Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction - By Melinda Carroll

I remember the reactions I received last year during the 2006 Yosemite Writers Conference when I said "women's fiction" was the genre my writing fell into. Some people assumed I wrote chick lit and responded as if it wasn't a real genre.

Why such a reaction? What’s wrong with women’s fiction? Nothing. I was simply a minority in a sea of mystery and thriller writers.

So I was excited to learn that at this year’s conference Farrin Jacobs, co-author of See Jane Write: A Girl’s Guide to Writing Chick lit, which I bought at last year’s conference, and a former chick lit editor was conducting a workshop called “Chick lit is dead and other myths about women’s fiction.”





Is chick lit dead? According to Jacobs chick lit is not dead, however, because of its popularity and market saturation it’s harder to get chick lit published now than a few years ago.

In a heavily saturated market, how do you get your chick lit novel or women’s fiction novel published? Quite simply, you have to make your novel stand out. Jacobs stated, “you have to have perfectly imperfect main characters that are identifiable to every woman; you have to get your chick lit voice down and write the novel you want to write, and you have to know your audience.”

The thing that chick lit or women’s fiction does very well is deal with tough issues in a humorous, human way. A perfect example is Jennifer Weiner’s debut novel, Good in Bed, where she wrote:

“Loving a Larger Woman,” said the headline, “By Bruce Guberman.” Bruce Guberman had been my boyfriend for just over three years, until we’d decided to take a break three months ago. And the Larger Woman, I could only assume, was me.”

Weiner, who is now a household name in the world of chick lit, cleverly propels her character and the reader on a journey of self-esteem issues and self-discovery that is poignant, endearing and quite funny.

And let’s not forget Helen Fielding, the queen of chick lit who created the character of Bridget Jones and gave her to the world through her novels Bridget Jones' Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. For Bridget Jones lurks in every woman everywhere no matter how hard we try to hide her.

Chick lit as we know it today stems from or is modernized Jane Austin. Jane Austin is the real first lady of chick lit or women’s fiction. She helped create a genre for women when it wasn’t fashionable to be a woman author.

What I love about chick lit or women’s fiction is that it deals with the tough issues, the emotional issues, and while the writing can be very literary, it’s also smart and humorous, like women.

Jacobs covered the basics of writing chick lit and women’s fiction in her workshop discussing the importance of character development, character arc, pacing, plot, tense, point of view, the art of having a storytelling device, and the ending. “Chick lit wants either a happy ending or the promise of a happy ending,” Jacobs stated, “however, if your work is more literary your ending may be more ambiguous.”



The chick lit label does come with somewhat of a stigma. I think it has to do with all the pink book covers and references to shoes. Which is great for marketing, but for some reason the term chick lit sends a message that its not serious fiction. Whereas the term women’s fiction seems to have more depth. In a recent interview with Lara Tupper, author of A Thousand and One Nights, I asked her thoughts about chick lit and the chick lit label.

Here’s what Tupper had to say:

“I think the chick-lit label is problematic because it implies that a book is meant to be read by a certain demographic. And I find the term itself a little confusing-- not at all subversive (as in “we are chicks, hear us roar”). It’s become synonymous with ‘light’ subject matter and I’m not sure why that is. Because it’s written by women about women? A book such as Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity (a book I adore) is also a novel about pop songs and relationships. It’s narrated from a male point of view and yet it’s certainly not a book meant only for men. So I think the label chick lit points to a misconception or a double standard based on gender: Women write books for women while men write books for all.

That said, I think there’s nothing wrong with ‘light’—and I think it’s entirely possible for novels to be both ‘entertaining’ and substantive. In A Thousand and One Nights, I try to use pop lyrics in service of humor and to place the reader quite firmly in the mid to late 1990’s. But I also try to say something about disillusionment.”

I agree with Tupper that the label chick lit can have some negative connotations. It’s almost like saying men read real books and women read the pink fluffy books called chick lit. However, some chick lit can be just as compelling as the 'real' books. I’ve laughed and cried my way through chick lit just as I have more literary works.

As a reader and writer of chick lit and women’s fiction, I was pleased to have the genre represented at the conference and presented so well by Farrin Jacobs. I learned a lot more about chick lit and women’s fiction, why I love it and why I want to write it.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

Hanging out at the Rabobank before Korn hits the stage - By N.L. Belardes

I was just hanging out at the Rabobank Arena prior to tonight's Korn concert. Last night I saw the Briggs and the Horrorpops over at Bakersfield's The Dome. I'll be reporting more on that drama in a future blog on ABC23's Buzz Bands.

In the meantime I just posted another Korn article on ABC23. This one is titled, "Korn Fever Hits Bakersfield; Album Still On Charts."

I interview Billboard Magazine, Bakotopia Magazine and provide this youtube video interview with fans at the Rabobank:



Those of you waiting for me to report about Yosemite Writers Conference, David Morell and Captain America might have to wait a few more days. Sorry about that. I don't want to post on Captain America until I get a few more photos...

I'm going to be adding a pre-concert slideshow to the Korn article today, and will post slides from the show tomorrow.

Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk - By Melinda Carroll

Kate Gale, editor of Red Hen Press out of Los Angeles, California, sat reading from a poetry book before beginning her workshop “Editing Poetry: Entering the process whole and coming out humming.” Her wet hair fresh from the Tenaya Lodge swimming pool was a metaphor for her no bullshit attitude about poetry.

