Nancy Bruning of Nancercize

Join the conversation on blogtalk radio Thursday, January 28th at 9a.m. PST with Nancy Bruning, creator of Nancercize, and author and LCW founder, Linda Watanabe McFerrin. They’ll be talking about Great Getaways.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day: The discussion is on some of the best getaways going. Here or there, long or short—studies show that the getaway break is good for your health. Why and where are the questions Nancy and Linda will be chatting about. If you have want to recommend a lovely getaway or share your thoughts on the matter, just call.

Nancercize is hosted by Nancy Bruning, best-selling author of 25 books and renowned wellness coach and expert. Nancy and her guests reveal how you can quickly and easily take control of your health and body and re-capture your self-confidence through fun and simple lifestyle changes. Her unique approach to fitness helps excess weight melt away and your spirits soar.

Whitefish Review

Left Coast Writer® Ethel Mays has a poem in Whitefish Review, the twice yearly non-profit literary journal “created to publish the distinctive literature, art, and photography of mountain culture.” 2009 has been a good and busy year for Ethel, witnessing the publication of a short story and several poems in ten journals, reviews, and anthologies, and over 40 featured and open readings in fourteen cities in seven California counties.

If you’d like to read an online version of the poem, you can do so on the Whitefish Review site.

Stan Goldberg

In 2009 The London Book Festival gave awards for outstanding books in 20 different categories. From the 20 categories a Grand Prize winner was chosen. It was Stan Goldberg’s Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude,and Courage at the End of Life. The judges said they were “overwhelmed” by the book. Stan will be flying to London to receive the award at a gala dinner on January 21, 2009.

Nancy Bruning of Nancercize

Join the conversation on blogtalk radio Thursday, December 17th at 9a.m. PST with Nancy Bruning, creator of Nancercize, and author and LCW founder, Linda Watanabe McFerrin. They’ll be talking about family travel … pain or paradise? Is it like herding cats? Is it a three-ring circus? Let’s chat about family travel — the bad and the good, better, best. Tune in as popular travel writer and novelist, Linda Watanabe McFerrin calls in from the road to share her secret to the best-ever family vacations.   Listen to Nancy Bruning’s “Nancercize Blogtalkradio Show” Thursday, December 17th at 12 noon EST, 9:00 AM PST. Go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Nancercize and call in your questions at 347- 324-3322.  The show will be recorded and available soon.

April 13-19, 2010

Writing and Photography Workshop with Linda Watanabe McFerrin and featured local photographers …

Charleston and the South Carolina Low Country beckons! Join the organizers of the Southern Sampler Artists Colony on a journey into a place like no other—a place brushed with spirit, dipped in belonging, and brought to life in Gospel, Jazz, Blues, soul food, cooling ocean breezes, wraparound porches, and warm welcomes that begin with y’all. Relax! Let your heart open, soul sing, and spirit soar.

Daily writing workshops created to enhance the Southern adventure will be led by award winning poet, travel writer, and novelist Linda Watanabe McFerrin. Linda teaches writing workshops all over the world, especially designed for the locale. There’ll also be plenty of lush photo opportunities all along the way and time for writing and quiet reflection.

How It All Started . . .

The Southern Sampler Artists Colony, founded in 2006 by two childhood friends—one who never left the South, and one who headed West but always knew her soul was Southern—is a haven for writers, dancers, artists, musicians and photographers who want to stir the creative pot, Southern style. Located at The Crossroads in South Carolina, a small community nestled in the Sand Hills and bordered by Black River Swamp, the colony offers workshop participants life enhancing opportunities to renew the creative spirit, explore fresh approaches to their work, and collaborate on individual and group projects.

Participants in the April 2010 Writers and Photographers Workshop will stay in a charming and rambling turn-of-the century home on Sullivan’s Island, only minutes from downtown Charleston and a short walk from one of South Carolina’s pristine white-sand beaches. Accommodations are dormitory style with expansive common areas, and a wraparound porch lined with Carolina rockers.

David Vagasky, a renowned chef who teaches at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, will prepare Low Country delicacies at “home” the evening of April 13th and April 19th. Breakfasts will be informal and most lunches catered and on the go. Dinners will feature acclaimed Charleston restaurants and our own home.

