Join me at the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference

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The Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference is coming up in August, here, in the Bay Area.

Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers ConferenceI’ll be on Faculty again.
This is the most amazing literary conference ever!
If you’ve gone, you already know that, and I hope to see you there once more.
If you haven’t … for goodness sakes, sign up!!!
Much as I love poetry … and I do LOVE poetry … I’m also a lover of well-written prose, and expert advice is available at this conference. For me and so many others it has opened the door to published works in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. Tim Cahill‘s fantastic workshop on craft helped me put together those novels!
So, I want to sing the praises of the Book Passage Bookstore & Cafe staff, Conference Chair, Don George, Marguerita Castenera, Karen West, Kathy Petrocelli, and all the other mentors, editors and friends I’ve met there through the years: Don, Tim, Tony and Maureen Wheeler, Jan Morris, Larry Habegger, Jeff Greenwald, Jim Benning, John Flinn, Pauline Frommer, Spud Hilton,  Robert Holmes, Andrea Johnson, Celeste Brash, Pam Mandel, Mikkel Aaland, Phil Cousineau, Perry Garfinkel, Michael Shapiro, Janis Cooke Newman, Alison Wright, Jen Leo, Lavinia, Jill Robinson, Laurie McAndish King, Andrew Tarica, Andy Ross and all the rest of the current cast.
I think Pauline makes the point beautifully in her recent Frommer’s post: https://www.frommers.com/…/a-life-changing-conference-for-w…
Check it out!
Hope to see you there. Let me know if you’re coming! 

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What I’m Reading (5/21/18) Linda Watanabe McFerrin

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What I’m Reading Now (5/21/18)

Through the Bookstore Window

Through the Bookstore Window, a novel by Bill Petrocelli

For some years back in the late nineties and early 21st century I wrote a travel book review column (Bookings) for the San Francisco Sunday Examiner/Chronicle. In it I offered up short reviews of five or six of my favorite travel books for the month. I really miss that column, but I have no reason to miss the books. I have new favorites.

Bookseller Bill Petrocelli’s new novel, Through the Bookstore Window, is a page-turner. Even if you are not, like me, among the book- and bookstore-obsessed, you’ll find plenty to wind you up in this gripping tale about an enigmatic and fascinating woman who is driven to outrun and outwit her tormentors and fix what is broken. Gina, the protagonist, is a feminist for a new era. Add a taut mix of the issues that keep most Americans up at night or shaken by the daily news—gun violence, child abuse, conspiracy, gender issues, war—and a series of shocking reveals, and you have an enthralling book that’s hard to put down. Quick shifts in time, place, point of view, and plot are athletic enough to keep pace with modern readers. No snoozing here.

Song of a Captive Bird

Song of a Captive Bird

Song of a Captive Bird, by Jasmin Darznik

This new novel by New York Times bestselling author, Jasmin Darznik, is probably on everyone’s bookshelf, and if it isn’t, it should be. The fictionalized biography of Iranian poet, Forugh Farrokzhad, whose press for freedom in her life and work came at tremendous cost is more than enlightening. It opens up a world that still lies within walls today. From her 1940’s childhood to her tragic death at thirty-two, Forugh epitomized the fierce and truthful spirit of a woman who refused to be constrained or restrained against her will in a world where this was the norm. Just as (more…)

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Join me at the Hawaii Book & Music Festival and the Mokule’ia Writers Retreat on Oahu

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Mokule’ia Writers Retreat

Please join me in May on Oahu for the Hawaii Book & Music Festival and the Mokule’ia Writers Retreat

 

Hawaii Book & Music Festival
May 5 – 6, 2018

Mokule-ia Writers Retreat
Nā Wahi Ho‘oulu (Places That Inspire Us)
May 6 – 11, 2018

The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat is an annual gathering that brings writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays, and memoir to the North Shore of O‘ahu for a week of intimate workshops and coaching. The retreat is high-level and professional — but also low-key and tuned in to the beauty of the surroundings.