Is poetry still being published? At another panel I heard someone say poetry was dead. According to Gale, poetry is not dead, but you won’t get rich publishing poetry. I for one was excited that there was a poetry workshop at this year’s conference for I am a lover of poetry.

Gale opened the workshop reading two poems, one from the book she had been reading by another poet and one of her own that she had been working on for a few weeks. Her poem was rich in imagery, emotion, insecurities, and fireworks, literally fireworks as she found a way to express a woman’s self-worth issues and her desire to receive recognition from her lover as a request for fireworks. I may not be interpreting her poem correctly, but I loved Gale’s voice. Her poem grabbed my attention and took me on a journey.

I found the poetry workshop very constructive and informative as Gale mapped out the process of writing and publishing poetry. She answered questions regarding publishing poetry in literary magazines and publishing collections of poetry that I have always wondered about.

She stressed the importance of reading poetry to get in a poetry frame of mind before writing. Of making writing a practice and a priority, good advice for any writer. How important creative writing workshops are that will give you rigorous feedback on your work. And what type of poetry is currently being published.

One thing Gale said that really stood out to me is, “Great poems are where the creative meets the intellectual.”

And really that is the type of poetry I want to read and write.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

Yosemite Writers Conference: Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech - By N.L. Belardes

David Morrell just gave an inspiring hour-long speech about what it is to be a writer.

He talked about having worked in factories, driven across the country in poverty, and how daydreams transfer to great storytelling.

I felt like saying, "Thanks. I'm finally understood."

Such qualities are a part of me, my writing, and shape my own storytelling. Ask me in person if you ever see me. I'll tell you all about my novel about cross-country travel and poverty, my days in factories working 12-hour shifts, and how I believe tapping into and being aware of the subconscious can lead to great writing...

Now I'm sitting in a mystery-thriller panel that has Morrell, Bonnie Hearn Hill and Hallie Ephron. They just debated the difference between a thriller and a mystery. One lady spoke up and said that a mystery is like a puzzle, whereas a thriller is more white-knuckled.

Moderator Sheree Petree just asked about book series. Hearn Hill said that her agent said series are easier to market and promote. Writers do have to be careful and write strong characters and stories for series. "Don't create a mediocre character solving a mediocre crime," she said.

In avoiding common mistakes in mysteries and thrillers, Morrell said to know all the works in specific genres in which writers want to tackle. "Bring something new to the game so you're involved in the history," he said.

Hearn included that common mistakes are writers settling on weak characters which aren't fully developed.

Ephron mentioned the "backstory dump". She said such techniques are "pure dead weight" when writers put too much character info at the beginning of a story.

If you're interested in this panel, as the others that I participated on, Yosemite Writers will have the audio available for purchase. If you're a serious writer, the purchase is worth it as the YWC is regarded as one of the top writers conferences in America.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man - By N.L. Belardes

The Yosemite Writers Conference got underway as several of us sat on the panel, "Writing for Social Change."

I quickly realized that Brenda Knight of Red Wheel/Weiser could hold her own in a dialogue. Knight of course was quite polite, spoke about activism, West Virginia, books, how she got Oprah to use the term "Sheroes" and how social change can be captured in good writing.

Knight also talked about how she started off in the corporate world and discovered that horrific child labor overseas was related to her employer, an American company. She quit her job and became an activist.

"I found out they were exploiting children all over the world," she said.

Rik Bollman moderated with question after question, cornering myself, Knight and Ginny the way any great radioman would.

OK, he wasn't that bad. He's a great moderator and can make up questions on the fly. I dig that. We were able to speak to writers about how authors need to write honestly, not preachy, and do their research when tackling social change in fiction/non-fiction.

Afterward, I sat in on Knight's panel, "Selling to Weiser Books."

After showing off some of Weiser's books on women, yoga, mysticism and post-modern mythology, Knight said, "I'm looking for something new that's right under the surface. I also want the fresh voice, the new voice..."

I sensed a few ideas in myself brewing. Maybe a poetic, philosophic, spiritual topic of my own...

While I sat and pondered ideas fit for any renaissance man, Knight fielded questions. One elderly gent sat in the front, and since he could tell that Knight was a bit of a conspiracy theorist lover like myself, he blurted out in his aging southern accent, "You ever hear of the TVA?"

He immediately went on a slow rambling diatribe of energy companies and imminent domain.

Put a robe on this guy and he's stepping straight from a Weiser book on Spellcasters from the Oppressed South.

A vein protruded from his head and seemed on the verge of bursting from TVA bitterness. The TVA definitely were not do-gooders from the age of FDR to this guy.

Knight at first didn't realize that TVA meant Tennessee Valley Authority. But she quickly regained a solid foothold, and since the friendly old writer couldn't quite formulate a question, she fought back with a great tale of her own about a southern family with a 100-year-old flame, displaced by the TVA.

The sage from the embittered south didn't care. He rambled on until Knight politely put an end to his demonization of southern energy companies.

Of course the kicker was later when Steve Yarbrough, the keynote speaker at the YWC luncheon began talking about the South. He's from Mississippi but lives in Fresno. I sat in the back with Matildakay, Knight and someone from Germany.

