Vonnegut Advice: Writing Short Stories

Write Your Story: Our New Promotional Video!

This is the first of three new promotional videos we've made! Take a peek!

An Evening with Sandra Cisneros at Live Talks LA

Live Talks LA presents author Sandra Cisneros in conversation with Cheech Marin.

Sandra Cisneros is the founder of the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation, the Elvira Cisneros Award and the Macondo Foundation, all of which work on behalf of creative writers. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a MacArthur.

Her writings include novels: The House on Mango Street and Caramelo; short stories: Woman Hollering Creek; and poetry collections: My Wicked Wicked Ways and Loose Woman. She is currently at work on several writing projects including Writing in My Pajamas, essays; Infinito, stories; Have You Seen Marie?, an illustrated book for adults; and a children’s book, Bravo, Bruno. She served as Grand Marshall at the 2010 Poteet, Texas Strawberry Festival. She makes her home in San Antonio, Texas, where she is writer in residence at Our Lady of the Lake University. Visit her website: www.sandracisneros.com

Net proceeds from this event will benefit the Macondo Foundation. The Macondo Foundation works with dedicated and compassionate writers who view their work and talents as part of a larger task of community-building and non-violent social change.

For tickets and more information: An Evening with Sandra Cisneros

Why Reading Books About Writing is Important

Reading books on the writing craft (and in your genre) is almost as important as writing. This is why LAwritersgroup.com has sponsored a free Book Club on Meetup.com specifically to read books about writing.

By way of evidence as to how beneficial this can be, here is a blog post by Author, Jody Hedlund: My Writing Success:The ONE Thing That Helped Me Most where she talks about how reading books on the writing craft helped her the most.

Join our Writing Craft Book Club! Our first meeting is Saturday, April 2nd at 11:00am at the 18th Street Coffee House in Santa Monica, CA. Our monthly meetings will alternate between West LA and the Los Angeles South Bay.

New Writers Group in Santa Clarita Valley!

LAwritersgroup.com is coming to the Santa Clarita Valley! Our newest writers group is starting in Valencia on Tuesday, April 5th! We are excited to bring our groups to this often forgotten-about valley filled with creative and entertainment folks.

Our moderator will be Kirby Timmons, a versatile and talented creative writer with an impressive list of credits and the kind of cross-genre and supportive leader our groups require.

Kirby's Bio:

Kirby Timmons is a professional writer, trainer and speaker who has written scripts for some of TV's most enduring series, including THE WALTONS, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GRIZZLY ADAMS, and THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Kirby has also written, produced and directed hundreds of training programs, including THE ABILENE PARADOX, named one of the 5 best business videos of all time by Fortune Magazine; GROUPTHINK, winner of the American Psychological Associations Award for Best Training Program; and TEAMWORK IN CRISIS: The Miracle of Flight 232, now used in disaster programs worldwide, including Columbine High School in Colorado. While he has concentrated in scriptwriting, Kirby is also a published author, and has contributed articles to THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS, THE HERALD-EXAMINER, MARRIAGE & FAMILY LIVING Magazine, among others. Kirby taught Scriptwriting For Informational Media at California State University at Northridge, and has lectured at Los Angeles Valley College. He has also taught high school screenwriting workshops with the Writer's Guild Foundation. After attending Oglethorpe University in his hometown of Atlanta, Kirby studied at USC where he graduated with a B.A. cum laude in Philosophy. He has been a member of the Writer's Guild of America longer than he can remember, and a member of the American Society of Training & Development for less long. Among Kirby's recent writing projects is a teleplay for CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION which won scriptwriting competitions at Scriptapalooza and Austin, and Grand Prize in Hour-Long Drama at the WildSound Film Festival in Toronto. Despite being the "best CSI episode ever written" (his words), it is not currently under consideration by producers of the show.

This group is in addition to the groups we already have in:

• LA South Bay - Rancho Palos Verdes
• LA South Bay - El Segundo
• Miracle Mile/Koreatown,
• Pacific Palisades / West LA
• Glendale / Glassell Park

Read more about how our new Santa Clarita Writers Group will work.

View our upcoming writing groups schedule.

Call for Submissions About Women: ADANNA

Call for creative writing submissions about women: ADANNA poetry, short stories, essays, and reviews of books and visual arts:

Adanna: A Journal for Women, about Women will be an annual perfect bound print book publication, first issue Summer 2011.

Editor: Christine Redman-Waldeyer

Guest Editor: Diane Lockward

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

• The reading period for this first issue begins on January 31 and closes April 30.
• Please send your submissions to adannajournal@yahoo.com
• Adanna accepts poetry, short stories, essays, and reviews of books and visual arts.
• We welcome both National and International submissions in English.
• Please submit only unpublished pieces, 3-6 at a time.
• Please limit prose pieces to a maximum of 2000 words.
• Submissions should be one file in one attachment.
• Include your name in the header of each page along with current contact information including e-mail and phone number.
• Simultaneous submissions accepted.Please notify us as soon as possible of any accepted work.
• For works accepted, the author will receive a free complimentary copy.