With the Waianae Mountains behind us and the open ocean in front, we’ll eat, write, and play together. The theme, nā wahi ho‘oulu, acknowledges that this sacred spot will inspire us to embark on inner and outer exploration.

The retreat is the creation of North Shore native Constance Hale, the author of five books, the editor of more than three dozen, and a journalist whose stories about Hawai‘i appear on CD liner notes, as well as in publications like The Los Angeles Times and Smithsonian magazine. (Her most recent book, The Natives Are Restless, is about the hula.) A mix of talented writers, editors, and agents from both the islands and the mainland to lead various workshops and appear on panels. Lowry McFerrin might actually be giving early morning lessons in Tai Chi!

Camp Mokulē‘ia, is a 40-acre facility stretching along a remote beach in northwestern Oahu. One of the missions of the nonprofit camp is to raise ecological awareness and bridge Native Hawaiian and Western ideas of sustainability. It’s inspiring terrain and writers are encouraged to draw from the environment in their meditations and literary work whilst at the camp.

If you decide to join us, I also encourage you to check out the Hawaii Book and Music Festival, happening in (more…)

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Writing and Publishing Your Book

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Writing Workshop in Santa Fe

Join Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Andy Ross for a Writing Intensive Workshop in Santa Fe

 

Join us in Santa Fe for another exciting Writing and Publishing Workshop

Award winning novelist, poet, travel writer, editor, and teacher, Linda Watanabe McFerrin and top literary agent, Andy Ross are conducting a 7-day writing workshop for fiction and creative non-fiction. The workshop will focus on craft and, where it’s appropriate, getting your project ready for publication. The workshop will run from September 7 (arrival) – September 15 (departure), 2018.

Registration in now open. See details below. To register or get more information, email Andy at andyrossagency@hotmail.com or Linda at http://lwmcferrin.com/services/.

Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of the world’s most magical cities and a great place for writing. It lies at the foot of the majestic Sangre de Christo Mountains in the high desert of Northern New Mexico. It is the third oldest city in America, founded in 1607. The Palace of the Governors on the Plaza was built in 1610, making it the seventh oldest building in the United States. The city is a center for art, Native American crafts, and great food. It has over 300 galleries, extraordinary museums, and historic buildings reflecting New Mexico’s Spanish and Native American heritage. You can go horseback riding in the mountains or take a side trip to Taos and visit the famous pueblo. Santa Fe also has a distinguished literary tradition. The legendary Archbishop of Santa Fe Jean Baptiste Lamy inspired Willa Cather’s masterpiece, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and General Lew Wallace, who was governor of the territory, wrote his epic novel, Ben Hur, in his office on the Plaza. It’s also the site of some of Andy’s childhood literary and not-so-literary adventures.

The Workshop:

Mornings after breakfast you’ll attend workshops from 10 am to noon devoted to literary craft. Be prepared to bring portions of your writing projects. We will discuss them in group and individually with Linda and Andy. Afternoons will consist of exploring your environment, sampling the local fare, and finding the best spots to linger and write. (more…)

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At Night on the Day of the Dead

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Day of the DeadNoche de los Muertos on the Day of the Dead

San Francisco, California

We are pressed, our backs to the wall, in Balmy Alley, a bottleneck of a back street in San Francisco’s Mission District, as the dead drift by.

Skeletons on stilts, in bridal gowns, playing drums in steel bands – Los Muertos, the Dead – proceed in almost single-file procession through a cramped alleyway that feels like the birth canal to another world.

We are skeletons too. My husband, Lowry, and our friend, Jeff, are tall, gaunt, black-caped and spectral. The white markings on the chest of Lowry’s black shirt suggest a rib cage. Jeff’s black gloves are spidered with bones. Earlier in the evening, at a table in the window of a Yucatecan restaurant, I used grease crayons in white, black and red to hollow out eyes and noses and widen grins, painting our faces like skulls as passers-by pointed and gawked.