Suddenly a faint voice spoke up from across the pavilion as Yarbrough paused for questions. "You ever hear of the TVA?"

Knight and I just looked at each other and laughed.

Check out Knight as she discusses books:


Brenda Knight of Red Wheel/ Weiser: Part One

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break – Melinda Carroll

This afternoon N.L. and I hit the road for the Yosemite Writers Conference. Along the way we talked about writing, writers, blogging, social change, social networking sites, local media, the conference, and even rocks and geology all while the Killers blasted from the radio a song about a Las Vegas casino called Sam’s Town. We both agreed that it takes more than just being a great writer to get published. It’s about the connections you make, your author platform, and self-promotion. All that networking along with your great writing might just be the luck you need to connect with a literary agent or editor at a writer’s conference to become a published author.

Luck is hard to come by in the literary world on the quest to be published. You can’t wait for luck. You have to make things happen. You have to take risks. You have to put yourself out there.

At the time we didn’t know a casino up the road and a little luck would be the beginning of our Yosemite Writers Conference experience.

Not big gamblers N.L. and I are not big fans of casinos, however, the Chukchansi casino on Highway 41 seemed like a great place to stop for a bathroom break.

We walked through the casino past zombie-like gamblers feeding slot machines as the festive sounds of the spinning slot machine wheels filled our ears. It was intoxicating. Those bells and whistles, the spinning numbers, the chance to be lucky, the dream of a big jackpot, everyone was hypnotized.

N.L. and I decided to spend five dollars on the Wheel of Fortune dollar slot machines. I only had three ones so I put them in a machine and hit “bet max credit” the wheels spun around and I lost my three dollars. That was enough gambling for us. We decided to check out the restaurants.

We walked past a few restaurants when a slot machine with flying spinning balls caught our attention. It was a Big Spin Slotto (lotto) dollar slot machine. The flying balls were cool we decided to waste a few more dollars. I put ten dollars into the Slotto machine and bet one credit at a time to make the experience last longer than three seconds. On my last dollar the wheels spun around two sevens and a triple space, I had won. N.L. and I watched the credits add up to $454! We both hit the cash-out button and found a cashier.


That face is one of total shock!

Luck?

I’ve never been that lucky before, but by investing thirteen dollars I had just covered my conference expenses. I would call that luck.

Basking in my lucky winnings, we ate dinner at an Asian restaurant in the casino. At the end of the meal, the fortune in my fortune cookie said: “You will gain money by a speculation or lottery.”

A strange coincidence?

I wonder what Hazel Dixon-Cooper, Cosmopolitan’s bedside astrologer, author of Born on a Rotten Day and Love on a Rotten Day, and a presenter at this year’s Yosemite Writers Conference would have to say about it.

Perhaps this stroke of luck will continue through the conference and the connections N.L. and I make for Noveltown and for our own writing careers.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

L.A. Beat Poet Philomene Long Dies - By N.L. Belardes

LA Beats: John Thomas and Philomene Long


When I went to grad school, historian John Arthur Maynard who wrote Venice West spoke a lot of Philomene Long-Thomas. He interviewed her more than once about the L.A. Beats and her husband who had died, poet John Thomas.



Philomene Long

He visited her and they talked long hours about days of LA poets and abstract artists.

I enjoyed his stories and appreciated that I was allowed to read Thomas and Philomene's works in the mid-1990s. With fondness I remember only good times in thinking about my days under Maynard talking L.A. Beats.



Philomene Long and Allen Ginsberg

It seemed Philomene would live forever.

Just got this email:


Friends -I just received word that my friend and fellow poet, Philomene Long-Thomas, passed away on Tuesday, possibly Monday, of this week. She was found in her Venice Beach apartment on Tuesday. I don't have anymore details about her passing at this time. I am sad and surprised because I did not know that she was ill. Perhaps it is a God-send that she did not suffer much (although she suffered mightily at the loss of her beloved husband, John Thomas). We had talked about doing a Queen of Bohemia book that would combine the two LRB I published for her back in 2002 for a trip she had planned for Ireland this fall, but it was still in talk phase. I remember John told a story about how, when he first met her, they had shared a cup of tea and how after she had sipped from it, he had turned the cup in his hand so that he might sip from the same spot that she had sipped...I thought it was about the most romantic thing I'd ever heard of. She has gone home to sip from the same cup as her beloved John and God bless them both!


-- RaindogWord and Song Smith

www.lummoxpress.com

Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change - By N.L. Belardes

Panel - Ginny Rorby, Brenda Knight, and N.L. Belardes

I’m about to hit the road to Yosemite and hang out with a lot of writers at the Tenaya Lodge. Actually tonight I will be in Oakhurst. Last year Matildakay and I ran into publisher Malcolm Margolin of Heyday Books at an Italian restaurant there that has lots of paintings of roses on its walls. He sat like a painting himself, contemplating who knows what.

One year ago the conference was a raucous time of blogging and pirating. Malcolm even joined us. He was amazed regarding the nature of blogs, that mixed with a few passionate minds, could instantly capture the spirit of a few renegades sitting at a table in Yosemite.

(Read interview and find links to old Yosemite posts)

The blog series I wrote about my time there now seems nostalgic, since this year I’ve been asked to take on a different role as one of the presenters.

One of the panels I will be a part of is “Writing For Social Change.”