Visit the Adanna Website for additional information:

http://www.adannajournal.blogspot.com

Call for Submissions from Chicano & Latino Writers (Some Pay)

Call for Submissions from Chicano & Latino writers: fiction, flash fiction, poetry, novel exerpts, cross-genre/hybrid work and short plays. Some pay.

Call for Submissions
PALABRA invites Chicano & Latino writers to submit fresh, engaged work that stretches beyond the boundaries of conventional form, content and context. We accept fiction, flash fiction, poetry, novel excerpts, cross-genre/hybrid work and short plays. Some pay. Submission period: September 1 to May 31.

Specific guidelines are available on the website: www.palabralitmag.com.

Queries:
Submit via USPS only.

PALABRA
A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art
P. O. Box 86146
Los Angeles, CA 90086-0146

Call for Creative Writing Submissions: Sunsets and Silencers

Call for Submissions for innovative short fiction, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, essays, paintings, photography, and comic strip:

Sunsets and Silencers," an online magazine, is now accepting submissions for our new issue.

"Sunsets and Silencers" is open to a wide variety of styles and wants to publish only the most innovative and creative work. We are careful about the work we publish, and we read and consider every submission, carefully. S&S publishes short fiction, flash fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, essays, paintings, photography, and comic strips as a platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their work. On promising work, we may offer feedback, even if the piece didn't work for us. Please, keep in mind, however, that we do not respond to every piece, mostly because of the volume of submissions received. We want to provide exposure to artists and writers who create
out of a restless fever, and who are fearless in their choice to submit. So, send what you have, but please pay attention to our submission guidelines.

More detailed submission guidelines can be found at: http://sunsetsandsilencers.com/home/archives

The current issue of Sunsets and Silencers can be found at: http://sunsetsandsilencers.com

Steve Kaplan's Comedy Intensive

We just found out about this weekend intensive - looks like a good one to check out if you're wanting to write comedy:

Steve Kaplan's Comedy Intensive is returning to L.A. on Decmeber 4-5, 2010. The seminar is The Industry's #1 Course on Comedy, attracting top writers, producers, directors and executives from such companies as Dreamworks, Disney, Aardman Animation, NBC, Touchstone, ABC and more.

For almost 20 years, Steve Kaplan has been the industry's most respected and sought-after expert on comedy. In addition to being a regular consultant and script doctor to such companies as Disney, Dreamworks, HBO, Paramount and others, Steve has taught at UCLA, NYU, Yale and other top universities, and created the HBO Workspace and the HBO New Writers Program, teaching and mentoring some of the biggest writers, producers and directors in comedy today.

His former students' accomplishments are unmatched: They have been nominated for 43 Emmy Awards, 1 Academy Award, 3 Golden Globe Awards, 1 American Comedy Award, 6 Writers' Guild of America Awards and several others. They've WON 10 Emmys, 1 Oscar, 2 WGA Awards and the American Comedy Award. His Comedy Intensive offers proven and practical methods and principles that help you reveal and understand comedy from the inside out.

Whether you're writing a comedy screenplay, working on a sitcom script, or producing or directing a comedy film or television series, Steve Kaplan's Comedy Intensive is a must for any serious professional. It is ideal for screenwriters, TV writers, producers, directors and more.

Steve Kaplan's Comedy Intensive will be held on December 4 & 5, 2010 at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel, located at 1755 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028. It will run from 9:30AM to 5:00PM on both days. There is a $325.00 registration fee for the seminar. Please visit www.kaplancomedy.com for more information about the seminar and registration.

Where exactly in Los Angeles do we hold our writers groups?

We currently hold our writers groups in three locations:

• Our Glassell Park 8-Week Writers Group is for writers who want to join a writers group who are coming from or work near Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, Los Feliz, East Los Angeles, Atwater Village, Hollywood, Silverlake, the the Southwest and Northwest San Fernando Valley (Encino, Woodland Hills, Reseda, Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood) and surrounding areas. Map

• Our Miracle Mile 8-Week Writers Group is good for writers coming from or who work near West Hollywood, Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Miracle Mile/Fairfax District, Century City, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Hancock Park, Fairfax District, SoFax, Santa Monica, and surrounding areas. Map

• Our South Bay 8-Week Writers Group is good for writers interested in creative writing who are coming from or work near Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Playa Del Rey, Marina Del Ray, Palos Verdes, Torrance, San Pedro, Lawndale, Long Beach and surrounding areas. Map

We currently have two groups scheduled:

• Our Miracle Mile 8-Week Writers Group, starting on May 5th, 2010, from 7:30pm - 10:00pm
• Our South Bay 8-Week Writers Group, starting on Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 from 7:30pm - 10:00pm

Our Glassell Park group just started but we will have another one scheduled soon!

LAwritersgroup.com has been running writers groups throughout Los Angeles since 2003. We run several writers groups / writing workshops throughout the Los Angeles area that are open to writers of all levels and kinds, with an aim toward getting words on the page and providing a safe place for writers to create new work and exchange feedback on works in progress. View our current Writing Workshop / Writers Group Meeting Schedule and or read about our group Moderators.

Whether you write novels, screenplays, essays, songs poetry, journal entries, children's books or whatever, you are welcome in our groups regardless of experience. Our groups are about creating new work and soliciting critique from your peers if you so wish.

If you have any questions about our groups, please email us at lawritersgroup(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.