San Francisco’s Dia de los Muertos

Every year on the heels of Halloween, the Dia de los Muertos Procession – part of a celebration that fuses Aztec beliefs in death and afterlife with the Christian Day of All Saints – sets forth from the corner of 24th and Bryant in the Mission. This is, in many ways, the spiritual heart of San Francisco. Mission Dolores, where Franciscan fathers founded what is today California’s oldest intact mission, is a short walk away, and much of this area still retains its alluring blend of Old and New World ritual.

More than 10,000 people crowd the crossroads on the night of this supernatural juncture, and yet the scene is oddly subdued, laced with a potent mix of reverence and expectation. Around his neck, Jeff wears a photo of his brother. Many people carry photographs or remembrances of lost loved ones. In my heart I hold a picture of my mother, who died a few months before. My votive candle, or velador, which I purchased at the little store adjacent to the Galeria del la Raza, is tall and sparkled with red. It has a picture of a heart painted upon it, and it says, corazon, the word for heart in Spanish. In preparation for this night, the shelves of the shop are populated with skeletons. There are white sugar skulls dressed in hot colors, devil and skull rattles made out of papier-mache, and brightly dyed mesh and oilcloth bags bearing images of Frida Kahlo, Anima Sola, La Catrina, the Virgen de Guadalupe and other popular icons. There are femur-trimmed picture frames, books about the Day of the Dead and row upon row of gorgeously embellished velas.

Night of the Dead

People flow into the intersection, greetings exchanged in murmurs. Lowry and I spot Kara, John and their beautiful (more…)

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Book & Music Festival and 5th Annual Mokule’ia Writers Retreat in Hawaii

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Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Writers Retreat in Hawaii

May 7-12, 2017
Camp Mokule’ia, Oahu, HI

This week and next you’ll find me at the Hawaii Book & Music Festival and the Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Book & Music Festival is a fantastic two-day fest featuring writers and performers from all over the world. I’ll be reading and talking about short stories with Jessica Lee Richardson on Sunday, May 7th at noon.

The Mokulē‘ia Writers Retreat in Hawaii is an annual gathering that brings three dozen writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays, and memoir to the North Shore of O‘ahu for a week of intimate workshops and coaching. The retreat is high-level and professional — but also low-key and tuned in to the beauty of the surroundings. It fosters an exchange in two directions — between islanders and mainlanders, published writers and budding writers, Native Hawaiian artistry and mainland publishing.

With the Waianae Mountains as the backdrop and the open ocean in front, participants break bread with colleagues, gather in daily workshops, salute the morning sun in yoga, write privately in the shade of ironwood trees, and wander along the beach. They even dance some hula. The theme, nā wahi ho‘oulu, acknowledges that a sacred spot like this will inspire the assembled to explore other places — whether in the heart, in memory, or in the moment. (more…)

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CWC Marin 3rd Annual Bay Area Writers Conference

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Bay Area Writers, don’t miss The California Writer’s Club (CWC) Marin’s 3rd Annual Writers Conference. This is a daylong writers conference covering fiction and nonfiction. It offers great sessions on the literary craft. In addition, three literary agents will be available for five-minute pitches. Morning coffee and rolls are included, along with a bag lunch, in the registration. Vegetarian and gluten-free options will be available.

The conference date is Sunday, April 2, from 9am to 5pm.

To sign up for this conference, go to http://cwcmarin.com/writerslife/ and follow the instructions there.

Presenters for this Writers Conference:

CWC Writers Conference Speaker, Connie HaleCONSTANCE HALE is a San Francisco–based journalist and the author of three books on language and literary style, including Sin and Syntax. She has been called “Marion the Librarian on a Harley, or E. B. White on acid.” Her profiles, essays, and articles have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Afar, and Honolulu. In 2016, she published a book on the evolution of hula, The Natives Are Restless, and a children’s book, ‘Iwalani‘s Tree.

The Seven Stages of Manuscript Grief

Constance Hale reveals the arduous process she goes through with each manuscript, and how she manages to push through to the final draft. In a talk that is funny, honest, inspiring, and also practical, she also shares tips on how to keep going and how to keep making your writing better.

