine Books). This book takes a look at the life of Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, and it is highly praised by Publisher’s Weekly. Half-Spanish by birth, Gortner holds an M.F.A. in writing, with an emphasis on historical studies, from the New College of California and has taught university courses on women of power in the Renaissance.  He was raised in Málaga, Spain, and now lives in California.  He is currently at work on his next book, which is about Catherine de Medici and will be released by Ballantine Books in 2010.  Visit him at www.cwgortner.com.

REVIEWS OF AUTHORS’ BOOKS:

Our own Elisa Southard showered this praise on Goldmark, “The novel, And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You by Kathi Kamen Goldmark, was written with a lot of style. Goldmark explored family issues with wonderful rhythm, compassion, and humor, as the protagonist, Sarah Jean Pixlie, gets her big break in the country music scene. And if you love Northern California, this is a local read that will take your imagination far.”

My reviews for Gibson and Gortner:

Captivating Throne of Passion, Juana la Loca of Spain: Juana’s courage, strength, and passion amazed me as The Last Queen came of age so vividly under C.W. Gortner’s admirable pen. This historical novel is fraught with crushing battles of power and chilling intrigue throughout the courts of her parents, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, and of her husband, Philip of Flanders, as the Infanta of Spain attempts to take her rightful place on the thrown she inherited from her mother.

My soul was struck as I witnessed…click here for complete review.

Can’t buy me love, no, no, no, no: I would characterize Tanya Egan Gibson’s delicious debut novel, How to Buy a Love of Reading, as love stories between three couples even though ‘love story’ isn’t the premise of her book. Or is it?  But these love stories come with a twist, wherein the power of choice prevails as the characters literally rewrite their stories, their lives, and their fate. Actually there are three tales of love within two parallel stories.

In this is complex novel Gibson’s characters are very much…click here for complete review.

WNBA-SF Author Showcase Chair and participants (l-r) Elisa Southard (Chair), Teresa LeYung Ryan, Deborah Grossman, Stevanne Aubach

WNBA-SF invites you to attend annual Author Showcase

When:  Thurs. April 16, 2009  5:30-9:00 p.m.

 
What:  “MEET PUBLISHED AUTHORS, LEARN FROM THEM, FIND MENTORS”

at the WNBA Authors Showcase and Dinner–”A Spotlight on You!”

A fun evening with published authors from 14 genres. This is how you

build relationships in the literary community.

 
Where:  Sinbad’s Pier 2 Restaurant,  Embarcadero St. at Mission St., SF –
Parking available at $5.00.

 
Registration:  www.wnba-sfchapter.org

Use PayPal  Dinner Fee:  $30.00  Also, all attendees must RSVP to Vicki Weiland by April 12:

hospitality@wnba-sfchapter.org   In your subject line, put “WNBA April 16″

Line-Up includes:

WNBA-SF Author Showcase

Elisa Southard—public relations, marketing, Event Chair

Debbie Gisonni—personal growth, inspiration, Event Co-Chair

Laurel Anne Hill—fantasy, sci-fi, parable

Amy Gorman— aging and in the arts

Kate Farrell—young adult novel

Rita George—transformational learning, spirituality

Deborah Grossman—poems/mother-daughter

Jennifer Robin—self expression

Adina Sara—memoir/legal

Mathilde A, Schmidt—self-help, inspiration, memoir, fiction

Teresa LeYung Ryan—novel/mental illness courage

Lucille Lang Day—poetry, non-fiction/strategies, children’s, science
fiction opera

Lynn Henriksen—how to/bio-vignettes

Joan Gelfand—poetry, short stories
“Join us for a fun evening!” say all the WNBA-SF Chapter Board Members

WNBA SF Writer Goes Big Time

Former WBNA-SF board secretary and current member C.W. Gortner’s second novel THE LAST QUEEN (Ballantine Books, $25.00) was released on July 29, 2008. THE LAST QUEEN is the passionate story of Juana of Castile, her tumultous relationship marriage into the Hapsburg Empire, her dynamic relations with her parents Ferdinand and Isabella, and her courageous fight to hold on to the throne that is rightfully hers. Publishers Weekly calls it, “. . . an enthralling story, brilliantly told.” To find out more, visit: http://www.cwgortner.com Christopher held his launch party, complete with Spanish wine and cheese, at WNBA-SF’s sponsoring bookstore, Bookshop West Portal. This image was painted onto the celebratory cake!
Joan Gelfand, National President– Women’s National Book Association

Visit Joans blog and website