Will your story meet readers’ expectations? In this free, one-hour Zoom session, discover how consistent world-building, hitting genre beats, and creating a main character to root for, can fulfill your story’s promise to readers and lead to a most satisfying ending.

Join developmental editor Eva Barrows and copy editor Lila LaBine for their Ask an Editor workshop on Wednesday, April 16, at 11 a.m. To register, visit www.evabarrows.com/workshops.

How do you promote your book? Preparation is key. It is never too early, and the more time you have, the more tactics you can employ to promote not just your book but you. Learn more from member and publicist Sarah Sherwood at Writing Helping Writers on Thursday, April 17, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Rinconada Library in Palo Alto.

David Harris’s short story “Notes from a Reunion” was published in On the Seawall, a literary journal based on Martha’s Vineyard. Former classmates at a twentieth high school reunion try to come to terms with the murder of a brilliant but troubled friend who pulled a gun on a driver while hitchhiking. Read more about David Harris. 

The Kindle version of Geri Spieler’s Revenge of the Sisters: A Tale of Retribution is on sale now for $4.99. The hard copy of this second of two Regina of Warsaw books launches June 3.

James Hanna’s novella Lights Out Lizzie won the humor category for the 2024 Book Excellence Awards. Equally tickled by Hanna’s novella, the 2024 Reader Views Awards declared Lights Out Lizzie a finalist in their humor category.

Ida Lewenstein hosted her second book festival in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday, March 30. Featured were all eleven of her books of rhyming poetry. Follow Ida at Rhyming with Ms. Ida.

Do you need an energizing, inspirational break from your everyday writing routine? On Sunday, March 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., join CWC member and co-founder of the Birth Your Truest Story Community Audrey Kalman for Riversong Retreat: Find Your Creative Flow, where you’ll write, share, contemplate, and take inspiration from the Petaluma River. Find out more and register at Riversong Retreat: Birth Your Truest Story.

Colleen Olle’s picture book Sophia and Sinclair Get Lost! was designated as a Finalist in the 2025 Feathered Quill Book Awards’ Children’s Picture Book category. In addition, her picture book won Silver in the Animal—Children’s & YA category.

In April, Bruce Neuburger will be joining co-authors Bernward Dörner and Max Strand on a book tour for Benno Neuburger published by Hentrich & Hentrich. Interest in the book about an anti-Nazi resister is being stoked by the rise of the right wing in German politics. He will also talk with German high school students in Munich and Laupheim about his previous book, Postcards to Hitler: A German Jew’s Defiance in a Time of Terror.

Follow Carol Park’s journey through images and poetry, illuminating her transformation from stuck and hiding toward agency and from whiteness to intercultural, artistic self. Her “Journey into Self and Writing” will include practical tips on writerly growth and publication. Dates for the events can be found at carolpark.us.

Kelsay Books, the publisher of Marianne Brems’s most recent poetry collection, has nominated Stepping Stones for the Eric Hoffer Book Award 2025 for the Small, Academic, and Independent Press categories.

James Hanna’s story “Lola Has Answered You” appears in Apocalypse Confidential, a new online journal that favors edginess. While his irreverent “Orville Baumgardner and Words to Live By” is featured in A Thin Slice of Anxiety, “The Land Fish” has been reprinted in Bewildering Stories. In this story, struggling writer Mason Trout pens a maudlin book to mock a critic. To his horror, the book becomes a bestseller.

At the October 2024 Writers Helping Writers, poet Kate Adams built a quatrain and had writers start with lines to create blank verse. What type of verse will she have us play with this month? On March 13, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. visit the San Mateo Public Library to receive poetic energy and play with poetry.

How do you start your research process? What is disambiguation and how to accomplish it? How can we safely use AI sites? Come to Writers Helping Writers at Rinconada Library in Palo Alto on Thursday, March 20, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Geri Spieler will discuss online search methods, which include several methodologies to equip you with the skills and tools you need to find accurate and reliable information. 

On Thursday, February 13, at 6:00 p.m., at the Delancey Street Screening Room in San Francisco, join new CWC member Ashia Solei for an inspiring screening of Underdogs. This documentary, airing nationally on PBS and the WORLD Channel, follows homeless dogs transformed into adoptable animals through the training efforts of prisoners and highlights the power of clear, kind, and consistent communication and second chances. Director Ashia will be joined by Emmy-winning broadcaster and former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres. Find more details at Underdogs Documentary.

The latest issue of Spirited Voices: A Writing Journey into the Deep Imagination features impressive work by CWC members Megan E. McDonald, Margaret Nalbach, Drew Oman, and Donna Wocher, with art direction by Doug Baird. Darlene Frank is the editor and publisher of this digital magazine. This is issue #10. Enjoy!

James Hanna’s essay, “Orville Baumgardner and Carrion Crows 2,” appears in A Thin Slice of Anxiety. This piece addresses the Supreme Court’s “presidential immunity” decision.

Independent Press Awards has given Hanna’s novella, Lights Out Lizzie, a Distinguished Favorite Award.