PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Redwood Writers,
What a joy it was to gather together and celebrate our own at Author Launch! Watching our community show up to cheer on fellow members is one of my favorite things about being part of Redwood Writers. We have such an extraordinary range of voices and stories in this club, and events like this remind me just how much talent is sitting in our midst. Congratulations to every author with a newly published book. Your dedication and hard work deserve every bit of applause. A very special thank you goes to Nancy Econome, who chaired Author Launch with grace, skill, and tireless coordination. Events like this don't happen without someone willing to lead the way, and Nancy did that beautifully. We are so grateful for you!
On a different note, I want to remind you that the Haunted prose anthology has been canceled. Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, our editor had to step away from the project, and we are deeply grateful for her passion and commitment to bringing it to life. We wish her all the very best. If you’re wondering what’s next, the board is already exploring a new idea that we think could be something special for this year. Stay tuned! We can't wait to share more.
In exciting news, please join me in welcoming our newest volunteer, Lisa Manterfield, who will be managing Redwood Writers' social media presence. Head over to our Instagram and Facebook pages to say hello and show her some love!
Speaking of getting involved, if you've been looking for a way to contribute to this community, we'd love to have you. Visit redwoodwriters.org/volunteer to see current opportunities.
Finally, I want to take a moment to say thank you to our board members, our volunteers, and everyone who shows up month after month, meeting after meeting. This club runs because of you. This community is made up of writers helping writers, and I am so proud of what we’ve built together.
Until the next chapter,
Crissi Langwell
Redwood Writers President
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April 18, 2026, 11 a.m.
Finley Center in Santa Rosa
Please bring something savory or sweet to share in our potluck!
The Magic of Ekphrastic, where you’ll learn how to use artwork to inspire your creative writing, both poetry and prose. The aim is to enhance observational skill and generate creative responses in a fun, interactive environment. This session is suited for any writer interested in empowering creativity, finding ways to battle writer’s block, exploring new perspectives, and fostering a deeper appreciation of the visual arts. We hope you can join us in this space where where words and art meet.
About the Presenter:
Robin Gabbert is the winner of Redwood Writers’ 2025 Fran Claggett-Holland Award and is a Pushcart Poetry Prize nominee for her poem "The Palm Reader". In 2024, her poem "Invisible" was a finalist in the San Francisco Writers’ Conference Poetry Contest and she was long-listed for the Frontier Poetry Tanka Challenge. Her book of ekphrastic poetry— The Clandestine Life of Paintings, in Poems was published in 2022 and a full-length book of poetry Somehow, I Haven’t Drowned was published by Blue Light Press in August 2025. She has poetry in state, national, and international poetry anthologies including the Ekphrastic Review.
Robin lives in Sonoma County wine country with her husband Con and dog Hamish where she enjoys good food and wine and holds a Writers Salon bi-monthly for Redwood Writers. She is a frequent speaker and instructor on ekphratic poetry and has been a judge in multiple California Writers Club poetry competitions. She co-hosts North Bay Poetics and was a judge and editor of their 2024 anthology: Climate Shift.
| | Get Lit with Redwood Writers | |
Tuesday Mornings on The Krush
Every Tuesday at 8:45 a.m., tune in to The Krush, 95.9 FM, to hear a member of Redwood Writers talk about their book on the Mindi in the Morning show on KRSH. Watch your email for the lineup from coordinator, Carol Jacobsen.
If you miss it live, you can hear a recording of the interview at www.krsh.com/getlit
Coming up on Get Lit
| | | Valerie Saul
The Badass Widows | April 14 | | Rebecca Rosenberg
License to Thrill | April 28 | | Sherrie Lovler
Distant Voices | May 12 | | Leiah Bowden
Feline Wisdom to Help Us Heal: Cats' Loving Messages to Humans | May 26 | | | |
Saturday, April 25
1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
We are inviting twelve Redwood Writers members to read from their works in progress or published pieces. Readings are five minutes. We also welcome all listeners who would like to join us.
If you’ve ever wondered what your fellow RW are writing, this is the place to find out!
To receive address information and to sign up for a reading, please contact our Salon Chair, Robin Gabbert, by emailing salon@redwoodwriters.org.
| | Attention Poets, Monthly Poetry Lab! | | |
Poetry Lab meets once a month on Zoom. Les Bernstein and Amrita Skye Blaine host the meeting, and we encourage people to bring their poems that are puzzling, frustrating, or confusing them. In the format, you send your poem to both Les and Amrita a week before Poetry Lab, then we meet in a positive, fun environment to make our poems stronger! Find reminders on Redwood Writers groups.io.
