Workshops
FREE EVENTS – 12 -5 pm
Author signings and sales of regional books
Creative Journaling in the hall
Workshop Schedule
8:00-8:45 am – register and check-in – coffee klatch time with mingling and schmoozing/networking
8:45 – Hall – introductions –
9:00-10:00 am – Historical Fiction writing – Katie Stine – Main hall –
10-11 am – Preparing your manuscript for publication – Joyce Dedini and Monika Rose– Main Hall
11-12 – YouTube for authors and podcasting – Sarah Lunsford – Main Hall
11-12 – Poetry Workshop with Linda Toren and Gary Thomas –Serendipity next door
12 pm – 1 pm – Lunch on your own
1-2 pm – Children’s Book writing workshop at Serendipity – Kristin Fulton, Monika Rose, Kathy Boyd Fellure, and Michele Rugo
1-2 pm – Developing a stage presence for authors and speakers- at Murphys Creek Theatre
2 pm – Creative Journaling – with Conrad Levasseur in the hall
1-4 pm – Author signings and book sales by Authors at tables in the hall – free entrance for the public
4-5 pm – Author readings at the mic – one page teaser
EXPANDED SCHEDULE WITH MORE DETAIL
9 am: Katie Stine: Historical Fiction Workshop:
The Versatility of Historical Fiction
Historical fiction is the only genre that combines other genres with itself. Whether historical romance, historical mystery, or historical fantasy, the field is wide open. Award-winning local author Katie Stine, who writes as Edie Cay, will explain the ins and outs of the
genre, the current market, and some helpful tips on how to write the diverse and changing landscape of historical fiction.
Katie Stine, writing as Edie Cay, has a Bachelor of Arts in both English and Music as well as an MFA in Creative Writing. She has reviewed for the Anchorage Daily News and the Historical Novel Society. The author of award-winning historical romances about women’s boxing and women’s alpine climbing, she also has several articles and literary short stories published. As a speaker, she has contributed to a number of international conferences. She is a member of HNS, The Regency Fiction Writers, and a founding member of Paper Lantern Writers.
Links:
www.facebook.com/authorEdieCay
www.instagram.com/authorEdieCay
10 am – Preparing Your Manuscript for Publication – Joyce Dedini-Runnells, Layout Designer, and Monika Rose, book editor at Manzanita
You’ve finished your manuscript — Now what? Joyce and Monika will guide you through a manuscript preparation process that is only the beginning of a more thorough journey of self-editing.
Joyce Dedini-Runnells: Layout Artist and Graphic Designer
Monika Rose: Calaveras County Poet Laureate 2024-26
Poetry and Childrenʼs book Author, novelist
Book Editor for over 40 years
College English Professor
Director of Manzanita Writers Press
11 am – Stephen Finlay Archer – A Book marketing journey for a series of novels, including audio book creation and publicicst information
(filling in for Sarah Lunsford, who, due to a family emergency, cannot be here. She will present YouTube for Authors at a later date in a longer, in-depth session for participants enrolled in this workshop)
11 am – Poetry workshop with Linda Toren and Gary Thomas at Serendipity – Conversational Poetry — We’ll share examples of poetic conversations and how to write an epistolary poem–also known as a letter poem–which often addresses a specific person or entity, and can range in tone from personal to philosophical.
Linda Toren lives in the foothills of Calaveras County with her husband Theo, dogs, a cat, two pigs and many chickens. Linda is a retired teacher and currently director of Voices of Wisdom through Manzanita Writer’s Press (MWP). She has presented poetry workshops for children and adults—publishing schoolwide collections of poetry and art at local elementary schools for more than 15 years. Her poetry appears in the following collections Manzanita: Poetry and Prose of the Mother Lode & Sierra (MWP 1995 – 2008), Wild Edges (MWP 2013) Wine, Cheese & Chocolate (MWP 2014), Voices of Wisdom (MWP 2018, 2019), Out of the Fire (MWP 2017), Teaching with Fire (Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach) by Sam M. Intrator & Megan Scribner, editors (2003), CollisionV: an Intersection of Poetry and Photography (2018). Her books, Raven Braids the Wind, and Keepers of the Word, are available at retailers. She edited Voices of the Grove, a Calaveras anthology released in 2024.