Writing For Social Change is one of those topics that should help a writer be aware that depending on the content of his/her work and agenda, such books can impact a surrounding community. How much a writer can impact social thought I think depends on several factors: relevance and importance of work, marketing of work to community, success of said work, and the passion committed to relating the work itself to society as it’s present on radio, TV and in articles.

I suppose I could list many authors and movements in the American literary scene over the past hundred years that purposely or inadvertently helped spark social change. Often their words added to a society changing right before their own eyes.

Betty Friedan, was she really trying to change society with the Feminine Mystique, or was she just capturing social thought as it was already changing in society? Were beat generation writers trying to change society or simply capture a changing landscape where mainstream and status quo meant little to a growing segment of Americans. The pop cultural reflection of their collective work sparked movements that some say grew into punk music and poetry movements that still exist today.

Is someone like James Frey a tool for social change within a microcosm of literary thinkers who might argue, and even accept the idea that memoirs can be and often are tools of fiction? Maybe not.

Surely the current Brutalists and Offbeat Generation out of the London area attempt to spark and capture social change through writing graphically about uncomfortable dark realities in urban strife.

We all know Upton Sinclair had an agenda with his social works. And really, you could list books upon books dating back far into the 1800s that have at their core, social change.

Socialit.org provides a great list that can start any writer out on an adventure of learning how other writers have tackled social change in a wide variety of topics.

Yet if someone has a passion for social writing how does one go about doing it?

First off, think about whether fiction or creative non-fiction is the best method. Think about whether you’re a journalist or a storyteller, or maybe a bit of both.

Now think deeply about how you want to affect the consciousness of your readers, even if they might strongly disagree with you.

Consider whether you’re part of a social movement happening right now. Do you have the ability to expose something new that not many people are tackling in their writing?

How can you convey such thoughts without sounding preachy? How can you discuss social change through strong characters in deep conflict with themselves and society around them?

In my book, Lords, the characters are immersed in a society that the reader must connect with and be repulsed by. The reader must take the next step and consider whether they would want to be a part of such a society of wrongdoers. The reader must want the main characters to change what they cannot escape from.

It’s a form of helplessness. It’s pity. It’s brutality in writing that revolves around media, nature, society and especially a sphere of childhood corruption.

I spun a web of social decay that makes for difficult writing but in the end reflects decisions within readers that forces them to think about their own social consciousness.

What you write about is ultimately what you should believe in. Whether you’re writing for social change or not shouldn’t lesson a strong belief and commitment to your thoughts and how they’re conveyed.

You want to tell a good story. Or if non-fiction, you want to do your homework. Find the evidence that backs up your ideas. Be organized, be an examiner of whatever your topic is. Expose it from the inside out. Dissect, build arguments. Or if fiction, find the stories within yourself, or within your community that best convey the social change you think people should be buzzing about.

Maybe there was a series of murders in your community that were never connected before. Maybe you found a new cancer cluster. Trust me, they’re out there. Maybe you discovered a social reason why the mortgage system has gone belly up.

Maybe you live where the air is the worst in the nation, where pesticides are dumped over your metropolitan area and where huge fires blot out the sun and ash rains down laced with chemical retardants.

Do you see society around you accepting such madness blindly?

Maybe it’s time for you to be the one to write a story about it.

You have the ability to make people think.

More on the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference:

Is Book Publishing Dead? Yosemite Writers Conference Provides Food For Hungry Writers
Yosemite Writers Conference: A Conversation about Blogging
Rambo Creator Reinvents Captain America
Yosemite Writers Conference: Demystifying Chick lit and Women’s fiction
Yosemite Writers Conference: Poetry talk
Mystery talk after David Morrell's big speech
2007 Yosemite Writers Conference: Brenda Knight Sidesteps the TVA man
Yosemite Writers and the Chukchansi bathroom break
Headed to Yosemite Writers Conference to talk writing for social change

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

The Water War Debates - By N.L. Belardes

I'm sure many of you are aware of Water War issues Kern County has been involved in for years.

Now we have a state Senator declaring water in the Central Valley is scarce, and that nearly 4 billion dollar plan is needed to create more dams and reservoirs to protect the future of Central and Southern CA.

You may agree with the plan. You might not. Democrats have opposed the plan which reached Bakersfield Friday in the way of a huge water-related forum.

I'm still wondering if it's all really about protecting the quality of water of if it's about big money, big agriculture, and big water deals for gov't agencies.

I wrote an article yesterday on ABC23 titled, "Water Wars Over Northern Calif. Supplies Hit Bakersfield."

Here's an excerpt:

Kern County is also part of the state's ongoing water crisis which Senator Dave Cogdill of Modesto called the worst drought in California history.

State Senator Roy Ashburn who called the forum believes Californians need to have more water, build more damns, and build more reservoirs. He said California has more water in north and not a lot in the south or in Central California.

According to a report sent out by Senator Cogdill, the $3.95 billion SB 59 Reliable Water Supply Bond Act would solve the crisis.

The bill has stalled in recent months from Democrat opposition in the California state Senate. Four Democrats opposed the bill and one abstained. According to the Aquafornia blog water flowing one way from north to south is a problem in itself, and that northern California water officials claim details are lacking regarding the water plan.