As Les Bernstein says, “Dare to be great and send us a poem you’re wrestling with. We promise you it is the safest, most empowering space… and if you just want to only observe, that’s okay, too. And remember—no risk, no reward.”
amritaskyepoetry@gmail.com
lessieb13@yahoo.com.
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Seasons of the Plum
by Laura Blatt
Chopping and measuring
we gossiped over a large vat of boiling water.
Late summer was plum jam season.
Your daughter Rose watched
while jumping on the couch
coloring walls with red crayons
playing games.
Now I prune back the old plum tree
chop away dead branches
with leaves of brown spotted rot.
Haul away what no longer serves:
tart green plums fallen before their time
decaying fruit half-eaten by creatures in the night
dark plump plums pecked open to the heart by passing birds.
The plums are scarce today
and Rose is grown.
Yet new leaves emerge
and pale flowers remember spring.
I pick the lush ripe fruit
let purple juices stain my hands.
Laura Blatt's writing has appeared in Lilith, California Quarterly, The Poet, Reverberations and several Redwood Writers anthologies. Now retired, Ms. Blatt worked as a website writer and as a publishing company manager. Her poetry collection, Memories Lost and Found, is scheduled for
release in 2026.
Poems featured in our newsletter were first published in the Redwood Writers "Just So" anthology.
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About the Poetry Editor
Amrita Skye Blaine develops themes of aging, disability, and awakening. She received a PocketMFA in poetry in 2024. She has published a memoir, a three-novel trilogy, and has been published in nineteen anthologies including fourteen poetry anthologies. Two poetry collections, every riven thing and strange grace, were published Spring 2025.
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Share Your Good News!
Have a book event coming up, a recent publication, an award, or any exciting writing milestone? We want to celebrate you! Share your news with the club using our quick online form. Your update may be featured in the next Redwood Writers newsletter.
Where to submit
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Workshop: How to Create an Author Platform & Build Your Email List
May 2nd -10-11:30 AM (Virtual)
Workshop covers how to create an author platform, including: website, social media, promotion & building your email list. $39 includes follow-up coaching session.
Contact: jlhenkerauthor@gmail.com.
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Judy M. Baker to Moderate Podcast Panel at PPN Conference April 24, Berkeley
Our own Judy M. Baker, founder of Buzzworthy Books, will be moderating a panel called “Podcasts in Publishing: Finding Your Audience and Your Voice” at The Publishing Professionals Network (PPN) 2026 Conference on April 24 in downtown Berkeley.
PPN — founded as Bookbuilders West in 1969 and rechartered in 2012 — is a Northern California organization that brings together the full range of publishing professionals: editors, designers, publicists, marketers, authors, and indie publishers. Their annual one-day conference is a great way to connect with colleagues, pick up practical tools, and stay current on where the industry is headed.
Joining Judy on the podcast panel are Stephanie Moon, Book Marketing Strategist and Consultant, and Lynda Sunshine West, Book Publisher and host of the Let Me Tell My Story podcast. Expect a lively conversation about how podcasting fits into an author’s platform and marketing strategy.
The conference will feature Jane Friedman — publishing industry reporter and founder of The Bottom Line newsletter — as keynote speaker. Other topics on the program include AI and publishing, freelance networking, monetizing author activities, and more. Light breakfast and lunch are included, and the venue at the David Brower Center is easy to reach by public transit.
If you’re an author, editor, publisher, or publishing service provider, this is a day well spent.
For more info, click here or text Judy at 707.210.6696.
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Indie Authors Tell All Podcast is Live
Indie Authors Tell All, where authors take the mic is a new podcast featuring chats with Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) members and those who help us publish and sell our books. We dig into the challenges and successes of independent publishing—writing, publishing, and promoting—from the people making it happen.
Judy M. Baker, is one of the hosts of the podcast. She is past president of BAIPA and Redwood Writers. Hosting duties are shared with Becky Parker Geist and Mike Van Horn. The show is produced by Pro Audio Voices. Judy is a past president of BAIPA.
To listen, https://indie-authors-tell-all.podbean.com/ or subscribe and watch on YouTube, https://youtu.be/AR4cZ_MD_ZA?si=1JEHf6TSusN21aMt
Text Judy M. Baker at 707.210.6696
HTTPS://buzzworthybooks.com
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Just Published!
From Richard E. McCallum, REMStories
Fremont Writers CWC published the March Ink Spot online magazine with my short story (under 1000 words) "Sacajawea" in celebration of Historical Women's Month.
This story tells of Sacajawea's life before and up until the Lewis and Clark expedition. The untold part of her life.
Here is the free online link, no membership or fees required. Clicking will open the .pdf and my story is on pages 23-25 almost at the end.
Hope you enjoy the read.
Thank you to the Fremont Writers CWC and all the CWC's for publishing my stories.
