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| | | Events Calendar 
Celebrate World Book Day in March!
An invitation to read your poetry: Poets’ Open Circle Thursday, March 4, at 6:30 p.m. Emphasis on reading and listening to poems. Bring 12 copies of your poem(s) for constructive feedback. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month in Prescott Public Library. See the schedule below for room location. For more information contact facilitator Elle Hughes at 708-9692. Thursday, March 4---Founders Suite A, First Floor Thursday, April 1---Bump Room, Second Floor Thursday, May 6---Founders Suite A, First Floor
Two Professional Writers of Prescott members will be signing their books at Hastings Books and Music in Prescott on Saturday, March 6th, from 1:00 to 4:00.
 
David Sherwood Cross, a new PWP member,
is the author of a new book, Serpents & Scallywags.
  Sedona author Gene K. Garrison recently appeared on AZTV's AM Arizona with hostess Tonya Mock. Gene will have all of her books at Hastings — FROM THUNDER TO BREAKFAST, WIDOWHOOD HAPPENS, JAVELINA! Have-u-WHAT? and her latest, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT CAVE CREEK (It's The People).
 | Learn how to WRITE LIKE A PRO - from an actual pro! |
March 6-7, 2010 What You'll Learn Specifically In "Write Like A Pro..."
If you're serious about crafting a professional-level script and then using it to create a career as a TV, Film or webisode writer/producer, you may want to join us for the next "Write Like A Pro" workshop. Why? A fair question with a pretty simple answer. To learn to be a pro, learn from a pro. Write Like A Pro... is a completely practical, No-Theory-Allowed, Learn-By-Doing workshop. And (as my wife points out to me) it's taught by someone who has not only been there but is currently still there! I've designed this to be a fun, energetic, active and interactive 2 day intensive workshop that will give you specific techniques that will dramatically improve your odds of creating a professional script and a professional career. You'll learn techniques of craft that ensure...
* STORIES: You'll never run out of stories (you're full of them if you know where to look). * PASSION: You'll choose stories you're passionate about (which is the only way to make a reader feel passionate about them). * LOGLINES: You'll know how to create powerful loglines (they're the DNA of your script). * BEAT SHEETS & OUTLINES: You'll be able to build a compelling Beat Sheet out of your logline (and how to use a Beat Sheet differently from an Outline). * SCRIPT: You'll be ready to write a script the reader can't put down (the kind that makes them call your agent to set up a meeting with you). * THE REWRITE: You'll learn how to build on the good, and eliminate the bad (including the cut pass, the punch up, the dialogue pass, etc). You'll learn career starting - and building - techniques that ensure...
* GET READ: You'll know how to get that great script read by people who count (as well as learning who counts, and what to not put on your title page). * GET AN AGENT: You'll learn several tricks (a couple of them sneaky) to get an agent (I used the sneaky ones) or a job as a writers' assistant. * GIVE GOOD MEETING: You'll know how to prepare for a meeting with an executive (network vs. studio vs. exec producer -- all verrrry different forms of life). * PLAY THE WRITERS' ROOM: You'll learn how to play your position in a Writer's Room (aka "You Think You're Family Is Dysfunctional?"). * TAKE FEEDBACK: You'll learn how to take feedback that breaks your heart (and what "notes" really are - hint: they are not suggestions). * KEEP THE JOB: You'll know how to not get fired (being a great writer is nice, but simply not getting fired is the rocket fuel to many careers). This workshop has helped writers at ALL LEVELS It's designed to meet everyone at their own level. So, beginners won't feel "lost", and pro's won't feel "held back." For more information about Bill Grundfest, go to http://workshopforwriters.com.