Workshop participants will be invited to contribute to the creation of a 2011 calendar featuring image and word written gathered during the 2010 Southern Sampler experince.

The colony (SSAC) has hosted three acclaimed workshops. The first two were at The Crossroads:  Writers: Sampling the Sensual South in April 2007, followed by Artists: Sampling Belonging, Southern Style, in April 2008. The third workshop, Writers: Sampling the Low Country, was in Charleston, April 2009.

Cost: $1,585.00 payable to Martha Greenway, 210 Serenity Circle, Mayesville, SC 29104 ($1,535.00 if paid before December 15, 2009)

For more information and to register, please contact Martha Greenway, mgreenway@ftc-i.net, 803 495-2186 or Mary Brent Cantarutti, mbrent@comcast.net, 415 269-1039.

If interested, apply early. Space is extremely limited.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had such an enjoyable journey. I know my friends are going to tire of my constant chatting and raving of South Carolina—the people, the food, the art and most of all the soul. I sure do miss South Carolina. It is amazing how y’all got a bunch of foreigners yearning for your little piece of the world.

—Cathleen O’Brien, 2008 and 2009 Workshop Participant

Byron says ...

We had a full house Monday when Byron Belitsos explored the dance of publisher and author at the Literary Salon in a talk that addressed literary matches: Made in heaven? . . . Or hell?

Belitsos, founder of Origin Press, publisher of books on practical spirituality, entertained the group with wild tales about the authors who populate his dreams and nightmares. In addition to an interesting look at some of his list, past and present, he shared his evaluation of what makes a book succeed commercially. Here’s Byron’s test. It’s easy and enlightening. You might want to note that while it applies primarily to non-fiction, fiction writers might want to consider his points as well. We’re sharing it with his compliments.

SEVEN ATTRIBUTES OF SUCCESS: (10 points each–70 points total)

• King content
• Mind meld
• Rich platform
• Funding flow
• Auspicious timing
• Inspired stamina
• Shared adventure

Roger Housden

Such a simple idea – have an evening of spoken word, poetry and readings in the Bay Area, and send the money raised to those in need. A village in India can then have clean water for the first time and prevent three or four children a month dying from water borne diseases. There are thousands of villages throughout India without clean running water.

All it takes to change that is $8,000 -10,000 per village. That sum pays for a well with simple hand pump, a rainwater collection tank, and eco-sanitation toilets. The groundwork is done by a UK charity, Wherever The Need, which also has non-profit status in the US.

Poetry for Water with Anne Lamott, Roger Housden, Nina Wise

Who says poetry is ineffectual when it comes to the real world?

—Roger Housden

Sunday, November 8, 2009 || 2pm
Throckmorton Theatre|| Mill Valley
Tickets $20/30|| click here to purchase

Anne Lamott is an internationally best-selling author living in Marin. Her books include Bird By Bird, Traveling Mercies, and Operating Instructions.

Roger Housden is author of the popular Ten Poems series, including Ten Poems to Change Your Life and his new anthology, For Lovers of God Everywhere: Poems of the Christian Mystics.

Nina Wise is known for her provocative and original solo performance works. Her pieces have received seven Bay Area Critic’s Circle Awards.

Rebecca Foust

Saturday, November 7, 2009 || 10am – 1pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Learn what to do to get your poetry published in literary journals and other publications. Two experienced poet/editors and one relative newcomer to the poetry scene will address questions related to WHEN, WHERE, HOW, and WHAT to submit, with focus on how to get your work out in the world without stress, fear of rejection, or waste of valuable writing time. When is your work ready to submit? Where should you send it? What is the most efficient way to get the work out? What goes into a submission? Sample cover letters, lists of how-to’s, and website resources will be provided, and an inventory of resource books and sample literary journals will be available for review.

For seven years, CB Follett was publisher and co-editor, with Susan Terris, of the highly acclaimed Runes, A Review of Poetry, an annual themed anthology. Her Arctos Press has published 16 poetry collections. Follet and Terris have both authored several collections and published hundreds of poems in literary journals.

An MFA student in her final semester, Becky Foust is the author of two chapbooks published last year and a full length book to be released in 2010 by Many Mountains Moving Press, and her poems are widely published. Rebecca Foust PO Box 399 Ross, CA 94957 www.rebeccafoust.com