So I haven't been in touch these days, but I have an idea that might be fun. Since we're not having much luck with a writing club, how about a reading club? There are so many books that I would love to read and believe I would if others were also encouraging me to do so. Do you feel the same way?

Some books that have always seemed interesting, yet daunting, are the classics -- Plato's Republic, Moby Dick (yep, graduated with a Literature degree w/ out reading Moby Dick), anything by Goethe (how do you pronounce that?), Aristotle, Hemingway, Jane Austen (have yet to read a book but have seen the movies). I'm also open to modern literature as well, biographies, autobiographies, historical fiction, mystery, etc.

Let me know if any of you in the creative writing group would be interested in changing venues. WHo knows, maybe the inspirational reading will inspire some writing.

Tammy]]>
If you're interested, the South Bay Writers are hosting a conference in Salinas that month and registration is now open.

More information can be found at: http://www.southbaywriters.com/conference2006/index.html


Larry]]>
One of our members, Larry Pratt, also belongs to the SBW and is planning on reading the first chapter from “Dark Deception,” his novel-in-progress.

For more information about the open mic session, please visit:
http://www.southbaywriters.com/meetings/writers-forum.html

So, grab a cup of your favorite brew from the adjacent Starbucks and join us for an evening of creative reading by creative writers.

Creative Writers' Group Meeting
Date:11/18 - 7:30
City: Campbell, CA
Cost: enough for a cup of joe

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As a way to get our creativity flowing, I will be suggesting writing topics weekly. For example, I may write a sentence to get people going. You can respond if you'd like or start your own topic. When we do meet in person at the event, we can discuss how these writing exercises were, if they inspired us to continue writing something, if they got us to think about something in a different way, etc.

So if this sounds like something interesting, please come with your notebooks (paper or computer) and ideas! Also, please bring a friend if he/she is interested in creative writing.

Creative Writers' Group Meeting
Date:10/26 - 7:30 p.m.
City: Campbell
Cost: enough for a cup of joe

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I recently joined the South Bay Writers organization, which is the local branch of the larger California Writers Club, and attended my first meeting the evening of the 12th. I was positively impressed - also, my winning something in their raffle was a bit of a perk.

If you're serious about writing over the long term, I'd recommend that you check out their website at http://www.southbaywriters.com/ and consider joining or at least check out one of their monthly meetings.

Larry]]> Located at 445 Blossom Hill Road in San Jose (BHR and Snell, near Michael’s), this somewhat small and obscure family-owned breakfast and lunch nook is a favorite of locals. It’s open Sunday through Friday, 7AM to 2PM and Saturday from 7AM to 3PM.
I made my first visit on Sept. 17 with my wife Miki, son Robert, and son’s girlfriend Andrea as part of a birthday brunch gathering.
Alexi’s is informal, to say the least, and has that old “Joe’s Café; Main Street, USA” feel to it. When you enter, if the place is full (we arrived a little after 9AM and it was), you simply put your name and number in your party on the clipboard and wait your turn, seating yourself when a booth is open. Seating consists of about 20 booths and any former counter seating/serving area is now devoted to getting meals to the customers. When it’s your turn to grab a booth, simply cross your name off the list and take a seat. There was one other party ahead of us and our wait was less than 10 minutes. There’s a menu posted in the window so you can get an idea of what you might want to order before taking a booth.
Once seated, service is quick and courteous beginning with menus, ice water, and coffee (as desired) all ‘round. This particular morning, we all ordered some kind of egg dish – looking back vis-à-vis a review, I would have ordered French toast or a batter something or other for variety.
I opted for the ham and two eggs, over medium while Miki went with two scrambled eggs, no meat. Rob and Andrea are vegetarians and he opted for the veggie omelet while she ordered the cheese omelet. Each dish came with home fries and choice of a wide variety of toasts. A solid carbo bill of fare to start the day and portions that made sure no one went away hungry. Interestingly, hash browns aren’t available on weekends, just the home fries. I remarked that the home fries seemed to be lightly but not unpleasantly seasoned. Andrea seemed to think they had been cooked on the grill close to sausage – ah, the sensitivity of a vegetarian.
The food arrived promptly and well-warmed, and there was never a wait for a coffee refill. Everyone seemed pleased with their dish, especially Andrea who was happy to find that Alexi’s doesn’t do their cheese “on the cheap” with plain American. I did find my ham to be a bit of a thick slab that probably would have cooked up a bit nicer if it had been two thinner slices. The coffee was decent but nothing to rave about.
Our check was delivered in a timely manner but not so much that we felt we were being rushed out the door. Be aware that Alexi’s takes cash only – no credit/debit cards or checks.
All in all, this non-gourmet gives Alexi’s two thumbs up and next time will order the French toast.