TICKETSWorkshops are $350 each ($250 for IFP/PHX members). There are NO WALK-UPS available – all tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets may be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/3380. Members use code IFPPHX (must present current membership card at the door for verification.) New members may join at www.ifpphx.org prior to purchasing workshop tickets. The workshop is from 9 am-6 pm Saturday and 9 am – 5 pm on Sunday; lunch is included. LOCATION Workshops all held at IFP Phoenix, 1700 North 7th Avenue, Suite #250, Phoenix, AZ 85007. The offices are on the second floor of the “Metro Arts Institute” on the NW corner of McDowell and 7th Avenue. Parking is ample, and free, under the building. The Suite is located on the top floor right off the center stairwell. ABOUT BILL GRUNDFEST  I came to Hollywood from NY, unemployed, crashing on couches and certain that I was destined to become a successful writer-producer. Seventeen years later, my body of credits for writing and/or producing includes every format (multi-camera, single camera, half hours, hour longs and feature film polishes), and every tone - comedy, dramedy, dark drama, light drama; from ultra-realistic to over-the-top. It ranges from mainstream network productions like NBC's "Mad About You" (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt) and CBS's "That's Life" (Paul Sorvino, Ellen Burstyn), to mainstream-edgy projects like Oxygen's "Campus Ladies", HBO's "Mind of the Married Man" to the extreeeemely edgy, like Richard Pryor's final two projects - Showtime's "Pryor Offenses" based on Richard's characters, and "The Richard Pryor 'I Ain't Dead Yet, Mutha#$%!' Comedy Special for Comedy Central. Currently, I'm writing this season's Emmy telecast (again) and just delivered Season 2 of "Exes & Ohs" - a single camera lesbian "Friends" for Viacom's gay network, LOGO (Season 1 was nominated for a GLAAD award. We lost.)
My reward for going from unemployable to all the above has been a career of creative and commercial satisfaction, large cash prizes and repeated emotional scarring. I also have a lovely wife, two kids (6 and 4) with whom I'm stupid in love, two dogs, two cockatiels, and two live chickens (the kids hatched them). So why, in the spare time I don't have, am I continuing to teach the writers' workshop I launched at UCLA? Because I still love what I do. And I love writers (it's a love I learned from the first showrunner I worked for, and it's stuck). And I still care about improving what we writers do and the way we do it. There have been so many times along the way that I have f----ed up because "nobody told me" to do that, or not do that. I've realized that nobody tells any of us that stuff - and somebody needs to. When (not if) you're hired to write a script, "they" will assume you know all these things that "nobody ever tells you." The folks who've taken my workshop know these things. But in the end, I won't be giving you anything you don't already have - everything you need is already inside you. You just need to know where to look. I hope you can join us for the next workshop.
TESTIMONIALS FROM CELEBRITIES... AND NORMAL PEOPLE My past students have been very generous with their evaluations, having rated the experience a 99% out of 100% (there's always one), and offering comments such as:
"Bill Grundfest. He did the best thing for me ever... I learned how to be myself. And that was a really big thing to learn.
” - JON STEWART,
Star, Exec Prod, The Daily Show
"If you want to create a script that bubbles with life, try to get Billy Grundfest to show you how he does it... he's a funny, great teacher - you hardly realize you're learning anything and I would say that even if he wasn't paying me, which he's not...
” - PAUL REISER,
Star, "Mad About You"
"Mad About You" simply gets better... it's blessed with a rich script by Billy Grundfest...
-Daily Variety
"I learned more in these two days than I learned in the last year of study..."
"One of the most inspiring instructors I've had..."
"He showed us exactly how to use our personal experiences in our writing..."
"Bill is enlightening, entertaining and non-threatening - creates an amazing learning environment..."
"Funny, but not in a 'I like to hear myself talk' kind of way..."
And perhaps the highest compliment...
"I didn't go to the bathroom because I didn't want to miss any of his class..."
1700 North 7th Avenue, Suite #250, Phoenix, AZ 85007 | 602.955.6444 | www.ifpphx.org | www.phxfilm.com
The Southwest Writers Series is hosting the poet Bob Hicok in the Prescott College Crossroads Center for two events on Tuesday, March 9. Hicok will conduct a workshop at 1 p.m. and a offers a reading at 7. For information please contact Susan Lang at (928) 778-4970 or slang2@mindspring.com. Both events take place at the Prescott College Crossroads Center, located behind the College’s main buildings at 220 Grove Avenue. The events are free and open to the public. The Southwest Writers Series is sponsored by Prescott College. Bob Hicok’s most recent collection, This Clumsy Living, was awarded the 2008 Bobbitt Prize from the Library of Congress. His other books are: Insomnia Diary; Animal Soul, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Plus Shipping; and The Legend of Light, which received the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry and was named a 1997 ALA Booklist Notable Book of the Year.
