PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Redwood Writers,
One of the things I value most about Redwood Writers is how we show up for one another in so many ways. This community is built on encouragement, our love of craft, and the belief that stories matter, especially when they’re shared. This is definitely true this month with a few really fun things to look forward to.
First, I’m excited to announce the release of Moonshadow, our 2025 prose anthology. The book is absolutely beautiful and filled with truly wonderful stories. I’m deeply grateful to my co-editors, Judy and Mara, whose dedication and thoughtful collaboration brought this anthology to life. I also want to thank every author, editor, judge, and proofreader who contributed their time and talent to make this book what it is. Please look through this newsletter for more information about Moonshadow and where you can get your copy.
Which brings me to this year’s anthology. I’m thrilled that Barbara Cottrell will be lending her creative vision to the 2026 prose anthology. We’re excited about the direction she’s bringing to this project, and I encourage you to keep reading to learn more about the theme so you can begin writing before submissions open.
I also need to share that we are regretfully canceling the 10-Minute Plays Contest and Six Winning Plays event. There were a few scheduling conflicts, and the whole team had to make the difficult decision to cancel for this year. If anything changes, we will let you know.
If you’re looking for a contest, however, the California Writers Club just announced The Smalls Too: A BIG Contest for Small Poems & Prose, running February 1 through March 1. This contest invites submissions of 8-line poems or 75-word prose. Watch for more information in your email from CWC or visit calwriters.org for details.
I am counting down the days to this year’s Author Launch. On March 28, we will celebrate 18 authors and their newly published books with readings and more. This is a free event, and I hope you’ll come help us cheer on the hard work and accomplishments of these authors.
Before that, I hope you’ll join us for our next general meeting on February 21, featuring Christine Walker and her presentation on “Sensory, Whole-Body Writing.”
Until the next chapter,
Crissi Langwell
Redwood Writers President
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NEW! Redwood Writers is taking care of the fees.
Register online for the same price you'd pay at the door!
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Half Year Membership
We are currently accepting half-year memberships for anyone who is not currently a member of Redwood Writers. If you know of anyone who is interested in finding a community, please let them know! Window to join closes March 31. Renewal June redwoodwriters.org/membership
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Redwood Writers Celebrates the Launch of
Moonshadow: Tales of Hidden Light
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WHEN THE MOON CASTS ITS SHADOW,
LIGHT FINDS NEW WAYS TO SHINE
Redwood Writers is thrilled to announce the launch of Moonshadow: Tales of Hidden Light, the 2025 prose anthology that brings together forty-one voices from California's premier writing community in a luminous celebration of the human spirit.
This collection—spanning literary fiction, memoir, magical realism, and contemporary reflection—explores the transformative power of resilience, imagination, and hope. From the echo of a whispered secret to the glow of a midnight revelation, each story invites readers to pause, reflect, and discover themselves within its pages.
Guided by editors Judy M. Baker, Mara Lynn Johnstone, and Crissi Langwell, this anthology gathers voices both seasoned and emerging. These stories reveal the quiet strength of the human heart and illuminate the beauty of what it means to be human—blending memoir and fiction, realism and the fantastical into a shared tapestry of experience.
A Collection That Resonates
For readers who love The Best American Short Stories, The Moth, or Women Who Run With the Wolves, this collection serves as both mirror and lantern—inviting you to wander through the half-light and discover what glows within.
Each contributor adds their own hue to a shared illumination, creating a tribute to the enduring glow of the creative spirit. These are stories that have been waiting in the shadows, now brought into the light for readers to discover and treasure.
A Milestone for Our Community
“As primary editor alongside Mara Lynn Johnstone and Crissi Langwell, I'm honored to have worked with such talented authors. This anthology represents the collaborative spirit that makes Redwood Writers special—writers helping writers, voices lifting voices, and the collective commitment to craft that defines our community," says editor Judy M. Baker.
"For those of us who worked on this project, it has been a labor of love and a profound learning experience. From the initial call for submissions through the final editorial polish, every stage revealed the extraordinary talent and dedication of our contributors."
