Executive Officers
President: Rose Owens
Vice President: TBD
Secretary: Lani Longshore
Treasurer: Constance Hanstedt
Board of Directors
Membership: Linda Drattell
Newsletter: Ginger Price
Programs: Patricia Boyle
Publicity: Eve Sprunt
Central Board: Constance Hanstedt
NorCal: Lani Longshore
Committee Leaders and Volunteers
Biographer: Deborah ‘Jordan’ Bernal
Newsletter Editors: Marilyn Dykstra
Facebook: TBD
High School Contest: Paula Chinick
Historian: Susan O’Leary
MRMS Administrator: Deborah ‘Jordan’ Bernal
Photographer: Patrick Coyle
Critique Group and Other Facilitators
Mailing Address
California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch
4682 Chabot Drive #10953
Pleasanton, CA 94588
What TVW Offers
Monthly Meetings (open to public; discount for members)
The CWC Tri-Valley Branch meets at Las Positas College in Livermore 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 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.
Workshops / Master Classes (open to public; discount for members)
CWC Tri-Valley Branch sponsors in-depth workshops / master classes on occasion. These special events are scheduled and priced on a case-by-case basis.
Conference (open to public; discount for members)
CWC Tri-Valley Branch hosts a biennial full-day writers conference 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 first Wednesday and 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.
Open Mic With My Friends (open to public)
CWC Tri-Valley Branch partners with Pleasanton Library for Open Mic with My Friends on the second Monday of each month (except December or holidays). This literary evening is free and open to the public. NOTE: This offering is on hold until further notice.
WinterFest (open to public; discount for members)
Winterfest is an annual celebration of the arts in general, and the artistic members of Tri-Valley Writers Group in particular. The format varies each year. One thing that is consistent is the opportunities to share what we’ve written.
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.
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.
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 10:30 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays through Fridays 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 monthly branch newsletter is comprehensive with 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.
Social Media Group (members ONLY)
Tri-Valley Writers’ Social Media Group has switched from in-person meetings to an online presence. The Social Media Group is a benefit of being in this branch, whether you live locally or have moved to another state. This new Facebook group has been set up. It is a closed group, so only members of the Tri-Valley Branch of the California Writers Club can join. Members can ask questions, respond to questions, chat about social media problems (or victories) etc. Think of the group as a home base where it’s safe to post and get to know each other. Please be supportive of each other. Negative comments or inappropriate words will be deleted.
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, there is an event calendar here.
Tri-Valley Writers Awards
Our members are not only talented, but give of their time generously, and we recognize their achievements and contributions in multiple ways.
- The Jack London Award: This award honors a branch member whose service to the CWC and/or a branch has been exemplary. Each branch may select one award recipient biannually in odd-numbered years. The award is presented at the July annual California Writers Club meeting of statewide representatives.
- The Sue Tasker Memorial Service Award: The CWC Tri-Valley Branch created this award in 2008 to honor the memory of Sue Tasker, the founding president of the branch and volunteer extraordinaire. Sue has been described by members as “doing the work of three people.” She displayed an endless passion and drive for the Tri-Valley Branch in her two years as president and then as vice president and program chair.
- TVW Community Scholarship Award: The CWC Tri-Valley Branch created this award in 2017 to give back to our writing community, specifically to sponsor a scholarship at Las Positas College—our local community college. As part of Tri-Valley Writers Mission Statement of supporting and educating writers, Tri-Valley Writers set up a scholarship to be awarded on an annual basis to a deserving student at Las Positas College who is considering writing as a career.
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, 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.
CWC Tri-Valley Branch is one of twenty-two 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. Our current members live in Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Castro Valley, and Hayward. However, CWC Tri-Valley Branch membership is open to prospective members regardless of location.
The CWC Tri-Valley Branch supports all genres, writing styles and related professions such as editing, publishing, photographic journalism, and agents. We provide an environment where members can obtain critiques of their efforts, attend workshops, and share experiences.
We invite authors, publishers, editors, and agents as guest speakers at monthly meetings. They discuss writing, querying, publishing, and marketing your work.
Hello, this is Irenee Riter and I am thrilled to recognize the names of dear people I met a few years ago and would be so pleased to refresh our friendships. Please call me at 925-351-3316 or email. I am going to see if I can connect at the next meeting.
Lovingly sent,
Irenee
Hello again,
I was so pleased to have Lani Longshore respond to my request about the meetings and was disappointed that I missed this last November meeting at the Sheraton. Unfortunately I neglected to ask for Lani’s contact number and hope that this request will reach her once more so that I can speak with her. Thank you so much.
Irenee Riter
925-351-3316