He has received Pushcart Prizes as well as Guggenheim and NEA Fellowships. His poetry has also been included in five volumes of Best American Poetry. Hicok has worked as an automotive die designer and a computer system administrator, and is currently an Associate Professor of English at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
As Elizabeth Gaffney wrote for the New York Times Book Review, "Each of Mr. Hicok's poems is marked by the exalted moderation of his voice—erudition without pretension, wisdom without pontification, honesty devoid of confessional melodrama ..."
The Tucson Festival of Books March 13 & 14, 2010
A review by PWP Membership Chair Marian Powell: "I went last year and it was well worth going to. There is a fabulous lineup of authors including David Quinn of PWP, Laurie Schnebly, David Morrell who conducted PWP's last workshop, and some big names like Baxter Black and Larry McMurty (Lonesome Dove). Don't be misled by the big push they give to their very expensive Friday night meet-the-famous-authors dinner. The real fair is Saturday and Sunday and, if it's like last year, there will be lots of talks and booksignings."
Arizona Commission on the Arts FY 11 Guides to Grants Now Available | The 2011 Guides to Grants are now available on the Arts Commission's website at www.azarts.gov/guide.The Arizona Commission on the Arts' Artist in Residence and Community Enrichment grants provide matching funds for arts learning-based projects taking place July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011. Begin preparing your application now by reviewing the eligible fees and application questions available in the Arts Learning Guide to Grants. Online applications will open in February; grant applications will be due March 18, 2010. |
FREE Writing Workshops That Will Make You Laugh The workshops on are Saturdays, from 9 AM to 4 PM. Dates are: March 27th, Writing Memoirs. April 24th, Writing Novels, May 22nd, Self-Editing, and June 5th, Ghostwriting. Contact: Allen Kates, (520) 616-7643 or e-mail allen@writingpublishing.com, Workshop Location: Lord of Grace Lutheran Church, 7250 N. Cortaro Road (at Ina Road), Tucson, AZ 85743.
Whether you are a filmmaker or film fan, check out the Prescott Film Festival & Series at 6:30 pm on second Wednesdays at the Frontier Village Cinema 10. Tickets are $6.50 at the box office. The festival promises evenings of pure enjoyment and entertainment in beautiful and friendly Prescott Arizona; where "Art Without An Attitude" reigns. http://www.frontiervillagecinema.com/
For more information, contact: The mystery/suspense group Suspicious Characters has a monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Las Fuentes Resort Village on Scott Drive off of north Ruth Street. For more information about specific dates, call Susan Lanning at 772-2444 or e-mail at sblanning@cableone.net. Hope you can join us!
Saguaro Romance Writers - Tucson Chapter of RWA ~ Monthly workshops, except in December ~
Saguaro Romance Writers (RWA Tucson) welcomes published authors Pamela Tracy (speaking on scene and structure) and Elaine Charton (speaking on conflict, action and suspense) to our March meeting.
March 27, 2010
10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
El Parador Tropical Restaurant in Tucson, 2744 E Broadway Blvd
Cost: $20 for SRW members, $25 for non-members, includes lunch. Reservations due no later than 10:00 PM Wednesday before the meeting. PayPal accepted through website http://www.tucsonrwa.org.
Crystal Marshall
520-850-7905
crystal@crystalcaterra.com
$20 for SRW members, $25 for non-members, includes lunch
********
Our morning speaker will be Pamela Tracy, who will speak on Scene & Structure--how to construct solid, believable narratives that keep readers anxiously turning the pages. First published in 1999, Pamela has since published nineteen more books, both suspense and contemporary romance. Her most recent is Clandestine Cover-Up, a December 2009 Love Inspired Suspense romance. Her August 2009 book Fugitive Fantasy is up for an RT Reviewers' Choice award. Broken Lullaby, a 2008 Love Inspired Suspense, won first place in the American Christian Fiction Writer's Book of the Year short suspense contest. Pamela has also been a RITA finalist.
Pamela ives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband of seven years and spends her days as an English professor. Besides being involved in her church, writing, teaching and taking care of her family, she is often asked to speak at various writers' organizations in the Phoenix area. She belongs to Romance Writers of America, The Society of Southwestern Writers, The Arizona Authors' Association, and the American Christian Writers' Association.
In the afternoon, Elaine Charton will speak on Conflict, Action & Suspense, sharing with us how to create stories full of drama, tension, and surprise. Writing since 1991, Elaine sold her first book in 2003. This made her a 12-year overnight success. A member of Romance Writers of America and several of its chapters, she has served on the board of both the New Jersey and Tucson chapters. Elaine and her husband, also a writer, have been married for over twenty years. They met on a blind date and fell in love while indulging in their shared love of books, Chinese food, and baseball.
