PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Redwood Writers,
Summer is here, and with it comes a wave of creative opportunities and inspiring events that I can’t wait to share with you!
First, a quick reminder: membership renewal is now open! To keep your connection with our vibrant writing community strong and uninterrupted, please be sure to renew by September 30.
We have an exciting year ahead, and we want you with us every step of the way.
Speaking of exciting—July 19 is a big day for Redwood Writers!
We’re kicking it off with a Short Play Writing for Readers Theater Workshop at 9 a.m., led by the talented Hilary Moore and Beth Moise. Whether you’re new to playwriting or looking to sharpen your skills, this hands-on session will help you master the art of the 10-minute play.
Then at 11 a.m., award-winning author Rebecca Lawton will lead our general meeting with a captivating talk: Rivers Teach Me to Write: A Guide to the Natural Flow of Words. Rebecca’s unique blend of geological insight and literary craft will guide us through the ways nature—and especially rivers—can inform and inspire our writing process. Bring your notebooks, your questions, and your willingness to write and explore.
Also happening this summer:
Poets, don’t miss your chance to be published in Just So, our 2025 Poetry Anthology. Submissions are open June 30 through July 30 for Redwood Writers members only.
Those who write fiction and prose, you’ll be thrilled to know that we’ve extended our deadline for Moonshadow, the 2025 Prose Anthology. Get your submissions in by July 30!
And if you're a playwright at heart, or just play-curious, submit your work to our 10-Minute Play Contest! Off the Page Readers Theater will perform the winning plays; you can submit plays between July 1 and August 16.
Visit our website for the latest news
You will find details and submission links for all events on redwoodwriters.org
If you haven’t already, click over and take a peek at our website’s fresh new look!
Let’s keep the creativity flowing this summer—just like the rivers Rebecca writes about. I look forward to seeing your words in action and your faces at our next event!
Until the next chapter,
Crissi Langwell
President, Redwood Writers
president@redwoodwriters.org
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RWC Meeting Fees Increasing July 1st
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To help cover the monthly costs of our meeting room and speaker fees, the Redwood Writers branch is increasing our general meeting admission fees to $10/member and $15/non-member per meeting, effective in July.
Express member fees will increase to $90/year at the time of membership renewal.
This fee does not include additional fees added on by Constant Contact and PayPal when paying for our meetings online. To avoid additional fees, members are always welcome to pay by check or at the door.
Visit our website for Membership Information
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Workshop in Short Play Writing for Readers Theater
July 19, 2025, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Link: redwoodwriters.org/workshop-short-play-writing
Finley Community Center, Cypress Room, Santa Rosa
Note: This workshop will take place before the July General Meeting
Members: $25, Non-members: $35
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| WORKSHOP: Short Play Writing for Readers Theater | What are the special conditions needed for a Readers Theater play?
How is a complete story compressed so it can be told in 10 minutes?
What writing techniques capture and hold the attention of the audience?
Through the use of a few well-known folktales, participants will put into practice the answers to these questions. Led by Off the Page Readers Theater actor/directors, Hilary Moore and Beth Moise, writers will share the work they create in the workshop, and compare their unique ways of handling this fun and challenging literary form. | | | 10-Minute Play Contest 2025 | |
Submit your 10-minute play!
Six winning plays will be performed by Off The Page Readers Theater
Link: redwoodwriters.org/10-minute-play-contest-2025
ENTRY FEE:
Up to 2 plays per entrant, submitted separately
CWC Members:
$10 per play
Non-members:
$15 per play
Submission dates:
Open: Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Close: Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, 11:59 p.m.
Winners announced:
September 1, 2025
Redwood Writers General Meeting
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This conversation will inspire writers of all genres about how we can learn wisdom, and writing lessons, from rivers and water. With award-winning author Rebecca Lawton, we’ll look at examples of water- and nature-driven prose, discuss what works about them, and try our own hands at applying principles of flow to our writing-in-progress.
We encourage attendees to bring burning questions about form and process, as well as writing tools, so we can spend much of the time creating, shaping, and optional sharing. This will be a safe space to explore roadblocks to progress, potential paths forward, and the wellsprings of our inspiration—this amazing, incomparable world we live in.
About the presenter:
Rebecca Lawton is an author, fluvial geologist, and former Grand Canyon river guide. She has published hundreds of essays, poems, and stories, in Hunger Mountain, Terrain.org, Orion, and other journals. Her writing honors include a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair, Ellen Meloy Award for Desert Writers, WILLA in fiction, Pushcart Prize nominations, and residencies at Hedgebrook Retreat for Women Writers, the Island Institute, and PLAYA.