Senator Ashburn said, “It’s been decades since we’ve made any changes in our water supply, yet we’ve continued to grow.”

The report claims that California’s water system is in need for improvements. Declining snow pack levels and increased population growth mean that more storage capacity for water is needed, especially for dry years like 2007.

(read the full article)

What do you think?

Bakersfield Underground News Syndicate 10 Reveals Trailer Trash Boobs - By N.L. Belardes

The best one yet by far...

Bakersfield Underground News Syndicate 10

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Schedule for the Yosemite Writers Conference – By Melinda Carroll

In a recent interview with Bonnie Hearn Hill about the Yosemite Writers Conference, she stated:

“We have four workshops an hour geared for everyone at every stage of her/his career; however, we encourage writers to follow their passion. If a beginning writer wants to attend a workshop on how to sell books to film, that’s fine. I should add that we have a talented sound professional from Hawaii recording all of the workshops, so if you miss one you think you might like, you can purchase a CD.”

Wow! That’s a lot of workshops! And there are a lot of great topics being covered! There are a couple of timeslots where I wish I could clone myself and sit in two workshops at the same time. I just might have to purchase a CD of the workshops so I don’t miss anything.

Take a look at the schedule of workshops for next week’s Yosemite Writers Conference:

Friday August 24:

9:15 – 10:15 AM –
Sharpen Your Hooks – Fiction
Writing For Social Change
Writing and Publishing Your Memoir
Writing Anthologies For the Soul

10:45 – 11:45 AM –
Ghosting Where the Money is: A Guide to Co-authoring
How to Stand Out in the Nonfiction Market
Selling to Chronicle Books
Editing Poetry: Entering the process whole and coming out humming

1:45 – 2:45 PM –
All About Platform: If You Build It, They Will Come
Spiritual Writing in the Age of The Secret
Selling to Tor Books
Chick Lit is Dead, and Other Myths About Women's Fiction

3:00 – 4:00 PM –
How to Pitch an Editor
Rates, rights and rules of engagement: What you need to know about magazine freelancing
Selling to Weiser Books
Take Your Book to the Movies

Saturday August 25:

9:15 – 10:15 AM –
He, She and the Dreaded Omniscient: Point of View at Close Range
Confessions of a Contest Judge
Picture Book Manuscript Critique
Beyond the Basics - What Every Author Needs to Know Before, During and After Publication

10:45 – 11: 45 AM –
Sharpen your Hooks – Nonfiction
Blogging Your Way to Fame

1:45 – 2:45 PM –
How to Pitch an Agent
Murder, They Wrote: A Guide to Mystery, Suspense & Thrillers
Writing for Guideposts

3:00 – 4:00 PM –
Tapping the Hot YA Market
Invisible Genius: Ghostwriting for The Penn Group
Twisting the Mystery Plot

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www.noveltown.net
www.yosemitewriters.com

Bakotopia Adema edition mentioned on ABC23 - By N.L. Belardes

Media promoting media. Gotta love it. Watch this ABC23 video where Christina Loren and Doug DeRoo promote Bakotopia... and don't forget to read Matt Munoz article on Adema.



Video might not appear for a few minutes.

Who is this mystery-masked Nacho man? - By N.L. Belardes

Can you guess?

Jackie Parks of ABC23 is blogging? - By N.L. Belardes

Jackie Parks of ABC23 has her own blog that she started up today.

Now, she's brand new to the blog world. But that's OK. She has a great first piece titled, "First Day of School Blues." It's an honest piece about a worried mom (her) because her kid is about to start school.

Here's an excerpt:

For years, I silently shook my head at friends who cried when their children started their first day of kindergarten. I thought, “Really. They’re only 5 years old. This isn’t an empty nest. You have many, many years until you write the tuition check.”

But now that it’s me who has a firstborn child entering the hallowed halls of our public school system, I confess I am a mess. Not exactly a basket case – at least not yet. But come Monday morning, all bets are off.

Maybe you have kids starting school too. Maybe you're just interested in what Jackie is going to be blogging about...

(Read the full article and leave a comment)

The Yosemite Writers Conference is August 24-26, Noveltown is going. Are you? – By Melinda Carroll

The Yosemite Writers Conference is just around the corner. Quite literally. In fact its next week, August 24-26. My excitement is growing by leaps and bounds. I can’t wait to be among so many great writers that I admire. I can’t wait to attend the workshops and panels and soak up all the knowledge I can about writing and the publishing world. I can’t wait to connect to writers from all over the country. I can’t wait to be inspired!

Noveltown is going. Are you?

Want to meet literary agents, publishers, editors, and authors?

Want to learn about the many facets of writing in today’s literary world?

Whether you’re a published author or just realized that you want to be a writer, the Yosemite Writer’s Conference is for you.

Noveltown’s own N.L. Belardes will be speaking at this year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference, among many others. (Read my previous interview with N.L. about his speaking at the YWC).

I’ve literally been vibrating with anticipation for the Yosemite Writers Conference. I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed a preview. You know, like a movie trailer. A teaser. The coming attractions as it were. I went straight to the source. I tracked down Bonnie Hearn Hill, accomplished novelist, instructor and one of many who work very hard each year to put on the Yosemite Writers Conference and I asked her a few questions about what we could expect at this years conference.

She was kind enough to oblige me, instruct me, and encourage me. Read the interview.