]]>
Just a bit of FYI; I attended the UCSC Ext one-day seminar on finding/working with an agent.

A very valuable and worthwhile gathering. My novel is already out to a couple of small publishers but, based on the class, if I don't have any positive response, I'll be doing some rework on the text as well as my query letter and then make another stab at it late spring/early summer of '06.

Larry]]>
There's a yoga class that's meeting on Tuesdays for the next 9 weeks at El Camino hospital. I was wondering if we could change the day for our meetings. Any other day except for Fridays would work for me. Please let me as soon as you can so i can update our next meeting time. If you can't meet any other day, then I can forego the Yoga, but i'd really like to attend.

Let me know.

thanks.]]>
As a way to get our creativity flowing, I will be suggesting writing topics weekly. For example, I may write a sentence to get people going. You can respond if you'd like or start your own topic. When we do meet in person at the event, we can discuss how these writing exercises were, if they inspired us to continue writing something, if they got us to think about something in a different way, etc.

So if this sounds like something interesting, please come with your notebooks (paper or computer) and ideas! Also, please bring a friend if he/she is interested in creative writing.

Creative Writers' Group Mixer
Date:9/27 - 7:30 p.m.
City: Campbell
Cost: enough for a cup of joe

This is an automatically generated topic created for the purpose of tracking RSVP activity, posting comments, and recording emailed update messages for this event. [View RSVP Page]]]>
Larry]]>
As a way to get our creativity flowing, I will be suggesting writing topics weekly. For example, I may write a sentence to get people going. You can respond if you'd like or start your own topic. When we do meet in person at the event, we can discuss how these writing exercises were, if they inspired us to continue writing something, if they got us to think about something in a different way, etc.

So if this sounds like something interesting, please come with your notebooks (paper or computer) and ideas! Also, please bring a friend if he/she is interested in creative writing.

Creative Writers' Group Mixer
Date:9/7 - 7:30 p.m.
City: Campbell
Cost: enough for a cup of joe

This is an automatically generated topic created for the purpose of tracking RSVP activity, posting comments, and recording emailed update messages for this event. [View RSVP Page]]]>
I am soooooo sorry that I missed out on Tuesdays meeting....BUT, at least I have a good excuse.....

I was actually writing all night....swamped with a bunch of writing projects that were due and just had to stay and finish them......

I'm sad about missing the meeting...but will catch you all at the next one.....

Let me know where you are going to meet next time.

Deb]]> http://www.funinstitute.com/Prod/events.html#link1

Check out the first link on the page. I'm thinking of going. Anyone interested? I just finished a comedy improv class and it was loads of fun. it would be interesting to see how to add that kind of spontaneity to writing.]]>
Write a letter to your pet.

Interpret this as you may. To give you a little help, you could write to an imaginary pet, a pet from the past, present, or future. Or maybe you could write to your pet peeve.

To quote an overly used term, think "out-of-the-box." But if staying within the box is more comfortable, that's fine too! There are NO rules for being creative.]]>
Tonight we went over our "assignment." We were supposed to write about a conversation between our "current" self and our "younger" self. From our posts, it's evident that we all had slightly, or sometimes completely, different interpretations of this assignment.

We shared some laughs, insights, and basically had a good night I would say!

]]>
As a way to get our creativity flowing, I will be suggesting writing topics weekly. For example, I may write a sentence to get people going. You can respond if you'd like or start your own topic. When we do meet in person at the event, we can discuss how these writing exercises were, if they inspired us to continue writing something, if they got us to think about something in a different way, etc.

So if this sounds like something interesting, please come with your notebooks (paper or computer) and ideas! Also, please bring a friend if he/she is interested in creative writing.

Creative Writers' Group Mixer
Date:8/23 - 7:30 p.m.
City: Campbell
Cost: enough for a cup of joe

This is an automatically generated topic created for the purpose of tracking RSVP activity, posting comments, and recording emailed update messages for this event. [View RSVP Page]]]>