She’s the author of the best-selling Reading Water: Lessons from the River, the Rubery Prize shortlisted What I Never Told You: Stories, the New Women’s Voices honoree Swimming Grand Canyon and Other Poems, and other books. She lives and writes in northern California, where she’s at work on Boatwoman: A River Memoir (Bison Books/University of Nebraska, 2027).
| | July Meeting & Potluck with Rebecca Lawton: The Natural Flow of Words | Join the conversation about how writers can learn from rivers and water. Award-winning author Rebecca Lawton will share examples of water- and nature-driven prose and how to principles of flow to writing-in-progress. Attendees are encouraged to bring burning questions about form and process, as well as writing tools so we can spend much of the time in creating, shaping, and optional sharing. This will be a safe space to explore roadblocks to progress, potential paths forward, and the wellsprings of our inspiration—this amazing, incomparable world we live in. | | | | It's Time for Membership Renewal | | |
If you are already a member, the annual membership renewal period for the Redwood Writers branch runs June 1–Sept. 30. Early renewal starts June 1!
If you don’t renew during this period, you must join as a new member at the full price.
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Submit to JUST SO, the 2025 Redwood Writers Poetry Anthology.
Link: redwoodwriters.org/2025-poetry-anthology
Redwood Writers editor Les Bernstein invites members to submit their poems
to be considered for Just So, the 2025 Poetry Anthology between June 30 and July 30, 2025.
This year, the submissions will be exclusively from within Redwood Writers members.
Submissions accepted until midnight, July 30, 2025.
Address questions to Les Bernstein, your poetry anthology editor, at lessieb13@yahoo.com.
| | Get Lit with Redwood Writers | |
Tuesday Mornings on The Krush
Every Tuesday, 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. Coming up this month:
If you miss it live, you can hear a recording of the interview at www.krsh.com/mindi-in-the-morning
Replays are available here
https://www.krsh.com/podcast/get-lit/
| | | 2025-2026 BOARD OFFICERS ELECTED | | |
The Redwood Writers Board elections and installation of officers took place at the May meeting.
Crissi Langwell - President
Mara Lynn Johnstone - Vice President
Shawn Langwell - Vice President
Barb Cottrell - Secretary
Malena Eljumaily - Treasurer
Our thanks to Slate Chair Pamela Heck for her help.
| | Crissi Langwell - President | | Shawn Langwell - Vice President | | Mara Lynn Johnstone - Vice President | | Malena Eljumaily - Treasurer | | Barb Cottrell - Secretary | | |
2025 Circle Dates
July 26
September 27
November 22
How to sign up:
Members who would like to attend should send an RSVP email to our Circle chair, Linda Reid via the contact form. Upon confirmation, you will receive more information.
Mission:
The Circle’s mission is to offer members a constructive and enjoyable environment in which to read their works, among the warmth and support of fellow writers, and to include brief evaluations and short talks on craft and other writing-related subjects.
Agenda:
Agenda for meetings will follow the following format:
Each reader will have a total 5 minutes (including, introductory remarks)
Meeting runs 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Those to be “readers” will be limited to the first 20 RW members who register
Other attendees may participate as “listeners”
To receive address information and to sign up for a reading, contact our Circle Chair, Linda Reid.
| | The 2025 RWC Prose Anthology Updates | |
Moonshadow: Tales of Hidden Light
Look in your inbox for prompts and resources, and don't forget to check groups.io to learn more about the theme, writing craft, and the submission process.
All members of Redwood Writers are invited to share one short fiction story or memoir.
"Your submissions can explore the contrast between dark and light. Happy endings are not mandatory. An emotional transformation is the key to engaging stories. The theme gives writers latitude to develop stories that engage the heart and imagination, whether fictional or true."
Join a community of storytellers illuminating the hidden truths and quiet mysteries within the moonshadow. Your words can move readers, provoke thought, and inspire meaningful conversations.
A dramatic cover design is in development. There are many meanings for moonshadow, from astrological to creative. As a title or concept, it has been woven into poetry, literature, film, lyrics, and art.
This year, the submissions will be exclusively from within Redwood Writers members.
The Submissions period is extended until midnight, July 30, 2025.
Address questions to your editors, 2025anthology@redwoodwriters.org
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Submit with Style
I am sharing documents and a webinar I presented to Redwood Writers in March 2020 (remember lockdown?).
This video is intended to answer your MS Word and formatting questions. I also show how to create a reusable template in MS Word.
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Resources for Writing and the Anthology
Links and resources specific to the Prose Anthology:
Prose Anthology Rules
Ready to Submit
Rubric for Entries
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Get inspiration for writing on Spotify
Music is a portal. It holds space for emotions we don’t always have words for—and sometimes; it sparks the very stories we long to write.