Bonnie Hearn Hill
Volunteer faculty
Novelist and instructor

Noveltown: Who are the ‘big’ agents and editors attending the Yosemite Writers Conference this year?

BHH: Please, honey. Never use orphan quotes, and especially not single orphan quotes. I’m excited about all of our agents. Irene Webb is a top film agent. June Clark specializes in nonfiction and works for a leading New York agency. Katharine Sands is also with a major NY firm, and Jeffery McGraw and Arlene Cardoza are building their lists and actively seeking new writers. This is a great opportunity to learn from the people who are in the best position to know what sells.

Noveltown: Which conference panel or workshop are you most excited about this year?

BHH: I’m really excited about the young adult panel. That’s a great market, and we have Farrin Jacobs from HarperCollins, Susan Chang from Tor, along with Melissa Manlove from Chronicle Books. Melissa is also presenting a two-hour picture book critique workshop, and she’s actually doing free line edits. For those who are ready to test their work, the Sharpen Your Hooks workshops are an almost painless way to get feedback. For the first time this year, we’re offering one for fiction and one for nonfiction. Also for the first time, we’re offering two workshops on the high-paying ghostwriting field with representatives of a New York ghostwriting firm, and a magazine-writing panel for those who want to write articles. So I sound as if I’m excited about everything, right? For me, though, the most intriguing might be the Sunday morning one with our Saturday keynote David Morrell, the author who created Rambo. David is actively involved in the conference this year, and he asked if he could do a bonus workshop on Sunday on marketing for writers. I can’t wait.

Noveltown: As a keynote speaker, what does David Morrell bring to the conference?

BHH: We have two keynote speakers, Steve Yarbrough and David. Both are excellent.

Noveltown: Are you participating or speaking on any panels or workshops?

BHH: I’m moderating a few panels. You can check them out under schedules on the Website. Two of the highest rated panels last year were the point of view panel (which I think you attended) and the Sharpen Your Hooks panels. We’ll be repeating both of those. I’ll also moderate a panel on ghostwriting and serve on the mystery/thriller panel moderated by Sheree Petree. Sheree is a mystery novelist who is on our volunteer faculty, along with Hazel Dixon-Cooper, the Cosmopolitan magazine Bedside Astrologer and a best-selling author in her own right.

Noveltown: Is the Yosemite Writers Conference just for experienced or published writers or will beginners and aspiring writers benefit from the conference too?

BHH: We have four workshops an hour geared for everyone at every stage of her/his career; however, we encourage writers to follow their passion. If a beginning writer wants to attend a workshop on how to sell books to film, that’s fine. I should add that we have a talented sound professional from Hawaii recording all of the workshops, so if you miss one you think you might like, you can purchase a CD.

Noveltown: What do you hope writers will gain from their conference experience?

BHH: Depends on where they are with their writing and what they want. Writers should attend conferences at two places in their careers—when they first start, so that they can get a sampling of opinions from many professionals, and then again, when they have a manuscript to sell. They will also build contacts along the way. Your novel may not be ready to sell for three years, but you will still have that contact you made at the conference. As my friend literary agent Andrea Brown says, “Don’t send it to me Monday. Send it to me right.”

Noveltown: What’s new at this year’s Yosemite Writers Conference compared to past conferences?

BHH: A silent auction where those who attend can bid on anything from a line-edit by me to breakfast with an editor or agent. If I were a first-time attendee, I’d go for the agent breakfast. Just think. You’ll have this person’s undivided time. You might also (hint, hint, Ms. MK) want to bid on the invitation to the Friday night presenter reception. Thanks for the excellent questions.

Noveltown: Thanks Bonnie for taking time out of your busy schedule to give us a sneak peak at next week’s Yosemite Writers Conference.

***************
2007 Partial List of Presenters

Keynote Speakers: Steve Yarbrough and David Morrell
Literary Agents: Katharine Sands, June Clark, Irene Webb, and Jeffrey McGraw
Magazine Editors From: Sacramento Magazine and Visalia Lifestyle
Editors: Meg Bertini of Dream Time Publishing, Kate Gale of Red Hen Press, Susan Chang of Tar Books, Farrin Jacobs of HarperCollins, Brenda Knight of Weiser Books, Steve Mettee of Quill Driver Books and Word Dancer Press, Melissa Manloe of Chronicle Books
Authors: N.L. Belardes, Hallie Ephron, BJ Taylor and Ginny Rorby
Yosemite Faculty: Rik Bollman, Hazel Dixon-cooper, Bonnie Hearn Hill, and Sheree Petree

****************
Conference details:

$390 after June 1

Registration fee includes: all workshop sessions Friday and Saturday, continental breakfast, two keynote luncheons and evening reception Friday and Saturday.

The registration fee must be paid in full by check or credit card in order to secure a space for the conference.

Registration fee does not include lodging.

The beautiful Tenaya Lodge is the official conference hotel. When booking your room, be sure to ask for the Yosemite Writers Conference rate of $189 per night. Call (559) 683-6555, 800-635-5807 or log on to tenayalodge.com to reserve your room.

Consultation: Confer with any of the agents or editors at the conference for only $30 per session.

Visit Yosemite Writers online for more details.