Linda produces a community radio program at KQBM Blue Mountain radio, which streams live at KQBM.org. Archived shows can be found at archive.org. Search for “Way with Words” Linda Toren. It’s a program dedicated to poetry, prose, nonfiction literary news, lyrics, and the celebration of thoughts and language.
Gary Thomas, a retired English teacher, is a founding member of
Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center (MoSt.) A full-length collection, All the Connecting Lights, was released in August 2022 from Finishing Line Press. His latest poetry collection, O Yes We Breathe, was published in November 2024 by Manzanita Writers Press.
1 pm – Developing Stage Presence for Authors and Speakers – at Murphys Creek Theatre with Michael Summers –
Michael L. Summers, MHA
Michael is an Organizational Consultant and a professional facilitator, training, public speaker and songwriter/performer. He was a competitive debater and public speaker in high school and college. He was trained by one of the best, Donna J. Sparks. Since the age of 15, Michael has given literally thousands of public speeches at such venues as statewide, national and international conferences. Michael teaches a 2-day public speaking class entitled “Stellar Presentations.”
1 pm at Serendipity – Children’s Book Author panel – Monika Rose, Kristin Fulton, Kathy Boyd Fellure, Michele Rugo, and Mary Sexton (artist) – Writing and illustrating your children’s book
Learn some tips about how to write your children’s book, market information, self-publishing your book, working with an illustrator, and more.
Kristin Fulton is the author of middle grade novels Snake Food and The Haunting; a fable for all ages, Henry Bingle’s Transformation; a picture book, Is THAT a Hat?; a two act play for children, Christmas in July, and the novel Sisters of the Soul. When she isn’t writing she plays her baritone ukulele, creates mixed media art, and enjoys a good hike .
Screenshot
Monika Rose
Monika Rose, at home in the foothills of Calaveras County lives the rural good life with her husband on a small cattle ranch. She founded Manzanita Writers Press, a nonprofit literary publisher in San Andreas and has been published in several anthologies and literary magazines. Busy editing and publishing California authors’ books, leading workshops, directing programs, and promoting the literary arts in the region, she has found time to work on her writing projects. Her book of poems, River by the Glass, by GlenHill Publications, and her children’s book for early readers, Bed Bumps, and middle grade children’s book, Moths on a Limb, are available at book retailers. A new novel, WatcHer, is being shopped with agents.
Michele Rugo – Writing genre: Children’s, non-fiction
Kathy Boyd Fellure is the second-born of eight daughters in a writing family. Her love of words formed who she was early in life through poetry, song lyrics, essays, and stories she read to her four children.
She lived in England for three years with her husband and two sons. The English gardens, sea cliffs, and countryside influenced many of Kathy’s publications.
Fellure wrote journals, newspaper and magazine articles, church columns, and slice of life blogs, incorporating her freelance photography with her non-fiction publications. Her photography and poetry grace the pages in two Manzanita Writers Press anthologies ~ Wild Edges, and A Taste of Literary Elegance ~ Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate.
2 pm in the Hall – Creative Journaling with Conrad Levasseur
Conrad Levasseur: Creative Journaling
In this workshop participants will engage in opening up channels of creativity, using art, collage images and the written word to stimulate personal ways to express artistic desire. Keeping a multi-media journal can be used to record emotions, memories, and creative ideas – as well as trigger hidden images and language repressed by our busy lifestyle and workaday world. Conrad has developed a method that will pique interest in one’s own artistic talents and ability to tap into subconscious creative reserves.
Conrad Levasseur, poet and writer, as well as Community Relations and Development Coordinator at Ironstone Vineyards, has conducted travel groups through 120 countries. He designed and implemented global travel presentations around the United States, and directed Lodestar International Student Center’s summer program in Calaveras County for UC Berkeley’s International House. In the 1970’s he was a wild river rafting and wilderness guide for ARTA in the western states, and directed an environmental speakers program for the San Francisco Ecology Center. He has taught workshops in multi-dimensional journal writing, using these elements and others as a therapeutic way to put one’s business, or academic life into greater creative perspective. He has published seven books of poetry, has appeared in anthologies and is currently working on several manuscripts. He settled in Calaveras County with his family in 1981.