Get Your Copy
Moonshadow: Tales of Hidden Light is now available in paperback on Amazon.
Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3NtusnJ
Step into the moonshadow. Let the light find you. The stories are waiting.
Congratulations to all forty-one contributors who made this anthology possible. Your words shine brightly.
| | Announcing the 2026 Redwood Writers Prose Anthology "Haunted" | | |
One need not be a chamber—to be haunted—
One need not be a House—
The Brain—has Corridors surpassing
Material Place—
-Emily Dickinson
Barbara Cottrell, 2026 prose anthology editor, will soon be accepting prose and memoir submissions for “Haunted,” this year’s anthology. More details coming soon.
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Celebrating 50 Years of Redwood Writers!
The special video commemoration which premiered at our January meeting is now available to watch here: https://youtu.be/uRHhGA0D6ts
| | 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 Mornings with Mindi 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
| | | Debra Koehler | February 3 | | Lisa Shulman | February 10 | | Maetreyii Ma Nolan, Ph.D | February 17 | | Tommie W. Whitener | February 24 | | | |
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
| | 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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What Then
by Dana Rodney
if not for the evening light split by a wintery branch
if not for the golden plain of a lover’s thigh
if not for the midnight anthem of wild geese
but what of the starving child’s lullaby
the trouble that hones you down like a ham in a smokehouse
sucking up your fat
dripping you dry
if not for the embryonic hymn of ocean tides
if not for the echo of ancient song
if not for the stippled sand and whispering grass
but what of the slick of oil
and the beached whale’s gasp
what of the river’s drip and the willow weeping
what of the proud, unrighteous men
when poets run out of words
and put down their pens
if so
I ask
what then
?
Dana Rodney is a writer and watercolorist from Sebastopol, California. Dana has received awards for excerpts from her novel, The Last Polar Bear, in the 2021 Jessamyn West Writing Contest, 2022 S.M. Keats Literary Competition, and 2025 Writer’s Digest Literary Short Story Competition. Dana has published in Reed Magazine.
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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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War and Other Problems
by Thomas Nguyen
Thomas Nguyen has published his life story (with some editing help from Mara Johnstone), and it’s a memorable avalanche of misadventures.
He grew up during the Vietnam War, in South Vietnam, and he left school to join the military in a doomed effort to protect his home. He was taken as a prisoner of war twice. In finally fleeing the country, he swam across a river at night, ran through jungles, befriended kind strangers, and nearly died many times over.
Then he finally made it to safety in America, and was faced with a whole different genre of problems.
Originally he just wanted to write down his story so his children could understand what he went through. Now that it’s finished, it’s the kind of wild ride that many people ought to appreciate.
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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Writers Forum presentations are free on Zoom, 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Hosted by Marlene Cullen. Details: thewritespot.us/forum.php
Upcoming Forums
Tuesday, February 10 : Kate Farrell: Telling Your Life Story
Wednesday, February 18: Samantha Rose: Truth Telling in Memoir
Thursday, February 26: Debra Koehler: Using Intuition for Storytelling
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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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Please submit your paid advertisements and pay online at
https://redwoodwriters.org/newsletter-submission/
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A Note From The Editor
Writing speaks to my introverted nature. As I turtle step closer to sharing my first novel with the world, however, I’m learning that I need to put myself out there and talk about my project.
One of the reasons I recently decided to become more active in Redwood Writers was to stretch myself beyond the cozy little confines of my beloved online writing group.
Every Saturday morning for the past five years I’ve logged onto Zoom with my comfortable cohort for writing practice and chit-chat. Now, one Saturday a month, I’m showing up to Redwood Writers meetings to share with and learn from this community.
If you’re emerging from your comfort zone and learning to talk about your work too, let's find each other at the next meeting and start a conversation!
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
Barb Cottrell, 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
Judy M. Baker, 2025 Prose Anthology Editor
Barb Cottrell, 2026 Prose Anthology Editor
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
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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