*****************
Read Noveltown’s experiences at last year’s Yosemite Writer’s Conference:

By N.L. Belardes
A Writer in Yosemite: Part One
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Two
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Three
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Four
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Five
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Six
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Seven
A Writer in Yosemite: Part Eight

By Matildakay
A great literary weekend
What's your type?
How to Approach a Literary Agent...
The Mary Wong Lee Memorial Scholarship
Malcolm Margolin is Posh
Hanging out with the Pirates of Yosemite and setting the record straight
Kill Your Darlings

Hurricane Flossie skirting near Maui, kids going surfing - By N.L. Belardes

Hurricane Flossie bands over Maui

My kids aren't on mainland Hawaii, but on Maui. Luckily the brunt of hurricane Flossie is southwest of the mainland.

Click on cool interactive map on weather.com

When I spoke to my oldest boy by phone a few minutes ago, he said, "We're just now starting to see bands in the sky from the hurricane." Otherwise it had been a peaceful day.

"The waves have been flat," he said.

He mentioned he had been traveling around the island part of the day, though now he's headed toward Lahaina on the northwestern coast of Maui.

I talked to Lando from Dirty Spanglish. He sounded like he was about to go surfing.

Stay tuned for more pics...

ABC23 launches Buzz Bands blog - By N.L. Belardes

Check out my newest blog, Buzz Bands.

I left a note over there why I went ahead and started a music blog. I plan on using Bakotopia as a big resource and will crosslink to their calendar for sure. There's a really good Adema article over there right now that I linked from my Korn article that made CNN.

You can read about me seeing Lost Ocean over the weekend and a Korn piece too...

Korn article makes top CNN entertainment story - By N.L. Belardes

I was excited to find out Friday that my article "Untitled Korn Album Debuts At No. 2" made the top entertainment stories list on CNN.

Click here for CNN Entertainment while the link lasts. Not sure how long the story will be linked. I noticed the link Friday around 3 or 4 pm. I'm guessing it may last through the weekend.

Going from a local blogger duking it out in the online scene, to having a direct connection to CNN in the past month, has been part of an exciting journey into the media world. It's sort of a weird rags to riches story for any blogger to go through.

I'll be curious to see how much traffic will come to ABC23 through CNN. I'm guessing somewhere between 25,000-50,000 visits, but really can only guess. Could be double that.

Getting such links isn't just good for me as a blogger. Really, it's good for Bakersfield, the Bakersfield music scene, Korn and Brian "Head" Welch.

Letters to eBay book filled with online pranks - By N.L. Belardes

I just received Paul Meadors book, Letters to eBay in the mail. Haven't opened it yet. I did get this book trailer today...

Although the humor is a little dry, it's hilarious to imagine a granny on the streets of Fresno with a bongo. The bathtub birth is down right disturbing... I had to keep watching of course.

New boxing post on the ABC23 files - By N.L. Belardes

I talk a little about Olympic trials boxer Mike Dallas, and a lot about his father, Mike Dallas Sr.

There's even a cool photo that I think I shall add to my myspace.

Excerpt:

Don't worry. Boxer Mike Dallas isn't on the ropes at all. I just wanted your attention.

Mike Dallas II packs a mean fist, inherited from his tough-knuckled pop, also of the same name: Mike Dallas.

Of course the elder Dallas said his son's fists are a gift from God. I'm not going to argue with that.

Back in the 1980s when I was a terrible wrestler I met up with Mike Dallas Sr. He put a hold on me at Bakersfield College that I also took as a sign from God: time to end my wrestling career and become an academic.

(Full article)

Live Webcasts from the BookExpo America/Writer's Digest Books Writer's Conference – By Melinda Carroll

Ever wish you could attend some of the premier writing conferences? Thanks to Writer’s Digest, Booksurge and Write Bros. who put together video webcasts from the most popular sessions of this year’s BookExpo America/Writer’s Digest Books Writer’s Conference, you can.

Check out the keynote speech by best-selling author Jodi Picoult for FREE!

“View the enlightening and inspirational keynote address delivered by none other than best-selling author Jodi Picoult as she offers tips on research and candid, behind-the-scenes anecdotes about three of our her novels, including Nineteen Minutes.”

View the video webcast

Then for a fraction of the cost of attending the conference, check out other sessions by big names in the publishing world including:

Writing the Breakout Novel: Characters by Donald Maass.

“Superstar agent Donald Maass, president of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, provides you with powerful techniques for creating realistic and memorable characters.”

View the video webcast

The Six Usual Suspects: Fiction Writing Conundrums by Peter Selgin.

“Peter Selgin, award-winning fiction writer, shows you how to correct the top six fundamental writing errors related to structure, form, style and story conception.”

View the video webcast

How to Write an Irresistible Non-Fiction Book Proposal by Rita Rosenkranz.

“Rita Rosenkranz, founder of the Rita Rosenkranz Literary Agency, breaks down the process of writing a salable nonfiction proposal to help you get an agent and get published!”

View the video webcast

And coming soon, FREE audiocasts of selected workshops!

(Read the full Writer’s Digest article)

Noveltown will be attending the 2007 Yosemite Writers Conference August 24-26. I"m so looking forward to all of the outstanding workshops!

Social Networking, Corporate Backpedalling and the TV Biz - By N.L. Belardes

In the digital media world, when you want your own site or your company to grow online, you have to be pro-active, creative, and sometimes be a bit of a risk taker through social networking mediums. That means forward momentum. Forward movement.