THE WRITE STUFF!
A WORKSHOP TO INSPIRE YOUR CREATIVE SPIRIT
& LAUNCH YOUR WRITING BUSINESS!
Presented by the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers
and the Friends of the Chandler Library
Saturday, April 10, 2010
10:00 A.M.-3:00 P.M.
CHANDLER PUBLIC LIBRARY
22 S. DELAWARE STREET
2nd floor-council chambers
REGISTRATION FEES:
$30 Friends member
$40 non-member
$45 Annual membership/workshop fee
Box lunch included in fee
All proceeds benefit library programs - registration form is below
Enjoy a dynamic and interactive workshop of four fabulous sessions covering key topics to help you with both the creative and the business side of writing. WRITING
Jump-start your writing! Elevate your book to the next level with interactive hands-on activities that will motivate you to “WRITE to the heart of the matter,” with author Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski. www.valuemeals.blogspot.com
MORE WRITING
Gain useful tips on the basics of memoir writing from author Dee Dees. www.lifestorylady.com Whether you want to write your own, write the stories of a family member, or become a paid ghost writer for clients, this session will give you the tools you need for writing memoirs.
EDITING/PUBLISHING
Find out how easy, as well as how challenging, it is to transform your work into book form and to launch it into the market place. Learn about the new trends in all areas of publishing; and what you need to know to enjoy success.
Patricia L. Brooks. www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com
BRANDING/MARKETING
Learn the importance of establishing a brand and best practices for marketing your books and promoting yourself as well as the many creative ways to increase sales from author, independent publisher and advertising and marketing veteran, Robin Reynolds. www.nicecreative.com and www.lifetomax.com
EMAIL ME FOR THE REGISTRATION INFO patricia@plbrooks.com
2009 Southwest Writers Series
Author readings and informal dialogues
open to the public and free of charge.Sponsored by Prescott College,
the Arizona Commissions on the Arts,
and Friends of Prescott Public Library
For additional information, contact Susan Lang at 778-4970
The Literary Southwest: Deepening the Dialogue -
The Southwest's Finest Writers and Poets
Read and Discuss Their Work
Tom Bird Seminars / Retreats Best Selling Author Offers Two More Free Online Classes Designed to JUMPSTART 2010 for Budding Writers:
The SIX Reasons Why There Has Never Been A Better Time To Be An Author And Why Your Should Act RIGHT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, To Take Advantage These Unique Opportunities. The economy is down and things are starting to crumple in many areas of our lives, but, as this free, online webinar by best selling author Tom Bird shows, there has never been a better time to be a writer. However, there is no guarantee that these times will last, so, if you want to publish, you had better take advantage of these trends before they pass. In this course, Tom will offer an insider’s of publishing, the directions it has taken and will take that directly affect our collective fates as authors and writers – but in a very good way.
|
Bird, who has made over 3500 lectures during the last twenty-five years at over one hundred of the nation’s top college and universities, is also the founder of The Write Your Book in 8 Days Retreat, which he hosts a few times a year in Sedona.
During his last retreat in October: · Forty-one students completed a total of forty-three books;· Collectively, the group received over 1200 offers from literary agents to potentially represent their books to the top publishing houses in the country; · Eleven students were offered contracts from literary agents within three weeks of the retreat; · 17 agents actually took the time out of their busy schedules to call my students; · And one student set a record by actually having over 100 agents interested in potentially representing his first book.
To register for the class, interested parties can go to his website, www.writeyourbookin8days.com, and sign up.Students will be taken on a first come, first serve basis and spaces are limited.
I Believe Former Professional Writers of Prescott President & current Prescott College English instructor Nancy Owen Nelson is Associate Producer of the local access Channel 13 program I Believe, which airs on Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m. Historian Elisabeth Ruffner is the host. In the upcoming months, "I Believe" will be transferred to the capable hands of Rojean Madsen and a crew she's assembling to do the various tasks involved. Thanks for being out there for us over the past three plus years! One more note here: very soon, Channel 13 will have the capability of web streaming its programs as well as archiving earlier programs. We'll let you know when this happens. Upcoming and recent programs: Amanda Richardson came to Prescott in the fall of 2009, and since then has been working as Watershed Program Coordinator, facilitating a grant for the Upper Granite Creek Watershed. If you missed this fine program last week, tune in to Channel 13 for Amanda's conversation with Elisabeth Ruffner about her environmental background as well as her work for Prescott Creeks. Sunday, January 31 at 5:30 p.m. and Monday, February 1 at 3:00 p.m.
