Tri-Valley Writers

What is Tri-Valley Writers About?

CWC Tri-Valley Branch  is one of twenty-one branches statewide. We are a professional writing association open to writers of all genres. Our goal is to address the needs of both professional and aspiring writers in the greater Tri-Valley region of Northern California. We provide an environment where members can obtain critiques of their efforts, attend workshops, and share experiences.

• We are a community of writers promoting the craft of writing and the business of getting published.
• We are the regional branch of the California Writers Club (CWC) serving Amador, San Ramon, and Livermore Valleys. This Tri-Valley area contains the town of Danville and the cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and San Ramon.
• We welcome writers of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry; all ages and skill levels; who are published or seeking to publish; to participate in our community.

Tri-Valley Writers History

In 2005 Jack Russ, then President of the California Writers Club Mt. Diablo Branch, created a committee to establish a new CWC branch in the tri-valley area of Dublin, Livermore, and Pleasanton. The first organizational meeting was held at Towne Center Books in Pleasanton. From that meeting came the core group under the leadership of Sue Tasker that established a writing group on July 10, 2005. Sue was elected president at the August 14, 2005 meeting. Cindy Fisher-Luck was elected vice-president, Fred Norman as treasurer, and Stephanie Rutledge served as secretary. Committee chairs were Steve Workman (membership) and Irenee Riter (webmaster).

During the next year, Tri-Valley Writers began the application process for branch recognition.  With the encouragement of state CWC President Barbara Truax, the branch was chartered on July 23, 2006 as the sixteenth branch of the California Writers Club.

Since that time, Tri-Valley Writers has brought attention to writing and writers in many ways. As President, Paula Chinick established the High School Writing Contest (2011). The contest is open to all high school students living in or attending school in the Livermore, Amador, and San Ramon Valleys. She also spearheaded the first all-day writing conference, featuring break-out presentations in craft, publishing, and marketing as well as a nationally-known keynote speaker. Under President Patricia Boyle and Treasurer Sharon Svitak helped the branch establish a scholarship at Las Positas College for students seeking a career in writing-related fields. Under President Lani Longshore, the branch established cash awards for winners of the Alameda County Fair Youth Writing Contest.

The branch published its first anthology of member writings in 2011. Other anthologies appeared at regular intervals until 2020, when the COVID pandemic interrupted schedules everywhere.

What Tri-Valley Writers Offers

Monthly Meetings (open to public; discount for members): 

The CWC Tri-Valley Branch may meet on the third Saturday of the month from September through June. Meetings are open to the public but require advance reservation and a nominal fee. If you want to check us out, this is the activity to start with. Meetings may feature a guest speaker who is active in the literary or publishing community. Meetings are a terrific networking opportunities with other members to provide additional exposure and further develop your writing career.

Tri-Valley Writers occasionally  sponsors in-depth workshops / master classes. These special events are scheduled and priced on a case-by-case basis. In addition, Sri-Valley Writers has hosted full-day writers conferences on occasion on the art and business of writing. Each conference features three tracks: Craft, Marketing, & Self-Publishing for attendees to choose from. Our first conference, held in 2015, featured Keynote speaker Shelley Adina on “Why It’s a Good Time to Be a Writer.” The second conference, in 2017, showcased Keynote speaker Anne Perry and her “Put Your Heart on the Page.” The third conference, in 2019, showcased Keynote speaker Robert Dugoni and his “My Stroke of Good Luck.” The fourth conference, in 2021, featured Keynote speaker Rhys Bowen on “Drawing Your Readers In.”

Critique Groups (members ONLY)

Members of the CWC Tri-Valley Branch are encouraged to participate in critique groups to strengthen their writing and editing skills. Participation begins by joining the STEM critique group.  This group submits material for review on the first Tuesday of each month, then meets on the second Tuesday to critique each other’s work.  Meetings are at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.  As the STEM group grows, smaller critique groups branch out on their own, often specializing in a particular genre. There are several novel groups.

For poets: there’s a special poetry critique group that meets the third Friday of each month on Zoom from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Members work online and/or participate in face-to-face critiquing. With both formats, there is a commitment for reciprocity. Participants who submit materials commit to reading and critiquing the materials submitted by others.

High School Writing Contest (open to public)

To support writing in schools, TVW sponsors an annual writing contest among local high schools. Members volunteer to judge hundreds of submissions in fiction, poetry, and essay forms. Winners are given cash prizes and read selections of their work at the awards ceremony.

Sit Down and Write on Zoom (members ONLY)

Do you find you aren’t getting to your writing because of too many distractions? Want to be around other writers and their awesome vibe? Then you are in luck. Sit Down and Write on Zoom meets  from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. There is a brief greeting at the beginning, then participants mute themselves and write until noon, when they may briefly say how/what they accomplished during the session. This is a come-when-you-can opportunity, so participants can attend any or all sessions as it fits with their schedule. The Sit Down and Write on Zoom is a benefit of being in this branch, whether you live locally or have moved to another state.

Pull Up a Chair and Write (open to public)

After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, TVW’s in-person writing sessions will return in January 2022. If you’d like an opportunity to write in a relaxed setting in the company of other writers, join us on Thursday afternoons from 1:00-3:00 p.m. We’ll meet at Inklings Coffee and Tea at 530 Main St., Pleasanton. We’ll meet in Inklings’ “Common Room.” If that room is reserved for an event during our writing time, we can work in the front room and/or outdoors. This is an informal, drop-in group; there is no obligation to sign up or come every week.

Branch Newsletter (members ONLY)

Write Around the Valley, the branch newsletter, is comprehensive with meeting details, member benefit info, writing tips, upcoming events, information on writing contests (including those sponsored by external organizations), and a column celebrating the latest publishing successes of our members.

Author Support Group (members ONLY)

Tri-Valley Writers’ Author Support Group is an online meeting benefit, whether you live locally or have moved to another state. Each meeting a topic is chosen and members can ask questions, respond to questions, and chat about problems or successes.

Anthology (members ONLY)

An excellent venue for our members to earn publication credentials is with our own anthology, Voices of the Valley.  Our first publication in the series, Voices of the Valley: First Press, was published in December 2011. Voices of the Valley: Encore, was published in December 2013. Voices of the Valley: Word for Word, was published in 2015. Voices of the Valley: Journeys was published in 2018. Our fifth installment, Voices of the Valley: Through the Window was published in 2020.

Participation with Other CWC Branches (open to public; discount for members)

To see what events are being coordinated through the CWC branches in northern California, check out the various CWC branches websites here.