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Podcast Tip From Richard E. McCallum (REMStories)
HeyGen, a lip synch Avatar site, just introduced a beta test for creating a podcast from a script. You chose your avatars, wait approximately 15 minutes for a 3+ minute podcast and it produces one with both avatars lip synched and animated to match the script you uploaded (dialog only no animated instructions).
It works great! See my sample transcript in the March 2026 issue of High Desert California Writer Club Ink Slinger's newsletter (scroll to page 26).
| | Writers Helping Writers Forum | |
Have a question about the writing process? Want advice about publishing? Interested in simply socializing with other writers? Stick around after the monthly meetings!
We’re bringing back something that was popular in the past: an informal opportunity to chat and pool our considerable collective knowledge.
The room is ours until 2:00 (and the parking lot is free for those conversations that are too good to interrupt).
Writers Helping Writers Forum will be overseen by Mara Lynn Johnstone (and any other lingering board members), and is open to all. Stick around to talk; let’s solve each other’s problems and share our successes.
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Share a Book Review!
Use the Newsletter Submission Form to send in your 250-word (or less) book review. We accept reviews of member and non-member books.
Where to submit
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Review of The Pickerings' Last Tango
From Kirkus reviews:
In 2007, Dorothy Pickering, a “feisty” 68-year-old grandmother with a penchant for off-color jokes, reminds her spouse, Guy, of his vow to help her die after her terminal cancer diagnosis threatens their life together. Flashbacks into Guy and Dorothy’s relationship from childhood to adulthood reveal their romantic history of defying social norms. Their deep, enduring bond demands that he follow her wishes, no matter how difficult—or farcical. He decides to perish together with her and makes plans for a “picnic”—their code word to keep their 40-year-old daughter, Heather, from finding out their secret. Dark, comedic action ensues as Guy’s attempts to finish their “last tango” turn into misadventures of epic proportions: “You’re not good at this, are you?” Dorothy observes, even as she’s touched by his devotion. Satirically broad secondary characters provide moments of hilarity to the narrative, framed by Guy’s salt-of-the-earth dry humor and pithy understatements; neighbor Izetta Tooney (“A rotund figure in a shiny daisy-patterned spandex halter top and matching shorts”) couldn’t possibly understand how the main characters’ love might prompt them to take their final steps together. Despite its controversial themes, the narrative develops a poignancy that provokes both laughter and tears. The grim realities of aging and grief hit hard without sacrificing the authenticity of the portrayal of the Pickerings’ lifelong love or the comedic gold of their last outing. A brilliantly balanced dark comedy that addresses euthanasia with humor and empathy.
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Redwood Writers is a club of writers helping writers. Do you have a writing-related topic you'd like to share about, or a Redwood Writers event you'd like to report on? We'd love to read it!
Where to submit
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Please submit your paid advertisements and pay online at
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A Note From The Editor
A writing coach once told me that she never reads in the genre that she’s currently writing. She felt this technique kept her writing voice true—free from inadvertently adopting the style of another author. Her words stuck with me, and I’ve avoided reading cozy mysteries while I’m writing one. The problem is, between first drafting and multiple revisions and countless edits, I’ve now gone several years without reading my favorite genre! Since I’m planning a series, this might mean that I won’t read another cozy for decades! Maybe it’s time to rethink this strategy.
I’m curious. Do you avoid reading in the same genre as the project you’re currently writing? Perhaps you don’t worry about it, knowing that your “voice” will shine through regardless of external influences. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Signe Ross Villemaire
| | REDWOOD WRITERS LEADERS & VOLUNTEERS | | |
Volunteers make Redwood Writers possible. Thank you to our wonderful leaders and chairpeople who generously give their time and efforts. We appreciate you!
Board of Directors
Crissi Langwell, President
Mara Lynn Johnstone, Vice President
Shawn Langwell, Vice President
Karl Kadie, Acting Secretary
Malena Eljumaily, Treasurer
Roger Lubeck, Membership Chair
Karl Kadie, New Members Chair
Signe Ross Villemaire, Newsletter Editor
Nancy Econome, Author Launch Chair
Stasey Norstrom, Member at Large
Chairs and Editors
Amrita Blaine, Newsletter Poetry Editor
Les Bernstein, Poetry Anthology Editor
Robin Gabbert, Writers Salon
Pamela Heck, Conference Volunteers Chair
Carol Jacobsen, Get Lit Coordinator
Crissi Langwell, Website Editor
Shawn Langwell, Speakers, Communications & PR Director, and Conference Chair
Lisa Manterfield, Social Media Manager
Linda L. Reid, Writers Circle, Poetry Anthology Party
Board meetings are held 6:30-8:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month unless otherwise noted and are open to any member in good standing. Contact president@redwoodwriters.org to receive an invitation.
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