CWC Writers Conference Instructor, Linda Watanabe McFerrinLINDA WATANABE MCFERRIN is a widely published poet, travel writer, and novelist. She is the author of two poetry collections and a winner of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction. Her novel, Namako:  Sea Cucumber, was named Best Book for the Teen-Age by the New York Public Library. In addition to that novel, she has written the short-story collection The Hand of Buddha, co-edited twelve anthologies, and written a zombie novel, Dead Love, which was a 2009 Bram Stoker Award Finalist for Superior Achievement in a Novel. In addition to editing nine books on travel, Linda has judged the San Francisco Literary Awards, the Josephine Miles Award for Literary Excellence, and the Kiriyama Prize. She is the founder of Left Coast Writers® and has led workshops in Japan, Indonesia, Greece, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Central America, Spain as well as the United States.

Writing about Places Real and Imagined

Ever wonder how to write that first travel story, set your novel in the perfect location, create a world from scratch? In this introductory workshop you’ll find out how to write about places, real and imagined, in a way that will take your reader there. Whether it’s the professional travel essay or long or short fiction, you’ll learn how to quickly transport people to your chosen realms, and you’ll leave with a formula for capturing them in a way that will captivate editors and readers and maybe even win a few awards.

Other presenters include: 
KRISSA LAGOS began her publishing career at Seal Press, a feminist nonfiction press based in Berkeley, CA. She then moved on to freelance editing, where she truly found her calling. Specializing in developmental editing, she has worked on every type of book under the sun, including fiction, memoir, business, spirituality, self-help, and more. She has also worked with the hybrid press She Writes Press as an editor since its founding in 2012. She lives in San Francisco.

MARY C. MOORE has been a literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates since 2013. She represents both adult and young adult fiction. She prefers clients who are online savvy and who have more than one full-length book project in their drawer. For more information on what she represents visit her site, marycmoore.com and the agency site, kimberleycameron.com.

TANYA EGAN GIBSON is the author of the novel How to Buy a Love of Reading (Dutton, 2009) as well as a freelance editor and writing consultant. Her articles about writing and editing have appeared in Writer’s Digest and The Writer.

Editor DAVID COLIN CARR has been freelancing fiction and nonfiction since 1988 with writers as far flung as Sydney, Sofia, Beijing, and Johannesburg, as well as writers and academics around the US. He works collaboratively with clients to bring forward their passion – with clarity and coherence, while preserving and amplifying their distinctive voice. David values outlining to develop logical structure; strives for lively, efficient language; and guides writers in sharpening their craft. He works in many genres, but is especially dedicated to projects that reflect the beauty of this planet and the mystery of our hearts – offering compassion, counseling skills, humor, and creativity to bring forth the brilliance of both the writing and the collaborative relationship. www.DavidColinCarr.com

PETER BEREN is a former Publisher of  Sierra Club Books, VIA Books; V.P. for Publishing at the Palace Press Group; an Acquisition Editor for Jeremy Tarcher; a literary agent at The Peter Beren Agency, and a publishing consultant with more than 40 years experience in Book Publishing.

A member of AAR, his is also the author of seven published works, including The Writers Legal Companion (with Brad Bunnin) and California the Beautiful (with the late photographer, Galen Rowell). His best-known Agency clients include photographer Art Wolfe (The Earth Is My Witness), graphic novelist Jack Katz (The First Kingdom), and Chakra expert Anodea Judith (Eastern Body, Western Mind). A founding staff member of The Boston Phoenix, he has published articles for a variety of magazines including Mother Jones, Berkeley Monthly and Tufts Magazine. www.Peterberen.com

ROBERT PIMM is the president of the California Lawyers in the Arts.

Writing Coach TERESA LEYUNG-RYAN says: “I can help you identity your themes – to make rewriting your first draft and building your writer’s platform joyful tasks. Make your namestand for something—to attract target consumers who are likely to buy what you have to sell.”