I’ve curated several Moonshadow Playlists filled with songs that echo our anthology’s themes—mystery, transformation, twilight, and hope.
Thematic music to inspire you:
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Members Comments about the Moonshadow Playlist
"What a thoughtful way you have! Wonderful idea. Such a deep heart! Thanks."
Adele Layton
"As a former college DJ, and the proud owner of about 2,500 record albums, I love this approach to inspire potential contributors 😊 Well done!"
John Abbot
"This is amazing!
Thank you so much for the inspiration. I know this took a lot to f time and dedication."
Blessings,
Leanne C. Chapman
| | Judy M. Baker, 2025 Prose Anthology Editor-in-Chief | | | |  | |
Judy is the past president of the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association and Redwood Writers and is our Club's Newsletter Editor. In addition, she co-chaired Author Launch 2025. She helps find notable speakers for the club and keeps her eyes open for ways to build membership.
Her day job is helping authors create Buzzworthy Books and brands.
https://buzzworthybooks.com
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Attention, poets!
Monthly Poetry Lab!
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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Lemonade Dreams
by Robin Gabbert
On the patio under
shade of a red umbrella,
a ladybug finds
its way onto my arm.
I watch it meander
in its polka-dot jacket.
I have nowhere to go,
am happy to let my new friend
enjoy the stripe of sunlight
crossing my arm and
the blue and white
checked tablecloth
with the yellow pitcher.
Perhaps I’ll put
my head next to hers,
let the lazy afternoon sun
lull me further
into ladybug
and lemonade
dreams.
Robin Gabbert has poems in local to international anthologies. A finalist for the 2024 San Francisco Writers Contest in Poetry and long listed by Frontier Poetry in the (Not) in Love Tanka Poetry Challenge 2024, her book of ekphrastic poetry, The Clandestine Life of Paintings, in Poems was published in 2022. She is a frequent speaker and instructor on ekphrastic poetry, and a judge for California Writers’ Club anthologies.
robingabbert.com
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PoeticLicenseSonoma Reads on Zoom 7-22-25
This is the third of quarterly Zoom readings in 2025. Our readings take place on the fourth Tuesday of January, April, July and October, 2025.
No registration fee; readings are free. See below for a link.
From 7-8pm (PDT); 9-10PM (CDT); 10-11pm (EDT)
Our guest headliner poet is Naomi Ruth Lowinsky. She will read from her sixth book of poems, Her Face in the Fire, published last year by Bluelight Press, and some recent political poems.
The PLS poets include Steve Trenam, Jaime Zukowski, Judith Vaughn, Leo McCloskey, Kusum Jain, and Joan Osterman.
The theme this month is Flight.
Save the following highlighted link from Steve Trenam to attend the reading on Zoom. We will admit you to the reading at 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00 pm, depending on your time zone.
strenam@santarosa.edu is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: My Meeting - PoeticLicenseSonoma
Time: July 22, 2025, 7-8pm (PDT); 8-9pm (MDT) 9-10PM (CDT); 10-11pm (EDT)
Join Zoom Meeting
Topic: My Meeting - PoeticLicenseSonoma
Time: Jul 22, 2025 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://santarosa-edu.zoom.us/j/88331999735
Meeting ID: 883 3199 9735
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New Release: The Writer’s Healing Reset
Crissi Langwell has released a new book titled The Writer’s Healing Reset, a heartfelt guide designed to help writers reconnect with their creativity and rediscover joy in the writing process.
An extension of her Substack series, "Love Letters to Writers," this book offers a gentle, encouraging path through burnout with personal essays and reflective journal prompts. It's perfect for anyone who has felt stuck, disillusioned, or in need of a creative reset.
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Crissi Langwell Named Indie Book Award Finalist
Crissi Langwell’s Sunset Bay series was recently named a finalist in the Fiction Series category for the 2025 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest international awards program for indie authors and publishers.
The Sunset Bay series follows a group of interconnected characters in a small coastal town as they navigate love, loss, and second chances. Known for its heartfelt storytelling and emotional depth, the series has resonated with readers who enjoy character-driven romance.
Langwell was one of five finalists recognized in this competitive category. Learn more about the series at crissilangwell.com.
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The Time learns How to Chill
New Release From Shawn Langwell
Chill: Embrace the Space Between Extremes
Contrary to popular false narratives, the world isn’t out to get us. We are not all victims of circumstance. We owe it to ourselves to learn healthier ways of taking responsibility for our own lives and to cultivate compassion towards ourselves, others, and the world.
At its core, Chill is a self-awareness relationship book that reveals a deep secret you already know, but often are too scared to put into practice. The path to true freedom, connection, and happiness is found when we learn how to Chill and embrace the space between extremes.