Allow me to get straight to the point… In the digital media world, once momentum starts building, don’t stop. Backpedalling leads to backwardsville. You don’t want to go there. That’s a nasty place of embarrassment and failing credibility.

Nowadays, you can’t just have a website floating in the darkness of Internet-space. You have to interact. You have to blog.

If you do and then kill it, you’ll look the fool to the people who understand blogging and social networking. And that includes a lot of educated people who teach at prestigious universities, those who work for the biggest media conglomerates and corporations in the world, and leaders in the industries you may interact with.

Let me give you a case study, a prime example of blog backpedalling.

When I worked for ProSoft Technology, I recommended what I thought was a great marketing avenue toward online corporate growth: blogging.

That’s cheap promotion compared to paying $8,000 on average for one month’s ad in a magazine that a company like ProSoft often paid for, and then wouldn’t track.

Blogging is easy to track. It’s more visible than print ads, and can create big traffic. All you have to have is one decent conversational writer.

As you know, blogging is about conversations, social networking online, and being part of online communities.

The blog I created for ProSoft Technology grew quickly. Traffic came, and lots of folks throughout the automation industry commented. Industry experts interacted with relevant articles that meant something to them. It was those leaders who made the biggest negative remarks over ProSoft’s inability to “get it” when the blog was eventually killed without reason.

Of course I instantly thought, “Trust issues.”

One industry leader wrote to me after I mentioned trust issues:

“There are an infinite number of possible answers ranging from trust to appreciation of the medium.”

Social networking. Blogging. Online promotion. To appreciate it you have to be a part of the process. You have to move forward and grow your digital media island.

ProSoft Technology fell into one of those holes that is sometimes visible in the digital media world: back-peddling corporate behavior with a lack of vision as to the power of social networking; and possible paranoia to the point of secretive behaviors which may have led to their decision in corporate blog killing.

In the end, their blog killing was left unexplained.

Eventually I left ProSoft feeling unfulfilled. The company itself seemed zapped of life and not just in the digital media world. I could go into many details about ProSoft being a struggling company with failing wireless and non ease-of-use products, which I never wrote about on their blog. It was becoming a scary place to hold a job. And without a foothold in digital media, I didn’t feel secure. After I left, most of their wireless radio division was laid off.

Had I left just in time? Maybe.

The reality was I had worked under a dark cloud of mismanagement, and for that matter, marketing management that had once again shown that they did not indeed know how to run a marketing department in the new age of digital media.

There are few traces online of the once vibrant ProSoft blog.

It’s embarrassing, really. Not for me, but for ProSoft. Many articles still link back to where there was once relevant ProSoft articles. Most of those are now dead links from automation industry-leading blogs, now re-routed to a static homepage.

That’s information and conversation lost.

That’s also a complete backpedalling in the world of blogs and digital media, which I think is embarrassing for the company, bad marketing, and poor social networking.

I suppose you can eventually regain such credibility. But that’s tough.

When it comes to social networking within the digital media sphere, some people get it and let’s face it, some people don’t.

That industry blogger was right. There are an infinite number of possible answers ranging from trust to appreciation of the medium as to why any company gives up on blogging.

I’m sure many blog deaths are embroiled in hidden reasons that are no more than candy-coated paranoid mysteries that revolve around issues of distrust by management of those writing such doomed tombstone blogs.

I can honestly say that I’m still doing what I was doing for ProSoft, though now to a higher degree: I utilize more social networking sites than ever to promote ABC23 TV.

In doing so, I was glad to hear that ABC23 was recently recognized for its blogging prowess on lostremote.com, one of the leading blogs on the changes technology and progress brings to the television business.

Lostremote’s David Johnson, also of Scripps Media Center in Washington D.C., is no digital media slouch. He’s an expert in the field (read more about Johnson).

Johnson said in his article, “Blogging Yourself”:

I have wondered frequently why stations don’t start blogging themselves to increase their content footprint and grow potential eyeshare… Blogging and posting station video that is hosted into YouTube in the voice and style of a vblogger, Nick offers a whole different package that adds to the media mix for his station. Leveraging existing social media outlets is the smart online promotional strategy to grow audience while taking the message to the masses, and it is great to see that ABC23 also has a myspace page.

Howard Owens of Gatehouse Media tipped off Johnson with his blog titled, “Online editor in Bakersfield uses the local network to promote his company’s site.”

Owens wrote, “Nick Belardes, a long-time Bakersfield blogger, gets the nature of networked media.”

If I get it, that means there’s something there to get, to understand about digital media. The companies that don’t ‘get it’, backpedal, waffle, and eventually are left in the dark. Or like ProSoft Technology, a self-proclaimed high-tech company, are left in obvious embarrassment by reverting back to the stone age of digital media.

When you backpedal in today’s age of growing social media, where does that leave you, especially when you’re a struggling company who might benefit from such tactics?

Poor management of digital media tools, once started, and then stopped, only leaves a gaping hole, one that becomes obvious to others on an Internet that leaves many footprints.

Social media is everywhere. It's just a matter of speaking the dialects that exist within each social networking sphere to promote products, corporate image, and more. The rest is just hoping people join in the conversation and accept your voice as one amongst their community.