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Happy New Year! Where Are You Going in 2017?

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New Year 2017 image for WritersHappy New Year! Sun Nien Fai Lok! Xin Nian Juai Le!

It’s the Year of the Rooster, and it looks like 2017, the New Year, promises to be a year of intense energy and productivity as well as no small amount of drama. As my neighbors prepare for it in various ways, I like to meditate, send notes out to good pals, and reread past LCW member and AWW graduate Rosemary Gong’s excellent book, Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide to Chinese American Celebrations and Culture.

Last Year’s Travel and Writing

For me 2017 will mean twelve more months of extraordinary adventure. In 2016, I spent the beginning of January exploring Gullah traditions on one of South Carolina’s barrier islands.

March took me, along with a large group of very talented writers and photographers, to Andalusia. There, one of the many workshops and travel adventures I lead through Wanderland Writers culminated in one more anthology in the award-winning Wandering series. In 2016 we produced Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain, edited with my much loved travel and editing colleague, Joanna Biggar.

I spent much of April in South Carolina again, this time on James Island. I enjoyed hanging out with talented artists and musicians and leading workshops almost daily for the Southern Sampler Artists Colony. The trip included a (more…)

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Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference 2016

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Travel Writers Conference Shareable Image

Here’s some great news!

Left Coast Writers will receive 10% off on the Intensive Writing Weekend for Y/A and Middle Grade Readers (7/16-7/17/16), the Mystery Writers Conference (7/28-7/31/16) and the Travel Writers Conference (8/11-8/14/16).

I’ve been faculty at all of these conferences at one time or another, and I’m happy to report that they are incredibly informative and loads of fun. My favorite, of course, is the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographer’s Conference. I attended the very first one. Winning the essay contest landed me in Wales, my grandfather’s native land, and at the home of literary giant, Jan Morris, whose work I’ve always admired. Really, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Plus, I’ll be on hand to answer questions and offer advice..

You’ll find all of the conferences listed on the Book Passage website, but here’s more info on the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference:

The Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference has an extraordinary, international reputation among publishers, editors, and writers. This conference will be held August 11-14.

Now in its 25th year, this four-day Conference offers an array of writing and photography workshops in the morning, a full afternoon of panels and discussions, and evening faculty presentations. The faculty includes publishers, magazine editors, photographers, travel essayists, and more. There are hours of informal interaction between faculty and participants during lunch and in discussions that often last late into the evening.

Take a look at this year’s astounding faculty:

Jim Benning
Tim Cahill
Donald George (more…)

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Travel and Write in Spain: Wandering in Andalusia!

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We’re almost booked up for this terrific Writers Workshop in Spain!

From Wanderland Writers Workshops:
Wandering in Andalusia:  Seville and The Alhambra—March 11-March 18, 2016

“Near the walls of Seville/ At my friend’s house, Lillas Pastia/ I will dance the Séguedille/
And drink Manzanilla.” From Carmen, by Georges Bizet.

Well-known writers and instructors Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Joanna Biggar are off on another adventure and invite you to join them in Andalusia. In this legendary region of Southern Spain many worlds meet: classical (Hercules was the supposed founder of Seville) and medieval; Jewish, Christian and Moorish; colonial, imperial, and modern. From our hotel in central Seville, with its graceful Moorish-style tiled decor, its fountains and secluded courtyards, we will explore them all through art (Murillo and Velásquez were native sons), architecture, music and food.

Adapting our curriculum to the locale—and our schedule to the land of the siesta—we will give several workshops and private consultations while offering many ways to discover the city, including: a walking tour; visits to the Cathedral, with its splendid altar, its tomb of Columbus, and its towering minaret, the Giralda, next door, and the royal palace of the Alcázar; a trip to the Flamenco Museum and a night of flamenco; an afternoon of soaking and tea at the Baños Arabes; an evening across the river in the Tirana District, once  famous for the factories which attracted gypsies like (more…)

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