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I will be hosting two book events in the Bay Area:
Readers Books
June 25, 2025, 5:30 PM
130 East Napa St., Sonoma
Book Passage/Left Coast Writers
August 9, 2025, 2 PM
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.,
Corte Madera
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Book Launch-Between Worlds: An Expat's Quest for Belonging
Announcing the launch of Between Worlds: An Expat’s Quest for Belonging, a new memoir by Inga Aksamit.
I set out to write a lighthearted travel memoir about my unconventional cross-cultural childhood in an expat family, but along the way, I uncovered a universal truth—we all seek a sense of belonging. While our expat life in Pakistan, Peru, Bangladesh and Indonesia was filled with adventure and excitement, I discovered issues around identity, the concept of home, and what it means to belong.
In the end, it’s human connections that matter most. Between Worlds is now available on Amazon, or readers can request it from their favorite independent bookstore.
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Award-Winning High Desert Branch Author Publishes Memoir
California Writers Club author Michael Raff worked for thirty-four years in four different California State Hospitals behind locked doors and two private psychiatric facilities. During that time, he was punched, kicked, bitten, and ultimately disabled by violent patients, and sometimes ostracized by management.
He worked with murderers, sociopaths, paranoid schizophrenics, and those who were afflicted with horrible physical deformities. Within the pages of his newly released memoir, Surviving My Career As A Psychiatric Technician, he presents hundreds of true and revealing accounts of his favorite independent bookstore.
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BUZZWORTHY BOOKS POWER HOUR LIVE
Judy M. Baker offers Live "Love Seats" to authors who have important questions about marketing a book. She has a few free spots available each month.
Apply Now at BuzzworthyBooks.com
| | NEWS FROM OUR SISTER CWC CLUBS |
Sharpen Your Pencils: Flash Fiction Contest Coming!
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How many books do you have in progress right now?
I usually listen to audiobooks and have two very different books on rotation.
One is a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. The other is Ants in My Pants: One Woman’s Unexpected Adventures Across Seven Continents, a travel-oriented memoir by my friend, Joyce E. Perrin.
"To Joyce Perrin, a divorced fifty-something living in Canada, the lure of adventure unleashed her undying curiosity about the world and about people as she crisscrossed the world for over twenty years and visited 156 countries on all seven continents.
Not just as a tourist, but as an ambassador for adventure, working for the World Health Organization, touching (and changing) lives in healthcare settings in the Middle East, Africa, and South America." available on Amazon
Books can take you on an adventure anytime. What books are calling to you?
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It's Your Turn to Contribute a Short and Sweet Book Review
Use the Newsletter Submission Form to send in your 250-word (or less) book review. We accept reviews of non-member books as well.
Include:
Book Title
Genre
Author
ISBN
What you loved, or didn't
Why do you recommend the book
How many stars: 0 – 5 Stars
A cover image
Tell us Your Name
Where to submit
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Submit member news by the 15th of the month using the button below or access the form at: https://forms.gle/ZHjJNW41xuGdVBHv6
You can add your content, images, and a brief news article. Include your name and contact info in your announcement.
Please review your submission and only send it once per month.
Have you published a new book? Announce your book once.
Got a book deal? Received media coverage, earned an award? We want to share your good news.
Submissions may or may not be included in the newsletter.
Checklist for submissions:
- Include your name and contact information in your item.
-
50 words or less about book events, publications, awards, and classes of interest to our members.
- Image formats: Photos, JPEGs, or PNGs are welcome.
- Send a Word doc or PDF if you want to include a link to the document in your announcement
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If you have a paid event, you can purchase an ad in the newsletter as follows:
3 lines (text only) for $25.00
Display ads (square or horizontal images: .png, .jpg only, under 2M) for $50.00
Canva can help you format your ads
Please submit your paid advertisements here and pay online:
https://redwoodwriters.org/advertising-in-redwood-writer/
| | 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
Judy M. Baker, Immediate Past President
Roger Lubeck, Membership Chair
Karl Kadie, Member at Large
Janice Rowley, Member at Large
Open, Vault Master, Policies & Procedures
Chairs and Editors
Judy M. Baker, Newsletter Editor, Author Launch, Prose Anthology Editor
Amrita Blaine, Newsletter Poetry Editor
Les Bernstein, Poetry Anthology Editor
Robin Gabbert, Writers Salon
Pamela Heck, Conference Volunteers Chair
Mara Lynn Johnstone, Author Launch
Crissi Langwell, Website Editor
Shawn Langwell, Speakers, Communications & PR Director, and Conference Chair
Linda L. Reid, Writers Circle, Poetry Anthology Party
Janice Rowley, Author Launch
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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