Attorney Doug Suits discusses his legal and volunteer work in the community. If you missed this program a few months back, be sure to catch it this time to see an energetic contributor to community action. Sunday, February 7 at 5:30 p.m. and Monday, February 8 at 3:00 p.m. on Channel 13. Join guest host Nancy Owen Nelson for this program with Northpoint science teacher Brendan Haggerty and students Maya Rain and Bryce Schuler. Our guests discuss the upcoming student trip to Thailand. You'll see some fabulous elephant paintings and hear the details of this exciting expeditionary experience. Sunday, February 14 at 5:30 p.m. and Monday, February 15 at 3:00 p.m. on Channel 13. In order to give maximum exposure to the fundraising efforts of Northpoint, we are repeating last week's program. Be sure to tune in if you missed it! Sunday, February 21 at 5:30 p.m. and Monday, February 22 at 3:00 p.m. on Channel 13.
Judy Paris, Founder of the new Spot Prescott Area Children's Museum and President of its Board, discusses with Elisabeth Ruffner the educational opportunities for children which this museum will bring to our community. Join us on Local Access 13, Sunday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. or Monday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m. ~ There are several archived programs available at www.access13.org, including the "most watched program" with naturopathic veterinarian Todd Metcalf.
~ Copies of programs are also available from the Yavapai County Library system - your local public library. ~ Our Channel 13 series "I Believe" won the 2009 "Talk/Information Program Award" on Saturday, April 25!
~ Many thanks to those who voted, to those who have been our guests, and to those who support our program by viewing or well wishes. Thanks also to Elisabeth Ruffner for her fabulous hosting and to Jane Eldridge for her original idea and her ongoing efforts to help us make the program the best we can!
Nancy Owen Nelson, Co-Producer
Roger Zeigler, Director/Editor For more information about the programs, e-mail or call Nancy at 928-308-0875.
Language, Arts, and Music Events at Prescott's Mad Linguist
Weekly / Monthly workshops
at Sedona's Well Red Coyote Bookstore
WRC Creative Writing Salon 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Held on the first and third Thursday of each month, The Well Red Coyote Creative Writing Salon is for all those writing or wanting to write creatively – prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, songwriting, and all other written forms. Moderated by award-winning author and poet, Gary Every, each meeting will emphasize different aspects of the craft of creative writing, including writing exercises and group discussion.
Annual AZ Conferences & Workshops
- Desert Dreams Romance Writers' Conference, Scottsdale, April.
- Pima Writers' Workshop, Tucson, May 29-31, 2009.
- TusCon 35 - "Best little Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror Convention in AZ," November.
- Wizards of Words Writing Conference, Scottsdale, October.
National / International Conferences & Festivals Split This Rock Poetry Festival, March 10-13, 2010, Washington, D.C.
Story Week Festival of Writers, March 14-19, 2010, Chicago.
World Horror Convention 2010, March 25-28, Brighton, UK.
AWP Conference & Bookfair, April 7-10, Denver.
AZ Readings & Book Signings - Professional Writers of Prescott - Meets 6:00 - 8:00 PM in the Founders Room of the Prescott Public Library lower level on the 4th Wednesday of the month, except November, December, and for other contingencies. Check Meetings page for details and specific dates.
SW Book, Film & Storytelling Festivals - Phoenix Film Festival, April 2009.
- San Diego City Book Fair, September - October.
- Santa Barbara Book & Author Festival, September.
- First Annual Sedona Book Festival, October 2-3, 2009.
- Sedona Film Festival, February/March.
- Tucson Festival of Books, March.
"Your job is to be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of another writer." ~ David Morrell
2007 David Morrell Workshop PR
 
Toby Heathcotte & Jeri Castronova
AAA & PWP Presidents, workshop organizers
Photo by Susan Lanning, © 2007
PWP Member John Rust with
author David Morrell, the
"father of Rambo."
Photo by Joe Dibuduo, © 2007 | |